This game is too cruel

Chapter 22 Salt Production from Brine (Revision)

Lu Qiqiu realized that this was definitely not an ordinary skull.

She immediately put her skull away, and then recounted what she saw: "Xiong Batian, have you seen these scenes?"

"I haven't. But I have heard of the kind of thing you are talking about."

Xiong Batian told her: "On the other side of the Morka continent, there is incredible power. Among them is the ability to predict the future, which was once flocked to by the creatures on that continent.

This skull may have this magical power. "

Lu Qiqi's eyes lit up after hearing this, "Then I just picked up a treasure."

"I suggest you don't use this thing too much."

Xiong Batian gave her some popular science: "Many magic items will have corresponding side effects during use. Excessive use will backfire on the host who uses it."

The concept of backlash remains elusive for the time being.

Lu Qiqi wanted to find out whether the scene the golden skull showed her would happen, and when it might happen.

Thinking of this, she called on Teng, the most knowledgeable person in the tribe, "How long is it until winter?"

Vine: "About 120 more sunsets and winter is coming."

Lu Qiqi: "Were the winters cold in previous years?"

Teng: "It will be cold. When white frost begins to appear in the morning and heavy snow accumulates on the ground, it will be unbearably cold. In the past, many members of the grassland tribe died during heavy snowfall, but it is still early and we have a lot of time to prepare. Stuff for the winter.”

It's late.

Lu Qiqi thought of the scene he just saw——

Heavy snow crushed houses.

Large areas of the tribe froze to death.

A major snowstorm is coming this winter, and they need to start preparing now.

Lu Qiqi: "What did you prepare for winter in the past?"

Teng: "You may need to prepare some animal skins in the tribe, and dry firewood."

In just two sentences, everything you need to prepare for winter is summarized.

"that's it?"

Lu Qiqi didn't expect it to be so simple, "Don't you store the food?"

"Store food now, it will be ruined in winter. There are prey in winter, but it is a little harder to catch than other times. But you don't have to worry, there is a river near our territory. When the river freezes in winter, the underwater fish will Easier to catch.”

Teng said very optimistically.

But this makes Lu Qiqi unable to be optimistic.When the sky is full of snow and the river is frozen, it’s impossible to catch any fish.

It is definitely not possible to rely on the grassland tribe's winter methods in previous years. Food, warmth, and shelter reinforcement must be placed at the center of the tribe's recent development.

So where to start?

Lu Qiqi glanced at the people singing and dancing outside, spotted the barbecue on the torch, and quickly got a clue——

Salt!
With salt, large amounts of meat can be stored.

But their territory is inland and there is no salt lake nearby. Where can they get the salt?

she does not know.

But she has a group of players.

In order to find someone willing to take on this difficult task, Lu Qiqi even offered the privilege of being the first live broadcast.She posted the mission in the mission hall, hoping that a brave man would be rewarded.

Nowadays, Molka Continent is already at the top of the game circle, and every slightest change will cause discussions among followers.

[Have you been to the mission hall recently? 677 suddenly wants to make salt. 】

[It’s normal to want to get salt. For such an important resource, I was curious before why 677 didn’t ask anyone to look for it. 】

[But how to get salt?There are no salt mine resources near the territory. Is there any expert who can find it? It feels so difficult. 】

It feels difficult, but the live broadcast privilege is very attractive.

Drunk Ms. Butterfly also wanted this live broadcast privilege, so she found her geology expert friend.

Ms. Butterfly's ability to impress people is as good as her medical skills. Her friend came over and gave her advice every minute: "Salt is mainly divided into sea salt, lake salt, field salt and well salt. Look at the terrain in your picture. I suggest you check to see if there is well salt in the ground.”

Ms. Butterfly: "Can you tell me more carefully?"

A geology expert friend explained: "Due to crustal movement, the ocean basin began to rise around it, gradually forming a huge inland saltwater lake. The lake water sank underground for various reasons, forming a brine layer. This is the origin of well salt.

Isn't Shu land just a standard landform? If you are interested, you can go and see it.

Li Bing discovered underground salt brine when he was controlling floods.In the Shu region, a complete method of making salt is still preserved..."

My geology friend was so happy with the popular science that he was still talking about it.

Ms. Butterfly has already taken her mobile phone to search for the earliest flight to Shudi, "Thank you."

She left a thank you and got on the subway home.Then he packed up his grandson and luggage and went straight to the salt capital of Shu to learn how to make salt from scratch.

Opportunities are reserved for those who have the ability to execute.

Lu Qiqi waited for the players who were looking for salt, and finally waited for the old lady Butterfly who came back from her studies and was confident.

When the old lady drew a complex and systematic salt well on the dry soil, Lu Qiqi knew that the old lady... oh no, Ms. Butterfly was well prepared.But when Ms. Butterfly mentioned that collecting salt wells requires at least digging a well of more than 100 meters in a selected location, Lu Qiqiu began to hesitate again.

A deep well of more than 100 meters.If placed in modern society, it would probably only take a day or two to complete with the help of machinery.

