Liu Xin did not return the same way, but chose another road, which was also the northern route of the Silk Road, from Shule through Weitou, Wensu, Gumo, Qiuzi, Yanqi, Cheshi, Yihe, and finally arrived at Yumen Pass. In this way, he would be equivalent to walking the entire Western Regions.

The news that the Han army had annihilated Black Whirlwind and Banbianyun, the two most powerful horse bandits in the Western Regions, and defeated the Three Kingdoms Alliance, had already spread throughout the countries of the Western Regions. Liu Xin has been very smooth all the way, and within a few days, the team has come to the outside of Gumo City, and Gumo King Wu ** took the soldiers and civilians of Hecheng out of the city for ten miles to greet him.

In fact, since Jia Xu has already done the preliminary work, there is no need for Liu Xin to bother with any more words now. Like the countries he passed through before, what Liu Xin needs to do now is nothing more than to encourage Wu **, reward some silk and porcelain, and then go to the streets of Gumo City to observe the people's feelings. Of course, the first thing to do was naturally the reception banquet held by Wu ** for Liu Xin.

After three rounds of drinking, Wu**'s face suddenly became bitter, and he bowed down and said: "Lord Liu, Xiao Wang has something to ask for, and I hope that my lord can agree." ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Wu **, don't be restrained, sit down and talk slowly." As long as Liu can help solve it, Liu will do his best. ”

Wu ** didn't sit down, but continued to stand and said, "Lord Liu, that's the case. What we lack most in Gumo is food, can you ask adults to support one or two? ”

A few days ago, when Jia Xu passed through Gumo, Wu ** mentioned the lack of grain in Gumo, but Jia Xu's Western Regions Protectorate has not yet been officially established, and he can't be the master of the matter of allocating grain to Gumo.

After listening to Wu **'s words, Liu Xin was slightly surprised, thought about it, and said: "As far as I know, there are many deserts in the Western Regions, so it is impossible to be rich in grain, but there are still a few pieces of the oasis, and self-sufficiency should not be a problem." And Liu has traveled to so many countries, and he really hasn't seen any country short of food, why is Gumo short of food? ”

To tell the truth, Liu Xin has no shortage of grain in his hands, and if the fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River is developed in place, it will become a new granary of Dahan, and there will be no need to worry about grain. However, it is true that there is a lot of food, and it is a little difficult to transport it to the Western Regions, which is also the main reason why Liu Xin considered reducing the garrison in the Western Regions a few days ago. Therefore, when he heard that Gumo was short of food, Liu Xin did not immediately agree.

Wu ** said with a bitter face: "Don't hide it from Lord Liu, Gumo is not as good as other countries, in addition to the desert, there is also a large black stone mountain, and there is no grass." ”

"Oh." Liu Xin sat up straight, frowned and said, "The surrounding area is full of deserts, and it is not easy to survive, and there is such a place where there is no grass?" In this way, I can't promise you about supporting food for the time being, so I'll wait until tomorrow when I go to Blackstone Mountain to see what I want to do before making a decision. ”

The next day, as soon as Liu Xin went out, Wu ** greeted him, and Shi Li said, "Lord Liu, can you go to Heishi Mountain to have a look now?" ”

Seeing Wu **'s anxious appearance, Liu Xin was not angry, but a little relieved, which shows that Wu **, the king of Gumo, is still very concerned about the livelihood of the people. Because even if there is a shortage of food, there will be no shortage of food for those high-ranking officials and nobles, so the biggest victims of food shortage are those ordinary people, Wu ** is so anxious, which shows that he cares about those people very much.

Liu Xin nodded with satisfaction and said, "Without further ado, let's go now!" ”

Wu ** hesitated: "My lord, you don't seem to have breakfast yet." ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "The Western Regions Protectorate has been rebuilt, and in the future, the people of Gumo will be the people of my Han Dynasty, I can't just watch the people of the Han Dynasty still hungry, right?" In this way, bring a few steamed buns and eat them as you go. ”

With the increase of the population of Gumo, houses have been built in many parts of the oasis, and there is even less land for cultivation and grazing, and there are no other oases in Gumo, so the supply of food has naturally become a big problem.

However, unlike other places, the east side of Gumo City is not a desert, but a large black stone field, which the locals call Black Rock Mountain. Although it is called a mountain, it is not much higher than the surrounding area, at most it can only be regarded as a hill, but there is no grass growing on the hill, and it is black, and you can't see the end at a glance.

Liu Xin came to the front of the Black Stone Mountain, turned over and jumped off the horse, took a few steps forward, and suddenly his eyes lit up, what kind of Black Stone Mountain is this, it is clearly a coal mountain!

Others don't know, but Liu Xin knows very well that coal is definitely a good thing. Not only that, Liu Xin also knew that there were abundant coal mines buried in many places, but those coals were buried very deep underground or deep in the mountains, even if Liu Xin knew, with his current ability, it was impossible to take them out.

