167: One to one: Affectionate Ning Bing!
The grand plan unfolds!_3 167: One to one: Affectionate Ning Bing!
The grand plan unfolds!_3 However, this is the power of the royal families of various countries, and no other noble can meddle with it, for whoever does so is courting death.
There are three kinds of mines that are even more profitable than gold and silver mines, and they are not exclusive to the royal family.
They are the three secret metals: Secret Black Gold, Secret White Gold, and Secret Dragon Gold.
Each of these three secret metals is a priceless treasure, worth several times more than an equal weight of gold.
Without exception, they are all related to martial strength.
Secret Black Gold is an extremely hard and heavy metal.
Strong warriors use it to forge swords, while dragon archers use it to make arrowheads.
Arrows forged from Secret Black Gold are utterly indestructible.
The last time Suo Lun spent a large sum of gold coins in the southern border, he only bought black gold-plated arrows, and they were already indestructible.
The price of one ounce of Secret Black Gold is roughly equivalent to two gold coins.
Suo Lun estimated that the so-called Secret Black Gold should be similar to tungsten on Earth, except that here it is extremely rare and difficult to mine and refine, so it’s even more expensive than gold.
Secret White Gold, on the other hand, is most likely a metal unique to this world.
It is very light and somewhat soft, but its toughness is incredibly high.
A strand of white gold as thin as a hair can withstand the weight of several dozen pounds.
Armor woven from white gold threads can’t be penetrated by swords, let alone black gold arrows.
One ounce of Secret White Gold is worth a dozen gold coins or so.
As for Secret Dragon Gold, it is an extremely mystical and divine object.
Its hardness surpasses Secret Black Gold, and its toughness exceeds Secret White Gold, yet its weight is even lighter than Secret White Gold.
Moreover, it has a strong memory function, and many regard it as a mysterious metal with life, rumored to be transformed from the body bones of ancient divine dragons.
A sword forged from Secret Dragon Gold is the most astonishing weapon in this world, truly indestructible.
The first two secret metals have a price, but Secret Dragon Gold has no price at all.
They are not a type of ore, but exist very occasionally as whole blocks in this world.
Tianshui City, as a noble among lords, does not possess even one weapon made from Secret Dragon Gold.
This shows just how mysterious and rare this material is.
Besides the three secret metals, gold, and silver, the remaining profitable ones are copper and iron mines.
Although they don’t earn as much as tens of thousands of gold coins, they are definitely highly profitable.
Nevertheless, Chaos Stone Island has no mineral deposits at all.
Apart from stones, it has virtually nothing.
“Master, the plan you mentioned about earning 150,000 gold coins in half a year, what exactly is it?” Suo Mu couldn’t help but ask, “We really cannot think of any possibilities.”
Suo Lun looked at this slave leader and said, “What industry were these more than a thousand people engaged in while they were hidden on this island by Gui Xingfu?”
The slave leader replied, “Making salt, chopping wood from the mountains, and diving into the sea to boil salt in large pots.”
This village is actually a black salt field owned by Gui Xingfu, spanning tens of thousands of acres.
Suo Lun asked, “How much salt does this salt field produce in a year, and how much gold does it earn?”
The slave leader replied, “At its peak, there were more than three thousand salt slaves.
In a year, they produced more than a million catties of salt, which could earn 3,000 gold coins.
However, as the trees on the mountain were cut down, the salt production has been decreasing.
Last year, less than 400,000 catties of salt were produced, earning less than 1,000 gold coins.
That’s why this salt field and we slaves were completely abandoned.”
You heard right, the world’s salt has a whopping price of several dozens of copper coins per catty, equivalent to more than twenty yuan.
And when it reaches ordinary households, the price at least doubles or triples, completely exorbitant.
Of course, in ancient China, the price of salt was almost the same.
Because of the high cost of making salt and the monopoly system over salt and iron, throughout two thousand years of the feudal dynasty, it was normal for salt to cost several dozen or even hundreds of Wen per catty.
In ancient China, there were also well salt and rock salt.
However, in this world, they rely entirely on boiling, so the price of edible salt remains exceptionally high.
Suo Mu said, “Master, this island is now completely worthless, so what exactly is your money-making plan?”
“Salt, still making salt,” Suo Lun replied.
Suo Mu and the present salt slaves’ leader said, “But, almost all the trees on the mountain have been cut down.
Without them, we can’t make salt, otherwise this salt field wouldn’t have been abandoned by Gui Xingfu.”
Suo Lun said, “We won’t make salt, we’ll sun-dry it.”
With what shall we sun-dry it?” asked Suo Mu.
“Of course, with the sun,” Suo Lun replied.
The slave leader said in disbelief, “The sun can produce salt by drying?
How is that possible?”
Suo Lun said, “Not only is it possible, but the yield is also dozens, even hundreds of times more than that of boiling salt.”
Yes, when Suo Lun was in the royal city, he had already set his sights on Gui Xingfu’s Chaos Stone Island.
According to Ye Jingyu and Suo Ningbing’s descriptions, the island was the most perfect natural salt field, where tens of thousands of acres of salt ponds could easily be constructed.
With enough manpower, it was possible to produce an astronomical amount of edible salt in a year.
And on this world, salt is just like silver coins, copper coins, and food—as absolute as hard currency, an equivalent of money.
Thus, earning ten or more thousands of gold coins could be said to be as easy as lifting a finger!
Note: The second update is here; today, we still have a 10,000-word update, leaving me feeling absolutely exhausted.
Brothers, I beg for your monthly tickets and support.