In fact, regarding the mysterious disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan, there has long been speculation in the archaeological community that it may be related to the wandering of Lop Nur.

However, among the related speculations, some scholars believe that Lop Nur moved in the north-south direction based on the topography and terrain characteristics of the Lop Nur area in later generations, rather than the east-west direction as Wu Liang now boldly envisages.

That is to say.

In later generations' speculation about Lop Nur's north-south migration, the mysterious disappearance of the ancient city of Loulan and the "Lop Nur Civilization" was because after Lop Nur left, local residents faced drought, water shortages and ecological deterioration, and had to move away from this place.

Naturally, this place was completely abandoned.

In Wu Liang's rather bold idea of ​​Lop Nur's east-west migration, the ancient city of Loulan and the "Lop Nur civilization" may be directly engulfed by Lop Nur. In the process, there may even be sudden disasters more terrible than the engulfment. Therefore,

This led to the mysterious disappearance of the ancient Loulan country and the "Lop Nur Civilization".

Obviously, Wu Liang's vision is more extreme and tragic.

But his assumption is not unfounded: one is based on the biography of the first king of Loulan. He saw a group of "stone statues" suspected to be residents of the "Lop Nur Civilization" in the ruins. The existence of these "stone statues" requires a

Reasonable statement; both are based on the current situation of Lop Nur. At least what he has seen so far is that if Lop Nur is moving, then it must be moving westward, not southward or northward.

After checking the situation on the east side of Lop Nur, Wu Liang and others rested for about half an hour. After the horses calmed down, they immediately returned to Jani City.

By the time we arrived at Janni City, the sky had completely darkened and the city gate had been closed.

Fortunately, Wu Liang was holding the gold medal of King Shanshan, so he entered the city unimpeded and went straight to the palace to ask for an audience with King Shanshan.

"Remeasure the distance between Yanni City and Aral Lake?"

After listening to Wu Liang's request, King Shanshan didn't seem to take it seriously. Instead, he said with some hesitation, "It's only been more than three years since the last map was drawn and measured. There shouldn't be any need, right?"

"Previously, Shanshan State would conduct a survey of its territory every few years?"

Wu Liang asked in surprise.

"That's right. Our country is mostly desert Gobi and is often hit by storms. Therefore, the topography will change every few years. It is common for a sand dune to move more than ten miles or even dozens of miles.

It only takes a few years for the Gobi Desert to turn into a desert, so there is no need to make a fuss about it.”

King Shanshan nodded and said with a smile, "It is precisely for this reason that our country will send people to survey and draw a new map every five years to provide it to merchants as a reference, so as to prevent them from being affected by changes in the terrain.

Wandering into a dangerous situation from which there is no return is also a loss for our country."

"Great, Your Majesty, please provide me with all the data on previous maps. I need to make some comparisons before I can draw a conclusion."

Wu Liangliang was overjoyed and said quickly.

The map, which is measured every five years, can not only determine whether there is migration in Lop Nur, but also provide a detailed understanding of the topography and environmental changes in Shanshan State, and perhaps also identify some patterns.

"The previous maps are all archived and stored in the Golden Chamber Pavilion. You can teach Xiao Wang to arrange a translator to find them for you. There is no need to ask Xiao Wang."

King Shanshan nodded and said.

"In addition, I stand by my previous request."

Wu Liang thought for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty only needs to send some people to measure the current distance between Lop Nur and Jani City. There is no need to spend a lot of time drawing a new map. I think this shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"Since it is your wish, Xiao Wang will do it and give you the result in three days."

King Shanshan agreed wholeheartedly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, please rest early and say goodbye!"

After arranging this matter, Wu Liang went to Jingui Pavilion without stopping.

It was getting late now, and the civil servant who translated for Wu Liang in the Jingui Pavilion had gone back to rest, leaving only a clerk responsible for sorting and taking care of the archives.

The clerk quickly followed Wu Liang's request and found the maps of Shanshan Kingdom that had been surveyed and drawn in previous years.

These maps are all made of relatively precious fine sheepskin, which is softer and more delicate, so the maps produced are more likely to show minute details and can be preserved for a relatively longer period of time.

However, there are only about twenty volumes of such maps.

After Wu Liang asked the secretary and the clerk, he found out that the habit of regular surveying and drawing of maps in Shanshan Kingdom only started more than a hundred years ago. Therefore, there are only maps in the Jingui Pavilion that are archived for more than a hundred years, and they are once every five years.

Naturally, there are only about twenty volumes, and nothing is missing.

In this case, Wu Liang naturally could not say anything more, so he had to spread out these maps one by one and ordered Yu Ji and Zhuge Liang to compare them with himself.

…

It can be seen through these maps.

