Tiger Owl

Chapter 147 Solving the Salt Source Problem
Gan Ning met with Huang Zu again, comforted him, and told him to return to his hometown to retire. Huang Zu was also a little moved. Gan Ning actually appointed his son as the prefectural magistrate. He repeatedly stated that he would retire peacefully and would not cause any more trouble. At the same time, he would hand over the salt mine to the Yuzhang Army.

Huang Zu took his wives and concubines back to his hometown in an oxcart.

Gan Ning then announced a series of decrees, changing the tax system to be the same as that of Yuzhang Commandery, significantly reducing taxes, which greatly pleased the people of Jiangxia Commandery.

Most of the officials in Jiangxia Commandery, including Gan Ning, remained in their posts. Of course, Huang Zhong took over as the prefect.

Even though Chen Jiu killed Su Fei, Gan Ning still thought he was a good man. Chen Jiu's father was once the imperial court's chief of camel herding, which was responsible for raising camels. Gan Ning then let his son follow in his father's footsteps and appointed him as the chief of the general's mansion, specifically in charge of animal husbandry in various places.

Huang Zu's 40,000 surrendered soldiers were too many for Gan Ning. Gan Ning ordered the reduction of the troops, dismissing brothers and keeping younger brothers, dismissing fathers and keeping sons. Only one son returned home, and in the end, only 20,000 troops were left.

The 15,000 laborers who had followed Gan Ning's army on the road were also given some money and food and persuaded to return home to continue farming.

At the same time, Gan Ning promoted another captain, Chen Mu, Xu Sheng's deputy general. He was originally a subordinate of Zuo Rong, and after Zuo Rong's death, he followed Gan Ning and had enough seniority.

Gan Ning doesn't only consider seniority when appointing people; he also looks at ability and other factors. Take Lou Fa and Zhang Xi, for example. They've been with him for a long time, but they're still only captains. The reason isn't that they lack ability or seniority, but that they're illiterate. So Gan Ning gives them time to learn. Once they can read and write, they'll naturally be promoted to colonel.

Chen Mu was slightly lacking in martial arts, so Gan Ning promoted him to the rank of Colonel and sent him to lead troops to Jiangxia County. His superior was Prefect Huang Zhong. With Huang Zhong in charge, Gan Ning felt more at ease.

Among the various spoils of war captured this time, there was not much grain, only 80,000 shi, but there was a lot of money, nearly one million guan accumulated by Huang Zu over twenty years, as well as 500,000 bolts of cloth. This was the largest spoils of war captured by Gan Ning in all his wars.

What's puzzling is that Huang Zu, who clearly had so much wealth, still levied heavy taxes and cruelly exploited the people. As Huang She put it simply, his father was an absolute miser, becoming more and more stingy as he got older.

Gan Ning immediately ordered that each soldier who participated in the battle be rewarded with five strings of cash and two bolts of cloth. The soldiers were overjoyed and cheered.

Huang Zu also dutifully handed over his private wealth, as was customary. The private wealth of the defeated belonged to the victorious leader. Gan Ning only took gold, silver, and other valuables, and returned the land, shops, houses, and other real estate to Huang Zu.

Gan Ning left the remaining miscellaneous matters to Huang Zhong to handle, and he arrived in Anlu County under the escort of three thousand cavalry.

After taking Jiangxia County, Gan Ning's biggest concern was the salt mines. Without them, Jiangdong could strangle him at any time, and he couldn't even buy a single grain of salt from Bashu.

Salt is the only thing Gan Ning is currently struggling to obtain, and it's a matter of life and death for him; he must eliminate this major threat.

Two days later, accompanied by the salt mining manager, Gan Ning visited the salt mine, which was located in the northern mountainous area of ​​Anlu County, with the veins distributed across dozens of mountains.

There was a barren mountain covered with caves, densely packed together, like the Swallow Caves.

"There are two types of salt vein distribution. One is strip-shaped, which is the case with the previous large mines. The other is chicken coop-shaped, which is clustered together. The mountain that the general is looking at now is a chicken coop-shaped salt mine, where each salt cave is a cluster."

