I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 225 Inscription
Ever since the Nanbao Salt Field began to produce salt, the security around the Nanbao Salt Field has suddenly become strict. Outposts have been built on various high places and checkpoints have been set up on the roads leading to the salt field.

This is to prevent someone from calculating the salt production of Nanbu Salt Field.

But judging from what happened later, some people were very interested in the Nanbu Salt Field, but after encountering several obstacles, they simply gave up. It seems that they did not think that the Nanbu Salt Field could create any miracles.

Autumn and winter are not the peak seasons for salt production, but Zou Hai and his fellow workers still braved the cold wind. As former salt workers, they have a complex and deep affection for salt. He walked to the salt field and started working.

They broke up the frozen ice in the salt pans, then used iron hooks to hook large chunks of ice to the shore, and then lifted them onto a cart on the side. When the cart was full, they pulled it aside and dumped it.

Although the weather was very cold, Zou Hai and his fellow workers did not feel it too much because the Salt Industry Department gave them winter clothing - a green long cotton coat and a cotton hat with earmuffs on both sides. These two kinds of equipment helped them effectively resist the severe cold of winter.

But even so, they would go back to the house and warm themselves by the fire for half an hour after working for an hour.

In Zou Hai's opinion, this winter is much better than previous winters. He has oil in his stomach, fat on his body, and cotton-padded clothes on his body. Even at home, he has convenient honeycomb coal for heating and boiling water.

These were god-like days in the past, which he could not even imagine, so he cherishes his current life very much and takes the initiative to work with his fellow workers in such a cold weather.

Just as he put down the hook to take a breath and prepare to slow down before continuing working, a young man quickly ran towards them, walked up to them and bowed to them politely.

"Excuse me, brothers and uncles. I am Chen Hong, a servant in the prince's attendant room. I am here to ask you a few questions. Please cooperate with me." Chen Hong said with a serious face.

Zou Hai exchanged glances with his fellow workers, then nodded heavily to show his cooperation.

"Why do you want to work in the salt fields in such a cold weather? Did your superiors force you to come here?" Chen Hong wrote down quickly on a piece of paper with a stern face.

"Forced?" Zou Hai and his fellow workers looked at each other. "No one forced us?" Zou Hai said puzzledly.

"So what are you doing?" Chen Hong stopped writing in surprise.

"We are doing this voluntarily. The order given by our superiors is that we can rest after just a patrol in the winter, but we don't want to rest. We eat such full meals every day and wear such good clothes that we can't stand the cold at all. The group has given us such good conditions, we can only work harder to repay the group," Zou Hai said quite emotionally.

After hearing this, Chen Hong was even more surprised. After confirming it again and again, he went back to report to Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxun was reviewing official documents in a warm room next to the salt field. Jiang Jianye was standing in the middle of the room with an unmoved expression on his face, as if he was troubled by something. He had also recently graduated from the attendant's room and began to take over the management of matters related to the salt field's production.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Houxuan, who came to inspect, became furious with him as soon as he saw the situation at the salt field.

Chen Hong pushed the door open and whispered the results of the investigation to Zhu Houxuan. Zhu Houxuan put down the documents and pen, and his face became much better.
"It's a good thing that the workers are enthusiastic and take the initiative to work. This can increase production, but there are two more words. We can't let the workers work in such cold conditions. We can't let the workers consume their work enthusiasm and health this winter. You still have to persuade the workers patiently." "I persuaded them, but the workers didn't listen," Jiang Jianye said aggrievedly.

"If persuasion doesn't work, then we'll have to force them. We must put people first and be responsible for the health of the workers." Zhu Houxuan continued to give instructions.

"Yes, sir!" Jiang Jianye said, straightening his body.

Many people may be curious about why salt fields can produce salt even in the cold winter. In fact, the principle is the same.

Salt drying is the process of using the sun's heat to evaporate the water in seawater, making the salt content of the seawater higher and higher. After it becomes saturated salt water, salt crystals will precipitate from the saturated salt water when it evaporates again.

The principle of salt production in winter is that seawater will freeze at around minus 2-3 degrees Celsius. The ice is pure fresh water. As long as the freshwater ice is taken out of the salt pan, the salt content in the salt pan seawater will become higher and higher and become saturated salt water.

However, compared with the method of drying salt, the method of picking ice cubes from the salt fields is still too labor-intensive and inefficient. Even if the workers have better protection against the cold, the winter in the north is still not suitable for long-term activities at the seaside. If they insist on doing so, it will have a negative impact on the workers' health in the long run.

Therefore, even if Zhu Houxuan wanted the workers to take a rest, he was unwilling to let their bodies be harmed.

Now these workers are his greatest support and wealth.

After doing all this, Zhu Houxun suddenly had a new idea. He asked someone to find a piece of rice paper, picked out a brush, and after a moment of thought, he wrote the big words "Work for the health of the Chinese nation for 50 years" on it.

After finishing writing, Zhu Houxuan looked at himself and felt pretty good. The skill of calligraphy was left to him by his original body. He had traveled through time for so long that he had become accustomed to writing with a brush.
The servants in the room also looked at the calligraphy in surprise. Zhu Houxuan would never do this normally.
"Carve this calligraphy into a woodblock, print a few copies, and then distribute them to various departments," Zhu Houxuan said to his attendants.

"Yes!" The servants carefully put away the calligraphy.

Zhu Houxuan attached great importance to the salt industry, which was a cash cow second only to the financial industry, and he had to hold on to it.

After inspecting the Nanbu Salt Field, Zhu Houxuan continued to walk eastward and came to a port where a small dock had been built with cement, which could accommodate more than 6 seagoing ships. This was the port of the Food Department. At that time, the Food Department already had 4 ocean-going fishing vessels in the Bohai Bay, of which were manufactured by the Jinzhouwei Shipyard, and were built by Zhu Houxuan on orders from the private shipyards of the Ming Dynasty.

While Zhu Houxuan was expanding his own shipbuilding capabilities, he was also using the Ming Dynasty's civilian shipbuilding capabilities to build some auxiliary ships.

Don't think that the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban meant there would be no more shipyards in the private sector. The maritime ban was just a policy, an order that needed to be executed by specific people. The Ming Dynasty's financial situation and its ability to manage the grassroots were not enough to implement such a policy. You asked the Ming Dynasty to control those thousands of miles of maritime territory, but it didn't have the ability to do so, did you know?
Therefore, the maritime ban of the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years was actually in name only, and there were still many cases of private construction of ships and docks by the people.
There are still 500 words left to write for the second chapter. I am too sleepy to bear it anymore, so I will post one chapter first.



(End of this chapter)