What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 92 The Young Widow Delivered to Your Door

Hearing Su Mo inquire about the salt route.

Chen Bao was immediately energized, and even forgot about his daughter's matter for the time being!

After a moment's thought, he said, "Recently, the warriors of Chenjia Village have cleared the salt route connecting forty-one villages and more than fifty hamlets!"

At this point, Chen Bao couldn't help but show a proud look on his face: "Nearly 20,000 households need to get their salt from Uncle Chen."

Su Mo frowned: "Only this many people?"

Chen Bao was immediately stunned.

What do you mean by "only this many people"?

A full 100,000 people!

Outside Changping County, Chenjiazhai has taken over almost a third of the salt consumption of the population!
This was achieved by Chenjiazhai after losing more than thirty of its most valiant warriors and fighting off several groups of salt merchants!
He figured Su Mo probably didn't know what this meant, so he explained, "Lord Su, this is already quite a lot!"

"Adults consume one pound of salt per month, while children consume half a pound of salt per month!"

"With a population of 100,000, they can consume 70,000 catties of smuggled salt in a month!"

"Moreover, with no other salt merchants competing for business, we can make a profit of three large coins per pound of salt! That's equivalent to three hundred and ten taels of silver!"

Chen Qian became more and more excited as he spoke!
A lucrative business with a monthly profit of over three hundred taels of silver!

He never dared to dream of this before!
Su Mo suddenly frowned.

As previously stated, my share is 15%, which is no more than 45 taels of silver per month.

My uncle once said that even a share of the profits would be worth over a hundred taels of silver.

Could it be that the area of ​​a hundred miles that my uncle mentioned includes all the people outside Changping County?
or.

Did Chen Bao really cheat me?

If Su Mo doesn't understand the reasons behind this, how can he entrust the method of refining salt to Chen Bao with peace of mind!

He looked directly into Chen Bao's eyes and slowly said, "Uncle Chen!"

“I once heard my third uncle say that if a salt road covering a radius of a hundred miles were opened up, even a small share of the profits would yield a hundred taels of silver.”

"How come even with a 15% profit margin, it's only forty or fifty taels?"

Chen Bao immediately smiled: "Don't worry, Magistrate Su!"

"Initially it's forty or fifty taels, but after a year or two, Su Ya's share will at least quadruple!"

Su Mo was somewhat puzzled: "What do you mean by that, Uncle Chen?"

Chen Bao explained, "Whether it's official salt or smuggled salt, the biggest profit isn't from the salt itself, but from the sand mixed in!"

"Some unscrupulous salt smugglers can even mix in 50% sand!"

"However, we've just opened up the salt route, and those smugglers are definitely not satisfied. They might gather their forces and come to kill us!"

He paused, then added, "Therefore, the initial batches of smuggled salt sold must be of good quality."

"In this way, even if the salt route is temporarily taken back, those mountain villagers may not necessarily buy salt from other salt merchants."

"After a long time, when outside salt merchants can no longer enter, the sand content can be gradually increased."

"In this way, profits can easily double!"

Su Mo was stunned!

Half a pound of sand in a pound of salt?

How to eat this?
No wonder everyone says the profits from salt are enormous; it turns out there's such a huge method behind it!

Selling sand at the price of grain and salt, how much could it not be worth?

Seeing that Su Mo remained silent, Chen Bao assumed he was dissatisfied with his current share of the profits. After hesitating for a moment, he added, "If Director Su wants to increase his share, that's not out of the question..."

Su Mo waved her hand: "Forget it, let's leave it like this. Let's not add sand to the salt."

He simply couldn't bring himself to take such ill-gotten gains!
Besides, it's not much money!

Chen Bao shook his head: "That's not what Uncle Chen meant."

He lowered his voice: "Has Su Ya ever heard of Xianyan Mountain?"

Su Mo frowned: "Immortal Salt Mountain? That sounds familiar."

Chen Bao said in a low voice, "It is said that hundreds of years ago, there was a Taoist sorcerer who opened up a cave in the Immortal Salt Mountain and hid there to cultivate."

"Somehow it was leaked later; it turned out that it wasn't a cave at all, but a salt mine!"

"The mineral salt in that salt cave is highly toxic and inedible, but there happens to be a brine well that produces high-quality well salt!"

Su Mo's heart suddenly stirred: "Go on!"

Chen Bao nodded: "After the news leaked out, Bao Qian dispatched troops to take over Yanjing!"

