Chapter 6 Island Development "How to make salt." Jia Xu picked up another piece of paper and looked at Tian Ze with some hesitation, but still asked, "My lord, is this method mature? What are the costs and yields?" Tian Ze smiled awkwardly, he guessed what Jia Xu was thinking. The Han Dynasty clearly stipulated that salt and iron were to be state-run, and there were many families who could and knew how to make salt. Some had even mastered the method of drying salt and were able to produce refined salt on a small scale. But, the same problem as with alcohol, who dares to sell it? Nowadays, relying on technologies such as well salt and salt boiling, the Han Dynasty has enough salt to eat, and the price of salt is not high, only several times that of grain, and the cost is more on transportation. Although the salt and iron monopoly was abolished during the reign of Emperor He and a taxation system for private enterprises was implemented, the salt and iron monopolies were still repeatedly state-run in the later period. The current emperor was a money-grubber and there was no way he would let go of this piece of fat meat. Large-scale trafficking is tantamount to seeking death, and small-scale trafficking will disproportionately affect the risk, so wealthy families with the technology are unwilling to get involved. "This method is very mature. It can produce high-quality refined salt quickly and in large quantities, and the cost is almost zero. It is much better than the technology of ordinary families." Tian Ze said with a smug look. These are all his hard work. Even though they are of little use, he still took them out. It is useless now, but it will be of great use when the world is in chaos.
"Okay, at least we can save a lot of money on buying salt." Jia Xu said. “Iron is made in a blast furnace.” "The technology is not mature yet and is still under research. But..." "Hydraulic forging hammer and machining." "I have made some improvements and perfected it based on the original one. I will vigorously promote it in the future and use it for crop processing and iron tool making, rather than using it as a plaything like the imperial court and other noble families..." "Something made of cotton." "It is much warmer than linen, and we in Liaodong need it very much. We just need to plant large-scale cotton, and the corresponding technology has been studied to a relatively mature level..." "The method of making a kang and the method of using a coal stove." "It's also for keeping warm..." "The art of soap, the art of ice making." "Similar to the art of craft brewing, but for a smaller audience..." …… With the continuous communication between Jia Xu and Tian Ze, they have a clearer understanding of the situation of these technologies and their subsequent application and development. Jia Xu finally looked at Tian Ze in amazement: "My lord, you are truly a genius of our time." Hearing Jia Xu's praise, Tian Ze felt a little embarrassed. These technologies have many advantages in Jia Xu's opinion, but in Tian Ze's eyes, most of them are useless. After several years of hard work and investing a lot of manpower and financial resources in research, he finally found that most of the technologies he developed were not very useful, and he was helpless. Imagination and reality are completely different. As a lowly person, he overestimated himself and underestimated this era. Moreover, the rules of this world seem to be different. The properties of some elements have changed, resulting in many things being unable to be developed, such as the gunpowder he has been dreaming about.
