Liu Cun and his entourage stayed in Xiapi for five days, and became familiar with each other with civil and military officials at all levels in Xuzhou, gradually establishing a certain amount of trust, and also leaving a very good impression on Xuzhou officials and the people.

In this regard, Tao Qian said that it was due to the humility and enthusiasm of Liu Cun and his subordinate Wenwu, and Liu Cun said to Tao Qian that it was entirely due to the peaceful life of the people of Xuzhou and Qingzhou for several years and the continuous exchanges between each other.

On 26 May, Liu Cun and his entourage bid farewell to Xiapi with Tao Qian and other civil and military officials, and accompanied by the Mizhu brothers, they went overland to Kaiyang, the city of the king of Langya, to visit Liu Xi, the monarch of the country who had been absent for more than a year.

A team of more than 10 luxury carriages and more than 800 horsemen and guards slowly entered Donghai County, which was controlled by the Mi family, and along the way, you could see busy people in the fields and merchants driving carriages to and fro.

On both sides of the river that extends in all directions, the green bamboo is continuous, and the scenery is beautiful. Boats are shuttling on the water, and green rice paddies have begun to tassel on both sides of the road lined with neatly planted trees, and they are full of vitality.

Mi Zhu proudly pointed to the newly built village with blue bricks and gray tiles and told Liu Cun:

"In the past year, the population of Donghai County has increased from 120,000 to 170,000, more than 300,000 acres of new land have been opened, and the number of new mines and workshops has more than doubled...... The profits in the first four months of this year have reached 80% of last year's total, and when the 10,000 acres of salt pans along the coast are completed and put into operation at the end of next month, the family's annual income will increase exponentially, and it will certainly provide greater benefits to the virtuous brothers. ”

Liu Cun thought for a while and said: "There is no need for anything else, except for the two and a half million stone grain that I agreed to purchase with the three major families and several major grains in Xuzhou a few days ago, and I need my brother's help to transport it to Zhushan and Tatecheng ports as soon as possible." ”

"The second is the nitrate, which we have been buying since last fall. I have to trouble my brother to bother a lot and pass on the boiling method of soil nitrate to the villagers in Donghai County and surrounding areas as soon as possible. If you really don't want to teach the method of boiling, you also invite your brother to send more people to various towns and villages to buy a large number of them. After being transported back to their own workshop, they were boiled and sent to Zhushan as soon as possible. ”

"There is no problem with the purchase and transportation of one and a half million stone grain, and the foolish brother will be able to send it to you in a month at the latest, but ...... What do you want so much dirt for? Is it used so much to make only nitrate leather and make fireworks for the Chinese New Year? I remember that at the beginning of the year, 3,000 stones were shipped to you. ”

After Mi Zhu finished speaking, he looked at Liu Cun suspiciously, and was very puzzled by Liu Cun's constant urging of the purchase and boiling of soil nitrate, and his intuition told him that the thing that could make Liu Cun so earnestly advised would definitely not be simple.

As early as a little over a year ago. Liu Cun asked him several times to collect a large amount of soil nitrate that can be found everywhere around the barren mountains and wilderness of Donghai County and earthen walls and latrines, and personally taught him a complete set of techniques for dissolving and heating soil nitrate, adding plant ash and stirring and boiling, precipitation and filtration, until purification and packaging and transportation.

Mi Zhu received the instruction to return to Xuzhou, and in accordance with Liu Cun's words, he personally traveled around the country, and sure enough, a large amount of soil nitrate was found around many dwellings in Donghai County, in the damp and low-lying wilderness, and in many caves in the hills and hills.

Mi Zhu did not dare to slack off, and immediately organized people to boil it according to the method taught by Liu Cun. Successfully obtained the high-purity soil nitrate, but so far, he still didn't know what Liu Cun needed so much boiling and purified soil nitrate.

Hearing the eldest brother's question, Mi Fang sat on the other side of the wide carriage. He was also curious: "Yes, brother, what do you want so much boiled soil for?" What the hell is this thing for......"

Liu Cun knew that this matter would not be hidden for long. After thinking about it again and again, I had to tell the truth:

"The matter is related to a high-powered explosive that is being secretly developed. If we do it well, our mining speed can be increased by more than ten times...... If used in war. It will have an immeasurable effect and a huge shock to the whole world! ”

"Brother, virtuous brother, this matter is not trivial, I implore you to keep it strictly confidential, at least for two years, and never let the outside world know."

The Mi brothers looked at each other, and they didn't know whether they should continue to ask Liu Cun, but if they didn't ask clearly, they would be unwilling, otherwise they would lose sleep every time they thought about it in the future.

Seeing this, Liu Cun smiled apologetically: "Tell my brother and brother the truth that the earth nitrate is made of black. Fire. Key raw materials of medicines......"

"Actually, black. Fire. The medicine was made half a year ago, and in the past few months, Zhen'er has led more than 30 young craftsmen to carry out hundreds of explosions. Breaking the experiment, the amount of each use, the method of delivery, and the effect are recorded in detail, and now the black powder has been successfully applied to the naval operations of warships......"

"The medicine bag launched with a large bed crossbow on board can easily destroy ships and shore targets that are a hundred zhang away, if it is used to attack the city, as long as it reaches a certain number, it can blast a strong city wall like Xiapi City into a large hole more than ten zhang wide, and the next step is to use bronze or wrought iron as raw materials to cast dozens or even hundreds of lead or steel balls to instantly shoot out of artillery hundreds of zhang away!"

"Imagine how amazing the lethality of this thing would be if it were used on the battlefield. Maybe the way of warfare that has been fought for thousands of years will change as a result! ”

Mi Zhu and Mi Fang were shocked, and immediately understood Liu Cun's good intentions, and Mi Fang, as a general leading the troops, was even more excited, pestering Liu Cun and asking questions.

Liu Cun did not hide it, in addition to the black powder formula and the more critical granular processing technology, he patiently introduced Mi Zhu and Mi Fang one by one, and listened to Mi Zhu and Mi Fang's hearts shake, and they were extremely looking forward to it, until they entered the territory of Langya State, they reluctantly said goodbye.

Before leaving, Mi Fang strongly asked Liu Cun to allow him to go to Zhushan next month to observe on the spot, and Liu Cun generously agreed, after all, his brother-in-law Mi Fang is already a family, and the tens of thousands of troops under Mi Fang's command will also become a big help for Liu Cun to dominate the world in the future.

Subsequently, Liu Cun and his entourage gathered with the monarch Liu Xi and old friends in Kaiyang City for three days, and returned to Linzi through the coastal official road.

As soon as the huge convoy entered the territory of Chengyang County, the urgent mail from the Military Command Office was delivered to Liu Cun.

After Liu Cun finished reading it, he immediately found Zhao Rong and Guoyuan to discuss, leaving three hundred guards to escort Guoyuan, Zhao Rong and other civil officials and his wife Mihuan to walk slowly, and Liu Cun himself led two hundred guards to rush to Linzi on horseback.

Thanks to the continuous construction of the military post station over the past few years, Liu Cun completed the 480-mile journey in only one and a half days and returned to Linzi City on the afternoon of 2 June. (To be continued......)