On August 5, 1647, the Port of Blanca was inland.

Meng Hu jumped off the mule that had been riding for most of the day and stared at the shocking scenery not far ahead. There was a white "desert", and there was a huge pink lake in the middle of the "desert". Meng Hu stood at a high place, so he could clearly see the full picture of this lake.

The lake has a large area, and it looks like it is hundreds of square kilometers - perhaps even larger. The water level in the lake is not high, the water surface is very calm, and it is a strange pink color. The color depth of the lake water is also different, some are deeper, and some are shallower, which seems to be the effect of some algae plants in the lake. These algae secrete a large amount of β-carotene, making the lake water appear a rare pink color.

"This is the salt desert area reported by the Crandi people, with countless salt lakes of all sizes. Local Spaniards have long discovered this salt lake. They called the largest one called Salina Grandes, which means the Great Salt Lake." Wang Dali walked forward with a crutch deep and shallow feet, and said as he walked.

There were soft salt grains everywhere under his feet. Maybe this was once the area of ​​a large salt lake, but now the lake water has dried up and a large amount of salt has been evaporated and exposed. Meng Hu took a deep breath and the smell here was very heavy - the unique smell of the salt desert area. He grabbed a handful of loose crystalline salt on the surface and looked at it. The salt grains were rough and should be mixed with a lot of sodium sulfate and other things. However, this is not a problem. They can be separated one by one by using the principle of different solubility at different temperatures. Moreover, the sodium chloride content in the salt in this place should be far more than sodium sulfate. I just don’t know if there are precious things like potassium salts. It is estimated that the possibility is not high.

Unlike the salt marshlands in the coastal areas, this place is almost entirely salt desert. The salt content of the soil is also quite high. There are no other species around except for some low plants that are suspected to be alkaline grass, and there is no other species. An animal is even invisible, as if it has become a forbidden area for life.

"There are some reeds there, and the degree of salinization may not be very high." Wang Dali walked back to the shore of the lake for some time, and said in a direction opposite to the Great Salt Lake. There seemed to be a swamp area, and the swamp was connected to the Great Salt Lake through some winding small ditches. It can be seen that in the season of abundant precipitation, these small ditches should be filled with brine, connecting the Great Salt Lake with that swamp area. But now it is the dry season, and the water level of the salt lake has decreased, so it has been broken from the swamp.

After hearing Wang Dali's words, Meng Hu looked around and saw that it was indeed a swamp area. The salinity in the swamp area should not be as high as that of the Great Salt Lake, because the water color there is relatively normal. Some plants may also grow in the swamp area. According to the height of the terrain, they are reeds, alkaline, salt croaker, and other plants. However, there are still no traces of herbivores there, and the water surface in the swamp is also a pool of stagnant water without any ripples. Occasionally, there are some strong reflections on the shore. Meng Hu knew that it was a salt block.

In the vast area outside the salt marsh and salt lake, there are salt deserts. The ground in these areas is piled with crystalline salt formed by geological changes for countless years, and many of them have become hard blocks. At this time, people only need to knock them down with picks and find ways to cut them into standard-shaped salt blocks, which can be easily transported and exported.

"This is a treasure house." Meng Hu looked at this strange world mixed with green, red and white, and couldn't help but grin: "The Crandy people are right. This is a gift from the gods and a treasure created by nature's magical craftsmanship. I heard that there are quite a lot of salt lakes in the inland areas of Argentina, including ordinary sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, as well as a large amount of potassium salt, borate, and lithium salt. The conditions for salt chemical engineering are very superior."

"What's even more amazing is that the temperature difference here is large, and the precipitation is not much or too much (600 mm), which is very suitable for salt drying. Of course, we may not need to dry salt at first. The large amount of salt blocks on the salt desert will be cut and mined first. In short, if we take it down, it will basically completely solve all the industrial salt and edible salt in our country, and it can even be exported in large quantities. We no longer have to work hard to dry and boil salt in China, as the efficiency and cost will be too high." Wang Dali also clapped his palm excitedly and said, "This inspection really opened my eyes and it is worth the trip. This is an endless treasure house, and the scenery is so shocking. Well, the inspection was successful. When I went back, I wrote a report to the Government Council, suggesting that the Government Council take the lead in organizing some people to come here to set up settlements in order to mine salt mines."