The black stone mountain in front of me is different, this is a shallow coal mine, it is a large coal field. This coalfield is dozens of miles in circumference, containing abundant high-quality coal, and even spontaneously combusted more than a thousand years later, and a fire burned for hundreds of years, and finally became the prototype of the Flaming Mountain in Journey to the West. Of course, Liu Xin didn't know that this was Wu Chengen's Flaming Mountain, but he knew how important the coal was.

As far as cooking is concerned, the dishes in the state pastoral mansion are not available elsewhere, and the biggest difference is that there are many more stir-fried dishes, and stir-fried vegetables need to control the heat. In the absence of coal, wood and straw can only be used for cooking, and it is difficult to reach the temperature that Liu Xin needs. Now with coal, these problems can be solved, and Liu Xin can even smell the aroma of the ingredients stir-fried in an iron pot.

The greater use of coal is, of course, not in the fact that it can be fried in a few side dishes, but in the fact that it can smelt better iron or even steel. Looking at the black in front of him, Liu Xin's eyes were about to glow.

However, Liu Xin would not tell Wu ** about his discovery, he calmed down his emotions, turned his head and smiled: "It's a pity that there is such a large area that is not a desert, but there is no grass." ”

Wu ** hurriedly continued: "Yes, that's why Xiao Wang wants to ask the adults for help." ”

Liu Xin smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll help you with this." I'll be sending additional staff to investigate this Black Rock Mountain in detail to see if it's possible to transform it into an oasis. ”

Wu ** was disappointed, and said with a wry smile: "Lord Liu, when your people turn this place into an oasis, I'm afraid that my people will starve to death long ago." ”

Liu Xin patted Wu **'s shoulder and said with a smile: "No, before this black stone mountain becomes an oasis, I will provide all the food that Gumo needs." However, I also have one condition. ”

Wu ** suddenly turned his worries into joy, and said in a loud voice: "As long as Lord Liu can provide us with food, we can agree to any conditions." Of course, please rest assured that we will pay for these grains. ”

Liu Xin laughed and said: "It's all the people of the Han Dynasty, and Liu won't bear to watch them starve, so there's no need to pay." There is only one thing, my people are here to study how to transform Blackstone Mountain, there may be many secrets, so, from now on, no one can approach this area. Having done this, food is not a problem! ”

Wu ** hurriedly said: "It turns out that Lord Liu is this condition." No problem, no problem. The area around Blackstone Mountain is a place where birds don't poop, and no one usually comes. After Xiao Wang returned, he issued another order to ensure that no one would approach. ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "That's good, Liu will leave, the grain will be transported in a few days, and I will send troops to take over this black stone mountain immediately." ”

Wu ** was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked, "Lord Liu won't play in Gumo for two more days?" ”

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "If the problem of Heishi Mountain is solved one day earlier, the people of Gumo will be able to live a prosperous life one day earlier, and time waits for no one." ”

After discovering such a large coal field, where can Liu Xin stay, his mind has already flown to Chang'an City, and he can't wait to organize an engineering team to mine the coal here.

In the next few days, Liu Xin was busy on the road, and even Jia Xu's newly established Western Regions Protectorate did not make too many stops, and also refused the banquet of King Qiuzi, and traveled all the way, appearing at Yumen Pass seven days later.

Entering Yumen Pass, the first thing Liu Xin did was to send his discovery in Gumo to Xiangyang and Chang'an respectively in two ways: Meteor Fast Horse and Flying Pigeon Story. The dispatch to Xiangyang was to inform Ma Yun of this situation, and the dispatch to Chang'an was to inform Xiang Lang to transfer manpower to prepare to go to Gumo to mine coal mines.

Then, Liu Xin left Yumen Pass and continued on his way. After entering the Yumen Pass, the road became smooth. The roads are new enough for four horse-drawn carriages to travel side by side, and the roads are lined with street trees to shelter from the summer sun. Walking on such an avenue, the advanced speed will naturally be faster, plus Liu Xin's heart is like an arrow, three days later, they passed Liangzhou and entered the territory of Fufeng County.

is getting closer and closer to Chang'an City, and Liu Xin is not as anxious as he was at the beginning. He ordered to slow down his advance and head to the city of Yiwu instead. Yiwucheng was originally Dong Zhuo's old nest, and after a year of construction, it will become a new R&D base of the institute.

Liu Xin is still very satisfied with the construction here, the high city wall can be used to prevent outsiders from entering, and the houses left by Dong Zhuo in the city have become the "laboratory" of the research institute after a little transformation. Outside the city, all sides have been designated as a military exclusion zone, which has been converted into a second training center. Of course, the original training center and research base in the western suburbs of Xiangyang City are still preserved. And Liu Xin came here today to wait for Xiang Lang's arrival.