Chapter 277 The emperor is not as prestigious as him

But Wei Zheng obviously would not be fooled.

In other words, he saw too many miracles in Zhao Chen.

Even this time the emperor said that Zhao Chen could make more official salt, Wei Zheng did not doubt it.

He even said that he felt a little lucky in his heart.

Because the official salt of the Tang Dynasty was never enough to supply the people of the Tang Dynasty.

If Zhao Chen really has a way to increase the production of official salt, it will naturally be a blessing to the people of the entire Tang Dynasty.

What was the dispute between him and Zhao Chen?

"The Marquis of Zhao County has extraordinary wisdom and amazing methods. Wei Zheng trusts him!" Wei Zheng and Zhao Chen said, cupping hands.

These words made the emperor even more angry.

Emotionally, you, Wei Zheng, believe in this boy Zhao Chen, but you don’t trust him as the emperor?

Li Shimin wanted to ask, who is the master of the Tang Dynasty?

The other officials who came with him were both surprised and amused when they heard Wei Zheng's words.

In Wei Zheng's eyes, the emperor was not as prestigious as the Zhao Chen in front of him.

But the emperor didn't say anything.

All this seems too unusual!

"Zhao Chen, we came here today just to see how you made these fine salts." Li Shimin gathered his thoughts and looked at Zhao Chen.

The rest of the people also focused their attention on Zhao Chen, with expressions of anticipation on their faces.

"Okay, let's go to the Weishui River twenty miles away. There is a salt mine somewhere!" Zhao Chen nodded.

…

A group of people came to the Weishui River.

Li Shimin was very moved by the Weishui River.

In the first year of Zhenguan, less than two months after he ascended the throne, the Turkic army attacked the other side of the river.

The two armies faced each other. Li Shimin gave many gifts and spent a lot of time to scare away Jieli Khan.

At that time, Li Shimin thought that sooner or later he would destroy the Turks.

Later he did it.

Now that he is back in his old place, Li Shimin is filled with joy.

It's emotion.

"Your Majesty, time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, more than eight years have passed." Fang Xuanling and Li Shimin sighed.

In eight years, things have changed and people have changed.

Many familiar people have moved away from them and will never be seen again.

"You and I are both old. In a few years, the Tang Dynasty will be dominated by their young people!" Li Shimin sighed and looked in the direction of Zhao Chen in front.

Zhao Chen was sitting on the edge of the salt mine. Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaiyu went down to the mine and struck the salt blocks with their big knives.

"Your Majesty treats the Marquis of Zhao County unusually. The Crown Prince and King Wei are already quite unhappy." Fang Xuanling reminded in a low voice.

In fact, it also means testing.

The emperor's attitude towards Zhao Chen went far beyond the friendship between a monarch and his ministers.

According to their thinking, no matter how good the relationship between the two is, it cannot violate the distinction between monarch and minister.

However, no matter what weird things Zhao Chen did or what he said that made people confused, the emperor always laughed it off.

Even sometimes, even if the emperor's majesty was endangered, the emperor would not pursue it.

Coupled with Zhao Chen's resemblance to the emperor when he was young, it was difficult for Fang Xuanling not to have other ideas.

"Zhao Chen is a strange man. Without him, the Tang Dynasty would not have changed so much. He is used to freedom. There is no need to let some unimportant rules constrain him!" Li Shimin said lightly, seemingly unaware of Fang Xuanling's Test.

Fang Xuanling frowned. The emperor's words were equivalent to saying nothing to him.

Because these are all plain words!

"His Majesty……"

"They're coming up!" Li Shimin stood up and walked towards Zhao Chen.

Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaiyu came up carrying two pieces of salt mine, and the carriage they brought from Chang'an City also came here.

The supplies on the carriage are very rich.

In addition to sieves for making salt, hammers, iron tongs, linen cloth, charcoal, wooden barrels, iron pots, and even a few hand-operated stone mills.

Check it carefully and you will see that there are quite a few things required.

Turning to look at Li Shimin and others, he said, "Yan, don't blink your eyes when it comes to raising your hands."

Li Shimin's face showed joy.

The more Zhao Chen behaves like this, the more it proves that he can get this salt out.

Because the terrain here is uneven, with highs and lows, it is not conducive to salt production.

Zhao Chen then led everyone to the plains two miles away.

The terrain here is stable and all equipment is placed here.

"Lao Cheng, Xiao Qin, help break the salt mine into pieces. It's too big to fit!" Zhao Chen and the other two shouted.

Compared to others, Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaiyu had long believed that Zhao Chen could make salt.

After all, before they came here, they had seen salt in the backyard of the tavern that was of better quality than official salt.

The two picked up the hammers from the side and started smashing them.

"Your Majesty, what is the origin of Zhao Chen? Is it reliable?" Li Xiaogong, the prince of Hejian County, also came today.

He really didn't believe that a teenager could have such ability.

Can you still make salt?

Isn’t this a fantasy?

"Zhao Chen is the shopkeeper of the Chang'an City Tavern, but he has so many tricks. Even the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry who usually have a high level of respect for Zhao Chen are in awe of him."

"Because according to them, Zhao Chen's craftsmanship far surpasses theirs and is comparable to Lu Ban!" Changsun Wuji explained, looking at Zhao Chengnei with surprise in his eyes.

"I've only met him a few times before, in the Tai Chi Palace. I just thought he had outstanding literary talent and quick reactions. It seems I've never heard of this method of making salt!" Li Xiaogong still didn't believe it.

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br\u003e If salt production could be so easy, the Tang Dynasty, and even previous dynasties, would not have been unable to increase salt production.

Li Shimin didn't speak, but after listening to Li Xiaogong's words, he felt faintly worried.

Just as Li Xiaogong said, he had never heard of Zhao Chen's method of making salt.

Moreover, making salt is really that simple?

Everyone stopped talking, and everyone was staring at Zhao Chen in front of him.

"Watch the process carefully, I will only do it once." Zhao Chen shouted.

Holding a small hammer in his hand, he carefully smashed the large pieces of salt into small pieces.

It weighed about ten kilograms. He called Qin Huaiyu and poured the salt ore into the stone grinding eye.

Qin Huaiyu started turning the stone mill.

Brown mineral powder slowly overflowed from the edge of the stone mill.

Collect the mineral powder into a wooden barrel, add water, and stir with a wooden stick to fully melt the salt into the water. When the solution is saturated, pour it into another wooden barrel covered with a double layer of linen.

After a while, the linen cloth was covered with gray-black slag.

After removing the linen, the solution in the bucket turned brown and lighter in color, but there were still many impurities.

Another wooden barrel was covered with four layers of linen and filtered again, leaving a light red solution.

The impurities have been filtered out, and the next step is detoxification.

He took a huge funnel and ordered Qin Huaiyu to smash the charcoal.

Before Qin Huaiyu took action, Cheng Chumo smashed the charcoal to pieces.

Zhao Chen wrapped the charcoal granules with four layers of linen and stuffed them into the funnel. He squeezed them tightly, found a shelf, fixed the funnel on the shelf, and poured the solution into the funnel.

After a while, the light blue solution slowly flowed out. Take a handful and taste it. Yes, it only tastes salty, not bitter. Although some salt is lost in the process, it can be guaranteed that the cooked salt is absolutely edible.

Set up a firewood pot and pour the solution into the pot to boil. Zhao Chen just stood up. His waist was sore. Is it easy to get some salt?