Chapter 34

As Xia Hongsheng saw everyone's reaction, he scratched his head, said nothing, and turned back into the kitchen. When he came out again, he had a small earthenware pot in his hand. He walked to the courtyard and placed the pot on the table. The four people stared at the white substance in the pot with surprise. Yan Shigu looked at the pot with some astonishment and said with doubt, "Is this salt? I have never seen such white salt, it is even whiter than the green salt used for mouth cleansing!"

Saying this, Master Yan Shigu unhesitantly extended his finger to dip some from the pot and then put it in his mouth, immediately squinting and making a face, "It really is salt!"

Instantly, three pairs of eyes sharply turned to Xia Hongsheng. The sharp gazes made Xia Hongsheng feel somewhat nervous and tremble. Uh, what are these three people going to do, looking like they want to eat me? Do they think I was born to be scared?

"This thing... hmm, Jing Shi, did anyone see you when you were making the salt?" Yan Shigu recovered first, his expression solemn, and he asked Xia Hongsheng with a serious face. The other two people also recovered and had equally serious expressions.

Seeing their reactions, Xia Hongsheng frowned slightly. Seeing their serious expressions, he excluded his sister-in-law and said, "No, I made the salt when my sister-in-law was not at home, even she doesn't know."

"Very good!" Yan Shigu nodded, turned to look at the middle-aged scholar and Xu Xiaode, and the three of them sat down again, lowering their voices to start talking. Their voices were very light and small. Xia Hongsheng, curious, secretly moved closer to listen but only heard, "The most important use of this thing, in my view, should be in the western army..." Trying to listen further, he was glared at by Yan Shigu and had to scratch his head and move away. Tsk, not letting me listen, I'll go eat something good. Xia Hongsheng turned and gave Xu Qixian a look, and Xu Qixian immediately understood, walked around the three people, and came to Xia Hongsheng's side, following him into the kitchen.

Xia Hongsheng lifted the wooden pot lid, searched in the pot, and then scooped out two lamb bones. He sprinkled some seasonings on them and turned to hand one to Xu Qixian, who was already drooling from the aroma. Xu Qixian didn't hesitate, took the lamb bone, and started gnawing. One bite, he tore off a piece of lamb, chewed a few times, and his eyes lit up, immediately devouring the bone in a few quick bites.

Xia Hongsheng, who had only gnawed less than half, stared at Xu Qixian with wide eyes, speechless, and fished out another bone from the pot to hand over, "Xu Brother, eat slowly, you look like you haven't eaten for hundreds of years, is it really necessary..."

Hearing Xia Hongsheng say this, Xu Qixian smiled awkwardly, "Ah, don't blame me, I left early this morning to notify you at the academy and didn't have breakfast, I'm really hungry now!"

Xia Hongsheng smiled, turned, and scooped out a half-mouthful of soup from the pot to taste it. Hmm, it's about right. He then took a large bowl, cut some scallions, sliced some lamb, added seasonings, and poured a full bowl of lamb soup, turning to place it in front of Xu Qixian, "Eat, the pancake strips haven't been made yet, just make do with scallion oil pancakes."

Xu Qixian didn't hesitate, bent down to take a scallion oil pancake, blew on it, and took a sip of the lamb soup, immediately looking surprised, "It's fresh, fragrant, and delicious, it's lamb but without the usual gamey taste, and it even has a hint of fragrance! I've never tasted such a delicious soup before! Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Xia Hongsheng rolled his eyes, are you a cat person?

Xu Qixian didn't care about the heat, picked up his chopsticks, and started drinking the soup in large gulps. Xia Hongsheng slowly gnawed on the lamb bone, thinking about the bright future of his family. The lamb soup was quite successful, and from Xu Qixian's reaction, it would definitely be a hit if sold on the street. The pine wood and white芷 (white芷 is a type of herb, but it's not commonly known in English, so it's left untranslated) were a secret recipe and couldn't be revealed to others for now. When the lamb soup stand was set up, he would make some thin pancakes and cut them into strips. For those who didn't want the strips, there would be scallion oil pancakes. Business should be good. As the family's life improved day by day, his sister-in-law, though busy, smiled more and looked more spirited, and didn't seem as old. When her relatives came to help, she would have more leisure time. As the snack stand gradually expanded, they could lease a larger storefront, not a restaurant, but a snack city with various dishes, all at reasonable prices, new and delicious, and business would surely be great.

Xia Hongsheng slowly gnawed on the lamb bone, lost in thought about the bright future of his family, when he suddenly heard a cough from the door. Looking up, he saw the other three people had finished their secret talk and were coming over.

Xu Qixian choked and quickly stood up, coughing. Xia Hongsheng wasn't as panicked, bowed and said, "Xu Brother didn't eat breakfast this morning and was very hungry. I made some lamb soup, so I gave him a bowl first. Master Yan, Sir, Uncle Xu, please take your seats, I'll bring the soup out."

