A grain of salt can be steamed from the sea water to natural crystallization, at a speed of four or five days, and at a length of twelve or three days. Ω Biqu     The salt lying on the salt field is not worth a lot of money, but once it enters the circulation market, the price can rise ten times, which fully confirms the strange phenomenon of "people who produce salt die from poverty, and those who sell salt earn from death" in this industry. Circulation generates wealth, and when they master salt, they also grasp the wealth of ancient society; those who sell salt are the holders of wealth at that time. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the monopoly of salt has become one of the important fiscal revenues of a feudal dynasty.

However, things are often like this: the more the government prohibits the projects, the more the government operates exclusively, the less competition; and the less competitive industries, the greater the profits. In the context of monopoly and monopoly, the edible salt industry is given a strong color of huge profits. The profits of salt are among all the people, so based on the principle of "there must be brave men under heavy rewards", a group of people who have been walking in the world because of "salt and iron monopoly" - private salt dealers. They also emerged with the implementation of the salt and iron monopoly system, accompanied by the existence of China's feudal dynasty, and have existed in modern society.

With the emergence of private salt dealers, private salt appeared, which specifically refers to salt produced, transported and sold privately in violation of the relevant ban. The emergence and spread of private salt are usually closely related to the government's salt policy, especially the salt monopoly policy. Generally speaking, during the period when salt is produced and sold by the people, there is no official salt monopoly operation by the government, so there is no private salt. Therefore, private salt can be said to be a direct product of the salt monopoly system to a certain extent.

Zhao Bing knew that in this era, the profits of selling private salt were equivalent to modern drugs, but because the income from the monopoly of salt and iron was of extraordinary importance to the government, governments in all dynasties have imposed severe laws on the private sales of private salt projects. The existence of the same huge profits has made private salt dealers who have tried the law repeatedly, and the more profitable it is, it is very wealthy, and it is a little unafraid of death. It has also made private salt dealers gradually become projects that can only be operated by desperadoes.

Because of the existence of severe punishments, the risks that private salt dealers in ancient times need to bear are equivalent to those that drug dealers today need to bear. Over time, just as many foreign drug lords have their own arms today, private salt dealers also have their own arms. Zhao Bing knew that in the southeast area, especially in Huai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangnan, private salt dealers are very frequent. They are hundreds of people in groups, carrying armor and soldiers, and traveling to the eight provinces of Qian, Ting, Zhang, Chao, Xun, Mei, Hui, and Guangba. Wherever they go, they rob people of grain, silk, plunder women, fight with police officers, and kill and injure officials, if they encounter clearance, they will become thieves. They will be blocked and cannot be captured by the government.

However, Zhao Bing knew that everything had to be seen from both sides. Although the risks that private salt dealers and drug dealers need to pay were similar, drugs and salt were different. Drugs harmed people, and salt was dispensable. If the people felt that the government's salt prices were fair and reasonable and affordable, private salt dealers would naturally disappear. It was precisely because they could not afford salt that private salt dealers had an existing market. The people were not particularly disgusted with these thieves who dared to challenge the monopoly of salt and iron, and even had a good impression of them. In their hearts, private salt dealers provided themselves with cheap salt, which was like a hero who helped the poor.

However, Zhao Bing still knew that the "heroes" in the hearts of these ordinary people were definitely not ordinary thieves. Among them, there were really several famous figures who were famous in history. In order to compete for the salt of Jiechi, Huang Chao, the private salt dealer of the Tang Dynasty, overthrew the dynasty that had been established for nearly three hundred years; the chaotic Wuyue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was founded by a private salt dealer named Qian Li; Zhang Shicheng started his business by selling private salt in the late Yuan Dynasty, and fought for the heroes, and did a career that shocked the world and cried ghosts.

Even at this time, the Yuan Dynasty was in decline because of the rebellion of several private salt dealers. Some of these seemingly profit-seeking "champions" directly participated in the peasant uprising. Even if some did not participate in the military struggle, they were many supporters of the rebellion and became gravediggers of the dynasty. Therefore, Zhao Bing knew that they were a force that should not be underestimated. He also knew that salt not only affected the fate of the Chinese nation, but also played an important role in world history.

Coincidentally, the American Civil War also determined the fate of the southern army. Four days after the war broke out, President Lincoln ordered a blockade of all southern ports. The blockade caused the salt produced in the north to be unable to circulate to the south. Planter owners boiled salt with sea water, but this could not solve the problem at all. The northern army soon realized that the shortage of southern salt was an important strategic advantage for the northern army. Every time they occupied a salt field, they immediately destroyed the salt field. Salt became increasingly scarce in the south, and meat gradually disappeared from people's dining tables. With the help of liberated slaves, the northern army continued to weaken the southern army by capturing the salt field and eventually destroyed the Bay of St. Andrew. At this point, the southern army had no power to fight back. Two months later, the war ended with the victory of the northern army.

Zhao Bing now feels that he is the disruptor of history. He has changed an important node in history at this time, so he simply makes a bigger difference and turns the world upside down. So he not only uses salt as a means to make money, but also uses salt as a catalyst to promote the progress of history. Because he knows that as long as there is a problem with the salt industry's finances in history, heroes will emerge. Only after the Southern Song Dynasty, the salt people are exploited more and more armed riots are becoming more frequent.

In the early years of Shaoxing, the salt people born in Mingzhou, Zhejiang were holding sticks and then protecting the Zheng incident; in the third year of Qingyuan, the salt people in Daxi Mountain, Bao'an, Guangdong held an riot; during the Jiatai period, the Tinghu in the western salt field of Zhejiang jointly rioted with soldiers; in the second year of Jiading, the salt people uprising led by Hu Hai in Chuzhou, Huaidong; in the second year of Baoyou, Dipu led the Tinghu in the western Zhejiang; in the first year of Depeng, it was the eve of the demise of the Song Dynasty, and it was also aroused by the Tinghu uprising of Xu Erbaijiu and Ye Sanqi, a student in Minghe East and West Field in Mingzhou, Zhejiang, which was known in history as the "thousand-mile disturbance" in the eastern Zhejiang area.
Chapter completed!