Chapter 44: The Great Zhao Imperial Court Already Has a Way to Die

Wheels creaked, horses neighed.

On the official road from Ye City to Xiangguo, shouts of people and neighing of horses were crowded to the extreme.

Those coming from the south and going to the north were all people and carts, as if the men of Great Zhao had all gathered here.

"Spare us, spare us~~~"

A group of ragged commoners by the roadside knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging repeatedly.

"We didn't want to, but the bridge was washed away by a rainstorm on the road, it wasn't intentional delay~"

"There really is no way to cross the river~~"

'Clang~~~'

Responding to them was the ring-pierced blade drawn by the Qianghu.

'Pfft!'

The Qianghu wielded the blade skillfully, the blade light flashing like a white silk.

The next moment, a headless corpse fell to the ground, blood gushing out.

More Qianghu stepped forward, executing these delayed civilian laborers one by one.

Some unwilling to die got up and fled desperately toward the distance.

Wang Meng, who had witnessed the whole process, shook his head slightly upon seeing this.

"Foolish! Should dive into the crowd!"

"Run onto the Cang Ye, even if your two legs run fast, can you run faster than a horse?"

The Qianghu rode tall warhorses out of the road.

The Jie riders on horseback shouted, holding their ring-pierced blades, reversing grip and holding them flat in front of their legs.

The horse hooves sounded heavy, the warhorses exhaled white breath, and galloped forward with raised hooves.

The warhorses galloped past the sides of the civilian laborers, the horizontal ring-pierced blade sweeping level across the back of their necks.

Relying on the horse's strength to cut easily, no need to waste strength swinging and hacking.

Such superb skill, surely they often do this.

The civilian laborer with blood spurting from the back of his neck fell forward onto the ground.

The Jie rider who turned his horse head urged his horse to trample over his twitching body.

The whip fell on his back, bringing a burning pain.

The stinging sensation made Wang Meng raise his head and shrink his back, gritting his teeth.

Behind him came the angry roar of the Jin Kun people.

Wang Meng, gritting his teeth and enduring, followed the civilian laborers of his team forward.

Coming to the roadside, amidst the shouting of the Jin Kun people, the civilian laborers stepped forward and dragged away the delayed civilian laborers who had been executed.

Dig them a grave? That would be not understanding the situation.

In these times, what status can have a grave?

Dig a hole and bury them? That would be asking for trouble.

Already tired and hungry, still need to dig a hole?

Could it be wanting to tire themselves to death, to be buried together in the hole?

Wrapped in reed mats is also too luxurious.

Along this road, even wild grass has been pulled clean, where would there be reed mats.

The only way to handle them is to drag them to the wilderness by the roadside and just leave them there.

After dark, hungry wolves, wild dogs, vultures, and carrion worms will devour them.

Looking at the corpses he dragged into the wilderness with his own hands, Wang Meng was slightly lost in thought.

When did the lives of Han Family children become as cheap as grass?

Not only dying like grass, but after death not even a reed mat to wrap the body!

Those various Hu who were once as lowly as pigs and dogs are now strutting mightily, holding life and death in their hands.

Wang Meng fell into deep thought.

The whip whistled and lashed his back.

The intense pain made Wang Meng's face turn ferocious as he jumped up.

The Jin Kun people shouted strange cries, urging everyone to go back, pushing carts full of supplies to continue forward.

The red clouds slightly faded, the sun neared dusk.

Wang Meng and the others finally received permission to rest.

On the wilderness away from the Avenue, Wang Meng took out a fire striker to make fire.

The civilian laborers in his team gathered around, "Young Master, having fire but no firewood, what to do?"

Wang Meng raised his head to look at the Main Camp in the distance, that was the camp of Crown Prince Shi Xuan.

Heavily guarded, thousands of lights illuminated the entire huge camp, like daytime.

Along the way Wang Meng and the others had come, they had not seen any firewood at all.

Large trees were all taken to Gongjiang Ying to make siege engines.

Miscellaneous wood, dry branches, straw, and even tree stumps were all pulled up and burned by the various troops advancing ahead.

Wang Meng looked around, all were civilian laborers transporting grain and supplies, huddled together under the night to keep warm.

"Everyone." He lowered his voice, "Dismantle the wood on the carts to burn."

The civilian laborers were shocked, "Dismantle the carts? We will be killed."

Wang Meng shook his head, "The Imperial Court only wants grain and supplies, not the carts."

"Only dismantle a few beams from each cart; that is enough for us to survive tonight."

Living in the Little Ice Age, the early spring nights are still bitingly cold.

Already dressed in tattered rags, unable to keep warm.

If we cannot light fires for warmth any longer, a single night will surely freeze people to death.

The crowd trusted him, and each took a few logs down from the carts they were transporting.

The burning flames brought warmth, drawing the civilian laborers closer one after another.

Gurgling sounds rose and fell from their bellies; naturally, some complained they were not even given thin porridge to eat.

