Fall In Love with the Technology Tree

"Wow-woo-woo-woo-" The waves beat rhythmically on the black reef. Different from the fine-sand coast filled by the sediment of the Yellow River in later generations, today's Quxian coast is rocky and rugged, and there are several cliffs that look very dangerous.

The only flat spots are at the mouths of several rivers, partly occupied by scattered fishing boats, and two dilapidated wooden long banks occupying a piece of land. On the farther reefs, there are smoky salt kettles scattered all over the place.

Boil salt. The salty, damp branches and leaves were thrown into the fire, sending out puffs of black smoke. This is the most primitive way of cooking salt. It is cooked in a small pot, which is inefficient and the crystals are not white enough.

Zhuge Liang squatted on the windward, covered his mouth and nose with a damp cloth, and then fanned with a palm fan to maintain the temperature of the fire. His handsome face was already pitch black, and he couldn't see the original white and tender appearance. Only when the sweat flows down from his forehead, can he draw a line of white marks.

A Sheng sat on a pile of damp straw, with his sleeves rolled up to his upper arms, tied with cloth strips, holding a copper spoon in one hand, stirring slowly in the salt pan.

"Wow-Wow-Wow-" The tide beats rhythmically, and time seems to stand still.

Suddenly, the wind changed. Soot blew in the direction of Cao Sheng. Ash couldn't help choking. "Cough, cough, cough." She covered the wet cloth on her face and coughed twice.

"Cao Zi, are you all right?" Zhuge Liang quickly dropped the firewood in his hand and reached out to help her.

A Sheng Yaoyao threw two pills into his mouth and suppressed his cough. She was still sitting on the straw pile stirring her brine. The wind blew back to the mainstream southeast wind, and she removed the last bit of sand from the salt pan.

So Zhuge Liang returned to his original position. He simply didn't care about getting dirty, he sat down with his legs crossed, and added firewood to the small salt pan. The world returned to silence, except for the sound of the tides lapping the shore and the wind whistling, as if forever.

The boiling of salt continued, and the black smoke had drowned in the night.

"Cao Zi, I'm a little cold." Zhuge Liang said.

A Sheng took a small branch in his hand: "You go and add a coat."

"I don't want to wear clothes, and my body is sticky, like a layer of salt."

"Be obedient, go and dress, don't catch a cold."

"I want to lean on Cao Zi." Dirty Xiao Liang hummed and leaned over, lifted the corner of Ah Sheng's big cloak and wrapped himself around him, then sat down on the straw pile. The rock they were on was a little high, so the waves couldn't beat it, but instead they felt a kind of condescending comfort.

A Sheng sighed, but did not push him away. "You're really not afraid of me at all."

"Cao Zi, I'm hungry." Zhuge Liang grabbed Master's arm, "Cao Zi, my hands are sore."

"Don't lean over, I'm full of sweat."

"I also smell like sweat, I don't despise you." Zhuge Liang sniffed, "Cao Zi, why do we boil the salt ourselves?"

"Because Qu County is not suitable for salt production."

"You are fooling me again." The boy's eyelids clashed, "Mi Zhu said, Quxian has boiled the sea for salt since ancient times, and has a long history that cannot be verified. If this is not suitable for salt production, where is it suitable for production? What about salt?"

"The climate and sunshine are suitable, but Quxian has many reefs near the sea, there are many peaks on both sides of the port, and tidal flats are scarce, so it is impossible to build a large brine pool. However, the port is really a good port. The Yuzhou Mountain is a natural screen, and the screen can accommodate thousands of sails and hundreds of boats.”

"Qu County is not suitable for salt production, it is only suitable for Hong Kong... Where can salt be produced?" Zhuge Liang half-opened his eyes and rubbed his cloak.

"Yandu in Guangling County, Xuzhou, Fuyang in Bohai County, Jizhou, Yuyang in Youzhou, Zhuya in Jiaozhou..." Even from Budai from Liudao to Kaohsiung, large-scale sunbathing can be built. saltworks.

"So why do we come to Quxian to cook salt?" Zhuge Liang asked, obviously sleepy, and he held on to a question, as if he had been wronged. But it was really wronged, and a layer of skin was sunburned on the neck.

"I want to sit on the beach and listen to the tide, I want to wait for a long time, I want to sweat on my back, I want sore hands and feet, and then I realize that it is not easy to live and live."

Aliang fell asleep at some point, curled up on the rough straw.

A Sheng took off her cloak, wrapped the child tightly, and adjusted a comfortable sleeping position for him. Then she lowered her hand and watched the fire go out little by little.

When the morning sun illuminated the waterfall of Yuzhou Mountain on the second day, a layer of white and yellowish crystals precipitated at the bottom of the pot. "The salt is out, the salt is out." The black reef was full of excited shouts from a certain arrogant child.

The salt grains stuck to the cloth, almost wasting more than half of it, but he was so distressed that he hurriedly put away the cloth bag.

At this time, he realized that he was not wearing a robe with wide sleeves, nor even a pocket to put things, so he had to carry the salt bag in his hand. "Cao Zi...sprinkled a lot...the cloth was also stained a lot, and when it was emptied into the jar, there was not much left..."

A Sheng took his hand without the salt bag: "Are you hungry? Go back to eat."

Zhuge Liang has long been too hungry, but he has a good foundation since he was a child, and he is still alive and kicking all day long. Compared with the stomach that has no feeling, he is more concerned about his salt: "We burned a fire all day and night."

"This is the first time to boil the salt, it will be better in the future."

Zhuge Liang pouted and said "oh" reluctantly.

