81: Chapter 0081 Always New Tricks

It was rare to see the old man so dejected. Usually, he was a master who acted like he could fix anything as long as he was paid.

"What's wrong? It wouldn't be that Xie Yu has caused you trouble, would it?"

Ever since Xie Yu went to the workshop, he had been acting like he was possessed.

According to Yao Gang, the kid could watch him forge iron for an entire afternoon, making everyone think something was wrong with his brain.

"It has nothing to do with him. He's just a bit chatty and always likes to ask this and that."

Old Yu sighed and said, "It's mainly the materials. We're missing everything. We finally finished building that blast furnace, but we can't buy any coke!"

"You know, if the iron ore quality is a bit poor, we can just refine it a few more times. But without coke, it's simply impossible!"

After interacting with Old Yu, Lin Xiao realized that the iron smelting technology in this world was still quite primitive.

The reason weapons of yellow grade and above were rare was that refined iron was hard to come by; it required high-quality iron ore with few impurities to obtain.

As for weapons of mystic grade and above, they often used top-tier iron ore and meteoric iron, making them exceptionally rare.

Lin Xiao had roughly sketched out the blueprints for the blast furnace, and Old Yu immediately understood its brilliance.

Old Yu already knew how to smelt iron, but he had never thought of a method to build such a tall furnace, continuously raise the temperature, and drain the molten iron from the bottom.

The refractory bricks needed to build the blast furnace were a major hurdle.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao already knew what materials were needed, so it saved a lot of effort.

"I've tried using charcoal, but the quality of the iron is subpar! We must use coke!"

"As long as you give me enough coke, even if the ore quality is a bit poor, I can produce over a thousand catties of refined iron per furnace every day!"

Old Yu looked anxious, watching as the fired refractory bricks built up into a massive structure...

Yet, because they were missing materials, they couldn't complete the final step. How could he stand it!?

"Over a thousand catties?"

Lin Xiao's eyes lit up. If they had a few more blast furnaces, equipping the entire army with yellow grade weapons wouldn't be a dream!

The key was that he could trade yellow grade weapons for prestige!!

"Husband, there is something I have actually been planning to tell you."

Xiao Qingxuan said in a low voice, "The salt in Baishui Prefecture is not enough..."

"Salt?"

Official salt and iron mines in the Great Gan were related to the foundation of the country, so they were directly managed by the governors of each prefecture.

Lin Xiao naturally left it to Xiao Qingxuan to keep an eye on.

"Cang Province has cut off the supply of official salt to our Baishui Prefecture. Although we can buy some black-market salt from the people, the quality is too poor, and it's very expensive."

"According to current reserves, even if we use it sparingly, Baishui Prefecture will be out of salt in at most half a month."

After hearing this, Lin Xiao immediately thought of what the Marquis of Linyuan said when he left...

That old geezer had long guessed that Prince Bai would cut off the supply of official salt!

"Husband, Prince Bai wants to defeat us without spilling blood and let us collapse on our own," Xiao Qingxuan naturally understood who the mastermind was.

Lin Xiao countered, "Are there no salt mines or coal in our Baishui Prefecture?"

Being asked this by Lin Xiao, both Xiao Qingxuan and Old Yu looked surprised.

"Sir, you aren't planning on producing salt yourself, are you?" Old Yu asked.

"Is that not allowed?"

"Producing black-market salt is a crime punishable by beheading!"

Lin Xiao laughed and said, "Everything I, Lin Xiao, do is a crime punishable by beheading!?"

After listening to this, Xiao Qingxuan and Old Yu thought about it carefully... and it was true!

The imperial court was already overwhelmed; would they still care if he produced salt?

Soon, the Old Butler, who was a local expert, was brought over.

After some questioning, they learned that while there were no coal mines, there was a small village to the east of Baishui Prefecture that had plenty of mineral salt.

"Sir, those salt mines cannot be eaten. After cattle and sheep lick them, many of them will be poisoned to death!"

The Old Butler trembled and said, "We absolutely cannot eat that kind of salt!"