"No rush," Yan Shigu waved his hand and said to Xia Hongsheng, "Jing Shi, continue to make salt from the salt soil and explain the process to us."

Xia Hongsheng nodded and led the three people back to the courtyard, pointing to the two large wooden buckets, "The process is actually very simple. First, the salt ore must be ground into salt soil—what I bought was already salt soil—then pour the salt soil into these two wooden buckets and stir continuously to fully dissolve it in water. This is the first step."

After saying this, Xia Hongsheng took out two pieces of hemp cloth, covered the bucket mouths, and continued, "The second step is filtration. The salt soil contains too many impurities, besides salt, there are many other mineral components. Hemp cloth can effectively filter out the larger particles."

As he spoke, Xia Hongsheng began to filter the salt water in the bucket, and Xu Qixian also came out. The four people closely watched Xia Hongsheng's every move. After filtering several times, Xia Hongsheng removed the hemp cloth, and the originally clean cloth was now full of residue.

"These are the larger particles, all toxic minerals. If you eat the salt soil directly, you would ingest these as well." Xia Hongsheng replaced the hemp cloth with two clean pieces and explained, "But it's not enough yet, there are still many invisible toxins that need to be filtered out with charcoal."

He wrapped the charcoal in the hemp cloth and filtered the salt water many times until it turned a light green color, then stopped.

"The final step is to boil the filtered salt water in a pot. When the water boils away, the good salt will be left." Xu Qixian helped Xia Hongsheng pour the remaining salt water into the pot and started boiling it.

After completing everything, Xia Hongsheng invited the four people back to the table.

"Jing Shi, don't blame us for our behavior. You are young and don't know how many people have died due to the lack of salt." After sitting down, Yan Shigu said with a sad expression, and the others had similar expressions. He continued, "Sea salt is hard to come by, and the people lack salt. Without salt, the body swells, and children's eyes become dim and unable to see. They can only eat salt soil, which is also toxic. Long-term consumption leads to purple bruises all over the body, stiff tongue, and eventually death from poisoning. During the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang's three campaigns against Goguryeo gathered hundreds of thousands of troops in Liaodong. The cold weather in Liaodong prevented the sea ships from arriving, and the troops lacked food and salt. Without salt, the soldiers fell ill, became weak, and could not fight. Combined with the cold weather, countless died, turning into a field of bones. Now, our Tang Dynasty has been established, and although we have temporary peace, the surrounding countries, especially the Western Turks, Xueyantuo, and Tuyuhun, will inevitably have a war. The western army probably lacks salt even more than the people in Guanzhong. However, the Western Regions are full of salt soil. If this method can be used, it will not only solve the army's lack of salt but also add countless salt fields to our Tang Dynasty, so the people will no longer lack salt. At that time, this achievement will be worthy of ennoblement and promotion!"

As they spoke, Master Yan Shigu couldn't sit still and insisted on seeing the salt being boiled out. The four people entered the kitchen and saw the white salt crystals gradually forming as the water in the pot evaporated. The four people opened their eyes wide, and the middle-aged scholar unhesitantly extended his finger, dipped some saliva, and tasted a bit of the white salt crystals, immediately looking excited at the others, "This is really salt! There's no mistake, this is really salt!"

Master Yan Shigu's body trembled like a sieve, his face flushed, his eyes wide, one hand pointing at the fine salt in the pot, the other hand forcefully twisting his beard, unable to speak for a long time. When his hand trembled so much that several beard hairs were pulled out, Xia Hongsheng was worried and almost wanted to pinch his philtrum. Finally, he managed to squeeze out a few words, "This method of extracting salt from the mine, it's ingeniously crafted, ingeniously crafted! I... Jing Shi, good! I am greatly comforted! Jing Shi, this method..."

Xia Hongsheng understood Master Yan Shigu's meaning and bowed, smiling, "This method of making salt will naturally be handled by Master Yan. If it can be spread to benefit the people, it will be a great good deed."

Master Yan Shigu laughed heartily, his eyes almost closed, looking at Xia Hongsheng as if he were a treasure, making Xia Hongsheng feel uneasy.

The other two people were silent for a long time. Finally, Xu Qixian's uncle took a step back, bent down, and gave a long bow, sighing, "I, on behalf of the people of the world, thank you, Nephew Xia! What a Jing Shi who cares for the people and has a heart for the world, the method of making salt and your name will surely be recorded in history!"

"Uncle Xu, you flatter me!" Xia Hongsheng quickly dodged, and Master Yan Shigu laughed heartily, "Unfortunately, there is no wine here! Never mind, let's make a few bowls of the food we just had. I am in a good mood today and will eat three large bowls, hahaha!..."

Xia Hongsheng was speechless, almost unable to resist rolling his eyes.