The largest salt mine in the alliance is located not far south of the capital, and small salt mines can be seen everywhere. The eastern part of Lake Texcoco is divided by dykes, there are high salinity salt lakes, and there are many high-quality salt springs in the surrounding mountains and deep valleys, which are also the product of volcanic activity.

The Mexica Union is never short of salt. Salt is an important trade commodity for the Mexicans, and the income is extremely rich. From the east to the south of the lake area, there are many salt-making villages. The Big Salt Mine also developed from the villages where salt was produced. It is the closest to the prosperous capital city in the lake, and the transportation is extremely convenient, so the population is concentrated and the production capacity is the largest, which can supply the salt needs of hundreds of thousands of people.

Not long after heading south, we came to the Big Salt Mine. The piles of white salt flickered in the sun, weathered by the wind and the sun, and mixed with loam, with a touch of gray. Hundreds or even thousands of salt workers work here. There are only forty or fifty warriors under supervision. From time to time, cloaked merchants came with slaves in a low-key manner and hurried away laden with goods.

Looking around, between the mountains and the trees, there is a vast expanse of white. When the breeze blows, the fine salt powder is rolled up, and the salty wind blows head-on, as if you are in the mighty seaside.

Shulot stopped and looked at this spectacular scene, and sighed in his heart: Salt is the real wealth of the Middle Ages!

"Cuod, how many salt workers are there? What is the daily salt production?" The boy's eyes were bright.

Hearing His Highness's question, Kuod sighed secretly, with a headache. His Highness is fine, but he always asks him for specific numbers. There are not many people who really know numbers, so how can he answer accurately.

After thinking for a moment, the craftsman director cautiously replied.

"There are nearly 1,000 salt workers here. According to the latest market standards, each person produces at least several liters of salt per day. In total, there are always thousands of liters of salt. All these salts belong to the alliance."

Then, he thought for a while and lowered his voice.

"Of course, the actual output is probably far more than that. Salt is a necessity, and even the tribesmen in the mountains and forests need it. Salt workers and overseers will sell it privately, and there are also businessmen who trade privately and secretly take part of the output."

Shulot was slightly surprised.

"Why doesn't the alliance strictly control and levy tribute for an important product like salt?"

Kuoder thought for a moment, then continued talking in a low voice.

"The alliance is rich in lake salt and rock salt. If it is strictly controlled, merchants will naturally gather in other salt-producing villages. Rather than letting them transfer to the fiefs of the great nobles, it is better to trade in the royal domain here. What's more, privately The large profits from the transaction all flow into the hands of nobles at all levels.”

Shulot frowned slightly. He pondered for a long time before slowly nodding helplessly, suppressing the dissatisfaction in his heart.

The two are talking. In the distance, the overseer samurai in charge of management came hurriedly, and his round face was full of smiles.

The guards had stepped forward to express their identity, and the overseer samurai kneeled respectfully and shouted loudly towards Sherlot.

"My esteemed highness has come, it is really a blessing from the patron saint! I am willing to die for the great highness!"

The shouts drifted far away, and other overseer warriors also heard the sound. The overseers knelt down one after another to salute, and Shirault looked at them blankly. After the performance of the overseers ended, the boy looked at the salt field again. At some point, the cloaked merchants disappeared.

Shulot lowered his eyes slightly, then opened it again, smiling to accept the flattery of the overseers. Then the boy waved his hand and told them to return to their positions. Then, the young man strode forward, surrounded by the samurai, and walked straight to the noisy and busy salt workers.

The tools used by the salt workers are very simple: stone shovels for digging soil, stone hoes for loosening soil, and stone picks for mining salt. They used jute sacks to carry salty soil, and large earthenware pots were used to carry salt-washing water.

Shilot just stood beside the salt worker and watched silently.

The salt workers first excavated salt-rich lakeside soil, underground saline soil, or salt spring soil. Then mix these soils reasonably and thoroughly. Next, they built the salty soil into mounds waiting to be leached, next to shallow concave pools of sand and lime.

Immediately, the salt workers slowly poured the clean water from the clay pot from the top of the salt mound, allowing the clean water to flow through the salt soil at a uniform speed, dissolving and taking away the salt in the soil. The salt water gradually flows out from the bottom of the mound, and slowly flows into the concave pond along the designed earth road. This process of melting and leaching out the salt is slow and requires a lot of energy and patience.

Some concave ponds are conical wide and deep pits with a depth of half a meter and a diameter of one meter. The salt workers then took the brine from the concave pond and boiled it in a clay pot to obtain crystallized salt. Crystallized salt can be sold as table salt after drying in the sun.

