The idea of taking "Yancheng" under control in your own hands is very tempting.

From the perspective of resource scale, the salt marsh near "Yancheng" is huge, and the salt ore resources contained in it are also abundant, if you control it in your hands, at least in the lifetime of the protagonist, you don't have to worry about the depletion of salt resources. If the salt production process can be improved, I believe that a breakthrough can be made in terms of output.

However, although salt is a good thing, there is no free trade in the ant world, and the salt in the big-headed ant kingdom is distributed to each nest for free, so the economic value of salt cannot be realized. Therefore, the benefits that can be obtained from the protagonist of "Salt City" are very limited......

Despite the economic risks, the protagonist still wants to include "Yancheng", at least for now, "Yancheng" is still the only source of salt in the Big-headed Ant Kingdom, and the strategic significance of controlling this place is needless to say.

Of course, this kind of control can't be a military operation or a similar act of force, and the protagonist doesn't want to break with the Big-Headed Ant Kingdom completely, he can only seek a peaceful way to control it in a way that the King's Council of the Big-Headed Ant Kingdom can accept.

The current salt crisis may be an opportune time to intervene.

If the protagonist's guess is correct, due to the superposition of multiple factors, all nests, including the main nest, are more or less in a crisis of salt shortage, and the King's Council should have received the corresponding information.

At this time, if the protagonist can express at the king's meeting that God has asked him to take over "Yancheng", I believe that he will gain a lot of supporters.

Originally, the act of eating salt was considered by the ants to be a religious act of praying to the gods, because this kind of food could not fill the stomach, and the ants did not even dare to eat more, and the ants who ate too much would experience various discomforts in their bodies. However, every time you lick a little salt, it can bring the ants a sweet taste that is no less than sucking honeydew, what else can it be?

Therefore, isn't it natural that the salt dedicated to the gods should be handed over to the king of the gods to operate?

Moreover, salt itself is not food, because there is no domestic trade and foreign trade, the production of salt can not produce any economic benefits, and even "Yancheng" itself has been in a long-term food shortage because of the need to produce salt, and needs to be close to the side nest from time to time.

It is precisely because in the eyes of the kings that "Yancheng" lacks value, so they will not strongly oppose the protagonist's control of this "barren land".

But in the eyes of the protagonist, controlling "Yancheng" will not lose money.

Taking the most basic grain as an example, the size of the ant-population of two or three thousand ants in "Yancheng" is enough to feed them by simply establishing one or two breeding farms and farmland.

Most of the ants can be put into the production of salt, and the protagonist can completely improve the worker ants, and upgrade the method of collecting natural salt crystals to active salt, which can greatly improve the yield and quality of salt.

Even if the salt still needs to be allocated to the various nests of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom according to the original quota, the remaining amount is enough to not only supply the consumption in the protagonist's territory, but also a lot of wealth.

What can you do with rich table salt? The protagonist can't help but think of the previous history, the Central Plains Dynasty used salt, tea and iron to control the ethnic minorities in the frontier.

Salt, tea, and iron are all necessary for the life of nomads and other frontier peoples, but for a long period of time, the areas under the control of the frontier peoples were unable to achieve self-sufficiency in these three materials.

At this time, the Central Plains Dynasty would trade with the frontier peoples through mutual markets and trade. In addition to making a lot of money through monopoly goods, this trade also has political conditions attached to it.

Only friendly "neighbors" can qualify for trade, get more goods, and then become powerful. And the "evil neighbors" with evil intentions will be restricted from trade and allowed to decline. Using the trade of salt and other materials, the Central Plains Dynasty could also avoid frequent wars with the border peoples, or provoke constant civil wars between the border peoples, so as to eliminate the pressure on national defense.

Salt, the strategic significance of this material in ancient times, is no less important than the geopolitical significance of oil in the modern world.

Just as the Middle East is rich in oil, the United States, as the world's number one power, must maintain a military presence in the Middle East, and then indirectly control world trade by controlling important shipping routes around the world. As soon as there is a "thorn in the head", the United States will wield the big stick of "restricting trade" and "sanctions".

If he had salt on hand, the protagonist felt that he could also play with foreign affairs, unlike now, where two ants of different races could only pinch as soon as they met. Isn't it good to sit down and drink tea and eat salt?

The protagonist doesn't have a good impression of the ants of the race, and he has both big-headed ants and paving ants under his command, which is unthinkable to other ants. But the protagonist is not satisfied, and he also wants to include the races of the hunting sickle ant and the black-headed sour ant under his command.

- I'm the dividing line -

However, the protagonist's rhapsodyness about salt can only come to an end for a while.

The Flying Knights have already brought a small amount of salt back to Dongyang City, which is enough for a few days for the time being. The salt transport force is still on the way, and they will return in two days, and they have gained a lot, at least for half a year, not only can the salt of "Dongyang City" be guaranteed, but also a part of it can be divided to support "Linshui City" and "bridgehead".

However, the protagonist didn't have time to wait for this batch of salt to be shipped back, and just now, he received an urgent report from the Flying Knight from the "Waterfront City" - the "Bridgehead" found an unusual military movement in the adjacent paving ant nest.

What should come is still coming.

After the beginning of spring, the protagonist is ready to fight against the Paving Ant Barbarian Army in the "Bridgehead". After all, the "bridgehead" is strategically important, and together with the "waterfront city", one south and one north, it guards both ends of the rope bridge across the river.

It is impossible for the paving ant barbarians to watch the stronghold of a big-headed ant kingdom hang alone on the north bank of the Great River and reach into their territory.

Therefore, this big war is inevitable.

After the beginning of spring, although the Divine Envoy King's Legion increased its patrol efforts, it could not completely shield the Paving Ant Barbarian Scouts from spying on the "bridgehead".

The paving ant barbarians already knew about the existence of the "bridgehead", but they did not launch a military awakening for a long time, so that the protagonist still had time to go to the north to investigate, participate in the reconquest war, and return to "Dongyang City".

The protagonist once guessed that it was the paving ant barbarian army fighting on three fronts, and he didn't have to worry about it, so he didn't have trouble finding a "bridgehead".

But now, the time to come is still here, and the abnormal military movement of the Paving Ant Barbarian Auxiliary Nest in the area near the "Bridgehead" cannot be unrelated to the "Bridgehead" and the Divine Envoy King Legion.

The protagonist needs to return to the north immediately!