Lin Xiao estimated that it probably contained a lot of heavy metals, but this was all within his expectations.

That afternoon, Lin Xiao took Old Yu and a group of workers, along with various tools and materials, to a place called Xiaoshi Village.

To his surprise, the kid Xie Yu also wanted to come.

It had been a few days, and Xie Yu was wearing blue coarse cloth clothes, looking no different from the workers, and his skin had tanned quite a bit.

Because she was worried, Xiao Qingxuan also brought Leng Bingyan along.

It was a desolate saline-alkali land, with bare hills and no sign of human life.

In this place, not a blade of grass grew; even the barbarians would shake their heads if they came here!

Yet Lin Xiao acted as if he had found a treasure. Wasn't this whole place full of salt!?

He immediately set to work, having the workers dig up the saline-alkali soil and crush the mineral rocks.

"Sir, this is poisonous salt. Although I'm not in this line of work, I know it can't be eaten!"

Every trade has its secrets, and salt production was a technology mastered by specialized people. Old Yu really didn't know much about it.

"Don't rush, just watch!"

Lin Xiao personally went down to direct the work.

In fact, the principle was very simple: use plant ash and charcoal powder, filter it three times, and then boil the resulting salt solution over high heat until dry!

Because conditions were limited and the workers were not very skilled, the crude salt obtained for the first time was still a bit dirty.

Although Lin Xiao was very confident, just to be safe, he still had people use mice for experiments first.

After the two mice finished eating the food with salt, an hour passed, and nothing happened.

Only then did Lin Xiao taste it himself. "Not bad. It's still a bit bitter, but if you don't taste it carefully, you can't tell."

"I'll try too!"

Xie Yu was very excited. He stepped forward and tried a bite, then blinked and said, "It's not bitter. Isn't salt just like this?"

The workers also stepped forward one after another to taste it, and after eating, they all said it was not bad.

Xiao Qingxuan could no longer worry about being reserved. She leaned close to Lin Xiao, extended her slender fingers to dip in a little, and tasted it.

Soon, the woman's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "Husband! It's no different from official salt!"

Lin Xiao then realized that the official salt produced by the Great Gan had not yet reached the level of refined salt.

"It looks like as long as we continue to improve the purification process, our Baishui Prefecture will be able to sell salt in the future!"

"Husband actually has the skill to produce salt as well. You know too many things!"

Xiao Qingxuan looked at him with admiration, feeling that her man was a treasure who always had new tricks!

After tasting it, Leng Bingyan also had a complex expression, finding it increasingly difficult to understand this man.

Having solved the problem of salt, Lin Xiao was in a great mood.

Xie Yu, standing on the side, looked incredulous. "Lin Xiao, it's a pity that you are a general. Why don't you come to our workshop! I want to take you as my master!"

He had recently learned that the compound crossbows, iron smelting blast furnaces, and other technologies being researched in the workshop were all initiated by Lin Xiao...

His admiration for Lin Xiao was already beyond words!

At first, he only stayed because he thought it was fun, but now, Xie Yu was truly reluctant to leave!

"What nonsense are you talking about! If Lin Xiao doesn't fight, who will use the weapons we make, and who will pay our wages?"

Old Yu was not polite either, directly poking Xie Yu's head.

Xie Yu was not angry, but gave a silly smile. "That's true!"

The workers also laughed heartily, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. They were quite fond of this prince who had no airs.

Lin Xiao did not stay happy for too long, because there was still coal that needed to be resolved.

After returning to the military camp, Lin Xiao immediately summoned General Zhao Kuan, Wei Dongxue, and others.

"Military Advisor Wei, you know a lot about Cang Province. Do you know where the nearest coal mine is?"

Wei Dongxue reported, "General, within Cang Province, the only place that produces coal is Wu Mountain Commandery."

"Oh?"

Lin Xiao looked at the sand table and found that going south from Baishui Prefecture, passing Lincang Prefecture, and then going further southwest, would one reach it.

"It would take at least three days for the army to get there, right?"

Wei Dongxue frowned and said, "General, my subordinate believes... moving against Wu Mountain Commandery is not the best choice."