Chapter 842 begins research on bombs

The next morning at court, it was made public that the King of Qin, Lady Sui, and several ministers had been abducted.

The entire court was in an uproar. Whether they were high-ranking officials of the first or second rank, or even the lowest-ranking officials of the sixth or seventh rank, they couldn't help but express their opinions.

Zhao Sanniu had been waiting at the gate of the imperial city. When he saw Zhao Sidan, Cheng Zhao, and Shen Zheng come out together, he immediately went up to them and asked, "Any results yet?"

Zhao Sidan shook his head: "His Majesty means that we must send troops, but at most we can only muster 120,000 troops, which is no match for the 200,000 iron cavalry of the Western Rong."

Cheng Zhao pursed his lips and said, "I just chatted with Grand Tutor Lin for a bit. Grand Tutor Lin secretly revealed that the Emperor wrote an urgent secret letter last night and sent it to Ji Province. I guess it was to ask the Crown Prince to return to the capital. Some of the 100,000 troops under the Crown Prince's command were lost on the battlefield of Laji Kingdom, leaving 80,000. That's just enough to gather 200,000 troops to fight against Xirong Kingdom."

“The Western Rong have 200,000 iron cavalry, brave and skilled in battle, and the Great Yu Kingdom also has 200,000. I’m afraid…” Zhao Sanniu smiled bitterly, “Moreover, the Crown Prince’s 80,000 soldiers have just experienced a major battle, and they are not up to par in any aspect…”

He had previously thought that as long as troops were sent, his mother could be rescued.

But over the past few days, he had thought about many things. If it took the sacrifice of tens of thousands of soldiers to save his mother, she would never agree to it.

Their mother always put her own safety last and the country and its people first... She would probably rather die than see 200,000 soldiers fight a war that was destined to fail.

But he's a selfish person, isn't he? As long as his mother can come back, he seems willing to accept any terrible price to pay...

News of what happened at court naturally spread to the common people. Groups of ordinary citizens gathered in the streets to discuss the matter, filled with righteous indignation and cursing the Western Rong.

As they walked through the streets, they heard many heartfelt words from ordinary people.

"Lady Sui has solved the problem of food and clothing for our Great Yu Kingdom. She has been captured, and we must send troops to rescue her. Is there any need to discuss this matter?"

"That's what they say, but the Crown Prince just led 100,000 soldiers to attack the Laqi Kingdom. Where would he find the manpower to go to the Western Frontier?"

"We have to find people even if we can't spare any. Are we going to let Lady Sui die in the Western Rong Kingdom?"

"Don't worry, the Prince of Qin has also been arrested. He is the Emperor's own brother, and the court will definitely send someone to rescue him."

"Fortunately, the King of Qin and Lady Sui were arrested together, otherwise Lady Sui would definitely have been abandoned by the court."

"Alas, Lady Sui's foundation is still too shallow, otherwise the court would not have been unable to reach a conclusion for so long."

"..."

Hearing these comments, the usually optimistic Shen Zheng sighed: "Fortunately, my father was arrested along with the Qin King's godmother. Otherwise, if my father, a minor official of the fifth rank, had gone missing, no one would have cared."

"I believe the imperial court will definitely send someone to rescue us." Zhao Sidan clenched his fist. "We need to think carefully about how to ensure victory in this battle."

The group all looked at Zhao Sanniu.

Because Zhao San Niu was the only military officer, he was quite knowledgeable in this area.

He began, "First, we must have sufficient food supplies; second, the disparity in troop strength cannot be too great; and third, our weaponry and other aspects must also keep up..."

The Western Rong Kingdom raised cattle and horses extensively, so all their soldiers rode horses, making them a formidable cavalry force that struck fear into the hearts of neighboring countries.

The Great Yu Kingdom doesn't have that many horses; it will never catch up in this regard.

but--

Zhao Sanniu pulled a round, smelly object from his pocket: "This is a homemade bomb that my mother invented out of boredom. If you bite off this fuse, it can blow up a large area. This thing is more effective than any weapon. If we can mass-produce a batch of these, how can we not defeat the Western Rong?"

