Chapter 2969

He stepped forward and stared under the water. At this look, he saw that it was different. It was different from ordinary paddy fields. There was some whiteness under the water, but it was not silt, but it was not like salt. The prince looked at Bai Shan suspiciously, "is there salt below?"

Bai Shan only looked at it and said, "this is the first time to dry the sea water. It is estimated that it hasn't been in water for two days. It's not obvious. Your highness, let's go to the front. It seems that there are many people there are collecting salt."

The prince looked forward. There was a crowd gathering in the distance, but he was not in a hurry and walked directly along the ridge.

One field after another, looking at him, he found a difference.

Down the ridge, there was a wide ditch with water flowing slowly. The prince came up and looked.

I looked at the ditch and the salt field beside me. I thought, "is this sea water?"

"Yes," Bai Shan explained, "when the sea water is in high tide, the sea water will pour into the ditch. The ditch connects the first salt field in each row. When the salt crystals and brine are dried out, we will screen and wash it and put it into the second field."

The prince went to a field, "like this?"

This is a salt field with large salt crystals at the bottom of the water. The water is almost dry, but there is still a shallow layer of water on it.

The prince squatted down and reached for a handful of salt from the field. After some salt was fished into his hand, it melted slowly and slipped from his fingers

He twisted his tongue and tasted the bitter salt, but it was salty.

Guo Jishi and others who followed the prince in a trance. Up to now, they have not recovered. They have many questions in their hearts. First, what are these square fields used for?

Listen, Bai Shan means drying salt?

Isn't the field planted?

Isn't salt boiled?

The officials looked down at the salt field at their feet and couldn't speak for a long time.

The prince washed the salt from his hands in the salt field. Duke Wu quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands.

The prince inadvertently wiped twice and looked at the last field in the row.

Bai Shan immediately said, "that's the second salt field after drying out salt crystals, which is melted with water and then filtered and dried. It's also the last salt field. We have compared that the salt filtered and dried twice is no worse than the boiled salt. "

In order to save firewood, they only filter the salt once. The salt is bitter and dark yellow than what they sun.

The prince nodded slightly and took people forward.

Zhou Liwei was squatting at the edge of the salt field, rubbing the salt crystal pushed to him to check the quality. A long worker looked at his back for several times and confirmed that he was right. He hurriedly said, "Lord Zhou, the county magistrate is coming again."

Zhou Liwei looked back and couldn't see the man clearly. "It's impossible. He left yesterday."

The long worker narrowed his eyes and said, "it's the county magistrate, that's right!"

The soldiers had informed Luo patrol, who was patrolling by the mountain, that he had rushed over with people. When he passed the salt field, he called Zhou Liwei: "it's the county magistrate who came and brought many senior officials. What are you doing? Go and meet him."

When the soldiers found him, they said that among the people brought by the county magistrate, there were not only those wearing red official robes, but also one wearing purple robes, and the county magistrate followed the purple robed people.

As soon as Zhou Liwei heard this, he immediately got up and ran over there with Luo patrol.

After running for a long time, they finally met the prince halfway.

Luo didn't know the prince. He thought that there would be no mistake in saluting anyway, so he raised his hand to salute. Zhou Liwei, who had seen the prince's face, couldn't help exclaiming, "Your Highness?"

The Zhou family had never seen the emperor, but the prince and princess were lucky to have seen them.

Although it is rare, Zhou Liwei still tries to remember each other's faces for such a noble person as the crown prince.

Luo inspector raised his hand and didn't put it down. As soon as his knee was soft, he knelt down on the ridge with a thump.

Zhou Liwei, who had planned to bow to the end, could only pull his trouser legs and kneel down, and kowtowed to the prince with Luo patrol inspection.

The prince was satisfied with their respect, and his smile became more prosperous. He raised his hand and said, "get up."

He skipped Luo patrol inspection and looked up and down at Zhou Liwei. He thought he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was, so he asked, "do you know?"

Zhou Liwei subconsciously looked at Zhou man behind the prince.

The prince also looked back at Zhou man and suddenly realized, "Gu said you look familiar. Your eyes look very similar to Zhou man."

Zhou man said, "he is my second nephew."

The prince nodded slightly and asked, "what is he doing in the salt farm now?"

Bai Shan replied, "be in charge."

He said bluntly: "I have limited energy, so let him help me."

The prince nodded slightly and asked Zhou Liwei, "where is the salt collection? How much salt can be collected in a field, how many days can it be collected once, and how much manpower will it take? "

Zhou Liwei was a little nervous. Fortunately, his aunt and father had asked these questions before, and his account book was ok, so he could answer them one by one.

The prince was already mentally prepared, so he couldn't see anything on his face. After listening all the way, the officials couldn't help looking at the salt fields on both sides of the ridge. They didn't see the road much and almost fell into the field.

At the place where the salt is collected, the long-term workers are pushing salt in the salt field in a short divination. The wooden shovel is polished to be sharp, about one meter wide. After it is put down, they push forward. The salt crystals in the salt field are pushed together, more and more. When they are pushed to the crown prince, there is already a small pile.

Even the prince stayed for a while, not to mention the ministers behind him. They all opened their mouths.

When Guo Jishi thought of something, his eyes were red. He turned to see Bai Shan.

Bai Shan stood behind the prince, waiting for them to come back.

The prince squatted down and grabbed a handful of salt. He twisted it carefully. The salt grains fell one by one. Let alone, they were very thin, at least thinner than the ordinary salt sold on the market.

The prince said to the man behind him, "come and have a look."

Tang He and others waited for the prince to say this, and his voice fell. Several people crowded up to touch the salt, squatted in rows, and occupied one side of the salt field.

The long-term workers looked at it with some confusion. Seeing Zhou Liwei motioning them to continue, they turned and continued to shovel salt, regardless of these inexperienced officials.

The imperial censor didn't believe that the salt was baked, so he looked at the salt field behind him and saw that there was water in it. He didn't see any shadow of salt.

No, it's not that I haven't seen it at all. The water is different from ordinary water. It seems a little white and muddy.

He put out his finger and stirred it in the salt field. He put it into his mouth and felt it. It was very salty

The imperial censor hesitated between doubt and belief. Finally, he decided to see for the truth, so he said to the prince, "Your Highness, I want to stay in the salt farm and have a look at the method of drying salt."

Unless he saw the salt drying out after the sea water entered the field, he would not believe it.