Gan Ning knew all this. Luling County also produced rock salt, all from the Jiwo Salt Mine, but the output was not large.

Are salt mines easy to extract?

"It's easy. Just peel off the outer layer of rock, and you'll find the salt mine inside."

What is the production volume?

"Producing 60,000 shi a month should not be a problem."

This output is good, more than enough. Gan Ning then asked, "What about reserves?"

"The reserves are limitless. I estimate they're enough to last for at least a thousand years!"

Xu Shu, who was standing nearby, kept looking at the cave. He asked, "How much salt can such a salt cave produce?" "About a few hundred thousand catties! This was the first place we discovered, and it's almost completely mined out, so you don't see many people here. The real producers are the dozen or so large mines inside, which are all veins."

At this moment, Gan Ning saw several large buildings not far away, pointed at them, and asked with a smile, "Are those warehouses?"

"Exactly!"

"Have a look!"

There are five warehouses in total, each covering more than ten acres, and they are all similar in appearance.

The head steward opened the door of a warehouse, and Gan Ning went inside. He saw piles of salt ore, some grayish-white, some pink, all made of various crystals, each weighing over ten kilograms.

Gan Ning's eyes were dazzled by the sight, and he asked, "How many are there here?"

"About 100,000 stones!"

"Are the other warehouses the same?"

"it's the same!"

Gan Ning's mind started working; he needed to quickly transport these salt crystals back to Yuzhang County—500,000 shi! That would be enough for them for a year.

He then asked, "How far is it from here to the Yun River?"

"Reporting to the general, it is not far from the Yun River, less than twenty li away."

The head steward then explained, “We use large carts to transport the salt mines to the banks of the Yu River. There’s a dock there, and the warehouse is under construction and not yet finished. The salt mines can’t get wet in the rain, so if there are boats available, we can board them directly.”

Gan Ning said to Xu Shu, "This matter is entrusted to the strategist. Arrange ships to transport all of this salt mine away, and then station 5,000 troops here to guard the salt mine."

Xu Shu nodded, "Rest assured, my lord, I will handle this matter carefully!"

When news of Gan Ning's capture of Jiangxia County reached Xiangyang, Liu Biao sat at his desk like a deflated balloon, unable to utter a word for a long time. He was even a little scared; Huang Zu had been killed so quickly.

Cai Mao, observing Liu Biao's expression, comforted him, saying, "In the last Battle of Xiakou, Huang Zu was already finished. He lost nine out of ten lives and was only left with his last life to struggle on. So, my lord, you don't need to think too highly of Gan Ning. It's normal for him to destroy Huang Zu; it would be strange if he couldn't."

Kuai Yue also advised, "Huang Zu's defeat was not only a military failure, but also a complete failure of his rule. The people rose up in rebellion. It's like a rotten house. On the surface, it looks normal, but inside it's rotten to the core. Gan Ning's army can easily defeat it with a single blow."

After a long pause, Liu Biao sighed and said, "If we had known Huang Zu was so incompetent, we should have sent troops to Jiangxia County. We could have taken Jiangxia County and not given Gan Ning a chance. We failed to seize this opportunity, and I regret it!"

"My lord, we still have a chance. After all, we are only separated by the Han River. The enemy cannot station their army in Jiangxia County for a long time. After a few months, when the defenses of Jiangxia County are relaxed, we can send troops to take Jiangxia County back."

The eldest son, Liu Qi, also said, "The major families of Jiangxia County have close ties with our Nan County. As an invader, Gan Ning will not be supported by them. Although Gan Ning has taken Jiangxia County, he is still far from truly swallowing it whole. Father, we still have a great chance to take back Jiangxia County. This time, let's consider it as Gan Ning destroying Huang Zu for us. Isn't that a good thing?"

Kuai Yue and his eldest son's words made Liu Biao feel much better. He immediately said to Cai Mao, "Send intelligence spies to Jiangxia County. As soon as an opportunity arises, we must send troops immediately."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

(End of this chapter)