Many civilian laborers turned their gazes toward the grain and fodder they were transporting.

"No."

Wang Meng stopped the crowd's restless stirring.

"The carts may be dismantled, but the grain and fodder must not be touched."

"If the grain comes up short at the handover, everyone will die!"

Wang Meng saw clearly: in the eyes of the barbarian captors, people like them were not even worth cattle or sheep.

Civilian laborer transport teams like theirs were spread across the surrounding wilderness.

Everyone lacked grain and firewood, enduring hunger and cold, stubbornly resisting the bitter wind.

Yet in Wang Meng's view, though the wilderness was cold, it was everywhere sparks of fire.

That was the rage the civilian laborers kept igniting in their hearts.

"Gentlemen." Wang Meng instructed, "Inform the grain-transporting civilian laborers in all areas to dismantle carts for warmth."

He knew very clearly that if he wanted to take action, relying solely on his own strength was not enough.

He needed to win the trust and following of more people.

Only then would he himself have a greater chance to save his life.

From the distant main camp, the faint scent of grain and meat drifted over, inciting indignation among the civilian laborers.

"The Great Zhao imperial court has already chosen the path to its own death."

Listening to the faint music and laughter drifting from the main camp, Wang Meng's gaze grew colder.

"If this battle is lost, the court will surely perish!"

His gaze passed beyond the main camp toward the distance.

There lay the direction of Xiangguo City.

"Beg-for-Life Army~~~"

Xiangguo City, the drill ground.

"Everyone, keep your hands steady!"

Lin Dao closely watched the civilian laborers dismantling firecrackers by hand: "Handle them gently, place them carefully, avoid vibration."

He turned his head and scanned the surroundings, checking for any fire source approaching.

"Making gunpowder yourself is such a hassle; using what others have already made is so much easier."

"Quality is guaranteed, quantity is guaranteed; just dismantle and reassemble."

"No one will come to investigate anytime soon."

"Truly, making is not as good as buying."

His original plan was to manufacture native explosives himself.

After asking online, he met with unanimous opposition from netizens.

Netizens expressed that having this idea is truly criminal.

Not to mention manufacturing it, even buying a bit of raw material would get you watched.

Lin Dao was not worried about anything else; the only thing he worried about was being watched.

The goods in his warehouse, though they also had customs declarations, booked space, and transport records and such.

Were basically all empty runs, returns, canceled orders, and the like.

Small quantities, diverse types — the masses naturally paid no attention.

But once a serious investigation began, it would surely not stand up to scrutiny.

This idea naturally dissipated along with it.

After that, when Lin Dao saw those fireworks and firecrackers, an idea immediately formed in his mind.

"I can't make it myself, but using what others have made should be fine, right?"

Thus came the scene in this Yonghe Spacetime of a group of people dismantling firecrackers by hand.

"Lang Zhu~~~"

Jin Lian and Sun Rong each led a group of women over.

In their hands they all held ceramic basins.

"Lang Zhu." Jin Lian stepped forward quickly, blocking Sun Rong's front, raising the basin in her hand to signal: "Following Lang Zhu's meaning, Slave has already separated the egg whites."

Lin Dao glanced at the egg whites in the ceramic basin and nodded: "Well done."

Jin Lian, having received praise, was overjoyed and continued to block Sun Rong while speaking with Lin Dao.

"Lang Zhu, such good chicken eggs, why separate them? Could it be to make a new dish?"

Lin Dao shook his head: "They have a use."

Behind her, Sun Rong, biting her silver teeth, stepped forward and shoved Jin Lian aside.

She held up the ceramic basin in her hand for Lin Dao to see: "Lang Zhu, the snow sugar has been brought; please instruct Slave on how to handle it."

The so-called snow sugar is the white granulated sugar Lin Dao bought.

Originally meant for the wounded to mix with sugar water to drink.

Because it was white as snow, the beggar soldiers in Jun Zhong called it snow sugar.

This was the highest-grade supply, normally only the wounded were qualified to enjoy it.

"Wait a moment."

Lin Dao instructed, "Wait until they finish their business over there before speaking."

The black gunpowder separated from the firecrackers was collected and packed into clay pots.

Lin Dao checked it over and expressed satisfaction.

"Industrial products are just easy to use; no need to memorize Yi Xiao Er San Mu Tan, risking danger to grind it yourself by hand—spend money to buy it and it's ready to use."

He turned and greeted, "Those who are careful and dexterous, step forward."

"Move slowly, and your technique must be gentle."

"Add egg white and stir carefully until even."

"Make the powder into granules."

"Melt some white sugar and slowly add it in."

"Be careful when stirring, go gently~~~"

The product made was Zi Huo Yao.

Lin Dao, having drawn a distance, greeted again, "Pour these granules gently into these steel bottles and chang guan."

"Still the same saying: movements must be slow, don't be impatient."

End of Chapter