Chapter 113

Lin Shuge was originally sitting in a wheelchair, but now he was so excited that he wanted to stand up. Lu Yuechuan said with a smile: "Sir, I feel like I am seeing the parents whose children got first place in the school."

"Don't tease me. Aren't you happy to hear this good news?"

"Of course I'm happy. I told you that Wei Houchang will be victorious." Lu Yuechuan said.

"Sir, the person has been brought here." The officer came over with two soldiers, one of whom seemed to be an officer under Xie Chen, whom Lin Shuge had met before.

"Greetings to Magistrate Lin. Mayor Hou ordered me to deliver a message." He Xin bowed and saluted, and the soldiers following him also saluted.

"No need to be so polite. Tell me which tribe you encountered? Was it the Shaoliang tribe? What are the casualties of our army?" Lin Shuge asked anxiously.

"My Lord, it was the Huotu tribe." He Xin replied, "We almost wiped out the Huotu tribe, but this time, Hou Chang led his men to attack their tribe without anyone noticing, and Hou Chang and his soldiers were very brave, so the casualties this time are not worth mentioning compared to the Huotu tribe."

Lin Shuge muttered to himself: "That's good." Then he asked, "The Huotu tribe? Is it the Huotu tribe that is in collusion with the Shaoliang tribe?" Lin Shuge's smile faded and his brows furrowed.

"Yes, after Hou Chang and his men won a great victory in the surprise attack, they tortured the captives and found out that the Huotu and Huatu tribes were both coerced by the Shaoliang tribe, and they were also colluding with the Xiongnu." He Xin told Lin Shuge the news that Xie Chen had brought back one by one.

"Xiongnu? It's actually related to Xiongnu. What do they want to do?"

"The news that Hou Changchuan conveyed only revealed some plans, but he didn't go into detail. But don't worry, sir. We have already sent a message to Captain Zhao. I believe he will also take precautions and will not let their conspiracy succeed." He Xin said firmly with a righteous look on his face.

Lin Shuge and Lu Yuechuan looked at each other and said nothing.

After a while, Lin Shuge asked, "Where is Zhongxuan going now?"

"The Marquis has already told everyone that the Qiang tribe that was coerced will not be held accountable. Now we should be pursuing the Shaoliang tribe. By the way, the Marquis has made a great harvest this time. I wonder what you want to do with the tens of thousands of sheep?" He Xin was thinking about the 50,000 sheep brought back by the soldiers. The brothers could not eat them all. Now that the Marquis is away, it's a good opportunity for Magistrate Lin to think of a solution.

Lin Shuge chuckled, "The soldiers that Zhongxuan brought out are all meritorious people. These should naturally be considered as their rewards. However, it is really difficult for you to handle them. If you really trust me, I can help you sell them, and let Zhongxuan reward you with the money when he comes back."

This was exactly what He Xin wanted. He had heard of Ganzhou cashmere a long time ago, so he said, "How can I not trust you, sir? I will leave it to you to decide."

"Well, if you don't mind, you can sell the cashmere to the people in the county or to the rich families in the county. If the rich families in the county can't consume it, Ganzhou happens to be a big user of cashmere. I happen to know the owner of Zhouji, so I can sell it to them." Lin Shuge thought that jobs like repairing walls in brick kilns could allow the people to earn some pocket money, but the cold winter was coming, and having an extra job making cashmere would give the people more protection in the cold winter.

Lu Yuechuan also heard about the cashmere matter. Thinking of the fact that the people of Ganzhou were doing well because of the cashmere, he stood up and said, "Kill two birds with one stone. The people of Qingquan can also benefit from it."

"This idea is very good. Thank you, sir, for planning for us." He Xin's face was full of smiles. Although they had troops stationed here, it was indeed not easy for them to interfere in the local business. With Lord Lin's help, it would naturally be much more convenient. Besides, this is their chief marquis's elder brother, and the two have such a good relationship that they are inseparable. It is reasonable to ask Lord Lin for help.

"You don't have to be so polite. By the way, how is Zhongxuan?" After Lin Shuge finished asking about official business, he thought of Xie Chen's nature of only reporting good news and not bad news, and was afraid that he might be injured and hiding it from him, so he asked the soldier who had been silent.

The soldier was a little shy. He stared at Lin Shuge blankly without saying anything. It was only when He Xin stepped on him hard that he suddenly woke up from his dream. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, his face suddenly turned as red as a monkey's butt.

"Don't blame me, sir." He Xin had a look of disgust on his face. He was really useless. Fortunately, the chief marquis was not here, otherwise he would still be staring at other people's brothers here.

"It's okay, little brother. Is your captain injured?" Lin Shuge asked again.

The soldier said excitedly with a red face: "Hou Chang is unharmed. Our Hou Chang is very brave. He always leads the charge. The most powerful Qiang man died under Hou Chang's surprise attack." His eyes were very bright, full of admiration and respect for Xie Chen.

Lin Shuge finally felt relieved. "That's good. Thank you for your hard work. I'll have someone prepare some food for you to eat before you leave. You don't have to be polite here."

The soldier scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to refuse, he heard He Xin shout beside him, "Thank you, sir."

The soldiers looked at their superiors in some surprise. He Xin glared at him with a wry smile, thinking that the boy was really ignorant. The food at County Magistrate Lin's place was so delicious. He had been thinking about it since he had eaten it once. How could he miss this opportunity?

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "By the way, I have some seasonings here. Take them when you leave. They are very suitable for roasting lamb. You can have fun with the rest of the brothers tonight. After all, we won the battle."

