Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

Three days after Eunuch Liu left, the envoy from the grasslands arrived.

The man who arrived was a middle-aged man, his face weathered and his eyes sharp as an eagle's. His name was Arutai, the Left Wise King of the Canglang tribe, whose status in the tribe was second only to the old chieftain.

Arughtai came with sincerity—he was followed by a hundred fine horses, all three-year-old steeds of the grasslands, with glossy coats and long limbs, clearly good horses.

"Arutai, the Left Wise King of the Canglang Tribe, greets the King of Jingbei." Arutai placed his right hand on his chest and performed a grassland salute.

Xiao Chen also received him in the courtroom.

"The Left Wise King has come from afar and must be tired. Please take a seat."

Arutai sat down without ceremony and got straight to the point: "Your Highness, I'm here on behalf of the Canglang tribe to discuss a deal."

"What kind of business?"

"Horses for salt," Arutai said. "Our Canglang tribe has horses, and your Hanyuan tribe has salt. Let's trade, and each of us will get what we need."

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

Trading horses for salt was indeed a good business.

The grasslands lack salt; people lack salt and have no strength, and horses lack salt and can't run. But Hanyuan has the Baishui River, whose water is salty, making salt production easy. Although it's not as refined as sea salt, it's sufficient.

Hanyuan is short of horses. Although they have obtained some horses from refugees and spoils of war, there are only about fifty of them, and most of them are of poor quality. To build a cavalry, they must have good horses.

"How do I change it?" Xiao Chen asked.

"One horse for five hundred catties of salt," Arutai quoted the price.

Xiao Chen did some mental calculations.

A horse is worth twenty taels of silver on the grasslands. Five hundred catties of salt cost only five taels of silver to produce. On the surface, Han Yuan seems to have made a profit.

But Arughtai continued, "It must be refined salt, as white as snow. No coarse salt, no bitter salt."

That makes things difficult.

The salt boiled in the cold abyss is coarse salt, yellowish in color and bitter in taste. To purify it into refined salt, it needs to be boiled and filtered repeatedly, which is time-consuming and laborious.

"Left Wise King," Xiao Chen said slowly, "the traditional price for a horse on the grasslands is three hundred catties of coarse salt. You're asking for five hundred catties of refined salt; that price is too high."

"Not expensive," Arutai shook his head. "The grasslands lack salt, especially good salt. Coarse salt makes people lose their hair and horses get diarrhea. Refined salt gives people strength and makes horses fat. A good horse can be worth ten lives. Five hundred catties of refined salt is not expensive."

"But there is no refined salt in the Cold Abyss."

"It can be refined." Arutai looked at Xiao Chen. "Your Highness can build greenhouses, refine good iron, and train soldiers. Refining salt is not difficult."

Xiao Chen smiled.

Arughtai came prepared.

"Refining salt is indeed not difficult," he said, "but the cost is high. Five hundred catties of refined salt costs ten taels of silver. Adding in transportation costs and losses, I only make five taels per horse. This business is not worthwhile."

"Then, Your Highness, name your price."

"Three hundred catties of refined salt, in exchange for a horse," Xiao Chen quoted his price.

Arutai shook his head: "Too little. Four hundred and fifty catties."

"Three hundred and fifty."

"Four hundred and twenty."

"Three hundred and eighty."

"Four hundred," Arutai gritted his teeth. "That's the bottom line. I can't go any lower. Any lower and I won't be able to explain myself back home."

Xiao Chen remained silent for a moment.

Four hundred catties of refined salt can be exchanged for one horse. At the current production rate, boiling one thousand catties of coarse salt can yield six hundred catties of refined salt. One thousand catties of coarse salt costs ten taels. Six hundred catties of refined salt can be exchanged for one and a half horses. One horse is worth twenty taels, so one and a half horses is thirty taels. The profit is twenty taels.

This deal is worth doing.

"Okay, four hundred catties." Xiao Chen nodded, "but there's a condition."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

"A transaction will be conducted once a month, with a minimum of one hundred horses each time. I need stallions, aged three to five, without any illness or injury. If even one horse is missing, the transaction is canceled."

Arutai gasped.

One hundred horses a month would amount to forty thousand catties of refined salt. The Canglang tribe has one hundred thousand members, and their monthly salt consumption is only thirty thousand catties. The extra ten thousand catties can be resold to other tribes to earn the price difference.

But a hundred horses is no small number. The Canglang tribe has 30,000 warhorses, but they can only offer 200 for trade each month. A hundred horses make up half of that.

