Chapter 22 Chapter 20: Saltworks Experience

At the seaside in northern Jiangsu, I was thirsty when I was on the road. I happened to pass a small river and saw that the water was very clear. In the countryside, when I was thirsty, I drank the water from the river. What healthy drink is there? So when he saw the small river, he immediately leaned over and buried his whole head in the river water. His companions didn't hold back and had already drank a large mouthful of river water. The entrance of the river water shocked him, and almost no one fell into the river. He straightened up, opened his mouth wide, and couldn't make any sound other than panting. The saltiness and bitterness of the river water cannot be described by any words!

The companions were stunned: you, you drink water whenever you see it, this is the Salt River!Those who go to the saltworks, lead the seawater to the saltworks to dry the salt, you At that time, there was a fire burning in the throat, how could I still be able to distinguish a few words, but fortunately, a small boat rolled by on the river, and the companion shouted: "This barbarian is not sensible, he drank a mouthful of salt river water, fellow villagers help!" (People from the south of the Yangtze River are barbarians when they go to the north of the Yangtze River, but they become barbarians when they go to the south of Lingnan.)

The boatman pulled up to the shore, scooped up a ladle of clear water, and simply ordered: drink it in one gulp, and you will have diarrhea for three days! He drank the ladle of water in one gulp, and later, he had diarrhea for three days, and the salt flowers accumulated on his face could not be washed off for several days, even drinking clear water was like drinking salt soup. That salt river leads to Huaibei Saltworks, one of the largest saltworks in China.Not long after, I followed an administrator from the General Affairs Section to the saltworks to ask for salt, and saw everything in the saltworks.Still far away from the salt field, I saw piles of tall and large objects covered with reed mats. At first glance, they looked like countless small pyramids, each of which was more than 20 meters high.I never thought that it was a pile of salt. As the saying goes, it is piled up like a mountain, and it is really piled up like a mountain. It is not an exaggeration at all!

It is said that some of these salt piles have been piled up since the Qing Dynasty and have not been touched. The journey along the way is a spectacle. Then, I saw Yantian.Leading seawater to dry salt is something that is included in elementary school textbooks, but seeing the salt people collect salt, I can't help being dumbfounded.One side of the salt field, the sea water is knee deep, and a large shovel of salt was shoveled from the sea water. I always thought that the sea water evaporated and dried before the salt could appear. It turned out to be absurd! After the seawater is introduced into the salt field, seeds need to be planted, just like farming. The salt seeds are very small and uniform salt grains. Ten times as many particles, and then scooping them up from the sea water is really a matter of nothing and no wisdom.

I lived in the salt field for three days, and I could have stayed for a few more days, but I was ordered to leave immediately and deported. It’s not that he has committed any heinous crime, but it’s fun to watch the crystallization of salt, which is very strange, so he dipped a branch with many twigs into the salt field, took it out after a night, and the branch No matter how thick or thin, they are all covered with salt crystals. They are extremely cute and beautiful. When they are showing off for others to see, the sound of shouting and beating is already everywhere. It turned out that once this branch was dipped, no salt would be produced in this salt field, or only gray-black low-quality salt would be produced. Therefore, the salt people were furious and wanted to reason with them, saying that there would be no salt. Such a serious consequence, how could it be justified by them, so they had no choice but to run away with their heads in their arms, and fled. The branch full of salt flowers was naturally also in chaos, and its whereabouts were unknown.

But during those three days, I learned a lot.Salt is very heavy. When I saw a strong man for the first time, I picked up two small picks of salt and walked very hard. I was surprised. Once I went into battle, I realized how powerful it was. Each pick weighed about one hundred and sixty catties. Not to mention carrying away, some of the female workers on the salt field can lift a hundred and forty catties of salt, piled up one by one, and it is the pyramid seen along the way. It is very difficult to judge the age of the salt people based on their appearance. Due to years of contact with seawater, salt, and sea breeze, all of them have dark and thick skin. An eighteen-year-old girl may not look like thirty-eight years old, but five At the age of eighteen, the poverty of life is truly astonishing.And also relying on salt for a living, the life of salt merchants is luxurious and luxurious, which is famous in history!

The cost of salt is extremely cheap, only 1% of the selling price, and the rest is all kinds of taxes, so smuggling salt is an excellent business, and it has caused many gangs and massacres.In the salt field, I saw an old man who was said to be the salt smuggler and the leader of the salt lord. (Officially, salt smugglers are called salt lords.) Of course, I wanted to find out some of the activities of the salt lord from his mouth, but the old man refused to say anything. Only once, when he bought wine for him, did he open his shirt and show me the scar on his chest and abdomen. Dao's scars are staggered, and even though the scars have formed, it still gives people the feeling of being ripped apart, which is very terrifying.

While drinking, he sighed: How many people have died, let alone live!Hmph, unreasonable, thinking that smuggling salt can make a fortune, I have only seen smuggled salt die on the road, I have never seen one who made a fortune and bought land, a trip to smuggled salt, from the seaside to Hongze Lake, three hundred catties is not lost , earned three oceans?It was still hard work! Because of this experience, there are many scenes in Yan Xiao, a martial arts novel in the early years of the Republic of China, which are all very realistic descriptions.