"Thank you, sir."

The two of them left happily. The soldier was still wondering, "Master He, why do you still want to eat in the county government office?"

"You are ignorant. Lord Lin is a master of cooking. Have you forgotten that once the chief marquis set up a competition with the prize of food?"

"Ah, I remember, it was dried meat, very delicious, and someone else gave it to me." The soldier licked his lips, savoring the taste.

"Silly boy, that was made by County Magistrate Lin for our Lord Hou. It's the only one of its kind. Just wait and enjoy a feast today." He Xin reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"Really? How can someone be so beautiful and have such great skills? I wonder what kind of fairy will marry Lord Lin in the future." The soldier sighed with a red face.

He Xin warned him, "Don't let the chief hear this, or you'll be in big trouble."

"Why? Could it be that the Marquis doesn't want Lord Lin to find a beautiful wife? How is that possible? Lord, please don't lie to me. I just hope that my brother can find a wife as soon as possible."

He Xin smiled strangely. What hope was there? Hou Chang wished he could put on his wedding dress and marry Lord Lin.

Lin Shuge, who was being talked about by them, was overjoyed. He just instructed the dining hall to prepare a few of his signature dishes and asked Lin Xuan to bring out some snacks that he usually made. Then he said happily: "Achuan, did you hear everything? If Zhongxuan can destroy the Shaoliang tribe in one fell swoop and persuade other tribes to surrender, he should be back soon."

"I heard you, sir. I said it's okay." Seeing that he was so happy that his expression was beyond words, Lu Yuechuan said helplessly.

"I will immediately gather the local merchants to see if they can consume these sheep. I will ask them to prepare the lime water and saltpeter for washing cashmere earlier." Lin Shuge said to him while calling the soldiers outside the door to invite the merchants over.

Just after he finished saying this, Xiang Ligu came in hurriedly with a dark face. He was dark to begin with, and this time, no one knew what he had smeared on him, but his face and hands were all black.

"Xiangli, was it possible that Fang Yuan's furnace exploded on you?" Lu Yuechuan couldn't help laughing as he looked at Xiangli Gu, who was dressed in black.

Xiang Li Gu first bowed to the two of them and said excitedly, "Sir, that alchemist really knows how to blow up the furnace. During this period, we cooperated with him to constantly test the raw materials, the amount, and even the purity. We also used the method taught by you to roll the powder into a ball with egg white. Finally, we have mastered how to blow up the furnace properly."

"Really? This is really great news. Xiangli, if what you said is true, I will reward each of you with a few sheep later, and the rest of the rewards will be calculated separately." Good news came one after another, and Lin Shuge was overjoyed. Could it be that this was really God's help?

"Thank you, sir," Xiang Ligu replied, but as to why the sheep was suddenly rewarded, he was introverted and only thought about it in his mind without asking. Unexpectedly, Lin Shuge immediately told him about Xie Chen's great victory. Xiang Ligu looked at his boss with a smile on his face, no wonder the sir was so happy.

"My Lord, please come with me to see it now."

"Of course, Ah Chuan, this will let you see the power of the furnace explosion." Lin Shuge said with a smile, "Have someone tell Chen Kuan, he knows how to talk to the merchants. If there is any problem, let him come to me and I will write to Ganzhou."

Lu Yuechuan nodded and pushed him and Xiang Ligu to the trial field.

At the moment, only Fang Yuan and a few craftsmen were in the trial field. Fang Yuan's hair was charred black, and there were occasional holes of burnt fire on his Taoist robe. His face was indeed full of excitement. Although County Magistrate Lin did not seek immortality and only liked to make elixirs and blow up furnaces, who would not be excited when seeing such power?

"Hello, my lords. Come and have a look. This is the effect of the explosion just now." Fang Yuan pointed to a deep pit and said, "According to what you said, I have been refining the raw materials with this lord Xiangli. I found that the furnace can really explode. I used to think that it was because I was not powerful enough and not pious enough that the furnace exploded. I didn't expect that as long as I used those ingredients in the same amount, it would explode. This is comparable to becoming an immortal and refining elixirs..."

He was so excited that he blurted out everything that was in his heart.

Lin Shuge looked at him with a smile. See, all the cultivators were talented chemists. It has only been a short time and they all want to give up their old profession. He did not expose him and said, "Can we do it again? Lord Lu and I want to see it."

"Of course. Please wait a moment, sir. It will be ready soon." After he said that, he went to work in a hurry. He did not have the immortal air he had when they first met. He looked like a chemistry madman.

Lu Yuechuan had been so shocked that he could not speak when Fang Yuan pointed at the deep pit just now. He just woke up from his surprise and stuttered for the first time, "Sir... Sir, was this really blown out by that kind of weapon? This is really..."

"Of course it is. When you told me about this before, I thought you were going crazy. How could there be such a thing? I didn't expect that you would really make it. Sir, how come you..." Xiangli Gu was so happy that he was silly and spoke without restraint.

Lin Shuge: “Hmm?”

Xiangli Gu suddenly realized how he had spoken out his true feelings. He took a few steps back and stopped talking.

Lu Yuechuan laughed a few times, "Xiangli, go and get ready with Fang Yuan. The master and I will be waiting for you here."

Xiang Ligu glanced at him gratefully and ran away. Lin Shuge stared at Lu Yuechuan with a half-smile, "I'm not angry."

Lu Yuechuan said, "Sir, let's go and see, they need to be ready."

Lin Shuge snorted and didn't bother with them.