While the two talked, the assistants who were inspecting the team had already mined and stored some typical salt ore specimens, and they had to go back to test and analyze the components. In addition, they also collected a small number of plant specimens and lake specimens, which also had to be taken back for analysis and research.

After they placed the samples, they tied them to the mule. The road from Blanca Port to the Great Salt Lake was a little worse, and it was bumpy, which might be related to the address and environment here. If you want to develop the salt mine here, then building a high-level highway will be put on the agenda. The railway is a bit extravagant, but an asphalt or even gravel road is the minimum.

After the road is repaired, all the salt will be transported to Blanca Port through this road for subsequent treatment, that is, it will be made into fine salt and sold to the domestic market. Of course, there are only a hundred thousand people in the East Coast Republic now, so it is possible to use these salts to cure salted fish. It just so happens that the waters south of Blanca Port are the traditional fishery area in Argentina. The Brazilian warm current and the Falkland cold current meet here, bringing rich nutrients to the seawater. La Plata deep-sea cod and smooth and soft fish are the two largest aquatic products here. In addition, tuna, calamari, macadamia, snapper and other fish can also be caught frequently, and it is considered a resource-rich fishing ground.

Now the number of cod fishing boats and squid fishing boats of Nanhai Fisheries Company has been steadily expanding, and the monthly catch is also rising rapidly. As of the end of last month (July), Nanhai Fisheries Company has already owned 8 cod fishing boats, 4 squid fishing boats and 1 comprehensive supply processing boat, with a monthly output of 25,000 cod (about 100 tons), 40 tons of smooth fish (Argentine squid), and there are about 10 tons of other miscellaneous fish.

The catch is no longer low, and the annual output is 1,800 tons (it seems to be completely incomparable to the Blackwater area backed by the Kuril Islands fishing grounds). Therefore, at this time, the Port of Blanca can be built as an important fishery port. The fresh fish caught in nearby waters can be roughly processed on the ship in the summer before transporting it to the port for deep processing; and in winter when the temperature is low, the fishing boat can even pull the fresh fish caught directly to the Port of Blanca for processing. The processed salted fish are then classified according to size and weight, and loaded into different wooden barrels, and then transported back to China for sale by large ships. The incomplete consumption in China can even be transported to Brazil and other places for sale, and the profit margin is still quite considerable.

In short, whether it is the natural superior geographical conditions of the port of Blanca, or the abundant and explosive salt mine resources nearby, they are all things that the people of the East Coast must seize and quickly. Now that the port of Blanca has been occupied by the people of the East Coast, the next step is to build a solid castle and fortress here to make it a fortified, and then build settlements and a series of related industrial facilities to make use of the resources here. In short, this is a land that must not be given up! Even if we negotiate with the Spaniards in the future and return a large area of ​​land along the Parana River to the Spaniards, a port of great significance such as Blanca will never be returned, because it is too important for the people of the East Coast.

On August 9, after a tourist-like journey, the Great Salt Lake Expedition Team led by Meng Hu and Wang Dali returned to the small town of Port Blanca. The town was opened by the Spanish two or three years ago, but it was more of a small village than a small town, because except for a stone two-story building (now requisitioned by the East Coast Army), the rest were all messy wooden houses and thatched huts. The residents made a living by growing wheat and fishing, and they looked very poor.

There were originally more than a hundred Spanish settlers in the town, but now they have become subjects under the rule of the East Coast people. Fifty vassals mixed with the Gaucho and the Crandy people guard the increasingly busy port here for the East Coast people. In the middle of last month, the Ministry of Transport sent people to inspect the place. It seemed that it was intentional to transform and expand the wooden dock here. However, since the construction of the local Qingdao Port occupied a large amount of building materials and labor, the matter was ruined.

However, the superior port conditions and important geographical location here are obvious. Not that, the Navy set up a small warehouse here, which specializes in storing edible salt, pickled fish and cured meat. In addition, they also set up a small sanitary center here to accommodate the wounded and sick people who may appear in the next battle. After all, the westward advance is imminent, and the Port of Blanca is at the intermediate node between the local area and the Port of Baleen Whale, which can still play a lot of role.
Chapter completed!