Mo Shi came very quickly, and the smell of blood in the tent had not been completely removed when he arrived.

Compared to everyone in the tent, Mo Shi and his friends who deal with mechanical devices every day should be considered real literati.

The moment he stepped into the tent, Mo Shi knew someone must have died here. Then, seeing everyone's solemn expressions, he couldn't help but ask cautiously, "Your Highness, you've brought everything you asked for. What are you going to do?"

Liu Tan glanced at him and said, "Let's find a place far away from here where there are no people. I want to make something."

This place is so easy to find. There are not many places with people in the mountains, but there are many places with few people.

Wei Buyi directly took people to clear out a space for them - this space was not for people, but for the birds and animals in the mountains.

In such an environment, a distance of ten or twenty miles would be enough for the people of Qielan Country to not find any clues.

After Liu Tan brought Mo Shi and the others over, he solemnly told them, "This thing has great lethality and may violate the principles of your Mo family. I must make this clear in advance. If anyone cannot accept it, please withdraw first. I will send someone to escort you back."

Mo Shi and others were stunned. Great destructive power?

They really couldn't imagine the lethality of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, but His Royal Highness the King of the North never told lies, so if he said the lethality was great, then it must be great.

Mo Shi turned around and took a look and said, "Whoever wants to quit can do so."

Anything with great destructive power means that it will definitely become the core secret of the Northern Border Country, which means that they will be tied to the Northern Border Country for the rest of their lives, and it will be extremely difficult for them to return to Chang'an.

But Mo Shi didn't care so much. He used to think that the Mohist school needed to move to a higher level. The fundamental reason was that the status of the Mohist school was too low. Even officials had to bow when they met old farmers with titles in the fields.

There are too few resources available for such a position.

Mechanical engineering consumes so many resources.

But now that he is beside the King of the North, he feels particularly at ease. He doesn't have to think about all those twists and turns, or engage in intrigue with anyone. He just needs to do his job well, and he doesn't even have to worry about materials and money.

Even gods wouldn't trade for such a life. Compared to that, why go back to Chang'an? Why go back to Chang'an?

Going back to Chang'an would be even more frustrating, so it would be better to stay in the Northern Border.

Mo Shi made the decision almost instantly.

The fellow disciples behind him were a little confused at first, but they soon understood the meaning of His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory's words. Almost in an instant, everyone decided to stay.

This was influenced by Mo Shi's attitude, but more importantly, it was because they were considered to be the best in the Mohist school, but not particularly outstanding.

Now that even the most outstanding Mo Shi has given up, what will happen if they go back?

It’s better to stay in the Northern Border!

After watching them make their decision, Liu Tan smiled and said, "Okay, don't worry, I won't treat my own people unfairly."

He then added, "This thing isn't difficult. I have the recipe in mind, but I still need you to master the overall process. Also, be extremely careful during the preparation process and don't let it get close to a fire source, otherwise your life will be in danger. Remember this."

Seeing how serious he was, Mo Shi and the others couldn't help swallowing and felt very nervous, but they still nodded.

Liu Tan said, "Let's prepare a small portion first. The recipe is one part sulfur, two parts nitrate, and three parts charcoal. Mix them according to this ratio. The total weight cannot exceed three taels."

Mo Shi was a little surprised, but he quickly matched the items.

The processing of saltpeter was a bit more troublesome because it needed to be turned into powder, and then the charcoal and sulfur. After everything was mixed, Liu Tan asked them to wrap these things with cloth and then get some cotton ropes as fuses.

Liu Tan asked everyone to stand far away and sent the fastest guard to light the fuse.

After lighting the fuse, the guard ran back in one breath. Just as he stood in front of Liu Tan to protect him, a sound like muffled thunder suddenly rang out.

The place where the cloth bag was originally buried was instantly covered in mud and a cloud of smoke drifted by. When everyone looked closely, they found that only a pit was left there.

Liu Tan was about to walk over there when Wei Kang and Wei Buyi, who were beside him, simultaneously grabbed him and said, "Your Highness, be careful!"

Liu Tan shook his arms and said, "Let go, let go. How could I not know what I created myself?"

Wei Kang and Wei Buyi originally thought that an accident had happened, but when they heard Liu Tan say this, they hesitantly let go of his hands.

Except for Liu Tan, everyone in the group walked towards that direction cautiously.

Liu Tan walked over there and looked down, and found that there was still a little bit of the thing he had just configured, and it was not very powerful.

He turned to look at Mo Shi and said, "Do you understand?"

However, Mo Shi was doubting his life at the moment. After hearing Liu Tan's question, he hesitated and shook his head: "Your Highness, this... what is this?"

