When talking about this period of history, general history books always look at the problem from the perspectives of promoting reform, strengthening armaments and attaching importance to diplomacy. However, few people know that chemistry also plays an important role in this process. When it comes to the chemistry of qi, we can't help but mention the great Guan Zhong.
Ruins of Shang and Zhou saltworks in Wang Shuang, Shouguang, Shandong. This is the largest salt-making base known at that time.
Where does the military expenditure come from?
In 685 BC, in the first year of Qi Huangong, Guan Zhong entered Yong.
From a peddler at the bottom of society to Shang Qing in Qi today, Guan Zhong has experienced many setbacks and humiliations in the past ten years. However, the reality did not give him much time to lament. At the beginning of his tenure, he made a passionate and ambitious promise: within 30 years, Qi will become the overlord of the north. However, at present, this country faces two major problems. If it is not solved first, there will be problems in its survival: Qi has repeatedly reduced the size of its border guards because of insufficient military spending, while Lu, just south of it, has taken this opportunity to repeatedly harass the border of Qi; What's more, in the southwest, across a small country like a swing, the thriving Chu State is coveting the land of the Central Plains.
Of these two problems, the latter is the most difficult. Chu is the biggest stumbling block to Qi's hegemony. Chu people have strong cohesion and rich experience in military operations. King Chu Wen and Qi Huangong have the same ambition. Once he is full-fledged, it will be his only choice to seize and consolidate the northern grain-producing areas, which will undoubtedly deprive Qi of the development space-Chu can never take the initiative to attack!
To prevent Chu from developing northward, we must build a strong enough army to compete with it or even overwhelm it; To build a strong army, we must first revitalize Qi's economy. Without a solid national economy as the foundation, the hegemony gained only by military force is just bellicose and difficult to last. Military expenses! Military expenses! Military expenditure has become the bottleneck of Qi's development. Even if the generals have the best wisdom and tactics, they can't command an army with insufficient food! Similarly, the best way to restrain Chu's military power is to restrain Chu's economy. The weakest link in Chu's economy is salt, which is owned by Qi! A grand blueprint for the trade war is taking shape. With the natural advantages of Qi State, Chu was badly weakened, and the Chu people were forced to invest a considerable part of the country's labor force to produce silk and tea in exchange for salt. At the same time, Qi also traded with other countries in exchange for a large amount of materials to enrich the national treasury.
2 salt as a strategic material
The first decree issued by Guan Zhong after he took office was to register and manage all salt-making workshops in Qi State. This is the first step to revitalize Qi salt industry. Gradually, Qi's salt-making site has developed from a small workshop to a large-scale salt-making site with compact production links and meticulous division of labor, and the salt-making technology has been greatly improved as a whole. However, subordinates are quite dissatisfied with these achievements. They are puzzled by the disorderly way of the new Shangqing: one does not run away from the army, the other does not authorize, but is busy reading and cooking salt every day!
Guan Zhong has no time to explain his plan to others, but he has the full support of the King of Qi behind him. Qi doesn't understand Guan Zhong's practice, but he knows Guan Zhong very well and believes that he has his own reasons for doing so.
In the history of human civilization, salt is almost as important as fire. The main component of salt is sodium chloride, which releases sodium ions and chloride ions to maintain the osmotic pressure of extracellular fluid and affect the movement of water in the body. In addition, chlorine is an important component of gastric juice. Chloride ions enter gastric juice from blood through parietal cells to maintain electrical balance and form hydrochloric acid, which is the main component of digestive juice. More importantly, salt can also maintain the normal excitability of nerves and muscles. A combat unit may not have enough food for various reasons, but soldiers must eat enough salt before fighting!
Chu was the largest country in the Spring and Autumn Period, including Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and other places today. Even today, these three provinces have many similarities, such as humid climate and spicy folk customs. Chu has not produced salt since ancient times. At that time, Chu was not near the sea and could not produce sea salt. There is well salt in Bashu in the west, but the transportation cost is too high. Today, people in Hunan like to eat Chili, which many people think is because Chili has caught up with the trend. Zhejiang and Fujian are equally humid, but residents like sweets. So there may be another reason why Hunan people like to eat Chili-perhaps because of the high price of local salt, Hunan people can only give up salt and season with Chili. Of course, the Chu people in the Spring and Autumn Period were even more pitiful. Pepper originated in South America and was introduced to China in the Ming Dynasty, so Chu people didn't even eat pepper, so they had to bite the bullet and buy salt at a high price in the "international" market. In this exchange, a lot of silk and lacquerware made in China were consumed. Therefore, the lack of strategic resources is a very terrible thing for a big country seeking to rise. Guan Zhong is a model of a famous official in ancient times, because he made important contributions to the hegemony of Qi Huangong.
The production process is not complicated.
There is a mineral deposit-brine along the coast of Qi, which is produced by seawater, and its salt content is much higher than that of seawater. Today, there is still a large amount of underground brine in the south bank of Laizhou Bay, with an estimated total area of 1.500 square kilometers, and the salt concentration is four or five times higher than that of normal seawater. At that time, the method of making salt in Qi was called leaching. In addition to salt water, plant ash was used. The main components of plant ash are potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate. Salt-making workers first dig a deep hole and a shallow hole in the clay layer, then spread several layers of fine straw or reed on the hole connected with the deep hole at the bottom of the shallow hole, compact it as a filter screen, sprinkle a layer of plant ash on the net, and then pour plant ash with the collected concentrated brine. Magnesium chloride and calcium chloride in the brine react with sodium carbonate in plant ash, which precipitates and is blocked by the filter screen, while sodium chloride dissolves in the brine and flows into the cellar with the brine to become a high-concentration sodium chloride solution. Salt scoops out concentrated brine from a deep pit, and then there are two main treatment methods:
Concentrated brine is boiled in a large clay pot to evaporate water, and then the brine is naturally cooled in the clay pot. With the decrease of water, salt precipitates out of the solution. The salt produced in this way is slightly bitter because it contains magnesium chloride. The second is to pour the brine into a shallow pot and boil it. Before long, high-purity sodium chloride will precipitate from the bottom of the pot; At the same time, during the heating process, magnesium chloride will be decomposed into gas and white and odorless magnesium oxide. The prepared salt is not easy to deliquesce and tastes good, and is mainly supplied to nobles.
4 monopolize the "international" market
Yan has a long coastline. However, it is located in the north bank of Bohai Sea, with a cold climate, and the coast that can really meet the salt-making conditions is very limited.
Vietnam's coastline is equally long. However, due to its location in the south of the Yangtze River, Yue was busy transforming the domestic topography and infrastructure construction, and did not vigorously develop the salt industry. What's more, there are not many shallow brine deposits along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian where Yue is located. So the salt-making method in this country is to boil seawater directly. But the salt content of seawater is not very high. Boil seawater to evaporate water and concentrate the solution to 265 grams of salt.
Only the Qin Dynasty attached importance to salt production and had rich lake salt resources. The salt in the state of Qin is "sold by the government and the people". The government organizes salt production and then sells it through agents. After the agent raised the price, Qin Salt has lost its price advantage in "international" trade. Qi's model is just the opposite, privately producing salt, and officials buying salt. With the encouragement and support of the government, the salt industry in Qi developed rapidly. Qi became the monopolist of the "international" salt market.