Starting with ten elixirs of immortality, I led the First Emperor to rebel against the Qin Dynasty.

The carriage soon arrived at Zhao Family Village.

As soon as Ying Zheng and his entourage got off the carriage, they saw Zhao Huan talking to an elderly man with white hair and beard but a vigorous spirit at the gate of the courtyard.

The old man was none other than Bai Qi.

"Father! You're finally back!"

Zhao Huan spotted Ying Zheng at a glance, immediately abandoned Bai Qi, and rushed over with a look of delight.

"Your child has missed you so much!"

His gaze then fell on Fusu behind Ying Zheng, and he looked him up and down.

The young man looked a year or two older than me. He had a handsome face and a refined demeanor, but his complexion was a bit pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun much.

It must be the same Zhao Fan that my father was talking about, my older brother who was deeply poisoned by Confucianism.

Zhao Huan smiled warmly and stepped forward.

"Father, this must be my eldest brother?"

Looking at the enthusiastic young man in front of him who claimed to be his younger brother, Fusu was momentarily at a loss for words.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to say "little brother."

Seeing this, Ying Zheng stepped forward, patted Zhao Huan on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Huan'er, this is your elder brother Zhao Fan. He has been following me around for many years. He is a bit introverted, so please bear with him."

"We're family, what's with all this talk about taking responsibility!" Zhao Huan casually put his arm around Fusu's shoulder and warmly pulled him into the courtyard. "Big brother, come in! This is your home from now on!"

Fusu was so flustered by his overly familiar manner that he could only passively let him pull him along.

Li Si and Meng Tian followed behind, watching this scene with mixed feelings.

Who could have imagined that the eldest son of the Qin Dynasty, the future heir to the empire, would meet Zhao Huan in such a way?

"Father, you're finally back! We have to have a good meal today!" Zhao Huan greeted everyone as they entered the courtyard.

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng immediately perked up: "Great! How about hot pot..."

"You can't eat hot pot every day, it'll make you feel hot!" Zhao Huan waved his hand and smiled mysteriously, "Today I'll treat you to something different, barbecue!"

As he spoke, he directed Bai Qi to bring out a ceramic oven about half a person's height from the house, and then took out a pile of meat skewers and vegetables skewered with iron skewers.

The Qin Dynasty certainly had a way of eating roasted meat, but it was mostly a simple matter of roasting large pieces of meat over a fire, and the only seasoning was salt.

What Zhao Huan prepared, however, was evenly cut pieces of meat marinated in a secret sauce, with several small earthenware jars containing powders of various colors placed next to it.

"Come on, don't just stand there, help yourselves, and you'll have plenty to eat and wear!"

Zhao Huan lit the grill, placed the meat skewers on it, and skillfully sprinkled cumin, chili powder and other seasonings on them while turning them over.

"Sizzle—"

The grease from the meat skewers dripped onto the charcoal fire, making an enticing sizzling sound, and the irresistible aroma of the grilled meat instantly filled the entire courtyard.

Ying Zheng, Li Si, Meng Tian, ​​and the others had never seen such a scene before, and they were all dumbfounded.

"Here, Dad, you try some first!"

Zhao Huan handed a skewer of roasted mutton, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, to Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng imitated Zhao Huan and took a bite.

The spiciness of the spices, the tenderness of the lamb, and the smoky aroma of charcoal blended perfectly in his mouth, igniting his taste buds.

"Delicious! This...this is even better than hot pot!" Ying Zheng's eyes lit up, and he finished off a skewer in no time.

"Haha, eat more if it's delicious!"

Zhao Huan then handed several more strings of food to Li Si and Meng Tian.

Soon, a magical scene unfolded in the courtyard.

The emperor, prime minister, general, and future crown prince of Qin, along with the god of war Bai Qi, all gathered around a simple oven, feasting without any regard for appearances.

Fusu was initially a little reserved, but under Zhao Huan's warm greeting and the irresistible temptation of the aroma, he cautiously picked up a string of skewers.

He took one bite and was completely stunned.

So... food can taste like this?

He had always eaten refined meals since childhood, emphasizing the original flavor. He had never tasted such a strong and impactful flavor before.

"Brother, how is it? Delicious, right?" Zhao Huan asked, leaning closer.

Fusu nodded subconsciously, his face slightly flushed.

Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, Ying Zheng's gaze fell on the small earthenware jar that Zhao Huan had used for seasoning.

Inside was the same snow-white refined salt that Bai Qi had seen before.

"Huan'er, this salt of yours..." Ying Zheng asked.

Zhao Huan picked up the salt shaker and casually explained, "Oh, this is the refined salt I told Lao Bai about. The coarse salt sold in the market has too many impurities, tastes bitter, and can easily make you sick. This is purified."

"Purification?" Ying Zheng became interested.

Bai Qi immediately repeated in detail the purification method that Zhao Huan had told him to Ying Zheng.

"...Dissolving, filtering, evaporating—the methods are simple, yet they can turn the rotten into the miraculous," Bai Qi concluded.

After hearing this, Ying Zheng, Li Si, Fusu, and Meng Tian all fell silent.

The expressions on their faces changed from initial enjoyment of the food to deep shock.

As the ruling core of the empire, they understood the value of salt better than anyone else.

The salt produced in Daqin was mostly pond salt and well salt, which was blackish-green in color. It not only tasted bitter but was also expensive, making it unaffordable for ordinary people. Ordinary people could only afford the lowest quality coarse salt, which was mixed with a lot of mud and sand.

Various diseases caused by salt deficiency were common among the people of Daqin, and even became an important factor affecting population growth and the combat effectiveness of the army.

The method proposed by Zhao Huan was so simple it was outrageous, yet it could refine the worst quality, even poisonous, bitter salt, into pure white refined salt!

What does this mean?

This means that the salt production of the Qin Dynasty will be greatly increased, the price of salt will drop significantly, ordinary people will be able to afford pure salt, the physical condition of the Qin people will be generally improved, and the fighting capacity of the soldiers will be guaranteed.

"Young Master Huan..." Li Si's voice trembled slightly, "Do you know what this law... what this law means for our Great Qin?"

"It's just a method of salt extraction, what does it mean?" Zhao Huan said nonchalantly. "It means people won't have to eat bitter salt and will get sick less often."

In his view, this was just a simple application of junior high school chemistry knowledge.

But to Ying Zheng and the others, this seemingly casual remark carried the weight of Mount Tai!

Ying Zheng looked at Zhao Huan, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Potatoes solved the problem of food and clothing in the Qin Dynasty.

The elixir of immortality saved him from his impending death.

The method of refining salt was crucial to the national economy and people's livelihood of the Qin Empire, and its value was no less than that of potatoes!

"Good! Well done, Huan'er!" Ying Zheng slapped his thigh, stood up, and paced back and forth in the courtyard excitedly.

He already had a plan in mind. Once he returned to Xianyang, he would immediately have the Minister of the Imperial Household Department and the Minister of Grain Supply join forces to promote this method throughout the country.

He wanted every citizen of the Great Qin to be able to eat this snow-white refined salt!

"Father, what are you getting so excited about? Sit down and eat the meat, it's getting cold," Zhao Huan urged.

Ying Zheng took a deep breath to calm his excited emotions and sat down again.

I picked up a skewer of grilled meat, but found it tasteless. Compared to the method of using fine salt, what does the deliciousness of this barbecue even matter?

Looking at his "good son" who was still focused on roasting meat, Ying Zheng had only one thought in his mind.

We must extract everything from his mind, every single thing, leaving nothing out!