While many officials in Blackwater City were making various speculations, Richard was busy traveling around the Sarin.
Speaking of which, this is no small project.
The area of the Sand Forest is relatively large. It is located in the northernmost part of the former Sika Kingdom, adjacent to the desolate Northern Wasteland. It is a relatively narrow area.
The reason why this place is called Shalin is related to a small country that perished.
Regarding the story of this small country, Richard had heard Sherlock tell it before when he was on the east coast. Recently, he got a more detailed understanding:
The name of the small country is Shalin. It is located between Xika and Beihuang. Because the land is barren, rainfall is scarce, and there are no special products, it is very poor. The total population of the entire country is only a few hundred thousand.
The king of a country, said to be the king of a country, is actually not as powerful as the city lord of a medium-sized city in the Soma Alliance or the Sika Kingdom and the number of people he rules.
Because of this, the Kingdom of Sika did not have much interest in annexation, allowing the small country of Salin to exist for many years.
But unfortunately, the Sika Kingdom did not annex, but Sarin encountered natural disasters. A plague broke out inexplicably a few years ago.
The plague spread extremely quickly, and within a few days, tens of thousands of people were infected. The infected person develops blisters all over his body and itches unbearably. He can't help but scratch them with his hands until the blisters burst and disgusting pus leaks out. Although not fatal, it is unbearably painful.
Moreover, King Salin's favorite daughter, Princess Salin, was also infected with the plague.
The king can ignore the suffering of the common people, but not his own daughter. For this reason, King Salin almost emptied his treasury and invited a wizard who was proficient in pharmacy from nowhere to try to prepare an antidote to treat Princess Salin.
This wizard was quite capable, and it took him a week to prepare the antidote. As long as the princess drinks the antidote, the disease will be cured. Moreover, this antidote can be prepared in large quantities and promoted to the lower levels, thus solving the plague in the entire Sarin Kingdom.
But the problem is that this wizard is so capable - he is very powerful in preparing antidotes, and even more powerful in preparing poisons.
Just before the wizard was about to drink the antidote for the princess, he accidentally broke a bottle of potion that failed to be prepared.
The ingredients of the medicine floated out through the open window, and under the influence of the wind, they spread to the vast area of the sarin forest.
This time, a monster more terrifying than the plague itself was released. The ingredients in the potion underwent unknown changes in the outside world, causing those who touched it to die with bulging eyes and purple bodies.
In just a few days, it took the lives of tens of thousands of people in the Sarin capital, and the Sarin residents in other places also died one after another in the following days.
Sarin perished and the area he occupied naturally became part of the Sika Kingdom. However, not many people have dared to move to this "poisonous land", so the population is very sparse.
The Kingdom of Sika indeed looked down upon a dangerous place like Sarin and left it idle until a war broke out with the Soma Alliance.
There is no need to go into details about the details of the war. In short, the result was that Sika ceded territory and sought peace.
The original Sarin Kingdom and a large area nearby were occupied by the Soma Alliance and were set up as a special garrison area.
The original name of this special garrison area was originally planned to be called "Warkworth", which means the northernmost place. But the reputation of Sarin was too loud. Not long after the disaster of destroying the country, everyone remembered it deeply, so the place was finally named "Salin".
Speaking of which, this "sand forest" and that "sand forest" are not exactly the same, and the area has expanded dozens of times.
But then again, even if the area is expanded dozens of times, because most of the land is barren, there is a lack of precipitation, and there are mountains all over, and transportation is inconvenient, it is still not a good place—Oscar was right what he said at the beginning, this fiefdom is obviously It had been replaced. Logically speaking, Richard should not get such a poor fiefdom based on his merits in the war.
However, Richard didn't pay too much attention. In his opinion, the land conditions were indeed a bit bad, but the geographical location was still good: because it was close to the Northern Wasteland, it was possible to expand outward; the territory was mountainous, which could effectively prevent external attacks. It is a relatively closed and safe development base.
As for how to develop this base, he already has some ideas. What he needs to do now is to understand all aspects of the situation personally.
He didn't like to do these things very much, after all, they were a bit cumbersome. But I also know that even if I don’t like it, I have to do it—at least do it well in the early stage, so that I can devote myself to research with peace of mind.
As for how to deal with the post-production work, he has another way.
…
At noon.
In a field somewhere in the sand forest, Richard was walking in it,
After walking for a while, he stopped, looked around, and nodded slightly.
As if he had confirmed something, Richard waved his hand, and dozens of glass tubes flew out of his sleeves and floated in front of him.
Then the ground in front of him cracked, and the soil at different depths flew out on its own under the control of extraordinary power and landed in the glass tube suspended in front of him.
Richard stuffed the glass tubes with corks, labeled them, wrote them, and put them back into the space iron ring. After doing this, without saying anything else, he walked deeper into the field and continued sampling.
In this way, after a busy afternoon, Richard visited many small towns and cities in the sand forest and obtained samples including but not limited to soil, air, surface water, groundwater, crops, etc.
It also went deep into the old land of the Sarin Kingdom, carefully exploring and understanding whether there were any toxins or other hidden dangers left behind after the disaster that destroyed the country.
In this way, until the evening, Richard finally stopped temporarily and appeared in a small town called "Takli" and walked into a tavern.
Richard ordered a simple meal, and while eating, he listened to the conversations of various people in the tavern. The conversations were full of boasts and rumors, which was hard to believe completely, but he could get some insights into public opinion.
For example, if most people are discussing the stories of bards and the styles of fashionable clothes, it can mean that this small life must be good, and the lower class people are relatively satisfied with their current life.
On the contrary, if most people are complaining about the difficulty of living and discussing how to make some quick money, then you can be sure that the ruler is not very good, and there will be trouble in this area sooner or later.
Richard heard now that the three businessmen at the table were spitting and complaining about the suffering of being robbed by the band of thieves.
"Hey, it's really unlucky. I prepared eight carriages of goods last month, hoping to make a lot of money. But not long after I left town, I encountered a group of thieves. In order to save my life, I obediently gave away four carriages of goods. Now it’s good, let alone make a fortune, it’s hard not to lose money.”
"Just be lucky. Ten days ago, all the goods in my five carriages were snatched away by a group of thieves. Not even a hair was left behind. Aren't I still sitting here drinking with you?"
"Let me tell you, you should all be lucky. A week ago, Lao Zhuba personally escorted the convoy to the east for business. When he encountered a group of thieves, he wanted to be tough. In the end, the goods were not saved and the head was cut off. How miserable... "
Richard listened quietly to this until he finished eating his own food.
He stood up and took a deep look at the people sitting next to him, then walked out the door thoughtfully and walked into the darkness.
…