Liu Tan took a deep breath, smelled the faint smell of sulfur and said, "This is black powder."

Black powder. Everyone repeated these three words in their minds, and seemed to be able to vaguely feel something from the name.

Mo Shi coughed lightly and asked, "Your Highness, what is the use of this thing?"

Liu Tan pointed at his feet and asked, "Didn't you see it? It explodes after it's ignited. Did you know that wine cellars can explode?"

Everyone nodded immediately. Although there were not many wine cellar explosions, everyone knew about it.

Liu Tan hummed and said, "Strictly speaking, the effect is about the same, but this is much better than alcohol."

Mo Shi couldn't help but ask, "But... Your Highness said that this thing has great lethality?"

Liu Tan glanced at him, turned around and ordered, "Go catch some rabbits or something."

In the end, the things the guards caught were all kinds of strange things, but pheasants and rabbits were the most common.

Liu Tan had the pheasants and rabbits tied up and thrown onto the ground where the black powder had been buried. He then raised his chin and said, "Light it."

This time, because the weight was a little heavier, the sound of the explosion was naturally louder.

After the sound passed, everyone rubbed their ears at the same time. However, after rubbing their ears, they were shocked by the scene in front of them - the ground in front of them was littered with pieces of fur and meat, blood was spilled all over the ground, and a large part of the meat had turned charred black.

Because they still have fur, it is easy to tell that these things come from the pheasants and rabbits just now.

Liu Tan looked at their stunned expressions and said meaningfully, "Think about it, if it has enough weight, what will happen to people?"

Wei Kang, Wei Buyi and Li Ling were the first to react. They imagined the scene and gasped.

If the weight is large enough, he will be dead if it hits him.

Wei Kang asked hesitantly, "Your Highness, are you going to use this thing to deal with the Qie Lan Kingdom?"

Liu Tan said calmly, "I don't have time to waste on them. I don't know what the situation is like with my father on the island. If they want to die, don't blame me."

After he finished speaking, he turned to Mo Shi and said, "Go ahead and build a catapult. It doesn't need to be too big, as long as it can hold the black powder. Then figure out the weight. Remember not to touch fire when you're doing it, and keep the black powder dry. Otherwise, either you'll get blown up, or the black powder will be too wet and won't explode."

Mo Shi and the others came back to their senses, glanced at the blood and flesh on the ground, smiled and said, "So this is the lethality your Highness was talking about. Your Highness is looking down on us too much. The Mo family... is not powerless. We just don't advocate fighting, but we can take action when necessary. Your Highness, don't worry, we will be done quickly."

Liu Tan nodded, and Mo Shi asked again, "But where should we put the black powder after we mix it?"

Even a catapult cannot throw dust. Using cloth would be too extravagant, not to mention that cloth bags are not that strong.

Liu Tan turned around and said, "Put it in the wine barrel."

They brought a lot of wine with them because a doctor said it could dispel dampness.

He knew that wine could dispel cold, but as for removing dampness, that was a matter of opinion. However, Liu Tan did not object, as it came in handy now.

The most difficult part about making black gunpowder is researching the ratio. Now that this problem has been solved directly by Liu Tan, the following things have become much simpler.

After the envoy was killed, King Qilan seemed very angry and sent people to attack. However, Qilan did not have bows and arrows, and only used blowpipes.

This thing has a short range and isn't very powerful either. The only thing you need to worry about is the poison on it.

Liu Tan told people not to go into the dense forest and to stay in the camp as much as possible. The outermost part of the camp was full of tents. If the Qilan people wanted to launch a sneak attack, they had to come out of the mountains and forests. If they didn't come out, they would not be able to do anything to the Han army with their blowgun darts.

However, this was the only way. Those Qilan people were like mountain monkeys. If they failed to catch their target, they would scatter all over the mountains. They were not familiar with the terrain and were not as agile as these people in the mountains and forests, so they naturally could not catch up.

Wei Kang was relatively okay. Wei Buyi had never suffered such humiliation since he began leading troops under Liu Tan. He couldn't help but curse, "Are they all reincarnated monkeys? They're all short and tiny, and look just like monkeys."

Liu Tan glanced at him and said, "I'll ask the doctor to prescribe some medicine to calm your temper. Just look at what the Qilan people have done to you."

Wei Buyi couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, this is a bit too aggrieved."

Liu Tan took a sip of the honey water and said, "No one has everything going smoothly. Why rush? We are now..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard Mo Shi outside shouting happily, "Your Highness, everything is ready!"

Liu Tan took a deep breath and said, "Okay, it's time to make Qie Lan Kingdom disappear."