The sun is scorching in the west, and the heat is slowly subsiding. The steamer-like tent is also gradually getting cooler. Although it is a desert in the hot summer, it is still very cold at night, so the evening and early morning are the most comfortable times in the desert.

Wang Yuan woke up sweating profusely, and Gongsun Lan, who was meditating at the entrance of the tent, turned his head and opened his eyes and said, "Are you awake?" ”

Wang Yuan's throat was dry and his eyes were on fire, he reached out and grabbed the water bladder hanging on the roof of the tent and drank a few big sips, wiping the water stains and panting. Gongsun Lan handed over a cloth towel, Wang Yuan thanked him, wiped the hot sweat on his face, and got up.

"What time is it? I've got to go see the horse. Wang Yuan said.

Gongsun Lan nodded and said, "It's time to go and take a look, a few hours have passed, and it's already evening." If the salt is poisonous, at least there should be some reaction. ”

Wang Yuan nodded yes, the two of them got out of the tent and walked to the place where the horses and camels were tied under the dunes, the evening sunset slanted on the top of the hill in the west, and the evening wind blew through the body, although it was slightly hot, but it made people feel comfortable, and the spirits of both of them were lifted.

The old guide's tent at the bottom of the hill was set up next to the resting place for the horses and camels, so that the cattle could be tended, and before the two had even gone down the dune, the old guide had already come out of the tent at the sound of the noise.

"Dashuai, Gongsun girl, you are here." The old man smiled.

Wang Yuan returned the salute, strode over, and said with a smile: "It's finally cool, F, where is the horse tethered?" ”

The old man pointed forward, but saw that in the shadow of the sunset of the sand dunes, several camels were lying on the sand, the foam from their mouths was rushing, and behind them, two horses were standing in the sand and flicking their tails. Wang Yuan walked quickly to the two horses, the black horse stretched out his mouth to rub, and was ruthlessly pushed away by Wang Yuan, only staring at the yellow huss up and down, and circling around the yellow hussar. One moment he opened his horse's lips to look at it, and the other he approached the horse. Look carefully with your eyes.

"I don't know how to heal, but I don't seem to be out of the ordinary. What do you guys think? Wang Yuan frowned and asked.

"I just pulled two bubbles of, and the rest was nothing. I came to see it every half an hour, but I didn't see anything strange. The old guide said on the side.

Gongsun Lan stepped forward, stretched out her hand to untie the horse's reins and said, "Whether it is poisoned or not, see if it has the strength and how the spirit is." The most straightforward way to do this is to ride it for a while. ”

Gongsun Lan said that he turned over and got on the horse and urged the horses. With a screech, the yellow huss trotted up the side of the dune, stepping on the soft sand and flying in the wind. After a while, he ran around the huge sand dunes and returned to Wang Yuan.

"Everything is as usual, but it seems that my strength has increased, and I am very happy to run." Gongsun Lan smiled on the horse.

Wang Yuanxi smiled and said continuously: "That's good, that's good, that is to say, there is poisonous salt above the surface, and the color that turns white under the bottom foot is really edible salt, but it has to go through some treatment." Without further ado, while the weather is cool, let's go to the salt lake and have another look, and I have to think about it. ”

The trio sprang into action, crossing the dunes to the shores of the salt lake. In the afterglow of the setting sun, the view of the salt lake is breathtaking. The surface of the lake is glittering with gold, and although the salt land on the shore of the lake is white, in some places it is unknown that something reflects the colorful light, like many gems dotted on the ground, and the scenery is strange.

Wang Yuan dug more than a dozen pits in different areas at different locations to determine whether the situation was the same as the salt pit he had dug earlier, and the results obtained were satisfactory. In the entire eastern part of the lake, there is basically a coarse salt of pure color that can be seen below the poisonous salt about a foot or so, and it is as deep as two or three feet. In other words, the whole area is coarse salt except for the poisonous salt of a certain thickness on the surface, and the bottom is all coarse salt. The sheer number is staggering.

The colorful thing that glows in the sunset on the beach is also proven to be a crystallized with color, sparkling like a jewel, but it is not known which substance it is. But Wang Yuan knew that no matter what kind of substance, it might be a useful thing. Therefore, Wang Yuan packed different samples in different cloth bags and planned to bring them back to Zhang Zhengyi and them to take a look. These things can only be turned to these alchemists.

The water in the middle of the salt lake is actually very shallow, and the shallow water is full of sedimentary salt layers. Wang Yuan understood that this should have been a huge salt lake, but with the changes of the years, the lake water was evaporated and gradually dried up, so it became what it is today. Nature is wonderful, and there is enough evidence to prove that the vicissitudes of the sea have already been proved in later generations, and Wang Yuan is not as surprised as the old guide and Gongsun Lan.

