Thousands of years ago, salt was a scarce resource in the mainland. The ancient Tea Horse Road in the southwest carries not only tea but also salt. Guizhou does not produce table salt. The salt used by the common people is transported from other provinces.
Guizhou is adjacent to various counties in Guangxi, such as Libo, Liping, Rongjiang, etc. Relying on coastal salt. Neighboring Yunnan, Liuzhi, Anlong, Zhenfeng, and others rely on Yunnan salt. The remaining 60 counties and districts mainly rely on Sichuan salt. Guizhou people refer to table salt as salt.
Maotai has become the water transportation endpoint for Sichuan salt from Hejiang River to Chishui River in Guizhou, as well as the starting point for land transportation. Sichuan salt is then transported to various parts of Guizhou for sale, and it enters Guizhou, exerting a profound impact on the commerce, culture, and Taiwan liquor itself in Maotai Town.
Maotai prospered in response to the salt industry, gathering a large number of salt merchants. Salt merchants have the exclusive right of salt transportation and sales authorized by the imperial court. Using this privilege to earn huge commercial monopoly profits. They are wealthy and have always lived a luxurious life. However, Taizhen has neither the pleasure of silk and bamboo dads showing off nor the fun of fighting chickens and horses. Salt merchants are bored and often drink and have fun. Local salt merchants seized the opportunity and built burning houses in Maotai to make wine for entertaining customers. Due to the excellent quality of the wine, guests praised it endlessly after drinking. By selling through merchants to other places, the reputation has spread far and wide.
