Chapter 46: The Power of Explosives

Yan Ning nodded and went over immediately.

Yan Ze thought that giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish, so he began to redraw the blueprints for the crossbow, letting them make it themselves, as much as they could.

Yan Ning went to Qian Ruofang's side immediately.

Qian Ruofang was reading a medical book; seeing Yan Ning arrive, she wore a smile on her face: "Ningning, why have you come?"

Yan Ning said embarrassedly: "I want you to develop a type of medicine, but this medicine... is a bit wicked; it is for inducing heat in wild beasts."

Qian Ruofang was somewhat surprised: "Why do you need this kind of medicine?"

Yan Ning did not speak, and she did not know which clever person had thought of it.

However, Qian Ruofang did not ask further; since Yan Ning asked her to help make it, she prepared various medicinal herbs and began to ponder.

Qian Ruofang also said, "Don't worry, I will definitely have it done for you within two days."

Yan Ning then left.

Yan Ze was waiting not far away; he leaned over and gave Yan Ning a piece of paper, "This is the list of medicinal herbs they transplanted. I was afraid the names might be different, so I drew diagrams. Why don't you ask Qian Ruofang which herbs are needed?"

Yan Ning ran back to ask.

Upon learning that there were several rare medicinal herbs on it, Yan Ze once again conducted a trade with the leader of the Primitive Tribe; this time, Yan Ze told him how to make the Explosive Package.

Both sides felt they had profited greatly; it was a pleasant transaction.

Yan Ning was not idle either; she prepared to start making colored Glass.

She thought for a moment and first used green dye; she did not add much, so the Glass color was relatively light, a very beautiful pale green. Lady Xie hurriedly put the green Glass back into the furnace to be re-fired, then took it out bit by bit to make them into water-drop shapes of varying sizes.

Yan Ning then provided a light pink dye; the pink Glass that came out this time was very beautiful, and some of the teardrop-shaped Glass even had floating patterns inside, which were prettier than the transparent ones.

Wu Dashi saw the steady Lady Xie exclaiming several times, acting all flustered, and could not help but walk directly to their side.

He wanted to see what kind of thing made Lady Xie so excited.

He saw the pink teardrops and green teardrops lying in the box; with this quality and these floating patterns, wouldn't that be worth a thousand taels?!

Yan Ning said to Wu Dashi: "Don't waste this beautiful pink Glazed Glass and green Glazed Glass; you can make some good-looking hairpins."

Wu Dashi's eyes went straight, "That is only natural."

Seeing Wu Dashi so excited, the other two also came over.

After the two praised them, Qian Shifu said: "Such beautiful Glazed Glass—if I ruined it in the making, my heart would ache as if cut by a knife."

Yan Ning said with a smile: "What of it? Glazed Glass is naturally very brittle and easily broken; if it breaks, just replace it with another, won't you?"

The three craftsmen gasped.

This was Glazed Glass!

It was Glazed Glass that only the royal family could enjoy!

They would want to die on the spot to atone for their sins if they broke even one piece, okay? How was it that these precious things seemed not worth mentioning to Yan Ning?

Yan Ning also said: "If you have wives or daughters, you can also take some Glazed Glass hair accessories for your family to use."

Wu Dashi and the others only felt dazed, walking as if they were floating.

Yan Ning was truly generous.

Wu Dashi looked at this Glazed Glass and suddenly had an inspiration.

He asked: "I want to draw a blueprint; could the Madam please shape it according to the drawing?"

Lady Xie hurriedly said: "I will try my best to make it look the same."

Yan Ning was curious if the things this old master drew would be something that made people's eyes light up.

What Wu Dashi drew was a dangling hairpin; on the dangling hairpin, irregular pink Glass was inlaid with silver wire, and the pendant hanging below was made of smaller pink teardrop-shaped pink Glass beads.

Yan Ning knew at a glance that it was very good.

As expected of an old craftsman.

Subsequently, Wu Dashi began to draw new designs.

This time, he used silver to create the shape of peach blossoms, with a small piece of Glazed Glass inlaid in the middle of the peach blossom, and the same pink Glazed Glass hanging below, though the shape was that of a peach blossom leaf.

Yan Ning's eyes lit up, and she said to Wu Dashi: "So beautiful; it is a good thing I dug you up back then."

Wu Dashi thought to himself that it was a good thing he had come at the time; setting aside the money, being able to use Glazed Glass to make jewelry was an opportunity other silversmiths might not have in a lifetime.

Yan Ning watched Wu Dashi hammering away, very much looking forward to the finished product.

At this moment, Qian Shifu said: "Employer, you forgot to give us the silver."

Yan Ning slapped her forehead: "Oh my, there have been too many things lately, and I didn't remember for a moment. I will go get the silver for you right now."

Yan Ning took three bamboo baskets, none of which were small, and poured all the silver into them without caring how many taels there were, directly letting Zhuo Heng and the others help move them over.

The three silversmiths' pupils shook, "Th-this much silver?!"

Yan Ning patted the dust off her body nonchalantly, "You all can hammer away slowly."

All three silversmiths began to wonder if they would be able to finish using this basket of silver in their lifetime.

Yan Ning was somewhat expectant about what the final effect of the Glass combined with silver ornaments would be.

Yan Ning began to wander around; the silversmiths and carpenters were all working earnestly, and from time to time, several of them would discuss the blueprints together.

She also saw a carpenter slowly making a Carved Bed for her, the patterns on it lifelike.

Yan Ning wandered until she reached the woods, where there were still people cutting down trees and clearing tree roots.

At this time, Yan Ze came over, holding the Explosive Package in his hand, and said to Yan Ning: "Ningning, look, I have finished making this Gunpowder Bag!"

Yan Ning's eyes lit up, "Is this the improved version?"

Yan Ze said with a smile: "Yes, it is the improved version. I found the key point, and the power will definitely be better than before."

Yan Ning said to the people cutting trees over there: "You all come back first; we have urgent business!"

Those few people who were cutting trees hurriedly put down their work and came to Yan Ning's side.

Not to mention anything else, the treatment here was truly good; they did whatever the employer told them to do.

Yan Ze walked a little closer, used a tinder to light the fuse of the explosive, and then used all his strength to throw the Explosive Package onto the tree.

"Bang—"

With a loud boom, one could see several trees over there had been blown apart.

Yan Ning and Yan Ze could both feel the oppressive force of this Gunpowder; the father and daughter looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes.

They had finally succeeded in their research.

Yan Ze also said, "So it turns out it needs to be wrapped tighter; the previous ones weren't tight enough, and I also adjusted the proportions slightly. I have recorded all the data and will make more later."

Hearing such a loud commotion, Xie Luyan, who was drilling the guards, immediately came over to see what was happening.

Seeing that the thick trees over there had been blown away, the power was truly formidable.

Xie Luyan exclaimed, "If this thing could be used in military campaigns, one person could deal with an army of thousands."

Yan Ning smiled and said, "Isn't that so? As long as we make enough Explosive Packages, even if the Crown Prince brings an army of thousands to surround and annihilate us, we won't be afraid."

Xie Luyan looked at Yan Ze and let out a long sigh.

Having lost such a son, one wonders if the old Emperor will regret it.