Wen Ming did not have a bad appearance or temperament. When he was young, he also accompanied the young master of the Wen family to study, so although he had no reputation, he was still knowledgeable.

After marrying Wen Yingniang, he came out to make a toast  with a comfortable appearance, so many people in Fucheng had a good feeling about him.

Zheng Yi also praised him. “I think this Wen Ming is much better than Liao Qinghe. Being willing to marry Wen Yingniang and marry into her family is really a bit unexpected.”

If it was him, it would be impossible to marry Wen Yingniang.

But when he looked at Jiang Zhen and remembered that Jiang Zhen had done something similar to Wen Ming, Zheng Yi felt that Wen Ming was also good.

Even though Wen Yingniang had been married before, at least she was better looking than Zhao Jinge. Not to mention, her dowry was generous.

“He likes Wen Yingniang,” Jiang Zhen said, glancing at Zhao Jinge.

Zhao Jinge froze, suddenly understanding Jiang Zhen’s meaning.

Wen Ming was only willing because he liked Wen Ying Nian. Jiang Zhen . . . also liked him.

Zhao Jinge felt like he was eating honey, only his heart felt even sweeter.

At this time, Jiang Zhen spoke with Zheng Yi about the salt farm. He agreed to go to the former Hongjiang Salt Farm the next day and have a look at the current Changhe Salt Farm.

Zheng Yi wanted to help Lord Yang deal with the salt farm affairs so the salt farm could produce salt as soon as possible, but Jiang Zhen wanted to build a dock on the land that Zheng Yi found for him first.

Due to his plans, Jiang Zhen no longer had enough money on hand. Fortunately, he took on a big deal, helping the Changhe Salt Farm transport salt. The Qingfeng House in Fucheng would also open . . .

Wen Ming intended to stay with the Wen family, so Jiang Zhen’s attempt to recruit the man to his side did not succeed, but he did not try to force it. The next day, he took Zhao Jinge and Zhao Mingzhu with him when he followed Zheng Yi to the seaside by ship.

A few months ago, there was large-scale fighting by the sea and many people died, but no traces of the conflict could be seen.

The bones of the deceased were nibbled by animals or rotted, finally becoming the fertilizer for the earth. Except for the trees that become more lush, not a trace was left in this world.

Zhao Jinge was here so Jiang Zhen did not talk about the hardships he endured but instead spoke of interesting things he encountered here. Such as someone going to the seashore to find edible shells and was accidentally besieged by crabs, or of the time they fell asleep at night and it suddenly rained, so they had to wake up and find a place to hide from the rain.

Zhao Jinge did not laugh, but he felt some tingling in his eyes, only he restrained himself and did not show it.

Jiang Zhen made it sound easy but he could guess how hard Jiang Zhen’s days on the coast were. It was still very cold at that time, so when Jiang Zhen and others were caught in the rain, he couldn’t even imagine how uncomfortable it was.

“Jiang Zhen, you said you had a new method of making salt. What is it?” Zheng Yi asked Jiang Zhen when they arrived at the Changhe Salt Farm.

“Sun-drying salt,” Jiang Zhen answered.

Jiang Zhen had been to the seaside before and knew how sun-dried salt was made, so he explained the method in detail.

Actually, salt that was boiled was more pure but sun dried salt was really convenient to make and people usually did not mind a few impurities in the salt—the official salt sold by the court in the past was even deliberately mixed with sand.

However, if you wanted to sun-dried salt you would still need some technical support. Why didn’t anyone try to sun-dry salt before? Wasn’t it because of the lack of suitable containers?

After Jiang Zhen talked about how to build a bank on the beach, he directly found some people to try to dig out a piece of salt.

The workers were hard-working and obedient, so only five days later the first batch of salt came out.

After seeing the salt, Lord Yang, who had been staying south of the Yangtze River and would be in charge of the Changhe Salt Farm, got a little excited. He asked: “What do you think, how should this salt be sold?”

“Everyone has to eat salt so it is better to have a product with a lower price. It would also be beneficial to the Empress Dowager.” Jiang Zhen said. He was hoping that the price of salt would come down.

People had many uses for salt. In the absence of refrigerators, meat could only be  preserved by pickling, but salt was too expensive.

It was impossible to make salt as cheap as it was in modern times, but you could earn six or seven copper coins for a kilo, which was considered a good price.

The empress dowager also hoped to win the hearts and minds of the common people by lowering the rising prices of salt. After some thought, Lord Yang intended to take advantage that salt merchants were suppressed at this time and sell affordable official salt.

After making sure that there was no problem with the salt drying, Jiang Zhen took a ship sent by the Wen family and went to the island where Zhu Erlin and others were relocated.

Zhu Erlin and those who followed him lived on the island for a long time. Although they didn’t lack food or water they always felt a little uneasy, so seeing Jiang Zhen arrive they almost cried in joy.

Then they learned the good news—they could go back.

When they were under the control of the Hongjiang Salt Farm, even if the lives of these people were very bad, they had lived there for generations. They are more accustomed to that life than the one they had at that island, so naturally, they were looking forward to going back.

Jiang Zhen brought everyone back in turns this time.

The place Jiang Zhen chose to build the dock was at the cliffside village he had visited last time and saved people. The terrain there was perfect for building a dock.

Tens of thousands of people built their own homes nearby and then began to build the dock. Although no agreement was signed, all of them acquiesced that they would follow Jiang Zhen and work very hard.

Jiang Zhen did not treat them poorly. Not only did they have enough to eat and drink, he even gave them pork to eat.

While Jiang Zhen was building his own wharf, the people in Daqi were happy to see the price of salt fall.

Previously, the price of salt was so high that it was impossible to buy. However, recently, the price of salt has dropped.

It was good salt, but a kilo of salt only cost five or six copper coins!

In the past, even private salt would not be so cheap!

When the people of Daqi first found out about this, they went crazy. Many of them bought more than a dozen kilos of salt at a time, selling out all the salt in the shops.

Even so, the next day, the stores still had salt for sale, especially the Zheng family’s store. They did not allow anyone to buy too much. Customers could only buy a kilo, and because of this, the store always had a lot of salt available.

The people of Wexing Province were previously talking about Wen Yingniang, but soon they were all talking about salt prices. Other people’s divorce and their divorced wives recruiting a husband to marry into her family, how could that be more important than their own food and drink?

Since the price of salt was down, instead of staring at Wen Yingniang, they might as well find a way to buy more salt and pickle more meat, vegetables, eggs, and other food stuff.

The people of Wexing Province were happy, and the rich and powerful were also full of expectation ever since.

The Qingfeng House in Fucheng was about to open.

Thanks to the blessing of Zhou Maohe, the people of Fucheng had long known about the existence of Qingfeng House and had long been full of expectations for it. Later, after the matter of Qingfeng Wine came out, everyone became even more curious about Qingfeng House.

Then Qingfeng House finally opened.

People in Fucheng who knew about  Qingfeng House all wanted to see it after they learned about it. As for things like the drop in salt prices . . .

 

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: Antiope1

 

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