World Tibet Bureau

Chapter 1289 Five ways to find salt

A few of us had not eaten anything for two days and two nights. We just ate some snow water because we were thirsty. Our stomachs growled with hunger. The most urgent task was to quickly find the cave where Qubi and other tea horse merchants went to rest. Location, because only there are legendary animals.

But the scene in front of me was foggy and covered with snow-white quilts. It didn't look like a cave.

I asked President Liu: "In Qubi's notes, is there any record of how they found the specific landmark of the cave after climbing the snow mountain?"

President Liu shook his head: "No. Qubi has no culture. He dictated a book based on his impressions of his experiences at that time. The recorder, Old Man Jiang, also wrote this paragraph relatively simply. We have to find it ourselves."

I suddenly remembered something: "At that time, Nanza led me to Old Man Jiang's scrap collection station. The 'Old Man Jiang' was pretended by an actor hired by Nako Nozawa. Where did the real Old Man Jiang go?"

President Liu replied: "On the day you went there, the real old man Jiang was forced to drink wine by someone sent by Nozawa Nako until he became unconscious. He was lying in the hotel."

"However, fortunately, there is something described in Old Man Jiang's notes, which provides us with the direction to find the cave."

I asked: "What's the matter?"

Chairman Liu said: "It was said that the tea horse merchants camped at a place on the top of Landuo Snow Mountain to rest that night and got some snow water to wash their faces. But when they woke up the next day, everyone's faces were burning and there was a thin layer of frost. .”

Lu Cenyin asked: "Salt?"

President Liu smiled and said: "Miss Cen Yin is smart, she is indeed salt, but back then Qubi and others didn't understand what it was."

"This is completely consistent with the three features we agreed on before about the presence of salt spring wells, Baicao, and the legacy of shaman culture in Landuo Snow Mountain. Therefore, as long as we find the salt spring wells, we can find the magical cave and solve the problem of worshiping the five internal organs temple. You can find the ancient tombs of the Western Regions by following the cave."

Xia Xi said: "Then look for it quickly!"

President Liu said: "Isn't that what I'm looking for?"

After going up to Landuo Snow Mountain, Hao An voluntarily gave up his position as the leader to President Liu.

President Liu led everyone around the snow-capped mountains.

It was around three o'clock in the afternoon when we came up.

After searching for several hours, there were no clues at all. It was already dark at this time, so we had to find a relatively flat place to rest with our backs against a small snow slope.

It's too cold at night.

We each took another purple stone pill.

Without any shelter or warm equipment, relying on a small purple stone pill, everyone was able to spend the night in the snow. The magic of all things in the world is completely beyond our imagination.

At midnight. Xia Xi got up and walked around, covering her stomach and said, "Old Liu, if I don't find a place tomorrow, I might be so hungry that my stomach will perforate!"

President Liu said: "Brother Xia, Miss Cen Yin and Miss Xiaozhu can tolerate it, why can't you endure it?"

Xia Xi replied: "This is not a question of whether I can bear it. The key is that you have to let me see hope!"

President Liu asked: "Why is there no hope?"

Xia Xi said: "Salt spring wells are mineral deposits. It would take half a year and nine years for a serious prospecting team to use machines to find them! Su Zi also said before that in order to find salt spring wells, Nozawa Nako brought advanced... Machinery and equipment. But I watched it all afternoon today, and all I saw was that you were swinging a broken fan behind your back, like you were taking a walk with Donald Duck. How can I trust you?"

Chairman Liu asked: "Let me ask you, the ancients did not have machinery and equipment, how did they find salt?"

Xia Xi replied: "So now you have to pretend to show off your profound knowledge, rub our IQs on the ground, and make us completely convinced, so that we can firmly follow you!"

Upon hearing this, President Liu smiled slightly, stood up from the ground, and shook his fan like a teacher.

"Brother Xia, you are right! Originally I didn't want to talk so much to save you from criticizing me for showing off my knowledge, but since you don't really trust me, it seems that I must explain it to you."

"Sichuan was a low basin in ancient times, covered by vast oceans of seawater. However, crustal movement caused the ground level to rise, the seawater to recede, and there was more salt in the ground. For example, in Zigong, wells were dug to produce salt during the reign of Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty. It is the center of well salt in China. The land of Shu has been rich in salt since ancient times, and the wise ancients also invented a variety of methods to find salt deposits."

"There are several main methods to find salt spring wells, including physical weight measurement, drilling and sampling, chemical dissolution, ancient books and legends, and mountains and water. The first three require machines, which we don't have, so this time The latter two are mainly used to find salt spring wells, and they are also the two most commonly used by ancients."

Lu Cenyin was more studious and asked, "Is there any ancient book method?"

Chairman Liu said: "Of course there is. It is recorded in the Han Dynasty that "Hanfu Jia gave birth to a daughter. One day, she went to the bank of a stream and she became pregnant in a trance. She gave birth to one thing every year, with no hands, feet or eyes. Jia was angry and split it into nine sections. In the stream... Jia died, and his daughter showed the veins of the well and dug nine salt wells. Later generations actually found nine salt wells based on the locations described in ancient books."

"In addition, there is also the story of 'Tianshi turning a well' in "Yunji Qizhu", and there is a record in Suining Prefecture of a toad plugging a water hole to get a source of salt. Without exception, salt was found in places recorded in ancient books. . But there are no relevant legend records about Landuo Snow Mountain, so we cannot rely on classics and can only adopt the most primitive method of observing mountains and searching for water."

Xia Xi asked: "How to view mountains and find water?"

Chairman Liu replied with a smile: "It's similar to your search for a dragon's acupoint. Judging from the topography, there are many ways in it. Let me give you an example. There is a saying called 'The mountains are sprinkled with the setting sun, and the stars are shining through'."

"You just walk aimlessly during the day, but I often look into the distance to see the changes in the sunlight shining through the mist. Snow reflects the sunlight without color, but if there is a salt spring well below, due to geological changes, It will be a kind of 'salt star light'."

President Liu fooled us from theory to practice and completely stunned us.

Xia Xi said: "I believe it! But! Please solve this problem before we starve to death!"

(End of this chapter)