Chapter 124: What happened to my brother?
"I think... if we can build a road, then our valley will become better and better. Once the road is built, the war in Wuheng will surely be quelled. By then, Wuheng may not be as desolate and terrifying as it is now."
"Besides, although Liaolie is a small country, it has always been friendly and close to us in Dajing, unlike Lanqiang."
"You've even thought of this? You're truly Brother Ruan's biological sister."
Xie Huaian smiled in surprise, and Ruan Mian became puzzled: "What happened to my brother?"
"Brother Ruan mentioned this idea to me a few days ago when we were chatting. He also felt the same way. If we could build a road, we would have a way to retreat."
"But building a road is no small undertaking. Besides requiring a large amount of manpower, the mortar and rocks needed are difficult to obtain. Even building a few miles of road is no easy task. Furthermore, the road is not entirely smooth. If we encounter rocks blocking the way, using only human power to carve it would be difficult..."
"Sir, our Longchang Mountain is a treasure land. Surrounding the vein gold mine, there must be other mineral resources, such as... tuff."
"What is this?"
Seeing that he didn't know, Ruan Mian guessed that there was no concept of volcanic ash in this era.
The entire territory of Dajing is mainly based on the Central Plains, and it is estimated that there is only one volcano, Longchang Mountain, within the territory.
So she said succinctly, "This tuff is very hard and is a good raw material for road construction. If you're worried about the rocks blocking the road, we can just blast it."
"You mean to borrow black powder from General Huo and his men?"
"Of course not. I don't think they have enough black powder. I want us to make it ourselves."
"You can also make gunpowder?"
Xie Huaian smiled and told her: "Do you know what gunpowder is needed? We are trapped here. Even if we have the money to go to Liaole to buy it, we can't just buy it."
Ruan Mian spoke slowly.
"Buying it is certainly difficult, but making it yourself is not necessarily difficult."
"The formula of this black powder is one sulfur, two saltpeter, and three charcoal. The tuff is formed near natural sulfur iron ore. We are in the forest farm of Longchang Mountain and there is no shortage of charcoal resources. As for this saltpeter..." It is indeed rare.
Natural saltpeter was too difficult to obtain, and there wasn't enough for them to make it on the spur of the moment, but she had a way.
"Sir, did you know that saltpeter can be 'grown'?"
Xie Huaian knew everything Ruan Mian had said before, but he had never heard of this "kind" of saltpeter.
"As far as I know, saltpeter is only formed naturally, under harsh conditions, and it's not always possible to find it. Furthermore, there's no saltpeter expert among us, so it would be difficult for us to identify and extract it on our own."
In this era, saltpeter was basically obtained by collecting it among the people.
Ruan Mian had escaped from the apocalypse and moved to various caves to live in, so making gunpowder was no problem for her.
She approached Xie Huaian and told him the method of "planting" saltpeter one by one.
Later, the two of them discussed it and felt that this was a feasible idea.
Building roads and growing saltpeter will not take a day or two, so the sooner we act, the better.
So he immediately called Xue Yuanzhao, Ruan Qingsong, and Wu Jie of the Jinsha tribe to discuss the matter together.
Old Master Xue is a highly respected elder among their group of exiles. With him in charge, it would be easier to use manpower later.
Living in the valley was not a long-term solution for them. Soldiers could find them at any time, and the situation in Wuheng was unstable. Old Master Xue had already started thinking about their escape route.
The ideas proposed by Ruan Mian now coincide with his, and her solutions are all feasible.
Why not give it a try!
It's better than doing nothing and hiding in the valley waiting for the pursuers to come.
So Xue Yuanzhao immediately called over a few other influential people among the exiles.
I hope we can all work together to resolve this matter.
However, when this idea was raised again, one of them immediately stood up to object, thinking it was ridiculous.
"Build a road? Is that some trivial matter? Lord Xue, you've probably grown old and lost your mind! Don't you know how much effort it takes to build a road? Putting aside the question of whether we have enough people, the key is where to get the gunpowder for blasting the mountain."
"Building a road without gunpowder? Only the whole nation of Qi can hope to do so. With just the likes of us, it's simply wishful thinking!"
After saying this, without giving others a chance to explain, he pointed at Ruan Mian's face and snorted.
"This woman, could it be that she's drugged you all with a soul-stealing drug? You're so ridiculous as to listen to a woman?! Is this even reasonable?!"
"How dare you, such a vicious woman? She tore the tendons out of my brother's hands and feet, and now he's lying in the house like a living dead!"
He rushed to Ruan Mian in anger, looking like he wanted to tear her to pieces, but Xie Huaian protected her behind him calmly, looking at the man with cold eyes.
Old Master Xue quickly spoke up, "Zheng Yang, Madam Ruan can't be blamed for your brother's behavior. If he hadn't done such a wicked thing himself, who would have let him go through this?"
"What's that nonsense? My sister-in-law has been crazy for more than two years, and my brother provides her with food and drink. So what if he hits her? She's my brother's wife! Even if he beats her to death, it's not up to outsiders to say anything!"
After hearing this, Ruan Mian realized that this person was Zheng Zhao's younger brother, Zheng Yang.
Judging from the situation, he is here to seek justice for his brother.
Ruan Mian smiled indifferently and took the initiative to stand in front of him.
"Let's get this one thing straight. Today we're here to discuss road construction. What if I can solve the gunpowder problem you just mentioned?"
"Just you? Can you even make your own gunpowder? What a joke! You bunch of rabble, don't you think what this bitch said is ridiculous? How can she make gunpowder? It's not like she's making rouge or powder!"
He kept calling her a bitch, and the contempt in his eyes was almost written on his face.
"If she takes out the gunpowder today, I won't say anything. Otherwise, this matter..."
Before he could finish, Ruan Mian turned around and took something out from another corner of the room.
Zheng Yang's face suddenly changed and he looked over in disbelief. Before he could say anything, Ruan Mian had already taken the thing out of the house, came to a place far away from the house, and lit the fuse.
There was a loud "bang", which immediately startled everyone in the other houses and everyone ran out of the house in fear.
Zheng Yang's face turned pale and he was speechless. He couldn't believe that this woman really had gunpowder in her hand!
Could she really do it?!
The others were also stunned.
Those who had doubts about her idea at first all dispelled those doubts at this moment, and Mr. Xue also felt that there was hope for this matter.
Only Zheng Yang stared at Ruan Mian with a look of suspicion, his fists clenched.
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