Chapter 51: Then Let Us Make Our Own Salt

“So Sun Ce is merely controlling the salt merchants, and that’s enough to tighten the noose around our necks? How can we talk of conquering the world like this?” Chu Feng demanded coldly.

“My lord, there’s nothing we can do. There’s very little salt in the Huai and Ru regions; we rely entirely on the east for our supply. It’s not an exaggeration to say we must depend on others. For now, all we can do is calm the people and seek salt,” Liu Ye replied.

“My lord, Zi Yang is right. We must pacify the populace and contact salt traders across various regions to have them smuggle salt to us. As long as we get through this period, Sun Ce will give up,” Lu Su interjected succinctly.

A blockade was certainly helpful, but salt smugglers were common. Still, in such circumstances, it would be difficult to supply everyone’s needs.

“Contact salt traders? Rely on smuggling? Hmph, such makeshift solutions are mere stopgaps, not cures. Must we always be strangled in this way? Besides, how can we guarantee successful smuggling?” Chu Feng retorted.

“Smuggled sea salt is not only expensive, it drives people away. It’s only a temporary measure,” Chu Feng waved his hand, clearly disagreeing.

“But, my lord, at present, there’s no other option,” Liu Ye sighed, feeling anxious. Truly, this was a troubled time. They had only just solved the famine, and now Sun Ce was cutting off the salt merchants. Sun Ce seemed bent on destroying the people north of the river.

“Then we’ll make our own salt!” Chu Feng said in a deep voice. “Sun Ce and Chen Deng want to restrict the salt merchants? Then we’ll produce our own and sell it back to them. I want to see who comes out on top!”

“Make it ourselves?” The three exchanged glances.

“My lord, Shouchun isn’t near the sea, nor does it have lakes or wells with brine. How can we make edible salt? If making salt were so simple, there wouldn’t be government monopolies on salt and iron!” Lu Su sighed helplessly.

Regional resources can’t just be compensated for so easily, and they were powerless to change this.

Chu Feng pondered. He knew well that salt was incredibly easy to refine—it was practically a staple in historical novels, and often made from readily available salt mines. He had researched the relevant material before while writing his own novels, though he’d never actually done it himself. Still, mineral salt could be processed into edible salt, and even into fine refined salt!

No matter, he’d try and see.

“To refine salt, you don’t necessarily need sea salt, lake salt, or well salt,” Chu Feng said suddenly, leaving the three looking at each other in confusion.

Could there be another kind of salt?

But recalling Chu Feng’s inventions, they felt a spark of hope. They hurriedly asked, “My lord, what else can be used to refine edible salt?”

“You’ll see soon enough!”

“Xu Chu, Zhao Fan, don’t get too comfortable in the camp yet. Come with me!” Chu Feng mounted his horse and called out.

At once, Lu Su, Zhao Fan and the others followed on horseback, curious to see how Chu Feng would make salt. If he succeeded, Chu Feng would be as wise as a sage.

Chu Feng rode ahead. In the previous days, he had spent his time reviewing documents, examining records, and reading local chronicles. He had discovered many salt fields—land where nothing could grow.

At the time, securing the area and reorganizing the military had been his priority, so he’d only made note of these fields. He hadn’t expected Sun Ce to cut off their salt supply—how foolish!

About half an hour later, Chu Feng reined in his horse.

Before him stretched dry fields, everywhere littered with dead trees and grass. But Chu Feng’s gaze was fixed on a slightly elevated salt field.

Nothing grew here; it was barren and bare.

Chu Feng strode forward, followed closely by Lu Su and the others.

Using his sword, Chu Feng pried up a chunk—it was indeed rock salt, the so-called mineral salt. With such a large field, there was enough to supply countless people for years.

He stuck out his tongue and tasted it—bitter and salty. He was now certain.

He smiled and said, “This is it!”

The group behind him paused in disbelief, staring at Chu Feng. Lu Su hurried forward. “My lord, this is bitter salt, also known as poisonous salt. It can’t be eaten.”

“If it’s eaten by mistake, at best it causes persistent diarrhea; at worst, it can turn a person purple, and unless it’s a last resort, people never dare eat it. Too much can kill.”

“Of course it can kill,” Chu Feng said, coughing lightly. “This stuff is rich in... rich in... anyway, it has certain elements. If you eat it without processing, it’ll cause diarrhea, purple skin, even death!”

To be honest, he didn’t know exactly what it was rich in—he’d never paid much attention. All he knew was that too much could kill; the body just couldn’t digest it.

Lu Su: “???”

Yan Xiang: “???”

Liu Ye: “???”

The three advisors were now intrigued. Could poisonous salt really be processed into edible salt like that produced from evaporated seawater? Their curiosity was tinged with skepticism.

If it were true, then with so many exposed salt fields, wouldn’t that mean...

“My lord, can you process it into something edible?” Lu Su asked, the others eyeing Chu Feng with anticipation.

“It should... it should be possible,” Chu Feng raised his eyebrows. It sounded simple enough, but novel-writing relied on book knowledge; theory and practice were likely different.

“Come, help me dig up some salt blocks!”

After some time—

The Governor’s residence, back courtyard.

Chu Feng and his party had returned, bringing back dozens of pounds of mineral salt.

Xu Chu and Zhao Fan were breaking up the mineral salt; Lu Su was searching for the containers Chu Feng requested; Yan Xiang was gathering charcoal; Liu Ye was finding silk cloth, and so on.

Soon, the mineral salt was placed in the container, with clean water added. But as the water touched the salt, it was instantly stained, and then the boiling began.

Liu Ye and Lu Su watched eagerly. They recognized this step—boiling the salt—but other methods didn’t usually involve adding water.

After some time, the mineral salt dissolved completely.

The water was brought to a boil and began to bubble.

“Use a low flame and let it crystallize along the walls!” Chu Feng stroked his chin and directed the process. Refining salt was simple: break it up, distill, crystallize, filter, and crystallize again.

He understood the basic principle; the key was filtering out the impurities. He’d described the process in his novels and knew the general steps.

Soon, crystals formed along the edges of the container—clearly, edible salt from the second crystallization. This step was mainly to extract edible salt from the mineral salt.

In no time, a small bowlful of salt was scraped out. Lu Su asked urgently, “My lord, what now?”

“Dissolve it in clean water, then pour it here!” Chu Feng instructed.

The salt dissolved again, and Lu Su poured the solution into a container Chu Feng had prepared. In the center was a silk cloth, folded four times, with charcoal inside.

Shortly, the salt water was fully filtered.

Now, the filtered solution had changed from cloudy to relatively clear. Chu Feng pondered and said, “Pour it out and filter it once more!”

“Understood!”

The process was repeated three times.

Now, the water in the container was crystal clear—obviously, all impurities had been filtered out.

“All right, now heat it to crystallize!”

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