Chapter 25 Preparing to Sell Salt

Standing on the northern city wall, Zhao Bin and Cao Li watched the others depart while feeling the cold wind blowing from the north. Ling’er stepped up from behind and draped a cloak over Zhao Bin’s shoulders.

“Your Highness, is it truly worth expending so much manpower and resources just to manufacture farm implements?” Cao Li asked suddenly, his tone puzzled.

“Better safe than sorry,” Zhao Bin replied languidly. Cao Li did not realize that Zhao Bin’s iron smelting was not merely for farm tools, but a preparation for the future.

“Your Highness, the progress at the factory site may have to slow down. The newly ordered bricks from the kiln are currently in short supply,” Cao Li said, gesturing toward the factory zone in the northeastern corner.

“Take some funds from the manor’s treasury and provide a loan to the brick kiln. Tell them to build more kilns. If they lack manpower, have them hire more; it will also solve the issue of local unemployment. Let the loan be repaid in bricks. The manor will have plenty of use for them in the future, so just keep them firing,” Zhao Bin said helplessly.

He could blame no one but himself for this situation. They had launched the project without proper preparation, and the construction of new factory buildings inevitably required a massive amount of brick and tile, none of which had been arranged in advance.

“As you command, Your Highness,” Cao Li replied.

“How is the salt works progressing?” Zhao Bin continued.

“Captain Xu Ling transported another twenty cartloads of coarse salt from the coast two days ago. The manor is already overflowing with it, so I had to have some stored in the empty rooms of the new factory,” Cao Li reported, following behind Zhao Bin.

“Ling’er, send word to Xu Ling and the others to return. Winter is approaching, which will slow down the sun-drying process, and the Xianbei people are unlikely to return in large numbers to trade for salt this year,” Zhao Bin said to Ling’er.

“Understood, Your Highness. I shall write the letter as soon as I return,” Ling’er replied obediently.

“Your Highness, I have something I do not quite understand. May I ask for your guidance?” Cao Li interjected from the other side.

“What is it?”

“Your Highness, salt is surely easier to transport than cattle and sheep. Why do we not ship our refined salt to the capital to sell? If we could introduce it there, I believe we could capture the market in a very short time.”

“That may be true, but the salt mines of the Great Xia are all held by the powerful noble clans. Even the salt markets in the capital are controlled by the Dai, Zhang, and Xue families. We have no one in the imperial court to speak for us; to rush into the market now would inevitably trigger a joint retaliation from those families. We do not yet possess the strength to contend with such great clans.”

“Then, what if we sold the salt to the Imperial Court?”

“Sell to the Court?”

“Yes, Your Highness. We sell the refined salt directly to the Imperial Court, leaving the sale to them. Not just in the capital, but the entire Henan Circuit is under the Court’s influence. Surely those clans would not dare oppose the Emperor. Furthermore, seeing wealth flow into the hands of the noble clans, I suspect His Majesty has long been dissatisfied with them.”

“Go on,” Zhao Bin said, looking at Cao Li.

“It has been some time now, and I suspect that both the Crown Prince and the First Prince—and perhaps even the Emperor himself—are already aware of our trading salt for livestock with the Xianbei. The Court has regulations forbidding the sale of salt to the Hu people, yet to this day, no one has been sent to hold us accountable. I dare to guess that His Majesty has already set his sights on our refined salt. I am thinking that rather than waiting for the Emperor to demand it, we should take the initiative. This would allow us to gain the upper hand and provide us with leverage for negotiation.”

“In your opinion, what would be an appropriate price to sell to the Court?” Zhao Bin asked.

“I believe selling it to the Court at thirty percent of the market price would be suitable. The price should not be too high, or His Majesty might not approve.”

Currently, the market price for coarse salt is about 300 wen per catty, with better quality varieties reaching 500 wen. Our refined salt is far superior to what is currently available. If we sell to the Court at 150 wen per catty, how they choose to sell it further is no longer our concern. Captain Xu currently transports twenty carts of coarse salt at a time, with each cart holding over a thousand catties, totaling about thirty thousand catties. At 150 wen per catty, that would be about 4,500 taels per shipment. After deducting the costs for food and maintenance, we should net no less than 4,000 taels, which could mean a monthly income of at least 10,000 taels.