Another kind of concave pond is a shallow evaporation pond that is spread out flat. The salt water is evenly spread in the evaporation pond, and quickly turns into a crystal white powder under the sun exposure of the tropical plateau. Evaporation ponds have coarse and shallow filtration settings, which are slightly slower, but the quality of the salt will be better.

Shirot stepped forward, squeezed some salt grains with his fingers, and put it into his mouth to taste. Similar to the usual table salt, the output here is coarse salt. Larger grains of salt fall on the tip of the tongue, giving the sensation of a burst of saltiness in the mouth. The juvenile tasted it again and determined that it was gray salt. It's tough, mineral savory, and full of water, making it great for roasting meats or cooking beans.

Shulot nodded slightly. Then, he looked away and observed the salt workers who gathered around in a clutter, looking at them from time to time.

Similar to the gold miners, the salt workers are lean and well-defined. They also came from nearby villages and settlements, and they hugged each other and supported their respective chief salt workers. However, unlike the simple temperament of the gold miners who are strictly restrained, the temperament of the salt workers is more fierce and aggressive.

Even if a big man came to the saltworks, the salt workers were still pushing and shoving, scolding each other softly. Shilot vaguely heard words like "South, Salt Road, Get Rich". He frowned slightly, the previous dissatisfaction superimposed in his heart. The boy looked at Bertard solemnly.

The samurai chief bowed his head in a salute, then waved forward in awe. The accompanying elite warriors immediately pulled out their battle sticks, trotted forward neatly, and scolded the salt workers, "Kneel down, be quiet!". The salt workers took a few steps back in fear, and most of them hurried to the ground. A few salt workers scolded and fought back, and then the samurai turned their long sticks lightly and knocked them down mercilessly with their dull wooden surfaces.

Shulot observed for a moment, the resisting salt workers were not worth mentioning in their martial arts, and they had no power to fight back against the rushing warriors. But they will subconsciously cover each other, gather into mutually supportive squads, and then be knocked down together. This instinctive tacit understanding is one of the most important qualities in team combat, and it is also the key to the coordination of the gun formation.

The young man nodded secretly. He looked at the large group of salt workers who were finally knocked down, and pointed to the leader of the salt workers in the center. Immediately, two leather armored warriors stepped forward and dragged the chief salt worker with him. The dozen or so salt workers behind him were still struggling to rescue the leader, but they were beaten again and rolled on the ground in pain.

The chief salt worker was in his early thirties, with a fierce face and an undisguised rebelliousness on his face. He was dragged and brought in front of Shilot, raised his head and boldly looked at the boy's clothes, and even stayed on the boy's face for a while.

Seeing this scene, Bertard's eyes turned cold. The samurai leader took two steps forward, pinched the back of the neck of the chief salt worker, and then quickly struck the opponent's armpit and abdomen several times. The leader's eyes widened suddenly, then his pupils contracted violently, and he let out a low, miserable cry. Then, he leaned forward, fell to the ground, planted his head in the salty salt soil, and saliva leaked uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth.

After a long while, he regained his senses, knelt down and saluted in fear, not daring to raise his head again. The ferocity had disappeared from his face. Sweat seeped from his face, condensed into beads of sweat, dripped into the same salty salty soil, and splashed a faint but clear sound.

Sherlot watched all this calmly. There was a chill and silence in the salt pan. The overseers samurai also knelt down. However, the elite warriors in their fifty or sixty armoured and fortified, subdued thousands of salt workers. No matter how fierce the untrained salt workers are, they are nothing more than unarmored civilians.

The death-like silence lasted for two quarters of an hour, and the salt workers were as motionless as petrified, silent. The young man smiled slightly. As long as the coercion is enough, the discipline of the salt workers is actually acceptable.

"You are the leader of the salt workers' resistance? What's your name?"

"Ah! Respected high priest, I'm not the leader of the salt workers, and we don't dare to resist you! I'm just... I'm just the leader elected by the village, and there are many leaders like me. Just now Brothers are impulsive, please..."

"What's your name?" A cold voice came from above.

"I'm Moreno." Moreno didn't dare to look up, his abdomen was still in severe pain.

"How many salt cubes are there among the salt workers in the nearby villages?"

"These...a dozen villages make salt privately, with men and women, young and old. There are hundreds of people in excess, dozens of people in small, plus thousands of people here in the big salt mine, there are more than 3,000 salt cubes. Yes. I don't know the exact numbers either."

Moreno saw sweat on his forehead, not knowing what the great noble in front of him wanted to do.

