Just as Sun Xiurong was following the main branch of the North Post Road toward Juyanhai, the 100 cavalry of the Central Camp Ma Lin divided into two, and naturally the fifty people drove eastward along the main road. Ma Lin personally led another fifty people through the vast desert south of the main road under the leadership of an old man from Huyan tribe and a camel.

Their destination is also clear.

Wei Yuan Shou captured.

He went to Weiyuan Shou to capture the enemy, but he was not going to show off his power. If he was still the former Hanhai Army, Yuhou, it would be impossible. But his identity is very embarrassing now, and he could barely show off his power, but he was not as good as before.

He went there according to Sun Xiurong's instructions.

As mentioned earlier, whether it is Baowenshan Guard or Weiyuan Guard, it is an extremely remote place, but it is better because of its many minerals. Baowenshan Guard is famous for its gold mines, and Weiyuan Guard also has gold mines, but its mineral reserves are smaller than Baowenshan, but there is a kind of thing that is not very valuable at the moment, but in Sun Xiurong's eyes, it is extremely valuable.

Saltpeter!

Yes, this is the only natural saltpeter production area in China except Gaochang (Turpan).

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, primary gunpowder was already born. By the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the word "firecracker" also appeared. Of course, most of the time its name was "firecracker".

Whether it is firecrackers or firecrackers, they cannot do without gunpowder. At this time, people only used firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new on the first day of the New Year. They did not think of their other uses. Of course, they cannot blame them. At present, there is only one person in the world who knows its purpose.

In the desert south of Gaochang, there is the largest natural saltpeter field in the Tang Dynasty, which is on par with Chile in South America.

Of course, there are also in the desert north of Hexi. At present, the largest natural saltpeter mine is located near Weiyuan Shouqiao. The nitrate powder it produces supplies the entire Hexi and Longyou!

Of course, if Wei Qiqiu, a former descendant of the Tang Dynasty royal family who was named Weiyuan Guardian, wanted to monopolize the profit of saltpeter, he would have been killed by others long ago.

Although he owns the largest saltpeter mine in Hexi, Wei Qiqiu himself only occupied a small position and gave most of the profits to a joint venture alliance with a deep background, and Ju, a business company with a background in Gao Lishi, is also among them.

The largest shop in Hexi of Ju Family Trading Company was not in Liangzhou or Ganzhou, but in Suzhou south of Weiyuan Shouqiao (later generation Jiuquan City). It is naturally reasonable. Since the Tang Dynasty royal family claimed to be Laozi, they naturally believed in Taoism, so they were indispensable for refining elixirs, and refining elixirs was absolutely indispensable.

Due to the royal family, Taoism was actually the most respected between the government and the public, which naturally led to the sale of saltpeter. Of course, the refining of saltpeter at this time was not yet at the level of the Ming Dynasty in later generations, but in any case it was also an era when saltpeter was used in a large amount.

"Firecrackers" and "firecrackers" need only by-products.

During this section, Sun Xiurong naturally learned about it from the shopkeeper of Ju's store.

Ma Lin also knows saltpeter,

Ju's Trading Company is the largest buyer of saltpeter. In order to hide the only channel for Weiyuan Shou to catch, they almost hid the saltpeter in other goods and transported it to Suzhou, and then sold it from Suzhou to around.

On the surface, Ju's Trading Company is the largest "manufacturer" of saltpeter.

With the existence of the Ju family's business, the food, cloth, iron and salt needed by the Qiqiqiu will be sent from Suzhou continuously.

Compared with Baowenshan Shogun, Weiyuan Shogun looks deep in the desert at first glance, but it is located next to a tributary of Ruoshui (later Ejina River) that flows into Juyanhai through Suzhou and Ganzhou. Although this tributary is intermittent, since it is a river, it naturally has abundant groundwater.

Weiyuan Shoochu is located in a desert two hundred miles west of Ruoshui. It is surrounded by mountains in the north and south, and it is still a mountain with flowers, plants and trees. There is the tributary in the middle, and Shoochu City is located in the valley.