"Later, the brine gradually dried up, and there was not much profit to be made, so it was sold to a salt merchant." "Now, Xianyan Mountain is occupied by a group of bandits. Although there is not much brine, it is said that they can still produce several thousand catties of well salt every year!"

He took a deep breath: "If we take down Xianyan Mountain..."

"Not only can we earn an extra few hundred taels of silver every year, but we can also open up the salt route to Tieshan County!"

Without hesitation, Su Mo said in a deep voice, "Immortal Salt Mountain must be taken!"

For Su Mo.

That's not a toxic salt mine at all, but a silver mine and a gold mine!
The reason why mineral salt is toxic is simply because it contains many impurities, such as high sodium and magnesium ion content. With a little processing and purification, it can be made into edible refined salt!

If we take over Xianyan Mountain.

They could use the guise of well salt to conceal the secret of refining salt!

Chen Bao hesitated for a moment: "It's not that Uncle Chen doesn't want to take over Xianyan Mountain."

"However, the Immortal Salt Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the bandits entrenched there are extremely fierce, numbering no less than a hundred."

"Especially the bandit leader, Qingjiao Daoren, is said to be a first-rate master who also cultivates immortality; his strength is truly remarkable!"

He looked intently at Su Mo: "With the strength of our Chen Family Village alone, it's impossible to conquer Xianyan Mountain!"

Su Mo realized to himself, "So that's how it is."

A powerful Taoist sorcerer, plus a hundred ruthless bandits.

It's not exactly very strong, but it's definitely not weak either.

The key point is that the annual income of several hundred taels of silver from Xianyan Mountain is not enough to make people risk a deadly battle with such a band of mountain bandits!
He pondered for a moment: "According to Uncle Chen's opinion, how many troops would be needed to take Xianyan Mountain?"

Chen Bao, suppressing his excitement, immediately said, "At least two hundred armored soldiers and fifty archers."

"Plus, there's a master who can rival the Azure Dragon Daoist!"

He had clearly considered this issue beforehand: "If Su Ya really wants to take Xianyan Mountain, Uncle Chen can send out at most a hundred warriors."

"The rest is up to you, Su Ya, to figure out!"

Su Mo nodded: "Uncle Chen, please go and rest at your third uncle's place for a couple of days."

"I will make a decision after I have found out the situation of Xianyan Mountain."

Such an important matter definitely needs to be discussed with my third uncle.

Also, go back to the yamen and the garrison to see if there is any relevant information!
No matter what, we must take Xianyan Mountain!

Chen Bao wanted to go find his daughter to ask about the situation, but it was getting late and he wasn't in a hurry, so he nodded and prepared to leave.

Su Mo suddenly called out to him, "Uncle Chen, wait a moment!"

Su Mo went back to his room and handed the gold bracelet he had redeemed from the pawnshop to Chen Bao, saying with a smile, "Last time, Qian Yu pawned the gold bracelet and happened to run into you, kid."

"Young man, you redeemed the gold bracelet, but you were afraid Qianyu would be too shy to accept it, so you'll just return it to Uncle Chen!"

He paused, then said, "Uncle Chen, please don't talk about money."

"Last time, that kid also shamelessly asked Uncle Chen for his cultivation method!"

Chen Bao's expression was somewhat complicated. He accepted the gold bracelet, remained silent for a moment, and finally said, "Thank you, Magistrate Su!"

"Uncle Chen, farewell!"

After Chen Bao left.

Su Mo's face suddenly darkened.

Xianyan Mountain looks like a tough nut to crack.

Those Taoist sorcerers who also practice martial arts are particularly difficult to deal with.

Should we ask Old Wang to take action?

Or perhaps, Ning Xiaoxiao, the junior sister of the female centurion?

Ning Xiaoxiao, at the peak of the Body Observation Realm, wields two string-twirling flying swords with exceptional skill; dealing with that Azure Dragon Daoist should be no problem for her.

Forget it.

Let's find out more about the situation tomorrow.

As he was pondering, he suddenly heard a knock on the hall door.

The young widow, with a touch of playfulness, blinked her bright, mischievous eyes and said, "My lord... I just saw Uncle Chen Bao leave through the side door?"

"Um……"

The young widow's pretty face suddenly flushed slightly: "Auntie said she wouldn't bother Su Lang anymore and has already left..."

I, Hu Hanshan, am back with another update! As expected, there will be two more chapters tonight, but dear readers, you'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to read them! As always, please vote for me next month! I'm shameless!

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(End of this chapter)