Chapter 323: Dragon Pool Axe, Liu's Kingdom (IV)

Liu Kan woke up the next day and found nothing unusual.

Bo Nu was not different from before, so she brought him hot water to wash his face and prepared a breakfast. After Liu Kan had breakfast, she immediately became busy again. Accompanied by Ren Ao and Lu Shizhi, she inspected the surrounding area of ​​Guangwu City along the east bank of the Yellow River.

At this time, the Yellow River had already undergone a small diversion.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Qin people built a Great Wall on the east bank of the river from Qingtong Gorge.

However, with the diverting of the river, the ancient Great Wall was changed to the west bank of the river. According to later generations, the west bank of the river belonged to the Gansu region. Liu Kan vaguely remembered that there was a golden passage there, with fertile land and lush water and grass. In later generations, it was called the Hexi Corridor.

However, the Hexi Corridor at this time is still a deserted and unreclaimed area.

The main ones were nomadic Qiang people, and there were no particularly large tribes, who settled in the Hexi Corridor.

Liu Kan outlined the outline of the Hexi Corridor on the map, and then looked at the surging Yellow River water on the river bank, pondering and silent.

"Lao Ren, which one is the largest force in Hexi at present?"

Ren Ao looked at the map in his hand, "If the one with the strongest power is probably the Yuezhi Kingdom. The area they controlled is from Yangshan to Quicksand, separated from Wusun. If the Junhou wants to seize Hexi, he will inevitably have to conflict with Yuezhi."

After Liu Kan asked that, Ren Ao immediately realized his intention.

“What if I just want this area?”

Liu Kan pointed to the outline of the Hexi Corridor and asked softly.

"here?"

Ren Ao and Lu Shizhi looked at Liu Kan with some confusion, "June, this is still a barren area. I have heard some refugees say that this area is now controlled by some Qiang tribes. However, most of these Qiang tribes are related to the Wusun Kingdom and are said to be vassals.

If the king wants to get here, it is not impossible...

But if it is not done well, it will cause conflicts with the Wusun people. If that happens, wouldn’t it be a further enemy? Wouldn’t it be inappropriate?”

Hexi Corridor!

This is the Hexi Corridor...

When Guanzhong was barren, relying on the Hexi Corridor ushered in the second peak of development.

In the era of Liu Kan's previous life, the Hexi Corridor had become a barren and backward area. But at present, there are countless opportunities.

You must take down the Hexi Corridor!

Liu Kan thought to himself that it was not just because the land here was fertile and belonged to a land without a border. More importantly, this corridor is an important pathway to communicate with the Western Regions and Guanzhong. Moreover, if you can obtain the Hexi Corridor, you can enter Longxi and attack Xianyang at any time.

However, the matter of Wusun has to be carefully considered.

At least before destroying the Yuezhi Kingdom, Liu Kan did not dare to turn against Wusun easily.

He thought about it, "Old Ren, you tried to choose more than a thousand people to cross the river from Shapotou, live on the river water, and build a fortress.

Don't move too much, but you can move forward slowly.

On the one hand, we rely on the river water and the ancient Great Wall to build fortresses, and on the other hand, we secretly absorb the Qiang and Rong people. Remember, don’t anger the Yuezhi and Wusun people. You can give in appropriately, even if you suffer a little loss, it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to gain a firm foothold in Hexi.”

Shapotou is a fortress on the east bank of the river.

In later generations, this was an important military location in the northwest. However, at present, its strategic location has not yet been shown. Ren Ao and Lu Shizhi did not quite understand why Liu Kan attached so much importance to the Hexi Corridor, but he still nodded vigorously.

"Since the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Quanrong and captured Yiqu, many canals have been built in Guangwu City.

The land in the south is fertile and can be used for farming. When you are in Guangwu City, you should absorb refugees from Yiqu, Guanzhong as much as possible and open up land. Especially the craftsmen in the Yiqu area should focus on absorbing them. If you need money, you can withdraw them from Mr. Xiao.

I want to train troops here... Well, when I go back, I will send someone to send some drawings, you can consult with the craftsmen."

When Lu Shizhi heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Brother-in-law, I don't want to stay in Guangwu...I want to lead troops to fight.

Moreover, this government affairs are really troublesome. Every time I do something, I have to go through the criminal laws and regulations for a long time... Isn't Wu Chen very good at this? Otherwise, let Wu Chen come to guard Guangwu City. I want to join you to conquer the world."

Lu Shizhi also read books and read some words.

But he was interested in training and fighting, and he was not very interested in governing the local area.

After staying in Guangwu City for more than a month, I couldn't stand it anymore. I heard that Liu Kan wanted him to take root in Guangwu, and I couldn't help but feel a little resistant.

Liu Kan's eyes glared, and Lu Shizhi's heart skipped a beat.

"Little Pig, don't underestimate Guangwu. If I manage Guanzhong in the future, you Guangwu City will not only be my vanguard, but also my rear base. Do you want to lead troops to fight? No problem! But before leading troops to fight, you must first learn to manage the place... This way, when will you increase the population of Guangwu City to 100,000, I will immediately transfer you out and let you conquer the world."

"Hundreds of thousands?"

Lu Shizhi suddenly felt bitter.

"Brother-in-law, do you think this population is a sow and can give birth to more than a dozen at a time? Guangwu City has been managed by the eldest son of Fusu for several years, but there are less than 30,000 people today. Even if all these 30,000 people are women, it will take two or three years to become 100,000 people."

Ren Ao was beside him and couldn't help laughing.

