Chapter 216

At this moment, Du Qian's voice, containing a hint of disdain, suddenly rang in his ears:

"I wondered what kind of Daoist art it was; it turns out it's just black gunpowder!"

Zhang Jie smiled without a word: the Du Qian of before, who was strong-limbed and

simple-minded, might not have been able to see through Gongsun Sheng's tricks,

but under his cultivation during this period, Du Qian had been reborn.

For example, since Zhang Jie came to Liang Shan, he had been committed to promoting military education,

not to mention making Du Qian and Song Wan scholars who could compose poetry and paint,

at the very least, they had to be able to understand letters, maps, and flag orders.

Otherwise, how could they lead in battle?

And after wiping out illiteracy, leading troops to break the Zhu Family Manor, and seeing Zhang Jie chatting and laughing with the great wealthy Chai Jin,

Du Qian was no longer the country bumpkin who could only shrink back on this one-third of an acre of Liang Shan and amuse himself.

Even setting aside education and vision, just practicing internal energy had made his eyesight much sharper.

And when Gongsun Sheng shouted "Supreme Lord Lao, act quickly according to the law,"

the purple-black pellet he threw out while taking the opportunity was seen by these Liang Shan people,

like Xiahou Dun shooting an arrow—locked in at a glance, all taken in at a glance.

In other words, Gongsun Sheng's so-called "Palm Thunder" was actually a black gunpowder creation.

Du Qian, who had been dealing with cannons for several months, wouldn't forget its smell even if he forgot to eat.

"Leader Du knows this thing?"

Gongsun Sheng's face twitched as his trick was exposed.

This act of failing to act cool and being mocked instead raised a deep sense of shame in his heart.

If he were a time-traveler from the 21st century,

he would have at least said, "Some people seem to be alive, but they are actually already dead..."

This kind of death, we generally call it social death, abbreviated as "she-si"~

However, Gongsun Sheng was ultimately a person of broad mind and did not get angry from embarrassment,

but instead took out a pellet the size of a chicken egg wrapped in purple-black mulberry paper from his bosom.

"This is natural; we on Liang Shan are all too familiar with this."

Firearms and the like had already been exposed during the attack on the Zhu Family Manor,

so Du Qian didn't keep it too secret and admitted it generously.

In any case, Gongsun Sheng and the others couldn't infer Liang Shan's strength just from this sentence.

Even if there was a rough prediction, there was no fear:

Gongsun Sheng and the others were here to join Liang Shan, not to be undercover agents.

As for why Du Qian was so certain?

What if Gongsun Sheng and the others were really undercover agents sent by the imperial court?

He didn't have Zhang Jie's god's-eye view.

Du Qian: Forget it, how could he not know the nature of those masters in the imperial court?

For those masters, let alone letting them take out tens of thousands of strings of cash as bait,

they wouldn't even be willing to part with a few thousand or a few hundred strings!

It has always been the masters scraping money from the hands of the commoners,

how could there be any reason for the money in the masters' hands to be scattered to the poor?

Scattering white silver to the poor, isn't that a sin?

And Gongsun Sheng and the others had seized the Birthday Gift.

Did seizing the Birthday Gift hit the buttocks of the Great Ming Prefecture Prefect Liang Zhongshu?

This clearly hit the face of Prime Minister Cai Jing!

In our Great Song, in this period when Prime Minister Cai could be said to be at the height of his power,

covering the sky with one hand, could one still have an easy life after offending Prime Minister Cai?

Cai Jing: Whoever makes this birthday of mine uncomfortable, I will make them uncomfortable for a lifetime!

"Mr. Gongsun, may I have a look?"

Zhang Jie asked calmly, without a trace of change in his expression.

"Zhang Zhaizhu, feel free to observe."

Gongsun Sheng, knowing that the thing in his hand was no longer a secret to Liang Shan, was very generous,

and handed the pellet directly to Zhang Jie.