"Your Highness, this..."

"Unwilling?" Xiao Chen raised an eyebrow. "If you're unwilling, then forget it. I'll talk to the Bailu tribe. Chief Batel said last time that he was willing to trade horses for salt, and the price was negotiable."

Arughtai's expression changed.

The White Deer tribe is an old rival of the Azure Wolf tribe. If the White Deer tribe obtains refined salt, their strength will increase significantly, posing a threat to the Azure Wolf tribe.

"Deal!" Arutai gritted his teeth. "One hundred stallions per month, three to five years old, healthy and injury-free. But the quality of the refined salt must be guaranteed. If inferior salt is used, the deal is off."

It's a deal.

It's a deal.

The two made a vow by high-fiving.

"To show our sincerity," Arughtai said, "consider these one hundred horses as a deposit. I will come to collect the first batch of salt, 40,000 catties, on the first day of next month."

"Okay." Xiao Chen nodded. "The first day of next month, east of Hanyuan City, see you there."

After seeing Arutai off, Xiao Chen immediately gathered everyone together.

"Salt is now the lifeblood of Hanyuan," he said bluntly. "We must produce salt in large quantities and refine it. Old Han, can we increase the salt production even further?"

"Yes," Han Lie said. "Right now we have ten large pots, boiling day and night, producing two thousand catties of coarse salt a day. If we can build another twenty pots, we can produce six thousand catties a day."

"Then let's build it," Xiao Chen decided. "We'll provide the manpower and the money. Within a month, I want to see 10,000 catties of salt produced daily."

"yes!"

"Uncle Chen, I'll leave the salt refining to you," Xiao Chen said. "I'll teach you a method called the 'brine extraction method.' Dissolve coarse salt in water, filter it, and then boil it to get refined salt. The salt yield should be at least 60%."

"Sixty percent..." Uncle Chen calculated, "That's 100 catties of coarse salt to produce 60 catties of refined salt. It's a bit difficult, but I'll give it a try."

"It's not a trial, it's a must," Xiao Chen said. "At the beginning of next month, 40,000 catties of refined salt, not a single catty less."

"yes!"

Once the order was given, the entire Cold Abyss sprang into action.

The salt-boiling workshop was expanded to three times its original size, with twenty new large pots built. The pots were specially made, with a diameter of ten feet and a depth of three feet, and each pot could boil five hundred catties of brine.

A tributary of the Baishui River was diverted to form a large pool next to the workshop. The river water was introduced into the pool and exposed to the sun to evaporate moisture and increase salinity. Then it was boiled in a pot.

This way, we can save half the firewood.

We saved on firewood, but we didn't have enough manpower.

Xiao Chen ordered all the people of the city to take turns helping at the salt fields. The men chopped firewood and carried water, the women tended the fires and scooped out the salt, and the elderly and children dried the salt and bagged it. Work points were awarded based on the amount of labor, and these points could be exchanged for grain, cloth, and ironware.

With such a generous reward, everyone is eager to be the first to participate.

Salt production at the salt fields is steadily increasing.

From 2,000 jin a day, to 3,000 jin, to 5,000 jin. Ten days later, it exceeded 10,000 jin.

The coarse salt was piled up into a small mountain.

The next step is purification.

Uncle Chen led a group of veteran craftsmen to build the "brine pool" according to the method taught by Xiao Chen.

First, a filter layer is made using charcoal, fine sand, and linen. Coarse salt is dissolved in water and poured into the filter layer to remove mud and impurities. The filtered brine is then poured into a large pot and boiled.

Boil until the water evaporates, and what's left is refined salt.

In the first experiment, the salt extraction rate was only 50%.

"No, that's too low," Xiao Chen shook his head. "It needs to be at least 60%."

Uncle Chen was so anxious that he developed blisters on his lips, and he and his team experimented day and night. They adjusted the thickness of the filter layer, the boiling temperature, and the ratio of water added.

Finally, on the fifth day, the salt extraction rate reached 60%.

One hundred catties of coarse salt yields sixty catties of refined salt. The salt is snow-white, with uniform granules and no bitterness. Taste a little with your finger; it's salty and savory—a top-quality salt.

"It's done!" Uncle Chen was so excited that tears streamed down his face.

The refining workshop was also expanded to three times its original size, with twenty large cauldrons operating day and night. Coarse salt went in, and refined salt came out.

By the end of the month, the production of refined salt had reached 6,000 catties per day.

One month, 180,000 jin.

