The world of counterfeit magistrates competes in the world

Chapter 323 Benefits of the Desert Salt Lake
After the reward meeting was over, the generals of each army returned to the station with the honor of the troops and the rewards of the soldiers under their command.This time it is not only a reward for meritorious service, but also an expansion of the army, as well as the adjustment of positions and the distribution of power.These things will be what they need to deal with in the next few months.

Lin Yifan did not leave the Military Mansion, but accompanied by Luo Yi and Luo Feng, he looked at the newly made map.This map is after the Battle of Xiayang Pass, adding the desert land west of Xiazhou and the terrain north of Xiayang Pass.

Looking at this map, one can see that Hengshan's sphere of influence extends from Xiayang Pass to the south to Jishan Pass. The entire terrain is like a cylinder, long from north to south and short from east to west, with a diameter of nearly two thousand miles.

Luo Feng was explaining to Lin Yifan the hardships they experienced after entering the desert. "My lord, we followed your instructions and brought a lot of water bags and food. But after five days in, we encountered a strong wind and sand, overwhelming us, making it impossible for us to distinguish the direction. In the end, we sent the horses We formed a circle, stayed in place, and waited for the wind and sand to pass. But when the wind and sand passed, everything around us changed. At that time, it was dark and it was difficult to distinguish things. Fortunately, an adult prepared a magnet for us, and we could barely distinguish north from south. , so that we can continue on the road. My lord, you see, we were probably in this position at that time. "

Lin Yifan looked along the location Luo Feng pointed, and saw a large yellow area marked on it, representing the desert.He measured it with his hands, and it was about 200 miles away from Xiazhou, his face could not help showing a worried look.He knew that the desert was erosive. If no measures were taken, the desert would spread to Xiazhou in less than a hundred years. In a few hundred years, Xiazhou would also become a desert.As a modern person, since he already knows the dangers of the desert, he cannot sit idly by and leave future generations harmed.

Just as Lin Yifan was thinking, Luo Feng had already rowed northward along the desert, and continued: "Finally, after three days, we walked out of this desert and entered a desert area. It is abnormally dry and cold, and the winter At that time, there was not a single snowflake falling. Fortunately, we brought enough water, so we were able to move on. Then we passed here, and there is a huge lake here, and we encountered big trouble here. I heard After the scouts reported, they thought that there was a source of water, and immediately ordered the lifting of the ban on drinking water. But when we arrived at this large lake, we were dumbfounded. The water in this lake is very bitter and salty, and it is not drinkable at all, and some soldiers were even poisoned by it. But at that time, half of our water had been wasted. I was very anxious, because the water at this time was only enough for the whole army, including the horses, for less than five days. So I sent people to surround the whole The great lake, looking for its water source river. Unexpectedly, the river has already stopped flowing in the cold today. As a last resort, the whole army digs a well pit on the river bed, and finally dug a well water, and then spent Water crisis."

Lin Yifan looked at the area covered by blue paint, but his heart was already in turmoil.Is this big lake a salt lake unique to desert areas?Because the river water flows into the low-lying areas without a source, after millions of years of evaporation, a large amount of salt has accumulated in the water, making the lake water bitter and salty.If so, doesn't it mean that this salt lake is a natural salt producing area?You know, in the feudal era when productivity was backward, salt and iron were also called the economic lifeline of a country.As long as the rulers of the past dynasties firmly control the manufacture and trade of salt and iron, they can add a lot of wealth to the treasury and consolidate their rule.

Hengshan's current salt is not only stockpiled by the Golden Werewolves captured before, but also collected from various places during the southward battle; the remaining small part was purchased from merchants in the Western Regions of Shazhou at a high price.However, these are mostly unsustainable. Once they are used up, Hengshan will need to spend a lot of money to buy them from smugglers.After all, the salt and iron run by the imperial court will never be sold to any rebels. This is also a problem that has been plaguing the major forces.

