In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the salt well was named after the ancestors dug wells and boiled salt on this land.
During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the salt industry of salt wells had formed a certain scale, which attracted the attention of Qin, a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, the rulers set up salt villages in salt wells, which is equivalent to county-level construction.
During the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Fuling, Emperor of Zhao Di, presided over a famous salt and iron conference in 83 BC. At the conference, an ancient scholar, Sang Hongyang, published the famous "On Salt and Iron" based on the effectiveness of Gansu Salt and Iron Official Camp, and put forward that "salt and iron benefit the country, so the army has sufficient expenses to help the civilian soldiers, and everything is accumulated for a rainy day ...".
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, in the first year of Zhang (AD 76), Yanchuan County was officially established, and full-time salt officers were set up in 28 counties across the country. Salt production in Zhangxi 'an County is managed by salt officials in Longxi County.
Therefore, there is a saying that "Zhangyan came first, then Zhang Xian". The famous and special products in Zhangxi 'an County are: iodized salt, osmanthus fragrans, northern Fujian (that is, Fritillaria Gansu), wild codonopsis pilosula, Cordyceps sinensis, broad beans, potatoes, leeks, cucumbers, apples, Xanthoceras sorbifolia, bracken, oolong head, salmon, yak meat and so on. Iodized salt is especially famous.