Zhenfubao waved his hand and the warehouse was full of grain, and the whole family regretted it

Shen Tao ate and chattered:

"Oh my! This spicy crayfish is delicious, but it's too spicy.

Is this what you sell in your braised food shop?"

Bai Wanwan smiled and said:

"Hey! Yeah? My braised food shop sells a lot of things, and I'm going to open a barbecue restaurant soon.

That’s why I invited you guys to a barbecue. Try it and give me your feedback.”

Shen Tao ate while shaking his head and said:

"You are such a capable girl, thinking about business all day long.

You already own a pharmacy, a silk shop, a pastry shop, and a bookstore. Are you still thinking about opening a new store?"

Bai Wanwan raised an eyebrow and said, "Who would complain about having too many stores? I want to open stores all over the world."

Several shopkeepers walked in. Bai Wanwan looked at them and asked, "Are you going to report today?"

The shopkeepers all nodded. Bai Wanwan looked at them and said, "Eat as much as you want. After you're done, please give us your opinion on how the barbecue tastes."

Shen Tao said while eating leeks: "This leek is quite delicious."

Bai Wanwan went straight into the study, flipped through the large stack of bills, and said, "Hey! Several stores made a total of over 8,000 taels. Is that normal?"

Her shops were very profitable. She used to make no less than ten thousand taels of silver every month, but this month the profit suddenly dropped a lot.

An old shopkeeper quickly said, "Young master, this really can't be blamed on us. Just look at the price of salt now!"

Bai Wanwan was shocked when she saw the price of salt: "A dou of salt has risen to 400 wen. Is this salt made of gold?"

Shopkeeper Wang, who runs a snack shop, spoke first:

"The price of salt has gone up so much! I make pastries and buns, and I can't do without salt.

If you put too little, it's tasteless, but if you put too much, the cost is unbearable. The salt and pepper peach cakes I made recently, customers all said they weren't as fragrant as before."

Shopkeeper Zhao, who runs a braised food shop next door, sighed:

"Your case is fine, but my stewed food really cannot do without salt!

When braising pig's trotters or sauce duck wings, if there is not enough salt, the flavor will not be suppressed and the food will spoil easily.

Not only is salt expensive now, but sometimes you can't even buy it even if you have money. The other day, it was out of stock for half a day, and several tables were empty.

The barbeque owner also frowned:

"That's right! When it comes to grilling skewers and vegetables, salt in the sauce is key. Without enough salt, even the freshest meat will taste bland.

Customers don't complain, but the number of repeat customers has decreased, and I'm so anxious I'm burning with worry."

Bai Wanwan looked at them and asked, "Is it the same in other shops?"

Shopkeeper Zhao nodded and said:

"Nowadays, all the food shops in Bianjing City are doing the same thing, just waiting for the opportunity.

I really can’t afford the salt, and I don’t know what’s going on.”

Others didn't know what was going on, but Bai Wanwan understood it somewhat in her heart. The Jiang family was deliberately forcing Qi Guangheng to compromise.

To put it bluntly, the Jiang family’s current position is very delicate, and they must find a backer.

But when the Sixth Prince and the Tenth Prince saw them, they looked at them as if they were staring at a piece of fat meat. If they cooperated with each other, it would be like trying to get the skin of a tiger.

The best choice is to follow the Eighteenth Prince. The Eighteenth Prince has a shallow foundation now, but he is outstanding and is favored by His Majesty the Emperor. He may become the Crown Prince one day.

Bai Wanwan sneered and said, "The Jiang family has a good plan..."

"Well! Salt is indeed scarce. It would be nice if we had our own salt fields."

The sun was shining brightly outside the yard, making the blue brick floor glow white.

Suddenly, Zhiwei's hurried voice penetrated the door curtain: "Miss, the people who went to the beach are back! I wonder if this trip will be successful..."

Bai Wanwan paused while flipping through the accounts, then raised her hand and waved, "Let them all come in."

The door curtain was opened with a rustling sound, and dozens of men came in one after another. Their coarse clothes were still stained with salt and sand, but they could not hide the excitement on their faces.

All the shopkeepers retreated. The young man in the lead stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said, "Miss, it's done! Everything is settled over at the salt fields!"

Bai Wanwan raised her eyes to look at him, her gaze calm: "Tell me in detail, what's the situation."

"According to your previous instructions, we have enclosed 20 mu of mudflats on the seashore, built earthen embankments to block the tide, and dug ditches for water diversion.

We brought seawater in a few days ago, and after three days of drying, brine came out. It was shiny and stringy when you scooped it up!

The young man said this, pulling out a coarse porcelain bowl from his cloth bag, which was half filled with turbid water. "This is the first batch of brine. We tasted it, and it's so salty it's enough to kill you!"

A short and strong man next to him continued:

"Later, we divided the ponds into separate areas for drying. By the fifth day, a layer of yellow, coarse salt had formed on the bottom of the ponds, and we scraped off enough salt to make two loads.

We used clean water to dissolve it according to the method, and some black mud sank to the bottom. We poured out the water from the top and put it in a pot to boil. By midnight, this stuff had formed at the bottom of the pot!

He untied the sack on his back and poured out a pile of white stuff with a loud noise.

They turned out to be some irregular salt blocks with fine crystals, which were much whiter than the coarse salt on the market.

"We even threw tofu into the salt water. Look, the purified salt tastes just salty, not bitter at all!"

Another man added:

"We can produce more than 100 kilograms of salt every day now, and the salt drying ponds are still being built. In a few days, the production capacity will double.

We've left people over there to take turns drying and refining the salt. We can deliver as much as you need at any time!"

Bai Wanwan looked at the pile of salt, brushed it lightly with her fingertips, tasted it and said, "Well done. Have someone distribute this salt to the various shops first."

Then the young man leading the group said, "We've brought back 20 bags of salt this time, which should last us for a while."

Bai Wanwan nodded and said:

“We have solved the problem of salt at home, but it is still far from enough.

The Jiang family is now trying to force Brother Si Nian into a dead end..."

"Then what should we do now?"

Bai Wanwan looked at them and said, "Have you carefully checked the places I asked you to check last time?"

Someone quickly reported, "We've checked. Liang Tieshan will come in and report to you in a while."

Just as he finished speaking, Liang Tieshan strode in and said:

"Miss, I have checked all the locations on your map. Many of them are salt lakes, which are the foundation of the Jiang family.

These three places marked with asterisks are all where the Jiang family hides their treasures.

Several places are the Jiang family's secret bases. I took a few people to sneak in and found that the Jiang family has stationed many private soldiers and a lot of weapons. "

Bai Wanwan was also shocked. She thought the Jiang family was just ordinary rich, but she didn't expect the Jiang family to be like this.

"Are they planning to rebel?" Bai Wanwan couldn't help but take a breath.