Chapter Fifty-Nine: Cyan Salt

  Li Meng smiled and said:

  "Either it's quiet, or when something happens, everything comes at once. Can you say what's going on?"

  "It's probably just an ordinary banquet, nothing big."

  ……

  The two salt shop owners were originally half of the Lai State's private salt industry, but they were suddenly controlled by Li Meng, who took control of the source and price, naturally not pleased with the profit, only to find that Li Meng had already taken control of the entire Lai State and the adjacent two states' private salt trade.

  Yan Zhang's ruthless methods shocked many people, and the two shopkeepers also became honest. However, there were some benefits. Li Meng rectified the private salt market, greatly improving the quality of the salt sold. Originally, the salt produced by the salt fields and privately sold contained mud and sand, with poor quality.

  Now the quality of salt produced is very good, and the salt from these two salt stores is not sold in areas controlled by Li Meng, so they can sell this salt without impurities mixed with things like sand to increase their profits, which is an unexpected good thing.

  To them, Li Meng is both the god of wealth and the god of evil, now they all live in Fengmeng Town, so they have to be careful and serve him well.

  During the construction of this mansion, two shopkeepers and salt warehouse owners made great efforts, and regularly hosted banquets to invite Li Meng. These two shopkeepers' banquets were still willing to participate in Li Meng, because the dishes were excellent, and the salt warehouse owner's income was rich. They were indeed people who valued enjoyment, coming to this small town of Mangzhong, they brought chefs and servants from their hometown.

  Moreover, the two shopkeepers' residences were quite exquisite, and here they enjoyed delicious food and the host's meticulous service, which was a rare leisurely way for Li Meng. There was also an advantage to this banquet, as the two shopkeepers had very timely information, and they regularly had salt ships coming and going between Lai State and Yan State, often bringing in some outside news, so that they could somewhat understand what was happening outside.

  So Li Meng generally accepted the salt shop owner's invitation with pleasure, and if he didn't attend such gatherings, the other party might become suspicious.

  The food and wine of the Jiaodong Peninsula emphasize light cooking to bring out the original flavor of the ingredients, but the chef at Wang's Salt Storehouse cooks in the style of Yanzhou, with a thicker flavor that makes liberal use of pork, beef, and mutton. For Li Meng, who practices martial arts every day without rest, this meat is just what he needs to satisfy his appetite.

  After a few cups of wine, the two shopkeepers' words also increased, and after gathering several times, they also knew Li Meng's habits. Li Meng preferred to listen to their discussions about external things rather than engage in conversation. This discovery made the two shopkeepers feel more balanced inside. Li Erlang, no matter how capable you are, you're still a country bumpkin, not as worldly and knowledgeable as us.

  "Henan and Shaanxi are getting more and more chaotic, the group that went to Luoyang to sell salt recently was robbed by bandits before they even entered the city, they barely escaped with their pants on back to Jining."

  "It's chaotic and unsafe, Lord Li. The borders of Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Jinan are not peaceful, with bandits active in the area. Merchants dare not travel there."

  "Isn't it hard to get around where the three prefectures meet?"

  Li Meng casually asked, the other day someone complained to him that the salt from Qingzhou can now only be bought and sold in areas near Laizhou, while other places are chaotic with soldiers and horses, and it's impossible to get through.

  Seeing Li Meng did not intend to continue this topic, the two shopkeepers continued to say:

  "Shaanxi and Henan are in chaos, the prices of sheepskin and woolen blankets have risen together. The town of Ji is also plagued by bandits, and the Mongols' fur cannot be transported, which really allows Old Jiang to profit, the leather goods in his hands are all sold at double the price, tsk tsk!"

  "That's the goods, you don't see how much silver he lost before, several big merchants in Jining who do miscellaneous goods are now worried and anxious, all the stocks of green salt in their hands have been sold out, prices skyrocketed, what can they do?"

  Salt?

  Li Meng finally heard the topic he was interested in, he was a salt inspector, and his subordinates were doing a big private salt business, so he was naturally very concerned about this "salt" word. The two shopkeepers saw Li Meng's interest and quickly explained:

  "Both the northern and southern regions of Zhili and other major cities use Qinghai salt from Shaanxi and Gansu. Now, with Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion causing chaos in that area, the imperial court has dispatched a large army to quell it, making it impossible for people to travel out of Shaanxi. Many local products cannot be transported out, what about the Qinghai salt?"

  "What is Qing Yan?"

  No matter how careful the two salt warehouse managers were, trying to please him, looking at Li Meng's eyes was also filled with astonishment, or more accurately, it was filled with contempt, that kind of "you country bumpkin" contempt.

  When leaving the banquet of two salt shop owners, Li Meng finally knew what this green salt was. Since coming to this era from modern times, there were many habits that were not used to, such as brushing teeth. Toothbrushes could be solved with wooden sticks and pig bristles, but toothpaste was not easy to get.

  However, looking at the people around him, they all used salt water to rinse their mouths and willow branches to brush their teeth. After getting used to it, Li Meng found that the effect of doing so was not much worse than using toothpaste.

  Only Ling Shan Wei and Xue Jia Island areas are near the sea, almost every household is engaged in boiling seawater to make salt, and there is no shortage of salt. Li Meng has already become accustomed to it, and even rarely notices it.

  Today, two shopkeepers mentioned it, Li Mengcai took it seriously and walked on the street. After Feng Town became prosperous, although the weather was cold today, there were still many pedestrians on the road. When people met Li Meng, they all bowed their heads to greet him, but Li Meng walked with his head down, strolling aimlessly.

  In the contemptuous attitude of the salt shop owner, Li Meng knew that in inland areas, or rather in slightly better-off families in the Ming dynasty, brushing teeth with green salt was a necessity, just like modern toothpaste.

  What is called Qingyan is the well salt produced in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Li Meng has been doing private salt business for a long time, so he knows a lot about salt. This salt is also divided into three, six and nine grades. The sea salt produced on his own land by the sea is the worst quality, while the well salt and pool salt are top-grade.

  Especially in the Shaanxi-Gansu region, the well salt is almost as good as refined salt and has the highest price. This type of salt is considered to be pure and has unique uses. Most of its uses are for cleaning teeth. The price of sea salt from the salt fields is generally one or two yuan per dan, but this well salt can sell for three or four yuan in Shaanxi province. After leaving Shaanxi, it can sell for eight to ten yuan in nearby Henan, Shanxi, and Sichuan provinces, and even up to twelve to fourteen yuan in Shandong province.