But this is a primitive society.

A primitive society that doesn’t even have decent tools!
If Madam Butterfly's design were used, collecting salt would probably take up to half the manpower.Her subsequent plans to strengthen her house, stock up on food, make warm clothes, etc. may all be delayed.

The most important thing is that even with such concessions, the three preliminary salt wells surveyed by Ms. Butterfly may not produce salt.

This is undoubtedly a gamble.

Are there any alternatives to finding salt?
No.

Whether or not to allocate important labor to find salt has become a difficult problem.

Suddenly, Lu Qiqi thought of the golden skull that could predict the future.

Sometimes when a shortcut appears, people can't help but want to take it.

This is the nature.

So Lu Qiqi brought the golden skull and asked Ms. Butterfly to take her to check out the three selected salt well spots.

Reaching the first salt well point, she placed her hand on the golden skull.

The moment he placed it on the skull, a very deep salt well appeared in front of him, as well as the players and tribesmen whose faces were ashen.

Apparently, the first salt well site was not dug out.

The second salt well point is similar.

They dug into the rock layer, but the rock was too thick and could not be cut through in a short time with current technology.

There is also a third one, the salt well is dug.

However, heavy snow began to fall all around.Even though the salt well was found, there was no joy on everyone's faces.The skinny bodies of the tribesmen already showed that her strategy of mining salt wells was wrong. They did not have the ability to withstand the cold winter that followed.

So, is the search for salt to be put on hold?
But salt is a necessity!

Lu Qiqi couldn't help but frown. She looked at the golden skull in her hand, "You have a better way, right? How can I find well salt suitable for mining?"

At the moment she asked, the golden skull seemed to hear her appeal and flashed a red light.

Lu Qiqi suddenly felt a tingling sensation on the tip of his index finger, like a needle.A drop of blood appeared and dripped into the golden skull and was absorbed, and then she heard Xiong Batian exclaim, "Lu Qiqi, what did you do? Something actually ignored the emperor's watch and caused some damage to your body!"

"Probably... there was a deal made between me and the Golden Skull."

Lu Qiqi glanced at his index finger, and there was only a small red spot bleeding.

But Xiong Batian told her that this was very serious: "It can bypass the Emperor's Watch and attack you, which shows that this thing is very evil. Be careful, don't be killed by a golden skull."

It's speaking.

A new image of Salt Well Point appeared in front of Lu Qiqi's eyes. Salt Well Point was on the north side of the territory. This was the location chosen by Golden Skull.

She couldn't help but take another look at the golden skull. She temporarily put aside Xiong Batian's reminder and decided to choose the salt well here.

"This is where the well salt point will be chosen, and Ms. Butterfly will be in charge. I will provide you with 20 tribesmen in the future. Please complete the excavation of the salt well as soon as possible."

There are only 48 people in the total territory, and 20 tribesmen are equivalent to giving half of the manpower to Ms. Butterfly.

It can be said that Lu Qiqi spent a lot of money on collecting salt.

Ms. Butterfly did not disappoint, and her actions were extremely efficient.Even if you work with a group of primitive savages, you can maximize their work efficiency.Even over time, she learned some languages ​​that only the local tribes knew.

Salt wells need to be dug deep, not big.

On the first day, dig five meters.

The next day, 7 meters were added.

On the third day, 13 meters were added...

The tasks were increasing every day, and they had already dug into the rock layer after only about 50 meters.The rocks are not indestructible and are heated with flames and then cooled with ice water.Repeated many times, the rock begins to crack and become brittle.

Just smash it down little by little.

20 people, it took nearly 30 days.When the rock was cut through and the black brine came up, everyone smiled from the bottom of their hearts.

Place the brine in the prepared pottery, set up the pot and heat the fire!
The first time the salt is baked, it is black.

After the underground brine is taken out, it is full of various impurities.It tastes bitter and astringent in the mouth, completely incomparable to modern edible refined salt.But it was undeniable that among these strange flavors, she tasted a long-lost salty taste.

The salt well was opened in just one month, which completely exceeded her expectations!

For the native grassland tribe, it is also a surprise and a miracle!

All living things need salt.

Of course the same goes for people.

But whether here or where the prairie tribes stayed before, salt and salty taste are a kind of luxury goods.

The salt they need is supplemented from the blood of animals, or they may occasionally find some salty soil or rock walls with animals such as goats.

But now, they found a lot of salt from the ground!
In the eyes of primitive people, these things are as precious as gold in modern society!
The tribesmen who dug the well howled with excitement and celebrated around Lu Qiqi and Lady Butterfly.

Seeing these black crystals, Lu Qiqi finally felt relieved a little.But such salt is not clean enough, and follow-up work is still piling up.

"Ms. Butterfly, I would like to trouble you to purify these salts and make them safe for consumption. If you need anything, just tell me."

She also gave the work of purifying salt to Lady Butterfly.

And now there are still three months before winter comes, so it is urgent to improve housing and stock up on food!
　good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)