Neither Lux nor Kalya could figure out what gave Jarvan IV the confidence to make money selling food across the desert in Shurima.
After this kind of long-distance loss, if you can still have one-tenth left, you are considered lucky!
Jarvan IV is not like the kind of person who loses his mind when his head gets hot. Judging from his performance over the years, he can definitely be called a wise king. How could he make such a bad decision rashly?
But in fact, what Lux and Kalya didn't know was that Jarvan IV made such a decision out of fear.
The desert is terrible, but under the desert, the underground waterways that once formed the blood vessels of the Shurima Empire, although most of them are now dry, in Tarik's eyes, they are the most perfect channels for transporting goods.
Why did Tariq's expedition take so much time and completely exceed expectations?
To a large extent, it was because Tariq "always felt that there was something hidden underground in Shurima". After many searches, he finally found the entrance to an underground waterway and roughly figured out the direction of the waterway.
.
It is difficult to transport food in the desert. The huge temperature differences, sandstorms that may appear at any time, and the elusive sand bandits are all huge difficulties that the transportation team has to face. If you want the team to maintain supplies, you must travel along the route.
Walking one oase after another, this kind of journey is just to sell food, which will probably result in a loss of 100%.
However, if the team transporting food is not walking in the desert, but walking underground...
That would be completely different!
Tariq, who had brought enough food and water, personally inspected the waterway he had discovered sealed under the wind and sand, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that this ancient waterway was almost entirely made of materials similar to the Forbidden Demon Stone.
Although the bottom is not flat and has a slight arc, it is enough to carry more than three large carriages running side by side!
The inside of the passage was very dark, and the air was extremely turbid because it had been closed for a long time. However, when Tariq walked into the passage along one section and walked out for ten days, he came out from the other end and used all his strength to forcefully open the sealed door.
Behind the gate, the wind spontaneously poured in at the exit of this long passage, as if this passage was a natural ventilation pipe.
Tarik didn't know that this was a wind field formed by the remaining magic circuits on the walls of the underground waterway.
In the past, this magic circuit could guide water flow and mobilize water resources, but now it is incomplete and its energy is almost exhausted. It can only cause a small gust of wind.
However, even if Tarik does not know the principle, it does not prevent him from being ecstatic about it - no matter how long the passage is, as long as it is well ventilated, it can completely accommodate large-scale caravans!
After walking out of the passage and closing the door again, it took Tariq five days to find a small village around him. After finally figuring out his location, he found that he had almost walked out of a thousand and two villages.
One hundred miles.
And that underground passage is a trade route of 1,200 miles!
This 1,200-mile trade route can fully support a large-scale grain trade, even if people eat horse chews and need to carry extra drinking water!
The entrance to the underground waterway that Tariq discovered, about two hundred miles southwest of Uzeris, is a stone hill submerged by sand dunes.
The outlet of this waterway is located on the west side of the Dashai Desert and the cross-section area at the eastern foot of the Targon Mountains. It is a natural rift.
During the Shurima Empire era, this underground waterway had a nice name: Ningwu Road.
The so-called Ningwu refers to the underground waterway from Naining to Wuze.
Naining refers to the Naining Reservoir, where Tariq came out of the underground waterway.
The gate he managed to open with all his strength was actually the inlet valve of this underground waterway.
Here, the melted snow-capped mountain water stored in the Naining Reservoir will be pumped out through the magic circuit, transported northeastward, and finally reach Lianze outside Wuze City.
Unfortunately, with the passage of time, due to lack of maintenance and geological changes, the former reservoir has now turned into a canyon. When Tariq opened the entrance valve of this waterway again after a thousand years, he was not alive.
At the bottom of the reservoir, I stood at the bottom of the canyon.
There is no water here, only a slight flow of residual magic power, and if Tarik is willing to dig deeper, he will find that there are countless corpses of freshwater fish buried under the gravel of this canyon.
Wuze is the old name of Wuzeris. The "Wu" in it is because this is the place where the Shurima tribe first showed its martial virtue. Ze refers to the large area of seasonal flooding here.
swamp.
Part of the reason why Ningwu Road was later built was to maintain the seasonally flooded swamp outside Wuze City into a perennial swamp. Wuze City at that time was a very famous tourist scenic spot in the northwest of Shurima. The mountains and rivers here are connected and the climate is relatively good.
Mild and close to the sea, it is a vacation and retirement destination in the hearts of countless Shuriman people.
For the once prosperous Shurima Empire, building a 1,200-mile-long underground waterway was just to maintain a monumental and beautiful scenery.
It was a prosperous and beautiful era.
……………………
After walking through the Ningwu Road, Tariq also explored some other underground channels.
But those underground waterways are different from Ningwu Road. Most of them were built for urban water supply and magic guidance. Compared with Ningwu Road, most of those underground waterways are in the water network, with complex structures but lack of maintenance, and some places have collapsed.
Some entrances and exits have been completely blocked, and some have become residential areas for locals...
So after traveling around for the past few years, Tarik can confirm that the only channel that can be used as a trade route is Ningwu Road.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! But this is enough.
After analyzing the price levels at both ends of Ningwu Road, Barrett judged that the profits of this trade route were considerable.
Demacia's food is shipped out from Xiongdu and sent to Uzeris. Even considering the risks of transportation, the consumption is not high.
In Uzeris, the food that comes from afar will be professionally packaged and carried by large camel caravans, traveling 200 miles through the desert, before entering underground passages.
In the underground passage, the caravan can move forward at full speed, striving to cover the 1,200 miles within ten days and minimizing consumption.
After that, these grains can be sold in the nearby Jinlun Town that Tariq found. According to Tariq's information, Jinlun Town is full of believers of the Burning Sun Sect. As Tariq's identity as a mountain climber, it can be relatively smooth.
to gain its recognition.