Cheng Zhao took the item and smelled it: "It smells like fireworks."

"It's fireworks." Zhao Sidan's eyes widened. "I remember when my second brother got married, my third brother was in charge of setting off firecrackers. One firecracker went into his clothes and tore them to shreds. If you increase the amount of fireworks and firecrackers, you're sure to kill someone. Mother thought of this a long time ago. Why are we all so stupid!"

Shen Zheng immediately said, "I have a classmate whose family sells fireworks and firecrackers. I'll go ask if I can buy them in bulk."

Cheng Zhao pondered for a moment and then said, "Before we figure it out, we must not make a fuss. This matter is somewhat dangerous and cannot be carried out within the city. Please stay at my house for the next few days."

His home is in De'an Lane on the outskirts of Beijing. It's a quiet place, and there's a low hill right outside the lane, so he can go up there to test the finished product.

As soon as the group arrived at the Cheng family's gate, Sister-in-law Cheng came out to greet them upon hearing the commotion: "Zhao'er, I heard that your second aunt had an accident. People on the street are talking about it. What exactly happened... Oh, San Niu and Si Dan are here too. You two never come into my Cheng family's house. It's like the sun has risen in the west today."

"Stop talking nonsense." Old Mrs. Cheng glared at her, then turned and said, "San Niu Si Dan, was your mother really captured by the Western Rong Kingdom?"

Zhao Sidan nodded: "The imperial court is trying to find a way to save them."

"I knew Zhao'er's second aunt was too flashy, always trying to show off. Look what happened!" Sister-in-law Cheng said, pursing her lips. "If her second aunt defected to the Western Rong Kingdom, wouldn't she be a traitor to our Great Yu Kingdom? Won't that affect Zhao'er's promotion?"

“Mother!” Cheng Zhao’s gentle face turned icy cold. “Since you are so worried about getting into trouble, then I will arrange for a carriage to take you back to Cheng Family Village right now. That way, no matter what happens to Second Aunt, it won’t affect you.”

Sister-in-law Cheng panicked immediately.

She didn't think her son was joking.

Because when Boss Cheng caused trouble, Zhao'er simply sent him away. Over the years, Boss Cheng has written letters admitting his mistakes and wanting to come to the capital, but Zhao'er has refused them all.

No matter how prestigious she is in Chengjia Village, life there is definitely not as good as in the capital. She has no intention of going back to face off against Boss Cheng every day.

"I was just talking nonsense, look at my loose tongue!" Sister-in-law Cheng lightly slapped her own mouth twice. "San Niu, Si Dan, you know your aunt doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut, that's just how she talks, don't take it to heart."

Zhao Sanniu and Zhao Sidan had been scolded by her many times when they were young, so her attitude now was already quite good, and the two of them naturally didn't take it to heart.

Besides, at a time like this, they couldn't be bothered to argue with Sister-in-law Cheng too much.

"Grandma, I bought a courtyard house in the city a while ago, and Xiaoman has already sent someone to clean it up." Cheng Zhao looked up in the direction of Grandma Cheng. "You can all move in this afternoon."

Originally, we planned to hold a housewarming party and move after my second aunt came back, but now we can't worry about that anymore.

They need to research homemade bombs in this yard, but this matter cannot be made public for the time being. His mother is a gossip, and if word gets out, it could be used against them by those with ulterior motives.

Sister-in-law Cheng wanted to say something, but Old Mrs. Cheng stopped her: "Don't cause trouble at a time like this. Hurry up and pack your luggage. We're leaving in an hour!"

That afternoon, the entire Cheng family moved out, including all the servants and maids in the courtyard.

Shen Zheng also bought a large quantity of fireworks and firecrackers.

None of the four men knew anything about this, so they spent a lot of money to buy a worker from the fireworks workshop—the kind of slave who had signed a contract of servitude—and had this slave work with them on the research…