He didn't ask the soul torture of "Why do we boil the salt ourselves", which is where he qualified compared to other children.

Mi Zhu had already prepared a banquet in the mansion. The yokan from last night was already cold and turned into a jelly. Sliced ​​slices and dipped in bean paste, it is a delicacy that anyone who cooks salt can't even imagine in their dreams.

In addition, there are several seafood dishes that will not be outdated even after two thousand years.

"I am ashamed to eat so much in the morning." Ah Sheng said when he sat down.

Mi Zhu went back warmly and politely: "On the first day in Quxian, I asked Duke Zhonghua to cook salt by the sea for a day, and I didn't eat anything. That's where I should be ashamed. ."

"It's me who acted arbitrarily, but it's hard for you to do it." Ah Sheng got up and gave Zhuge Liang a bowl of corn porridge, and asked the maid to deliver it to his several cases, and then filled it for himself. Yiwan continued to talk to Mi Zhu, "But this house is deep, and it looks the same from Luoyang to Xuzhou. With my eyes, I always want to see some real scenery."

Luo Chi heard the sound of Xianyin and knew Yayi, and explained to the confused Mi Zhu: "Every time Duke Zhonghua goes to a place, he must first look at the suffering of the people. Whitewashing peace is what she hates the most."

Mi Zhu suddenly realized, and cupped his hands: "Dong Zhonghua's benevolent heart is a blessing in the world. Although Quxian is close to the sea, although it is not impossible to survive, there are some sufferings of relying on the sea. Duke Hua asked, and Zhu Zhi said nothing."

A Sheng smiled and waved his hand: "Eat first, after eating, let's go back to the beach."

Hearing her say this, Zhuge Liang stretched out his chopsticks and clamped three crab legs. He just took a shower and changed into new clothes, I'm afraid he will change back to short brown to sweat later.

When he was just taking a shower, he asked for a glass cork bottle from Cao Sheng. It is colorless, transparent, and crystal clear. There is half a bottle of coarse salt in it. When the sun shines, the cross-section of the salt crystal sparkles, with different shades, and it is indescribably beautiful. He hid the salt shaker in his treasured bookcase, and Duke Zhonghua didn't say anything when he saw it.

Actually, Zhuge Liang knew his luxury. He was also cooking salt in a mess. For him, it was just hard work. After cooking a pot of salt, he could return to the mansion to take a bath, incense incense, and eat a feast; But for the salt folks, it is a life-threatening battle, and the fruits of getting up early and cooking at night can only barely satisfy their stomachs.

For example, Zhu Weng, an old salt man who got acquainted with them three days later, relies on this skill to support himself and a granddaughter.

At that time, Ah Sheng was wearing a pair of plain poor trousers, sitting on the shore full of rocks and shells, watching Zhu Weng order bean juice from the salt pan.

"In this way, the salt will form quickly." Juon was black and thin, and he could see the ribs and abdominal muscles through the tattered clothes. He must be under forty-five years old, but he looks like a man buried up to his neck. The old Yanmin didn't speak much, except for the necessary explanations, there was no other words.

And his granddaughter is also a black, thin, black and thin little skin monkey, with shiny black skin, showing a few small white teeth when he smiles. She was only as tall as an adult's waist, and she was able to help carry water and make a fire, and she was at peace in the smoky environment.

Zhuge Liang stood behind Cao Sheng, watching Zhu Weng move. "Are those saponins also in salt water?" he asked suddenly.

"Add bean juice, add saponin, five catties of firewood and one catty of salt. If it were like your day, ten catties of firewood would not burn half a catty." .

"I don't understand this..."

"Do it all."

“…”

"The salt people do this."

“…”

"Hundreds of years, old recipe."

"When I was young, I went to salt and profane."

"Yandu belongs to Guangling County." Mi Zhu, who finally found an opportunity to express himself, took the opportunity to introduce, "That is the sea salt resort, with large and small salt fields scattered everywhere, and every household cooks salt for business. Salt and iron officials, that is the official salt of the eight classics, and the quality is not to be said. Not only the county town is named after salt, but even roads, rivers, and ferry ports are named after salt.”

"The Mi family also sells salt?"

Mi Zhu, who was revealed by Ah Sheng, confessed happily: "I bought it from Yandu and sold it to various places. The family has the official salt certificate, but occasionally some private salt is also included. The official family is Officials, scattered salt households have to eat too, don’t they?”

"Those in Qu County are considered private salt?" Zhuge Liang asked.

"The production of salt here is not high, so we just make a little trouble and supply it to the surrounding villages. If there is no strong labor at home, who would come to eat the bitterness of boiling salt in a small pot What? Zhu Weng used to be a fisherman, but because his son and daughter-in-law both died at sea, and his granddaughter was too young to be separated, so..."

Although Mi Zhu seemed to be quite conspiratorial in the matter of Liu Bei, but when he got in touch, he found that he was a fairly sincere businessman. Judging from the fact that he can casually state the family status of a fisherman, it is not difficult to understand why he is loved in his hometown.

From the point of view of manual production, it is already a great quality and efficiency.

Mi Zhu was already smiling when she saw the quality: "I bought all of them, just to make two pickled lamb legs for Duke Zhonghua. Zhu Weng, cook two more pots to make up three catties, Be quick, I'll pay double the usual price."

"No." The old Yanmin refused without thinking, just two words.

Mi Zhu choked. He found out that he was at the bottom of the food chain.

"The day after tomorrow, April 15th, Ayu, come home."

Mi Zhu suddenly turned pale.