As Zhao Bin listened to Cao Li’s breakdown, he felt a wave of bitterness. What a wretched world this was. Ordinary families could barely afford salt, yet over a thousand people working for a month could earn 10,000 taels of silver. For the common folk, their monthly wages barely amounted to a few hundred wen—and that was only for those lucky enough to have work. Those without work could likely not afford a single catty of salt all year. Meanwhile, the noble clans plundered the people, funneling vast wealth into their own coffers.

“Let it be done as you say. If we drag this out, the Emperor will likely send someone to demand the salt himself, and we might face an inquiry. Additionally, the Emperor is fond of fine steeds. Let us set aside two thousand of the horses we traded for and gift them to the Court. Since we are offering a favor, let us make it a grand one. Draft a memorial on this when you return. As for Xu Ling, he need not return for now. If sun-drying is too slow, have them boil the salt in pots. Once the iron ore is brought back, we will forge several hundred pots and send them to him.”

“As you command, Your Highness. However, I believe it would be better for you to write a personal letter yourself; it would be best if the Six Ministries did not learn of this prematurely,” Cao Li replied.

Zhao Bin thought about it and agreed. The key officials of the Six Ministries were almost entirely controlled by the great noble clans. The Minister of Revenue was the maternal grandfather of the First Prince, Xue Qing; the Minister of War was the uncle of the Eighth Prince from the Shandong Fang family. Although the Minister of Personnel was not the Crown Prince’s maternal uncle, he was from the Meng family of Guanzhong, and the Zhang and Meng families had intermarried for generations and were effectively one faction. Furthermore, the Vice Minister of Personnel, Zhang Ju, was the Crown Prince’s uncle.

The Minister of Justice, Dai Yan, was the representative of the Dai family, and the Ministry of Works was held by the Liu family of Jiangnan. Only the Ministry of Rites was held by the imperial clan. The noble clans and the imperial family governed the world together while simultaneously balancing each other out.

Moreover, the noble clans did not always support their own princes; if they felt their prince was unlikely to succeed, they would shift their support to others. Once that prince ascended the throne, he would grant that clan great recognition, and might even show leniency toward rival clans to secure regional stability and maintain his rule. If he were to exterminate them, it would invite rebellion and shake his own foundations.

The current Emperor had gained the throne only after securing the support of the Zhang, Xue, and Qin families. Yet, regarding a rival clan like the Dai, who occupied the fertile lands of Sichuan, he adopted a policy of conciliation, marrying their daughters to regain support and signing new alliances. Naturally, the three winning families saw their status and influence expand; the Dai family ceded territory between Bashu and Chu, while the Fang family expanded from the Shandong Circuit into the Jiangnan Circuit. As for the Zhang family of Guanzhong, though they did not gain territorial expansion, the fact that the Crown Prince was their nephew was sufficient.

Upon returning to the manor, Zhao Bin wrote three letters. One was to Xing’er to inquire about their progress; another was to Consort Ding, his birth mother. The latter was mainly to report his safety and express his longing and filial concern. The final letter was to be handed to his mother for her to personally deliver to the Emperor.

The letter began with deep expressions of love and longing for the Emperor, then vividly described the tragic state of Yancheng and the brutal, shameless incursions of the Jie people, which had left the people of the Hebei Circuit starving—the citizens of Yancheng suffering the most. To improve the situation, restore the people's livelihood, and guard the frontier for his father, he had racked his brains and, after much toil, devised a method for producing salt from seawater. As a prince, knowing the Court’s urgent need for war horses, he had taken the liberty of trading salt for a large number of horses, which were now being presented to his father.

Furthermore, he had intended to present the salt-making method to the Emperor, but considering that the imperial territories lacked salt mines or coastal fields, he feared the method might be stolen or misused. Thus, after much deliberation, he could only offer the refined salt itself. His Majesty could have it sold within the imperial domains, which would surely bring great revenue to the Court. However, the process was complex and labor-intensive, costing 150 wen per catty to produce...