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

Chapter 231 Launch
This summer is exceptionally hot, and it rarely rains at the Nanbu Salt Field. Every time the sluice gates are opened, the seawater released evaporates within twelve or thirteen days, leaving behind a thick layer of salt. Zou Hai's job is to collect and transport this thick layer of salt.

Although the weather was very hot, it was far less hot than when he was boiling salt next to the big stove. Zou Hai believed that he could totally bear it.

He knew that the salt he produced was the guarantee of his current life, so he dared not slack off at all.

Zou Hai had never seen so much salt in his life, nor had he thought that salt could be produced so easily. The salt he produced was many times more than the salt he boiled at the beginning.

For the first time, he was troubled by producing too much salt. After production, the salt was not transported away but simply piled on the shore. Although it looked very reassuring, it also caused some worries in his heart - how could he sell so much salt?

"As of August 20th, the tenth year of Zhengde, this year's peak salt production period has passed, thanks to a long period of good weather and the three smaller salt fields being completed and put into production ahead of schedule, so the total salt output has exceeded expectations and achieved a bumper harvest. The estimated output can reach..." Jiang Jianye was talking in a conference room in Nangong.

"Don't talk about the total output. This must be kept secret internally." Zhu Houxuan interrupted Jiang Jianye directly.

Then he turned his attention to the others.

"The Propaganda Department has distributed the developed propagandists to four provinces as required. The largest number of them are in Northern Zhili, followed by Henan, and finally Shandong and Shanxi. They all have a certain foundation in the local area." Sun Gong took the initiative to say.

"The same is true for the channel department. Northern Zhili, Shandong, Henan and Shanxi, which have convenient transportation, have already established branches at the county level," said Liu Hua from the channel department.

The Channel Department was developed by taking over the imperial stores at that time. At that time, the imperial stores were spread all over the northern Zhili. Although many of them were closed later, the group still took over many stores. Later, in order to develop its own sales channels, the group expanded to the three surrounding provinces on this basis. After a year and a half of development, it became what it is today.

Zhu Houxuan looked at the map on the wall, pondered for a moment and said: "The focus is on Northern Zhili and Henan. These two places are densely populated and located inland, so we need to send more people."

"Yes, sir!" Liu Hua said immediately.

"What about the Ministry of Railways?"

Jiang Jianyuan from the Ministry of Railways pointed to Zhending Prefecture on the map and said, "The railway has been built to Zhending Prefecture, and is now being built to Shunde Prefecture. The road is flat and we have the help of local merchants, so the progress is very fast."

After completing the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, the Ministry of Railways began to build a railway to the southwest of Beijing. Although Zhending Prefecture was a famous city in the north of the Ming Dynasty at that time, it was Zhengding County under Shijiazhuang in later generations, and Shunde Prefecture was Xingtai City in later generations.

It took more than five months to build more than 300 kilometers of light rail. Although the standard is not as good as that of later generations, it can still be said to be fast.

Zhu Houxuan stared at the map on the wall for a long time without saying a word, quickly calculating in his mind. Everyone in the conference room was also silently waiting for Zhu Houxuan's decision.

"Today is August 20th, and autumn is already halfway over." Zhu Houxuan said slowly: "The action is scheduled for September 10th. Your four departments have the heaviest burden. I allow you to draw on the backbone forces of other departments to participate in this action." "Yes!" Everyone in the conference room stood up and looked at Zhu Houxuan excitedly.

"We have been planning for this operation for a year and a half. I cannot overstate the importance of this operation. We must succeed and not fail. I'm waiting to toast you and award you medals after we succeed!" Zhu Houxuan began to mobilize everyone. His eyes swept across everyone present, and everyone whose eyes were swept straightened their chests.

"Yes!" Most of the people present were young people, and their hearts were excited by Zhu Houxuan's words.

After everyone left the meeting room, Zhu Houxuan hid himself in the shadows and quietly looked at the map on the wall. He had been preparing for this moment for a whole year and a half. It was time for the world to get to know him, the King of Jing.
The huge machine of the Ming Royal Group suddenly accelerated its operation.

One after another, the Marley trucks gathered at the Nanbao Salt Field. The employees of the salt field were urgently summoned and told to help load the goods overnight. Bags of salt were loaded onto the Marley trucks and disappeared into the night.

Batches of sacks were urgently shipped from the textile factory in Tianjin to hold salt. Zou Hai and his fellow workers loaded the salt for a whole day and night without stopping. Just when they were about to collapse, workers mobilized from the factories and mines in Tangshan joined in as fresh forces.

Zou Hai watched the salt mountains disappear from his sight, but there were still many salt mountains.
Although the actions of the Ming Royal Group were kept secret, the outside world clearly felt that something was wrong.

First, the Malie train from Beijing to Beijing on the Beijing-Tianjin line was suddenly unavailable, and many already booked transport orders were temporarily cancelled. The merchants who were harmed by this received compensation from the Ming Royal Group.

The merchants were not used to the loss of this convenient railway. They watched the fully loaded horse-drawn carriages passing by quickly and wondered what had happened. Some even speculated that war had broken out again in the Nine Borders.

Then, the canal ships returning south on the Grand Canal suddenly received a large number of transport orders. Generally speaking, the canal ships were fully loaded from south to north, but mostly empty from north to south. This was because the resources in the north were not as abundant as those in the south, so the demand for transportation from north to south was not great.

Therefore, the grain ships returning south were very surprised to receive such a large number of transport orders. When using grain ships to transport, the things being transported naturally could not be kept secret for too long. However, the people on the grain ships did not realize what was happening. After all, it was quite common to use grain ships to transport Changlu salt to the south.

The salt that Nanpu Salt Field had accumulated for more than a year was transported to the southwest by rail with Tianjin as the hub, and directly to the south via the Grand Canal.
Two transport lines, one east and one west, radiate the entire North China Plain
Nanzhili, Shunde Prefecture, Shen Mansion.

The Shen family is a local big family in Shunde Prefecture. There have always been children in the family who passed the imperial examinations and became Juren, and from time to time their children passed the imperial examinations and became Jinshi, so they have great influence in Shunde Prefecture and are involved in both black and white affairs.

At this time, Shen Yi, the head of the Shen family, was writing with bated breath in the study. There were two calligraphy scrolls hanging on the wall of the study. One scroll read "Farming and reading pass on the family", and the other scroll read "Poetry and books pass on the world". The eight large characters were very eye-catching.
The housekeeper of the Shen Mansion quietly walked into the study room. Seeing Shen Yi writing, he quietly stood by the side, waiting until Shen Yi stopped writing. Then he respectfully handed a wet towel to Shen Yi and said flatteringly, "The master's calligraphy has improved again!"

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(End of this chapter)