But now Hengshan has discovered a salt lake, as long as he can make salt, Hengshan will get rid of the plight of being controlled by others.It can even develop a salt-making industry as a powerful tool for Hengshan's foreign trade.At that time, Hengshan's salt and iron will become the two pillar industries of Hengshan, supporting the rapid development of Hengshan.

Lin Yifan was so excited that he leaned over to the map and drew it with his hands. He found that it was about [-] miles away from Xiazhou, which was a bit far; moreover, the environment was harsh and development was extremely difficult.His heart sank slightly, and he stared fixedly at this place, constantly thinking about the solution.

Luo Feng didn't notice his abnormality, and continued to follow the map all the way north, "My lord, this desert is huge, but as we go north, the mountains begin to increase. We walked for about seven or eight days, and finally We discovered the remaining veins of the western section of Xiayang Mountain, stretching across our northward road. We had no choice but to circle westward along the mountains. After walking for about five days, we passed through a section of gentle valleys. Until this time, we did not enter the grassland. In the next few days, we traveled all the way east, and only then did we confirm our location, which is already in the northwest border of Youxian King's territory."

After Luo Feng finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Lin Yifan, seeing that his eyes had been fixed on the position of the big lake, he couldn't help asking in doubt: "My lord, what's the matter, is there any problem with this big lake?"

Before Lin Yifan could answer, Luo Yi looked back at the northern grassland and landed on the big lake, "This big lake is located in the desert. If we build a city here, it can be used as a stronghold to break into the grassland, threatening The west of the Golden Werewolves. If you go west, you can defend the West Golden Werewolves from the east and attack the right wing of our Xiazhou. However, the water of this lake is not drinkable, and the source river will stop flowing in autumn and winter. In addition, the environment is extremely harsh, so it is really not a good place to build a city. Moreover, this place is five hundred miles away from our Xia Province. Once something happens, it is very easy to fall into a dangerous situation alone, which is not conducive to the rescue of the army. My lord, it is better to build a guard post along the coast of Xiashui because of stationing troops here. Once the enemy If the army strikes, our army can arrive for rescue within a few days."

Lin Yifan turned his eyes away from the big lake, turned to look at the two of them, and said with a firm expression, "This big lake is of great significance to Hengshan, and we must not give it up."

"Why is this?" Luo Yi looked at the big lake on the map in doubt, and asked in confusion.

"Father-in-law, Luo Feng, do you know what is contained in this big lake? Why is the water so bitter and salty?" Lin Yifan asked excitedly, pointing at the map.

Luo Yi and his son looked at each other with a dazed look on their faces, so they shook their heads together.As people in the inland northwest, they have never seen the sea; and their life experience is so narrow that they don't even know that sea water is salty.What's more, the salt in today's world mainly comes from the mining of salt wells and salt mines.Due to the backwardness of the salt-making process, the salt they baked with seawater has many impurities, bitter taste and very low quality.So much so that salt merchants dare not say bluntly that the salt goods in their hands are fired with seawater, so few people in the world know that seawater can also make salt.

Lin Yifan shook his head and pointed heavily at the blue area, "This big lake contains a lot of salt, yes, it is the salt we eat every day. As long as the salt is extracted, we in Hengshan can be self-sufficient. You can even sell a lot of salt to the outside world. Do you know what this means?"

Luo Yi and the two trembled slightly when they heard the words, and stared at the big lake, their eyes widened. "What, there's salt in this lake? How is that possible?"

"That's impossible, my lord. Our soldiers were poisoned after drinking a few sips of the lake water." Luo Feng retorted, "This lake water is poisonous. Even if there is salt, it is poisonous salt."

"Unfiltered salt water contains a lot of impurities, which will naturally cause symptoms of poisoning in the human body." Lin Yifan explained with a smile, "As long as we can remove the impurities in it, we can get relatively pure salt water, and then dry it. It can be made into the salt we use."

"My lord, if this is the case, this great lake must be firmly controlled at all costs." Luo Yi stared at the map firmly and said firmly.

PS: Salt lake should be able to produce salt, right?I'm talking nonsense, I hope it conforms to common sense, otherwise it will be embarrassing.

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(End of this chapter)