"Moreno, give you warriors and treasures, how many salt cubes can you bring?"

"This...sir, do you want to dispose of the salt? Lord, spare your life! We are all small businesses, even if we secretly sell a little salt, most of the income is handed over to the nobles in the capital. That bit of wealth is like this to you. For the great nobles, they are just the legs of an ant!”

"Moreno, I'll ask you again, how many salt cubes can you gather for me?" A majestic voice came, with some ups and downs, and seemed a little unswerving.

Moreno trembled slightly. He couldn't see the expression of the great nobleman, and could only guess the mood and thoughts of the great nobleman. He hesitated.

"Our village... has a maximum of three hundred people. All the salt they produce will be dedicated to you."

"Well, then you're useless. Come on, drag him out to sacrifice to the gods!"

The warriors immediately stepped forward and dragged the arm of the leader of Yanding.

A cruel fate fell from the sky, Moreno was instantly cold, and he shouted hard.

"My lord, my lord! If you want wealth, I have a way here. It's a great deal, and I'm sure to satisfy you!"

Shirout waved the samurai to stop. He looked at Moreno with interest.

"Say."

"Respected High Priest. The great merchant of Tarrasco was recently executed in the capital, as if he had offended a certain great noble. Once he died, there was a big gap in the originally saturated southern salt road. Brothers all want to catch it. This opportunity to make a fortune. The relationship between the salt diggers has been tense recently, and the shouting just now is for this, and it is not intended to offend you."

"Southern Salt Road? To Mistec and Tlaxcala?" Sherlot thought of something and asked in a deep voice.

"Your lord is really wise! As long as you give me fifty, not thirty elite warriors, and a little shelter, I can take my brothers to participate in the southern trade, 70%, no, 80% of the income will be handed over to you! That is a real white gold river!"

Moreno's voice was slightly excited. He couldn't help raising his voice.

Shulot frowned. The southern trade to Mistec and Tlaxcala was not under the control of the Alliance, and nobles and foreign merchants from all over were involved. The hostile Tlaxcalans were always able to obtain important strategic supplies from the Mexica Union, including salt, cotton cloth, and even bronze.

Shilot once again looked at the kneeling leader Yanding. Dare to participate in this kind of trade route, it is obvious that he has deep roots in the local village. The boy pondered for a moment, and asked again coldly.

"Moreno, let me ask you one last time, how many salt cubes can you gather for me?"

"Ah, this, my lord... I... As long as you give me fifty samurai and enough cotton, I will control all the salt in the villages for you! There are always two thousand people! But you To be able to withstand the nobles on the fief in the capital, that would be a bunch of gluttonous hyenas!"

Hearing this, Shirot finally nodded slightly in satisfaction. The teenager stretched out his left hand ~lightnovelpub.net~ and raised his head. "

For the first time, Moreno looked up and saw the expressionless face of the young priest, and then saw the slender left hand of the young man. He hesitated for a moment, then swept the equipment of the surrounding warriors again, thinking hard about the family crest on it, but after all, he lacked knowledge and could not recall it.

He glanced at the samurai overseer who was also lying on the ground, and then he gritted his teeth, knelt down and took a few steps forward. Then, he bowed his head respectfully, imitating the loyalty of a samurai, and let the boy's left hand fall into his hair.

"Respected priest, I am willing to die for you!"

Shirot held the head of the Salt Workers by the hair. After thinking for a moment, he took out the long dagger he carried and cut off a strand of Moreno's hair.

"Moreno, under the witness of the Lord God, the 'God Revealer' accepts your allegiance! I will throw your hair into the sacred fire of the priest's temple, and report your loyalty to the omnipotent patron saint. Take the letter, Go to the High Priest House tomorrow to report!"

Bertard took out the jade talisman engraved with the name of Sherlot and handed it to the chief salt worker. Moreno trembled slightly. He looked at the boy in front of him in disbelief, and then fell to the ground respectfully.

Shilot nodded silently. He finally looked around the white salt field, looked deeply at the samurai who would oversee the work, and left surrounded by guards. After he left for a long time, the Salt Dings got up from the ground and looked at each other silently.

The salt field is still snow-white, and the salt water seeps quietly, converging in the salt pond into a shape of unknown meaning. Moreno covered his abdomen, lowered his head, and stared silently at the reflection in the salt pool. After a while, he shook his head with a wry smile and sighed. The salt men also crowded around him, staring blankly at the salt pool.

In the white salt pond, clear salt water is slowly flowing, and the reflected figures are unpredictable, just like the unpredictable future.