Since Wu Yan was an engineer in his previous life, what he wanted most was to do what an engineer should do. If you are marching in the field by yourself, you will probably have to march at night, and it is indeed very inconvenient to have no lanterns.

In order to produce a horse lantern, it is necessary to have transparent glass. Since it is necessary to produce glass, it is necessary to produce it in large quantities, and you can make a lot of money, because glass is a high-end product, and almost all high-end glass is imported, and the princes and nobles can afford it.

Second, this glass is really versatile, for example, if you want to fight, you need to make a telescope. Although natural crystals can also be used to make telescopes, pure natural crystals are hard to find and very expensive. Or glass is very convenient to use.

In order to produce glass in large quantities, soda ash must be used, and the cheapest way to mine soda ash is, of course, to the salt lakes near Inner Mongolia.

The salt lake is only 300 miles away. Wu Yanzhi decided to go to Xiazhou and other places to look for natural soda ash in the name of patrolling the border defense and preventing Turkic sneak attacks.

So after he stayed in Yanchang County for thirty-eight days, Wu Yanzhi set off for Xiazhou with five hundred cavalry and staff.

The weather was excellent, the wind was mild and the sky was cloudless. He took hundreds of cavalry and galloped towards Xiazhou. This Xia state is on the edge of the Mu Us Desert, that is, Shuofang and Yunzhong. It's right next to the Great Wall, but it's just outside the Great Wall.

Along the way, they were naturally warmly entertained. And on the fourth day, they rushed into the clouds.

The big and small officials of Naxia Prefecture welcomed them into the post house. Of course, Wu Yanzhi was not in the mood to drink with them, he asked where there was a salt lake, but someone quickly told him that it was 50 miles away, and it was only a matter of time on horseback.

However, they don't know what soda ash is in the salt lake. At this time, the alkali used by people is mainly grass ash alkali, which can also be used when making steamed bread.

Of course, you can do laundry, but soap is not available. Wu Yanzhi remembered that in the 21st century in which he lived, a few decades ago, there were some remote peasant women in Yunnan and Guizhou, and there were also those who used grass ash and alkali to make steamed buns.

Grass ash ash is potassium carbonate, while natural soda ash is sodium carbonate, metal ions are different, and they are non-toxic.

In the evening, Wu Yanzhi chatted with several staff. Qi Xuan asked, "Is the alkali mentioned by General Wu easy to find?" ”

"Of course it's easy to find, I'll find out tomorrow. With this thing, you can make high-end glass products, which are even better than those from the Western Regions, and it is not a problem to earn 180,000 yuan a year.

You follow me, don't worry about running out of money to spend. In a word, the official will only get bigger and bigger, and the more money will be earned. Wu Yanzhi said with a smile.

When several staff members heard this, they were naturally very excited.

"I plan to keep two intimate guards here to mine natural soda ash ore like an oil refining workshop.

As for this glazed workshop, it is better to build it in Taiyuan, and it is more convenient to find those stones where the glaze is fired.

Of course, in this glaze workshop, I will deploy some craftsmen with the highest skills, and strive to produce the most high-end glazed products in Dazhou. ”

Early the next morning, Wu Yanzhi rushed to the nearby Salt Lake with his five hundred cavalry and staff.

The fifty-mile journey was almost there. When he dismounted, he and the others began to search.

"Is this soda ash, it seems to be salt, right?" Judge Qi said.

"Well, it's salt, not alkali. Maybe the alkali is down here, and you have to dig it up or dig a few meters to know. Let me try it with my Luoyang shovel and see if there is natural soda ash below. Wu Yanzhi said that, and began to use the Luoyang shovel to explore.

The shovel in Luoyang is really easy to use, and in a moment of effort, it will be five or six meters deep. While probing, Wu Yan pinched it open with his hand to look at it, and then tasted it with his mouth. As a result, it has been hit to a depth of 20 meters, and no natural soda ash has been found.

"Maybe there is no natural soda ash in this salt lake." Wu Yanzhi muttered to himself. In terms of his knowledge of mining, not every salt lake has trona.

As a result, he explored more than a dozen caverns around the salt lake, but found nothing.

"Let's go to the next salt lake."

So the group quickly got up and got on their horses, and under the guidance of the guide, ran to the next salt lake.

Who knew that not long after he set off, suddenly the cavalry in charge of the guard galloped over: "Report to General Wu, the Turkic cavalry found fifty miles away, about 2,000 people. ”

Two thousand? Wu Yan saw that he was only 500 cavalrymen, and his combat effectiveness was far inferior to others. It's better to quickly find favorable terrain to prevent people from sneaking up.

Since their own cavalry discovered the other party, the other party must have discovered themselves as well. So he called the guide who led the way and asked in detail about the nearby terrain. Then he hurriedly led more than 500 people to a hill ten miles behind him.

He let his twenty riflemen lie in ambush on the mountain, and let Yufei lead a hundred cavalry to stay on the mountain with him, cover the riflemen, and lure the enemy.

Yang Siqiao led the remaining 400 cavalry to lay in ambush behind the mountain, and then attack when the battle was almost complete, trying to catch the enemy by surprise.

The leader of the Turkic cavalry was the prince of the Turks. Although it is said that at this time the Turks and the Great Zhou, there was no special conflict. However, the Turks did not regard the Great Zhou as a friend, they only wanted to rob the population and livestock of the Great Zhou.

……

"Report to the prince, the Great Zhou cavalry was found in front, and it is estimated that there are only four or five hundred people." The Rangers came to report.

When the prince heard this, four or five hundred people? This place is the junction of the two countries, why not sneak attack this cavalry of the Great Zhou? Snatch a few hundred horses from him, and take some prisoners back, and my father must be very happy. Even when Da Zhou asked, he said that these people had trespassed on the border, and they couldn't help it.

His two thousand cavalry are all Turkic elites, and the five hundred people of the Great Zhou are definitely not opponents. Thinking of this, he was not only overjoyed, so he immediately ordered:

"Kanu, you take a thousand people as the left team, and I will take the remaining 1,000 people as the right team, and attack this group of Great Zhou cavalry on both sides, and strive to wipe them all out."

"Yes." Du Ganu agreed, quickly ordered a few lieutenants, and then took you a thousand cavalry, and the prince came in two teams to raid.

said that Wu Yanzhi was on the top of the mountain, and he kept hearing the rangers come up to report. Knowing that the Turkic cavalry was divided into two teams, the left and right, and suddenly attacked his side, it was obvious that he wanted to attack himself and wipe out his own troops.

Not only did he say secretly, it was so dangerous! If you don't prepare, you will really be wiped out.

So he ordered: "Quickly prepare for battle, Yao Kuan, let the riflemen shoot those leaders specifically, and there is no problem in running out all the bullets." ”

"Good! But I'm going to get on my horse and try my mace in a minute. Yao Kuan laughed.

It must not be convenient to use his hammer on a horse, so he made a mace weighing thirty pounds. This mace was Yang Siqiao who saw it and admired it.

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