The river valley is fifty miles long. Originally, the Tang Dynasty set up military towns at both ends of the river valley (similar to Hunu Town, which captured the next level military fort for Weiyuan Shou), and sealed the entrance of the valley.

There is no clear water in the valley most of the time, but from May to August, the area about five miles wide on both sides of the valley is full of green.

When Wei Qiqiu guarded this place, it was actually an independent kingdom. The mountains of fifty miles and the hillsides were covered with pastures, which could grazed cattle and sheep, and fields could be opened in the river valleys. It was not a problem to plant drought-tolerant corn.

The fifty-mile-long river valley is far stronger than Yanduo.

That's what Qiqiqiu thought himself.

But he was a fool after all. With his direct descendants of Emperor Taizong of Tang, he would never lose his position as a vassal after returning to Chang'an after the fall of Wu Zhou. He was at least an earl.

It was probably because of the dispute between the government and the opposition that scared him, or maybe his family's rise from the people allowed him to broaden his horizons, or maybe the hidden wealth, military strength and strength in the dark made him have unreasonable thoughts.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the royal family deliberately allowed him to stay among the "civilians".

It is said that the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry, who started with Emperor Taizong, became a guard after he came to power. Some of them became "inner guards" who specialize in spying on the weak and true aspects of the court and the country. They were also under the name of the Xuanjia cavalry. In fact, they had no Xuanjia long ago and only had black clothes. Most of these people appeared somewhere in the inner palace at night. Those who knew the weak and true aspects of the country secretly called "Black Guard".

However, the black-clothed guards disappeared at the moment. Whether they were completely cut off or completely hidden in the ground, no one could tell completely.

Now is the day after the violent storm and sand swept across the Alaxan area in later generations. After the strong wind, the waves were calm. The earth and the yellow sand in the sky were still there. Although it was not very thick, it was also a foggy area.

The Black Mountains on both sides of Weiyuan Shouzhao are still shrouded in fog.

dusk.

On the surface, the two gates of Weiyuan Shou, east and west, had lanterns hung on the two city gates of Weiyuan Shou.

In his thirties, Wei Qiqiu, who was wearing plain clothes, met Ma Lin in the study.

If Ma Lin, the Du Yu Hou, who was still a low-grade man, had a considerable background, he would still have to listen to Ma Lin's words patiently and then offer a considerable ritual.

But now he heard that he had joined Sun Xiurong's Grand Governor's Office, his seemingly calm face moved inadvertently.

Ma Lin is not Sun Xiurong, he is an old monster over a hundred years old. He is a good guy in his opinion. Although Ma Lin is very skilled in martial arts, he is the first brother in terms of human relationships and worldly affairs. He did not capture this section.

"I heard that the guards and capture envoys are rich in saltpeter. The Grand Governor specially sent me to negotiate a purchase of a batch. If I go to the Ministry in the future, I will entrust Hu merchants to purchase some from time to time."

"It's easy to talk, it's easy to talk," said Wei Qiqiu casually, but thought to himself: "What does this guy Sun Xiurong want to do? Do you also want to refine elixirs to seek the way of immortality? If it's so easy to save trouble."

Ma Lin was not good at observing his words and expressions, but there was another person following him.

Su Xijie is the Turkic boy who has been in the Talasnasri Trading Company and has a position in Renyongdu second only to Yuwen Yongnu.

The three identities of young soldiers, business, and Renyong made this Turkic teenager Su Xijie, who was the same age as Ma Lin and was only twenty-one years old, had already surpassed Ma Lin's experience.

The detail just now was captured by Su Xijie.

"This person seems to be dissatisfied with the Grand Governor or despised him. No, this person is a descendant of the family of the criminal. Although his ancestors are rich, they are just a small guard and envoy. Although they have some wealth, they are far from the Grand Governor."

"But he seemed to know the Grand Commander, or he looked very despised after understanding it. Inadvertently, this contempt was revealed. How could he be so virtuous?"