Wang Yuan was satisfied, this salt lake was exactly what he thought, and he might be able to have enough money to complete many of the plans he wanted. Before I came, I was a little worried, worried that it would be in vain to rejoice. But now it seems that the hard work was worth it. The rest is how to get the salt, steam it or stir-fry it, and then transport it out for food and money, which is actually the most difficult. Comparatively speaking, it is not too difficult to persuade Yang Guozhong to participate in it and give these private salts a legitimate sales channel and identity.

After returning to the tent and eating dry food, Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan walked to the top of the sand dune. The air around is cold, but the dunes absorb the heat of the day and emit heat at night, so they don't feel cold. The two of them sat on the top of the sand dunes, looking up at the crescent moon in the desert sky and the starry sky in the sky, and they both felt comfortable. The two held hands and snuggled up to each other, quietly enjoying this quiet time.

"Erlang, even if there is salt in this salt lake that you want, have you considered how to get it? This place is nearly eighty or ninety miles away from the border of the Tang Dynasty, blocked by the vast desert, and there is a bison city thirty miles away, even if it is full of gold and silver, how can it be transported out? Gongsun Lan finally broke the silence and asked the question she had been thinking about.

Wang Yuan smiled slightly, stretched out his hand to wrap his arms around her waist and said, "Cousin has always wanted to ask this question." Not...... It's a difficult thing to do. But no matter how hard it is, because I need this salt to bring me more. This place is far away from the border of the Tang Dynasty, and separated by a vast sea of sand, it is obviously impossible to secretly dig up and go back on the back of a camel horse. First, it is extremely dangerous to do so, and secondly, it does not meet the requirements of large-scale mining. Only by mining in large quantities and selling in large quantities can we accumulate money in a very short period of time, purchase a large amount of food and material reserves, recruit soldiers and horses, equip and improve the structure of the army. ”

Gongsun Lan frowned and said, "So how can you do it?" How can this dilemma be overcome? ”

Wang Yuan said: "There is only one way, I want to capture Bison City and use the oasis land around Bison City as a springboard to recruit a large number of people to mine salt here under protection." ”

"Take Bison City?" Gongsun Lan was surprised: "Are you going to take the soldiers and horses deep into the desert to attack Bison City?" This is the border of Tibet, is it risky for a large army to attack deep into the desert? ”

Wang Yuan said: "It's true that there are some risks, but this risk is worth taking." There is no big city in Tubo within a radius of 100 miles from Bison City, and because of the desert, Bison City is actually lonely. Therefore, once they are attacked, there are no reinforcements arriving for help in a short time. What's more, the two attacks on the northeastern border of Tubo by Longyou and Hexi are about to begin, and once the war around Jishi Mountain begins, the Tubo people will focus all their attention on the war in the northeast, and they will not have time to free up their hands to help Bison City, which is another opportunity for us. Once Bison City is taken, the exploitation of the salt lake will be at your fingertips, and the problem of clean water food and the protection of the exploited salt lake will be solved. Therefore, taking Bison City is the only way, otherwise it will be full of gold, and we will not be able to get it. ”

Gongsun Lan nodded slightly and said, "There is some truth in what you say. But...... But ......"

Wang Yuan smiled: "Say whatever you want, ask if you want to ask, do you still need to talk between you and me?" I'm not going to hide anything from you. ”

Gongsun Lan was silent for a moment, and said in a low voice: "I have always had a question, since you came to Jiannan, you have been thinking about how to expand the army, how to make the Jiannan army stronger, and even thinking about hoarding food and materials. I think you must be planning something, or feeling something, can you tell me why? Because in my opinion, this is not a necessary thing, although you are the envoy of the Jiannan Festival, why do you have to think about it so much, and even take risks in order to do these things, ignoring the laws of the imperial court? ”

Wang Yuan turned his head to look at Gongsun Lan, in the night breeze, the green silk on Gongsun Lan's head was flying, his eyes were shining at him, and his beautiful face was as beautiful as a sculpture.

"Cousin, you're so beautiful." Wang Yuan sighed.

"Bah, if you don't want to say something, you don't have to prevaricate like this." Gongsun Lan said.

"Let me kiss it, and I'll answer you."

Without waiting for Gongsun Lan to answer, Wang Yuan reached out and hugged Gongsun Lan's head and neck, blocked her lips and kissed her vigorously. Gongsun Lan hummed lightly, and fell into Wang Yuan's arms after a slight struggle, Ren Jun was light.