It's enough to deliver 40,000 jin, and there will still be 140,000 jin left for our own use and reserves.

Xiao Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

We've passed this hurdle.

On the first day of next month, Arughtai arrived on time.

This time, he brought five hundred men and five hundred horses. One hundred horses were to make up for this month's debt, and four hundred were a deposit for next month's debt.

"Your Highness, where is the salt?" Arutai asked bluntly.

"This way." Xiao Chen led him to the salt warehouse.

The salt warehouse was newly built, with a brick and stone structure, and was moisture-proof. Inside, burlap sacks were neatly stacked, each weighing 100 jin (50 kg), for a total of 400 sacks.

Arutai drew a dagger, pierced the sack, picked out a little salt, and placed it in his palm. It was snow-white, delicate, and shimmered in the sunlight. He licked it, and his eyes lit up.

"Excellent salt!" he exclaimed. "Even better than the salt I bought from the Western Regions!"

"As long as the Left Wise King is satisfied."

"Satisfied, extremely satisfied." Arughtai waved his hand, "Remove the horse!"

Five hundred horses were herded into a temporarily fenced-off riding arena. They were all stallions, three to five years old, with glossy coats and long limbs. Some were grazing with their heads down, while others were neighing with their heads held high, each one exceptionally magnificent.

Wang Dashan led his men to inspect the horses. They examined each one individually, checking their teeth, hooves, and spirit. Any horses with problems were picked out.

Finally, three problematic horses were selected. One had an injured hoof, one had an inflamed eye, and one was too old.

"I don't want these three," Wang Dashan said.

Arutai looked a little unwell, but he still waved for someone to lead him away and replace him with three better horses.

"Your Highness, it's a pleasure doing business with you." Arutai extended his hand.

"It's a pleasure working with you." Xiao Chen gave him a high five.

Five hundred horses and forty thousand catties of salt have been handed over.

Arutai didn't linger and hurriedly left with the salt. He needed to get back to the grasslands before the rainy season to distribute the salt.

Standing on the city wall, Xiao Chen watched the departing cavalry and felt a surge of emotion.

The Salt and Horse Alliance was formed.

With these five hundred horses, Han Yuan can build a true cavalry force.

With the Canglang tribe as an ally, the threat to the grasslands was reduced by half.

But Xiao Chen knew that this was just the beginning.

The Canglang tribe is no pushover, and neither is Arutai. Their current cooperation is due to their need for salt. The day they no longer need it, or find a better source, this alliance will become nothing but a worthless piece of paper.

Therefore, Han Yuan must be strong.

So powerful that the Canglang tribe dared not betray them.

So powerful that no enemy dared to covet it.

"Issue the order," he turned around, "From today onwards, establish a cavalry battalion. Zhang Meng, you are appointed Cavalry Captain. Select one hundred men from the Hanyuan Guard to form the 'Cangyun Cavalry.' Within a month, I want to see a cavalry force capable of fighting on the battlefield."

"Yes!" Zhang Meng knelt on one knee, his voice trembling with excitement.

The Azure Cloud Cavalry, the first cavalry force in the Cold Abyss.

This cavalry force will ride the horses of the grasslands and wield the swords of the frigid abyss across the northern border.

"Furthermore," Xiao Chen continued, "send someone to the White Deer tribe and tell Chief Batel that Han Yuan is willing to trade salt for horses. The price is the same as that of the Canglang tribe."

"Your Highness, this..." Zhao Tie hesitated, "If the Canglang tribe finds out, what if..."

"We just want him to know," Xiao Chen said calmly. "Competition creates pressure. If the Canglang tribe wants to monopolize the salt source, they have to raise prices. If the Bailu tribe wants a share, they have to concede. We'll reap the benefits without lifting a finger."

Everyone suddenly realized.

The prince is trying to incite conflict between the two tribes of the grasslands so that he can reap the benefits.

"Furthermore," Xiao Chen's eyes flashed with a cold light, "send Night Owls to infiltrate the grasslands and spread the news. Say that the Canglang tribe has obtained a large amount of refined salt from the Cold Abyss, greatly increasing their strength, and is preparing to unify the grasslands. Make the Bailu, Heihe, and Baiyun tribes nervous."

"yes!"

The muddier the water in the grassland, the better.

The water was murky, so no one noticed what Han Yuan was doing.

Han Yuan needs to take advantage of this time to quietly develop and accumulate strength.

When the truth came out, Han Yuan had already become a ferocious tiger.