In the past 100 years or so, Lop Nur has indeed been moving. The direction of movement is not from east to west, but from southeast to northwest.

However, in fact, the range of movement is not very large. There is basically no obvious change between each adjacent map. Only when two maps separated by decades are compared together can some differences be seen.

In addition, the area and shape of Lop Nur are also constantly changing.

But the magnitude of the change is similar to that of wandering. Such a small change can even be directly attributed to the natural evolution of nature, and it is not worth making a fuss about.

Comparison.

On the contrary, everything except Lop Nur is undergoing huge changes that are visible to the naked eye.

The first is the Kongque River to the north of Janni City. Although the flow direction of the river has not changed, the direction of the river is constantly changing. Even between the two maps immediately adjacent to each other, obvious changes can be seen.

, looks like an earthworm that can never settle down.

Next is the considerable area of ​​desert called "Camel Tomb" to the west of Ganni City.

The map of Shanshan State did not record the terrain conditions inside the "Camel Grave", but only recorded the outer outline of this desert in considerable detail.

This contour line is undoubtedly more dynamic and changeable than the Kongque River.

In this map that has lasted for more than a hundred years, it does not have a definite shape at all. This is more in line with the characteristics of the desert, which moves with the wind.

It is worth noting.

Although there is migration in Lop Nur, the extent of the migration is actually not very large.

The "Camel Grave" is completely different. Its range of movement is much more obvious than that of Lop Nur. Over the past 100 years, it has expanded outward for a considerable distance.

If analyzed according to this trend.

"Camel Grave" obviously arrived at Jani City earlier than "Lop Nur", perhaps even dozens or even hundreds of years earlier.

So if we only compare through these maps.

Instead of worrying about the threat that "Lop Nur" may pose to Yanni City, it is better to worry about the "Camel Grave" first. The invasion of this desert is the more imminent threat.

"Did I and the famous scholars of later generations think too much?"

Staring at the map in front of him, Wu Liang fell into deep thought.

Perhaps the mysterious disappearance of the ancient Loulan country was not as mysterious as he thought, and it did not even have any weird overtones. It was just caused by natural selection and natural changes in the ecological environment.

But even so, there were some things that Wu Liang still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for.

For example: the ruins that the First King of Loulan saw, and the rather mysterious things he saw and heard in the ruins.

Another example: the Tomb of the Sun that Fang Qiong saw, and Fang Qiong's mysterious and cruel "Nightmare Technique". Even Fang Qiong herself is an existence that cannot be explained by science. Wu Liang is not even sure whether she is...

person in the narrow sense.

And all this.

They all happened in the "Camel Grave" which occupies almost one-third of Shanshan Kingdom's land area. Perhaps only by venturing into the "Camel Grave" can we find the answer.

so……

Should we now shift the focus of the investigation from "Lop Nur" to "Camel Grave" instead of preconceptions and wishful thinking and blame everything on Lop Nur?

But based on the commonalities between the experiences of Loulan Shiwang and Fang Qiong.

Wu Liang still insisted on waiting for the "Black Dragon Storm" to appear before entering the "Camel Grave".

Wu Liang knew very well what kind of place the desert was. Even if the communication and transportation levels in later generations had reached a fairly advanced level, there were still people whose bones were buried in it.

Therefore, if possible, Wu Liang will try to reduce the number of times he enters the desert and try to be as targeted as possible, so as to minimize the possibility of never returning.

Before that, Wu Liang still had a lot of things to do in Shanshan Kingdom, so he was not in a hurry.

…

Rested like this all night.

Wu Liang once again led the backbone of the Hu army along the Kongque River in the north of the city and headed straight to the upper reaches of the Kongque River. This time he had a clear target.

As far as he knew, in 1979, several archaeologists later discovered dozens of ancient tombs on the north bank of the ancient Kongque River. Each of these ancient tombs was a tomb for the deceased surrounded by a circular wooden pile in the middle, with wooden pillars on the outside.

The wooden piles more than one foot high formed seven circles and formed several rays in the shape of the sun's rays. This was the Tomb of the Sun that became world-famous in later generations.

And in these Sun Tomb sites, the remains of the "Loulan Beauty" belonging to the "Lop Nur Civilization" more than 3,800 years ago were also unearthed.

On the contrary, there are no corresponding discoveries in this desert now called "Camel Grave".

obviously.

The Tomb of the Sun discovered later was not at the same location as the suspected Tomb of the Sun described by Fang Qiong, or even in the same area.

In other words, if Fang Qiong had not lied to him, the two Sun Tombs should belong to two different sites.

Just one place has seen the light of day again in later generations.

The other place is still hidden in the yellow sand, waiting for the next destined person to appear.
To be continued...