The sergeant of the guard leaned over and lifted the curtain in front of Anna's shoulder, and the purple-clothed princess bowed her head before stepping out, and then she stood on the high slopes of Cappadocia in summer, the cool wind whistling past her ears, and in front of her was the ochre-yellow towering peak of Algaeus, with white snow on the top, and the blue sky, "white fire, dancing on the velvet base of sapphire blue." A smug smile appeared on the princess's lips, and she couldn't help but chant the poem in Old Latin.

Agnes, who was beside her, immediately turned to the princess and saluted, and covered her shawl with concern for Anna, lest she catch a cold from the wind of the plateau.

But Anna's interest was high, and she pointed to the city of Karon on the other side of the mountain, and said to Agnes, "You see, the city of Karon is a dividing point, and it divides this land in the southern part of the Cappadocia Tema military district in a very different way. ”

The little sunfish followed the princess's point, and the other party was right: the area east of the city of Caron and the Algeus Mountains, starting from the Great Salt Lake, was a vast stretch of saline steppes and hills, white and covered with red ferns that could only grow on this soil, and further east of the peaks, the style of the Pillar Mountains, and the endless ravines, the only source of fresh water: waterfalls, hanging from the cliffs above them, squirting down and crashing against the rocks, making a roaring sound day and night.

On the west side of the city of Karon, the land connected to Heraclia and Konya is nourished by the rivers that nourish the fertile land, and then flows into the huge salt lake from all directions, which is infinitely green in spring and summer, and is the most ideal area for cultivation.

The "Roman Path" (paved roads left over from ancient Rome) between the central city of Caron and Cilicia is like an artificial dividing line, separating the different geographical states of the east and the west.

Looking at such a scene, Anna applauded excitedly, "It's a pity, it's a pity, it's a pity that the big barbarian is still going through hardships on the battlefield of Antioch, and he can't share this scenery with me." ”

"That is to say, we used the city of Karon as a stronghold, and the armed cavalry who had been given the shade land were stationed in it, and then the armed immigrants cultivated the fields along the fan-shaped territory on the west side, resisting Konya and Danishmund, as a long-term solution?" Agnes asked as she half-knelt on the grass, her hand pressed against the paper that swayed in the wind, and the reed pen.

"It's so unambitious, Agnes! You only see the grain producing areas to the west of the city of Karon, but you don't see the real wealth here. After Anna finished speaking, she showed her white teeth and tapped with her fingers, "The real white wealth, the precious thing in this world is not just yellow gold. On the contrary, I think that the white ones are the ones that are really valuable, such as the white paper you use to write in your hand now, and the ones over there. ”

Agnes was a little puzzled, and then she followed Anna's words, and made a little deduction and guess about the vast land in front of her, and then slowly stood up, "Could it be that the white you are talking about is?"

"That's right, it's this beautiful salt lake." Anna excitedly put her hands on the shoulders of the little sunfish.

Then the princess turned, put one hand behind her waist, and raised the other, "Gawain invited me to eat venison from my father's garden, and we sprinkled the dried meat with sea salt from Venice, which, according to Gawain, represents the highest quality of the sea and land, and is marketed to all regions, and brings the pillar of income to this commercial city-state. But if this lake is used by me, the good days of Venetian salt will come to an end! ”

"But Seleucia and Cilicia, where we are, are also close to the sea, and can be used to produce salt?"

"Stupid little sunfish." Anna's counts were obviously innocent, and she went on to say, "Not all places have the same unique conditions for the production of sea salt as Venice. For example, the hot duck, I have seen the drawings, it is surrounded by rivers and mountains, and it cannot produce fine salt. As for our territory, we can boil salt from the sea, but that would require a lot of investment and manpower, and the quality is not as high as the salt in this Cappadocia lake. According to the records of the ancient period, salt can be obtained in three basic ways. ”

"Yes, Your Highness Princess, sea salt, well salt, and this lake salt."

"The first two need to be obtained by human and financial resources, and this lake of salt is simply a gift from the Lord, and it is not much effort." "And if you ask the whole realm, people can do without gold, but who can lack salt?" It's simply white gold. Previously, Seleucia's salt, mainly from sea salt and well salt from other parts of Anatolia, lost a large part of our income. Now, we have finally made this huge white gold mine, no, the golden lake and the golden sea, of course, to make good use of it. ”

"Your Royal Highness, your words are excessive, because there is no wealth in this world that you have only obtained without paying." Agnes grasped the flaw in Anna's speech and criticized mercilessly.

Anna paused for a moment, then laughed, "Yes, yes, it would be presumptuous to say such a thing in the presence of the Lord. It is debatable that the acquisition of lake salt is 'effortless' as I have just said, but my original intention has not changed in any way—that is, the salt of Cappadocia, even if it requires a huge investment, but it is a profitable deal—and Gawain and Anna will not allow any capital of the commercial city-states to interfere, lest they should be allowed to control the lifeblood of our economy. ”

This little girl learned some strange words from Gawain, such as "capital interference", "money invasion", "economic lifeline" and so on.

In short, Anna's expression became serious, and she immediately asked her imperial ink officer to draft a document, "The main task of the entire military armed emigration regiment, as well as the armored cavalry and jinats stationed in the cantonment, is to first build a camp wall along the west of Karon City, and open up land to harvest grain, build pastures to raise war horses, and protect this salt lake patent." That's the biggest goal of my army; Then I will 'requisition' from West Cilicia to 'requisition' 3,000 to 4,000 people, native and pilgrim immigrants, to cultivate salt pans capable of producing 'white gold' in the steppe between the eastern part of the city of Karon and the salt lake, and to put under the control of special inspectors from the Brocade Brotherhood. ”

"These Yantian households are permanently exempt from any taxes and enjoy the food and money that the military government receives on a monthly basis. Their duty is to produce salt, more salt, more and more white salt when the heat and wind of summer come; Then we will maintain the road to Cilicia and transport all the salt to our own salt to sell. Anna finally added the crucial sentence, "From now on, we will benefit all the people of this snow-white salt within Seleucia, and in the external trade, my legions and Gawain's army will have exclusive interests - in the name of the Virgin Mary." (To be continued.) )