After the two of them said goodbye, they were about to step out of the room when footsteps of others appeared in the room. Su Xijie glanced at the outskirts of his eyes.

A man in black came in through the inside door of the room.

After the two left, they moved into the only inn in the city, which was naturally also a "official business", and was actually an inn run by Wei Qiqiu.

Unlike the flat-topped adobe houses everywhere in Baowenshan Shogun, many of the houses in Weiyuan Shogun are made of bricks and tiles.

Night soon fell.

The Guardian Mansion is a three-entry courtyard with green bricks and green tiles, which is naturally nothing in Suzhou. There are some such houses there, but Weiyuan Guardian City in the depths of the desert is the only one.

Due to the limited size of the inn, Ma Lin only brought ten people into the city, and the remaining forty people were outside the city. During the day, Ma Lin saw at least three hundred cavalry shuttle back and forth in the city, and there were still one or two hundred infantry soldiers on duty at the top of the city. In other words, unless there was a problem in the guarding and capturing the city, it would be as solid as a god.

Unlike the middle of ordinary mansions, which are high and both ends are low, Wei Qiqiqiu does not seem to need to stand high and look into the distance. His three-entry courtyard has fallen over, with the middle and both ends high.

This also has an advantage. If there is anything wrong with entering the courtyard in the middle, people outside will not see it.

At the moment, one of the houses was brightly lit, but from the outside it looked pitch black, as if they were calm and inactive, and they had a rest early.

Of course not.

A short-legged square table was filled with various delicacies. There were three people sitting next to the square table. Naturally, the one in the right position was a man in black. He sat on his left hand, and even when he was drinking, he also wore a wide-brimmed felt hat, which made people unable to see his face. He sat on his right hand with a middle-aged scholar with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and three long beards.

In front of each person was a glass cup produced in the Western Regions, which contained red liquid, and the liquid was steaming, which was obviously warm.

After three rounds of wine.

The man in black suddenly said: "The latest news is that Sun Xiurong has become sworn brothers in Ashinashi. Although the Hu people have sworn brothers as many as cows, it is very unusual to be able to condescend to become brothers with Sun Xiurong with Ashinashi."

The middle-aged scribe said: "Sun Xiurong rose to the Western Regions with his weak crown for a short time, surrendered to the Western Turks tribes, and went south to defeat the Dashi. It must not be underestimated. The Hu people are also broad-minded and naturally know all this. Based on these condescending fellowships, there are also strange things."

"Ashin Shi, one of the two great knives of the Eastern Turks, had a drink and greeting with Sun Xiurong and sent him out of the country. Why did you want to become a sworn brother? I really can't figure it out. Is this guy really the kind of person who can fall in love with him at first sight? It's hard to imagine that he is only twenty-two years old?"

But Qian Qiqiu said, "Everyone, Ma Lin came on behalf of Sun Xiurong just now and said he wanted to buy saltpeter. He wanted to go to the Ministry of War, which was still far away. If he wanted firecrackers, he would go to Youzhou to buy it. What is the only thing he wanted to do with saltpeter..."

"who?!"

Before the words of Qiqiu finished, the man in black suddenly roared. At this time, a cat moaned from the roof, and then several people continued to drink and speak.

The middle-aged scribe said: "Whether in Talas or in the Muslim tribe, there are Hu people around him. Although Sun Xiurong is from the Khitan, he is a Han Chinese after all, and is naturally deeply influenced by the Han Chinese. This Taoism is definitely one of them. Perhaps he is also secretly refining elixirs."

The man in black waved his hand, "It would be nice if he could arrive at the junction safely. Before I came, the master said that if he could arrive at the junction safely, he would ignore him and let him do anything. Anyway, it would be okay to have a lot of trouble for me. If he was defeated and killed in the middle of the journey, it would just remove a major hidden danger..."

“…”

“…”

Hearing the word "master", the voices of several people were lowered.

...
Chapter completed!