If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"It's a pity that your country of Stan is not by the sea, otherwise we could send them there by fleet of ships."

A month later, Hussein brought potato and corn seeds, as well as some other vegetable seeds that Dalong didn't have, which Zhou Wu had specifically asked him to provide last time.

"I'm quite satisfied with this. Thank you, my friend. This salt should last me for a while."

Hussein was overjoyed as he watched his camels, which, after unloading the seeds, were now fully loaded with salt.

"Don't worry about the salt production; we have as much as you need."

Zhou Wu's words reassured Hu Sai, telling her not to worry about the salt issue.

. . . . . .

The capital city, a certain prefecture.

"The Crown Prince secretly went to Qingyang County, but returned quickly."

The middle-aged man reported the intelligence gathered by his subordinates to the head of the family, who seemed to be quite concerned about the Crown Prince's movements lately.

"Has anyone been sent to Qingyang County to investigate why the Crown Prince would go to such a small county as Qingyang?"

"We've already sent someone there, but we haven't received a reply yet."

The middle-aged man is the next generation successor groomed by the head of the family, so all these things have been arranged.

. . . . .

Hussein led the caravan back on its way.

"It's getting late. Give the order to set up camp here for the night."

With a wave of his hand, Hussein ordered the coachmen, servants, and guards to split up and set up camp.

This time, Hu Sai mobilized more camels than ever before to transport seeds to Zhou Wu. As darkness fell, a campfire was lit, and the firelight always brought some comfort to humanity in the darkness.

Just as everyone was setting up camp to rest, two men in black were staring intently at the caravan from behind a large rock in the distance.

"We'll check what kind of goods they're carrying after they fall asleep."

"Ah."

They were spies sent by prominent families in the capital. They followed the Crown Prince all the way to Niujia Town. After the Crown Prince returned, they remained in Niujia Town, but after a month they found nothing. Just as they were about to leave and return to the capital to report, Hu Sai's caravan appeared.

How could a caravan appear in a small place like Niujia Town? Normally, Hu people would go directly to the capital to do business, since the wealthy people there were the main consumers of Hu goods. So this situation immediately attracted the attention of the spies. They kept an eye on the caravan, but because of the Qingyang Army's tight defense in Niujia Town, they had no chance at all. That's why the two of them kept following the caravan all the way to the border of Dalong.

The two waited until late at night. The border of Dalong was already considered the Gobi Desert, and the temperature at night was vastly different from that during the day. The two of them were clearly unaware of this, so they were almost frozen.

"Wake up, wake up quickly."

One of them shook his unconscious companion. The violent shaking woke his companion up groggily, but he seemed to be in a daze.

"They should be asleep by now. Let's go check on the goods."

“Okay~~~”

When the caravans of the Hu people spent the night in the wild, they would often form a circle, with the goods on the outermost side, followed by the camels, and the people on the innermost side. This served both to keep them warm and protected them from the wind, and also to form a defensive system.

However, it was precisely this matrix that allowed the two to easily approach the goods without being detected. One of them pulled out a dagger and plunged it into the goods, from which white, gritty material flowed out.

"Is this salt?"

The man tasted it, and the distinctive saltiness of salt went straight to his head. It was salt! The entire caravan was transporting salt. Why would the Hu people buy salt? Where did the salt come from in Niujia Town?

The scouts immediately realized they had uncovered something extraordinary, and the two quickly and quietly left under the cover of darkness.

. . . .

The capital city, a certain prefecture.

"What did you say? The Hu caravan took away all snowflake salt from Niujia Town?"

The patriarch could hardly believe his ears. So many years had passed, it seemed some had forgotten the methods of aristocratic families, even daring to challenge the powerful.

"Master, the news is absolutely true. Of the two spies we sent out, one died in the jaws of wolves, and the other only managed to escape."

The middle-aged man had no doubts, because the two men were loyal agents of the family, trained and brainwashed by the family from childhood. They would never betray the family, let alone deceive them.

"Send someone to find out where the salt in Niujia Town comes from."

"Yes."

The middle-aged man accepted the order and left, leaving only the white-haired old man sitting there muttering to himself.

"It seems that my Lu family has been too well-behaved these past few years, to the point that everyone has forgotten the methods of aristocratic families."

The Lu family, one of the eight great families of the Great Dragon, unfortunately controls the Great Dragon's salt supply. Many of its family members hold important positions in the imperial court. In short, the great family not only controls the Great Dragon's economic lifeline, but also has many family members serving in the court. This is why the emperor has reservations about the great families.

. . . . .

The Hussein caravan.

As usual, after everyone got up, they began to pack up their things and check the camels and cargo. The bag of salt that had been ripped open with a dagger was quickly discovered.

"Chief, something bad has happened! Look, this doesn't look like it was caused by a wild animal; it looks like it was cut open by a sharp weapon."

"Oops."

Hu Sai immediately realized that he had been followed and that the goods were salt. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal; it was just a bag of salt, and Hu Sai wouldn't care. But this time was different. Zhou Wu had repeatedly instructed him to keep the secret, because the salt in Dalong was controlled by the nobles, and even their emperor didn't dare to openly support his country. Considering this bag of salt, it seemed that the secret had been discovered by the enemy.

"Tell Zhou Wu immediately that the enemy has discovered the salt. Go now!"

Hu Sai was furious. Zhou Wu and Da Long had tried so hard to help him and his country, but he had messed it all up. If his country weren't waiting for salt, he would have already gone to apologize to Zhou Wu in person.

Niujia Town.

Hu Sai's men, who had only been gone for two days, rushed back. Zhou Wu knew immediately that something must have happened, because this had never happened before.

"what happened?"

"I'm sorry, Lord Zhou, the matter of the salt may have been exposed."

Hu Sai's men, upon seeing Zhou Wu, dismounted and knelt directly before him, their faces filled with remorse.

"what!!!"

Zhou Wu never expected that despite his meticulous planning, nothing would go wrong at the saltworks, but problems would arise during transportation. This was also the first time Zhou Wu had experienced the methods of a powerful family.

"what is going on?"

Zhou Wu now only wants to know the extent to which he has been exposed and who the other party is, otherwise he doesn't know how to report to Crown Prince Li Junren.