According to the records in Tariq's diary, Jinlun Town is not rich in products. The most famous local specialty is the Jinlun stone that is offered to the religious order. According to the locals, this sparkling stone is "the sun's
"Essence", while in other places, Golden Wheel Stone is a relatively rare gemstone and is widely used in the clothing industry, jewelry industry, construction industry, etc.
In addition, the goats raised by the Raqor people in Jinlun Town were very delicious, and the mutton jerky was also unforgettable. Tariq bought a lot when he left, and after bringing it to Uzeris, he found that it was very popular.
To the west of Jinlun Town, there is a small natural lake, and further west is the Targon Mountains. The surrounding area for farming is extremely limited, and the local residents are very short of staple food.
Therefore, after the caravan brings food to Jinlun Town and successfully sells it, it can purchase Jinlun stones and mutton jerky on the return trip, and fully replenish drinking water. Compared with the food, these brought back on the return trip are the bulk of the profit.
Even if the purchase price of Uzeris is reduced, it is still enough for Jarvan IV to take a little risk!
Judging from the logs and descriptions provided by Tariq, this Kanazawa trade seems to be very suitable in every aspect. Food is transported in, mutton and gems are transported out, and the profits are astonishing!
Therefore, Jarvan IV agreed to Barret's request and let him walk with Taric himself.
After all, as a transcendent, Tarik's tolerance for the environment is completely beyond the reach of ordinary people. Maybe there is something he hasn't noticed that actually does not allow the caravan to pass?
In this case, it is very important for Barrett to go there in person - if this money bag of the Kingdom, who has completely left the army in recent years and has focused all his energy on industrial management, goes there in person,
He also believes that Kanazawa trade is feasible, so Jarvan IV will start to form a caravan!
It was for this reason that Barrett wrote to Sona, asking her if she wanted any souvenirs from Shurima.
……………………
Five months later, Sona, who was planning the first Northern Art Exchange Conference in Forsbarrow, received a gift from her adoptive father.
A golden gemstone necklace, and more than two hundred pounds of dried mutton.
Sona happily shared her joy with Lux.
"This necklace is really nice." Lux praised with a smile, "It really matches your hair color and looks very warm."
"There are also a lot of dried mutton!" Sona stroked the strings, "Father's letter said that the locals like to use it to make soup. We can try it during dinner!"
So, at dinner, Lux cooked the mutton soup herself according to Barrett's method.
Then, as the color of the soup turned white little by little, Lacus was surprised to find that the taste of the mutton... seemed a bit familiar to her?
Taking out a small spoon, Lux scooped up a spoonful of the hot soup and put it into her mouth, regardless of how hot the soup was.
The familiar deliciousness once again filled the mouth. The air-drying process gave the originally sweet mutton a subtle heaviness, which was reflected in the soup, giving it a refreshing and mellow aroma.
"This is the taste of mutton." Lux said firmly, "It's the kind of mutton in Nerimajie that I told you."
"Father's letter said that it is a fierce sheep." Sona blinked in confusion, "The locals said that this is a gift given to them by the Solar Sect and a blessing from the gods. This kind of sheep must be raised in
Around the temple, it is absolutely forbidden to cross with other sheep, and the slaughtering must be left to the elders, which sounds very sacred."
"It is a Pan Sheep, a specially bred breed of the extraordinary Hui Sheep on Mount Targon." When talking about this topic, Lux couldn't help but narrowed her eyes, "It can't be cross-bred because they can't introduce any more Hui Sheep.
Therefore, if it is cross-bred, it will degenerate, and it needs to be specially slaughtered because its fighting ability is very good, and ordinary butchers may not be able to defeat it."
When Sona heard this, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Moreover, the teacher personally presided over the cultivation of Pan Sheep." Lux sighed and couldn't help but add, "Do you still remember that senior brother who easily passed the level with a big sword when we just started the simulation training?
?”
Sona hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly.
"During that training, he even got a butt slap from Hui Yang."
Although after listening to Lux talk about what she saw in Shurima, her impression of the Solar Cult was not very good, but when Lux changed her perspective and told the origin of this "fierce sheep", she
For the first time, I felt the disgust of the other person very intimately.
Instead of helping believers improve their lives, they take what others have and show off as their own merits, and then cover everything with the skin of the Burning Sun Sect, which counts as their own greatness...
how so?
Although drinking a pot of mutton soup was very satisfying, Sona felt extremely complicated after dinner.
Shaking her head, Sona simply decided to go out to get some air.
Walking on the street with the gentle night breeze and looking at the bustling crowd, Sona's mood finally gradually improved.
Then, just when she was about to go to the deserted school, at the corner of the street, she met Asang who was walking with the statue of the Winged Sisters.
Originally, the two parties just met each other, nodded and left, but in Asan's basket, Kyle suddenly spoke excitedly.
"Sona, right, I remember you."
Sona's footsteps paused.
She glanced at the dancing little man in confusion, but because she was completely uninterested in Kyle's words, she quickly took steps again.
"You are different from those heretics. I have long seen that you have a pious heart!" Kyle seemed to be in a good mood. "You took the initiative to wear the golden wheel stone collar, wasn't it just to listen to God's teachings?
"
Feeling the strange voice that seemed to reach directly into her mind, Sona finally opened her eyes in surprise.
How come this feeling is similar to the communication with Jiaohua?
Could it be that the golden wheel stone is not only a decoration, but also can be used as a medium to transmit information?
Thinking about this, Sona couldn't help but quicken her pace. She couldn't wait to share the news with Lux!
So, Kyle, who was halfway through his words, stared blankly at Sona, the "reserve believer", carrying his piano case, taking three steps and two steps at a time, and disappeared around the corner of the street in the blink of an eye.