Liu Kan shook her head helplessly, "Then you can breed me here... When will I give birth to 100,000 people, let's talk about something else?"

Lu Shizhi's face was even more bitter...

"June, when it comes to absorbing population, I remembered something." Ren Ao suddenly spoke.

Liu Kan was stunned, "What's the matter?"

"Twenty days ago, when I led my troops to the east, I discovered a large salt lake in the northwest of the straight road..."

"salt lake?"

When Liu Kan heard this, he couldn't help but open his eyes wide.

What is the most lacking in taking root in Jiuyuan County? It is not food and grass, but salt!

When Liu Kan ran away from Lou Cang, he took away a large amount of salt salt. But now, there is not much left. He even planned to send people to Shu County and ask Baman to solve the problem of salt salt from Shu County. However, he did not expect that a large salt lake was discovered in Guangwu City?

“Where is it?”

Liu Kan immediately asked someone to take a large map and spread it out immediately. He asked Ren Ao to point out the location.

Ren Ao searched on the map for a moment, then pointed to the point on the map, "Just in this area... I heard some local residents say that there are still many salt lakes in this area. I have been wondering these days, can we build several salt ponds here?"

Together with the salt pond, it will inevitably drive the development of the entire region.

This is like the industrial chain of later generations, with a unique product that develops a variety of different commodities, thus achieving prosperity in a region.

Salt pond...

Liu Kan suddenly remembered that the location of Guangwu City should belong to Ningxia in later generations.

There is indeed a large salt pond in Ningxia... But I wonder if the salt pond discovered by Ren Ao is the salt pond in Ningxia?

"Old Ren, you immediately start exploring this place...

In this way, I immediately sent someone to Quyan and let Wu Chen set out at night to come to Guangwu to meet you. In this salt lake, you and the two of you work together to come up with a specific process as soon as possible... Well, Wu Chen alone is not enough, and you also need to have enough manpower to invest... Anyway, after you find out the situation, you must control this area as soon as possible and never let others occupy it again."

"Here!"

Ren Ao intervenes in response to his order,

Liu Kan transferred Wu Chen over, and to be honest, it was a helpless move.

He left Wu Chen in Quyan County, so he naturally had another purpose. Xiao He could not always serve as the position of county governor of Jiuyuan. Once Jiuyuan develops, Liu Kan would add more important tasks to him. Then, Liu Kan chose Wu Chen to replace Xiao He.

On the one hand, Wu Chen was proficient in criminal law and was once a disciple of Li Si, and was good at handling government affairs.

On the other hand, Wu Chen also served as the county magistrate of Ge and had experience in managing the local area. Although it didn't take long, it was enough.

But now, the discovery of the salt lake will concern the future development of the northwest and even the entire northern border.

Liu Kan had to send a profitable candidate, so he had to let Wu Chen come. After all, Ren Ao was not an expert in this regard.

Lu Shizhi was still thinking hard about how to develop 100,000 people.

Liu Kan sighed and patted his shoulder, "Little Pig, you should really learn from Lao Ren. If the salt pond he discovered could be built, in less than a year, under Guangwu City, let alone 100,000 people, even 200,000 people."

"ah?"

Lu Shizhi widened his eyes, "Is this salt pond so useful?"

Liu Kan and Ren Ao looked at each other and laughed.

"Little Pig, this is a major issue related to people's livelihood. You must cooperate with Lao Ren and Lao Wu to do this well. If you do it well, I will let you take charge of a soldier in the future."

This soldier is about 8,000 to 10,000.

When Lu Shizhi heard this, his eyes lit up and he grabbed Ren Ao's hand, "Brother Ren, what do you need me to do? Just give me instructions!"

It seems that after staying in Guangwu City for two months, Lu Shizhi was almost mad!

The discovery of Yanchi made Liu Kan lose the mood to continue patrolling.

He immediately returned to Guangwu City and wrote a letter to send people to Quyan. Then, he stayed in Guangwu City for several days, had several exchanges with local wealthy gentry, and set off. His destination was not just Guangwu City. Instead, he had to inspect the entire Henan area, including those areas that were no longer controlled by the Qin army and were located north of the Great Wall and were uncontrolled.

After leaving Guangwu City, Liu Kan's next destination was Shenmu Pass.

The route for patrol is to take a straight road, walk outside the Great Wall Pass, and go straight to Shenmu Pass.

But before going up the straight road, Liu Kan asked Ren Ao to accompany him and went to the salt lake where he mentioned.

The sky is vast and the wilderness is vast.

Clear lakes are like shining pearls scattered in the northern land under the sky. Liu Kan rode his horse to climb a hill, put his hand on a pergola, and looked up at it. He could basically confirm that this large piece of barren land should be the location of the Ningxia salt pond in later generations!

The Ningxia salt pond in later generations had extremely rich mineral deposits.

Not only salt salt, but also sixteen resources such as saltpeter, coal, natural gas, and even oil. However, it is estimated that he will not be able to mine items such as oil. But those easy-to-machine minerals are enough for him to achieve his ambitions.

Besides, even if he can find oil mines, is there any use?

If you don’t know how to refine the technology, even if you get oil, it will be useless. Even if you are a medium, you may have problems.

That night, Liu Kan and his group set up camp on the edge of a salt lake.

Liu Kan was staring at a map in the big tent and was tranced.

The girl was packing her things with her hands and feet... From time to time, she looked at Liu Kan's back from the corner of her eyes, then immediately took it back, lowered her head, and her face felt a little hot. At about midnight, Tu Tu came to the outside of the tent with a messenger in black who looked like a long journey.
To be continued...