The combination of charcoal, saltpeter and sulfur could not explode, which made him feel helpless and he had to give up this powerful weapon. "My lord, the rest of the technologies can be developed and used as soon as possible. The curved plow, double-sided stirrups, and horseshoe technologies are too easy to be exposed. I suggest that you don't use them for the time being." Jia Xu pulled out three of the drawings and said solemnly to Tian Ze. "Once the double-sided stirrup and horseshoe technology is exposed, the strength of the Hu people may increase significantly. Unless we completely eliminate the threat of the Hu people, it is better to keep these technologies sealed." Upon hearing this, Tian Ze nodded, but felt very heavy in his heart. In Youzhou today, the Xianbei and Wuhuan have become a major threat. Especially the Xianbei, under the leadership of Tan Shihuai, their power was almost as great as that of the former Xiongnu. Just thinking about hundreds of thousands of soldiers pulling bows made Tian Ze feel his scalp tingling. One of the reasons why he chose Liaodong as the place to make his fortune was to avoid the limelight. "And what about the curved plow?" Jia Xu smiled slightly: "My lord, according to what you said, the advantage of the curved plow is that it is light and labor-saving, and is suitable for paddy fields in the south with heavy soil and small plots." "As for dry fields in the north, although there are advantages, they are not obvious. Especially for the extremely flat and regular fields on the island, there is no need to turn around and make turns frequently." "The only use of the curved plow for us is probably to reduce the number of oxen we need. But my lord, you don't lack oxen." "Once it is promoted and leaked, you should know who will truly benefit from it, my lord." After hearing this, Tian Ze fell silent. He understood what Jia Xu meant. Just like paper, even if he announced the curved plow to the world, the ones who would benefit would only be the wealthy families, not the common people. Ordinary people could not afford to buy oxen or build plows. The result would be more disaster than blessing. Not only would it aid the enemy, but more people might even become refugees. With the curved plow, the noble families would have less demand for tenants, or they could annex more land for farming. "Then so be it!" Tian Ze has become accustomed to this terrible world. He knew very well that the foundation of his foothold in this era did not lie in these so-called advanced technologies, but in the cultivation of immortals and the insights from later generations. Fertile soil and good weather are his greatest assets. In the following period of time, Tian Ze sincerely felt how important it was to have a good advisor. Although he had the insights of later generations, his practical ability was weak. Many of his ideas would not be well accepted by the local environment when put into practice, and their effectiveness was greatly reduced. Now, he only needed to put forward a few ideas and Jia Xu would be able to understand them immediately and complete them brilliantly, and his thinking would be more thorough, with the results far exceeding his imagination. "Wenhe is a great talent!" Tian Ze couldn't help but sigh with heartfelt emotion every time he reported to Jia Xu. Even so, Tian Ze had no idea how much wisdom and effort Jia Xu had put in.
Such unfathomable wisdom made Tian Ze deeply aware of the huge gap between himself and the top talents of this era. In just half a month, the ten villages had begun to take shape. The people worked in an orderly manner, the young and strong farmed and built houses, while the old and young weeded and collected firewood. There is a bright light in everyone's eyes, that is hope. The depressed island became bustling and full of vitality. After seeing the fertile fields around the new village, the original villagers joined in without hesitation under Jia Xu's secret encouragement and persuasion. As long as they could have enough food, working was better than struggling with those few acres of thin fields. In order to facilitate management, Jia Xu directly named each village after the number of the Heavenly Stems, and built forts and established industries based on the villages. After Jia Xu sorted out Tian Ze's technology, combined it with the geographical location of each village, and after discussion and research, he finally formulated a development plan for Changxing Island based on Tian Ze's suggestions. Because Jia Village is closest to the port, it is responsible for salt drying, wine making, oil refining, soap and sugar making, etc., serving as a window for external profits. Yicun has a wide sea area and many rivers around it, so it focuses on building hydraulic equipment and forging ironware, while also continuing to research coke and blast furnace ironmaking technology. There is a large grassland near Village Bing, and the terrain is relatively flat, which is used to raise cattle and sheep and train war horses. Ding Village raises poultry such as chickens and ducks and pigs on a large scale, while Wu Village develops offshore fisheries and uses a surrounding lake for fish farming. The two are jointly responsible for the supply of meat. Ji Village spread out its planting of fruit trees and vegetables in the southern peninsula, while Geng Village planted a large number of mulberry and other tree species in the northern peninsula for making spears, bows and crossbows. There is a lime mine near Xin Village, which is responsible for producing cement and concrete, and also leads the island's infrastructure and water conservancy projects. Ren Village is responsible for raising silkworms, planting cotton and ramie, etc., which are used to make cotton-padded clothes and quilts. Guicun was responsible for the development of warships, focusing on maritime transportation, while also developing some warships suitable for inland river warfare. In addition, because the original location of the village on the island was very dangerous, Jia Xu planned to build another fortress on this basis, named Changxing Fortress, for garrisoning troops. Tian Ze was very satisfied with Jia Xu's arrangement. He made some suggestions and then implemented it. (End of this chapter)
