Bottled white salt priced at three hundred wen was selling like crazy in Ji Prefecture.
In just half a month, everywhere it hit the shelves, the bottled white salt was almost always snatched up by the local people within five days!
The salt was good—its taste much better than poisonous salt. And compared to the high-end white salt people usually thought of, this white salt was shockingly cheap, like the price of cabbage.
But most importantly, the government was giving away bottles with the salt!
These transparent bottles, never seen before, were beautiful and novel. Some even said they were originally exclusive to Western Qi nobility—Great Wei had never had them before, but the Ninth Prince managed to produce them…
With such a fresh and fashionable item, not getting one to show off at home was basically falling behind the times!
It takes comparison to make something valuable.
The expensive five-colored salt made the bottled white salt seem even more affordable. Add in the novelty of the glass bottles and the fun stories behind them—even though 300 wen was still costly for ordinary folks, many still gritted their teeth and bought one, driven by a mix of thriftiness and vanity.
The trend of bottled salt spread through Ji Prefecture like a virus.
Because it was in such high demand, practically everyone would greet each other by asking, “Have you bought the white salt?”Inviting someone to your house to eat and taste the white salt was still a luxury. Most people who managed to get some just liked to show off the glass bottle, displaying it at home for this or that purpose.
Nowadays in Ji Prefecture, if your household didn’t have a glass bottle, you could hardly make small talk with others!
The 10,000 glass bottles Wei Yu had prepared at the start were gone in an instant.
Fortunately, the kiln factories were still operating, and glass bottles could keep being made. While his father hadn’t yet started producing white salt for nationwide sale, Wei Yu could continue selling his bottled salt to make a bit of a profit.
The first batch of salt only brought in around 3,000 taels total.
As planned, Wei Yu took out 2,000 taels from the earnings to purchase raw materials and tools for making white sugar. Once all preparations were complete, he began arranging for sugar refining.
Meanwhile, the bottled salt was still selling.
After all, he was still gathering big clients—Wei Yu was hoping to reel one in to help him with business.
—
While Wei Yu was busy and thriving in Ji Prefecture, over in the capital, the matter of white salt had the court officials moved to tears.
Not from being scolded by Emperor Wei—but out of heartfelt emotion.
The idea of extracting white salt from rock salt had come from a letter Wei Yu wrote to his father, who later mentioned it during court.
Unlike the shock and excitement he’d shown when first receiving the letter, Emperor Wei was calm on the court floor.
He calmly announced the news that rock salt could be refined into white salt, calmly mentioned that Ji Prefecture was already selling it, and calmly observed the various expressions among his officials—calm in a way befitting his supreme imperial image!
Only Eunuch Li Cheng, who always served him, knew it was just a front.
The Prime Minister, a wily veteran of court politics, had long been calculating ways to achieve merit for backing the right prince once the Second Prince came of age. Though this may seem disloyal and crafty, it didn’t stop him from also caring about the common people when it didn’t conflict with his own interests.
Gongsun Tai, for once, couldn’t hide his excitement. He stepped forward and asked Emperor Wei:
“Your Majesty, to turn rock salt into white salt is a great service to the realm! The person who came up with this must be a great talent! May Your Majesty reward him generously!”
The new white salt was first sold in Ji Prefecture. Whoever came up with this method must be there. What a coincidence! If the Second Prince doesn’t take this opportunity to recruit this person, what a waste of Heaven’s blessing!
Emperor Wei looked at him meaningfully. “Prime Minister, you actually know who this person is.”
Gongsun Tai’s heart stirred with a secret joy.
He also knew? Could it be—someone from the Second Prince’s faction?
Pei Zhi, silent till now, suddenly glanced at him.
Just as Gongsun Tai believed the person was linked to the Second Prince, Pei Zhi was equally convinced it had something to do with Wei Yu.
Pei Zhi knew far more than Gongsun Tai.
He knew the Ninth Prince had hidden talents, rarely showing them. Who knows where he learned all this—but the Emperor seemed aware of it and even allowed it…
Besides, the Second Prince was somewhere in Jiaozhou, and there was no clear proof he was in Ji Prefecture. But the Ninth Prince was definitely there.
So in Pei Zhi’s view, rather than say the person who refined rock salt into white salt was related to the Ninth Prince, it was more accurate to say—it was the Ninth Prince.
Gongsun Tai assumed this rising star in Ji Prefecture was linked to the Second Prince. Of course he wanted to boast about it before the whole court. If you don’t say it, how will others know?
So Gongsun Tai said righteously, “Your Majesty jests. I have never been to Ji Prefecture and don’t know anyone there. Might Your Majesty enlighten me a little?”
What a pompous old thing.
Emperor Wei gave him an affectionate look, then suddenly laughed and said loudly, “Oh come now, my dear minister, surely you haven’t forgotten that a few months ago, the Wise King said he would go to Ji Prefecture to earn revenue for the national treasury?”
Gongsun Tai: !!!
A thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Emperor Wei’s words were completely different from what Gongsun Tai had imagined—it nearly made his expression crack.
He had never expected this to be related to the Wise King!
He’d nearly forgotten that man even existed at court!
Pei Zhi stood quietly, hands in sleeves, looking utterly content.
See? He knew it had something to do with the Ninth Prince. And he was right.
The other officials were stunned.
Compared to the Second Prince, who had long operated in court, the Ninth Prince—who had barely made an appearance and had voluntarily asked to go to the provinces (which basically looked like being exiled)—was unfamiliar to most.
On one hand: the youngest, obscure prince just starting out; on the other: the refined and well-supported Second Prince. Which official would think of the former first?
It wasn’t like gambling—you get it wrong, and your whole clan could be wiped out.
Many shared the Prime Minister’s assumption. After hearing Emperor Wei’s statement, shock slowly gave way to realization: Wei Yu in Ji Prefecture.
Du Xing: [Wow, I really almost forgot the Ninth Prince existed]
Ministry of Rites, Cao Youde: [Oho, interesting. His Majesty just wanted to watch the Prime Minister make a fool of himself, didn’t he?]
Ministry of Revenue, Qi Tishou: [Tsk, so this is the Ninth Prince’s method of generating income? Turning rock salt into white salt? Sounds a bit far-fetched… I better go home and double-check the treasury numbers.]
Ministry of War, Yu Wenzhi: [The Prime Minister really embarrassed himself this time—]
Truly embarrassing.
To Gongsun Tai, the Ninth Prince was like someone who suddenly sprang out of a crack in a rock.
His ideas were too solid.