Zhang Jie was not polite, and after taking the pellet, he directly tore open the mulberry paper,

exposing the thing inside—a small pinch of black powder.

"Is it this thing that has such great power?"

Liu Tang stared fixedly at the black powder in Zhang Jie's palm, somewhat incredulous.

He had heard of black gunpowder, but wasn't that thing just for making firecrackers and hearing a bang?

"Hmm, not bad."

Zhang Jie looked at it carefully, sniffed it, and expressed his praise.

The black gunpowder Gongsun Sheng brought out was very close to the perfect ratio of one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, and three parts charcoal,

which could maximize the explosive power of black gunpowder and already had value for use in war.

Instead of just being a defensive weapon like gunpowder balls or poison smoke balls that were said to be auxiliary,

but were actually dispensable.

He was not surprised that Gongsun Sheng could bring out such a portion of black gunpowder:

Black gunpowder was originally a byproduct of ancient Daoists refining alchemy.

It was not strange for a Daoist to value its prospects and conduct in-depth research.

But who could have thought that this byproduct would deeply influence the progress of world civilization?

Under its explosion, projectiles had lethal killing power,

cannonballs could destroy city walls that were impregnable in the cold weapon era,

and from then on, humans killing each other only required pulling a trigger or lighting a fuse.

"Mr. Gongsun, how is the production of your Purple Void Temple?"

Zhang Jie asked curiously.

A wry smile appeared on Gongsun Sheng's face:

"This thing is a product of my master, Master Luo, opening the furnace to refine alchemy, and there are only a dozen or so in a year."

Zhang Jie nodded.

It seemed that although the Purple Void Temple valued the potential of black gunpowder,

they only studied it as a derivative and had not deeply developed its killing power.

"Zhang Zhaizhu, this poor Daoist will take his leave now."

Gongsun Sheng, having been exposed, felt he had no face to stay on Liang Shan any longer.

"Why is Mr. Gongsun in such a hurry?"

Zhang Jie grabbed Gongsun Sheng, who was about to cover his face and leave:

"My Liang Shan is just in need of talent like you, sir."

'Mr. Gongsun, my Liang Shan has an object ten times more powerful than this,

unfortunately, it hasn't been fully researched yet, and I hope you, sir, will help me.'

Zhang Jie transmitted his voice into his ears.

As a time-traveler, he had long been dissatisfied with the power of black gunpowder, but researching yellow gunpowder,

nitrocellulose, and the like, he hadn't had the time since becoming the Liang Shan Zhang Zhaizhu.

Gongsun Sheng, who understood alchemy, or rather, had some research into chemistry, was exactly the talent he needed.

'This is?'

How could Gongsun Sheng not know that he had encountered a true god, and a huge wave surged in his heart.

"Then this poor Daoist will stay, thick-skinned."

Faced with Zhang Jie's extraordinary power, Gongsun Sheng expressed that he had no resistance at all.

For him, who had pursued extraordinary power all his life, let alone just having his Daoist arts exposed,

losing a little face, even if he were spat on, he could let it dry on its own.

"I have obtained Mr. Gongsun like a fish in water!"

Zhang Jie held Gongsun Sheng's hand and laughed loudly.

This is a high-quality ox or horse—no, it's a worker!

"Zhang Zhaizhu, I, I..."

Gongsun Sheng, feeling he was being treated with super-standard courtesy, couldn't help but choke up.

Wu Song on the side only felt this sentence was very familiar,

Zhang Jie seemed to have said the same thing to him, Chen Wenyun, and Wang Lun...

Zhang Jie: I am not a fish, but a Kunpeng; what's wrong with needing a little more water?

"I formally appoint Mr. Gongsun as the Director of my Liang Shan Gunpowder Bureau today."

Zhang Jie made the final decision on Gongsun Sheng's position on Liang Shan.

With Zhang Jie and Gongsun Sheng in harmonious ruler-subject relations, today's banquet was officially over.