Two days later, five hundred flying crossbows were prepared, and Ying Zheng sent people to the Chu State.
Xiang Yan did not delay and proposed to go to Yingcheng with Changping Jun to recruit bandits.
Yingzheng sent Li Xin to accompany them. After all, Li Xin was the governor of Yingcheng, and this was his responsibility.
Ying Zheng accompanied Nan Su and sent Xiang Yan and others ten miles away from the city gate before saying goodbye.
On the way back to the palace, Ying Zheng and Li Si walked side by side.
"Sir, have you made a fuss about the bandits in Yingcheng this time?" Ying Zheng asked in a low voice.
Li Si also said in a low voice: "If you look at the matter itself, the king did put a lot of thought and cost into it, but Wei Chen feels that the king should have wanted to send a signal to Chu."
"That's right." Ying Zheng laughed in a low voice, "This is the real purpose of the few people. After all, the Chu State is a powerful country and has a very long border with Da Qin. The ancient capital was lost to our Da Qin, so the relationship with Da Qin is not the same. It’s not subtle.”
"So, Your Majesty wants to let the King of Chu understand that Da Qin wants to have good relations with Chu for generations and will not fight again." Li Si said.
"In this way, even if you pay a certain price, it will definitely be worth it." Ying Zheng said, "Besides, the establishment of the Western Chu Army may not be useless."
"Will the king trust this Western Chu army?" Li Si asked calmly.
Ying Zheng looked at Li Si and said, "Even if I can trust the Chu people, I can't trust the bandits. However, I can trust Lord Changping."
Li Si was silent for a moment and then said: "The minister has a plan that can not only deal with the Western Chu army properly, but also test whether Lord Changping is loyal to the king."
"Sir, please speak." Ying Zheng's eyes were full of expectation.
Li Si lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty, do you remember that day when we mentioned Lao Ai?"
"Remember." Ying Zheng's expression was a little strange, because Li Si would ask him a lot of questions as soon as he talked about the strategy.
"If one day Lao Ai really starts a rebellion, what will the king do?" Li Si asked again.
"Of course I will send troops to kill him." Ying Zheng's tone was slightly angry.
"Then who will the king send?" Li Si asked next.
A glimmer of light flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes, and he asked, "Sir, do you mean to send Lord Changping to lead the Western Chu army?"
"Yes." Li Si said, "If this is the case, it will reduce the number of casualties among the officers and soldiers in the army, and it can also verify whether Lord Changping really obeys the king's orders."
Ying Zheng nodded and said: "In this way, the two close friends will be eliminated together. However, this plan of killing two birds with one stone is a bit vicious. Will the Chu State fall out because of this?"
Li Si shook his head and said: "The recruitment of the Western Chu Army this time is Xiang Yan's private act and has nothing to do with the Chu State. And at that time, the king can just give more rewards to Lord Changping and the Western Chu Army." .”
"But what if Lao Ai is stronger than imagined?" Ying Zheng asked worriedly.
"As long as the king is fully prepared, there will be no big problem." Li Si said, "And if the Western Chu army really fights the rebels in the future, they will probably die for the king. Who can say What's coming?"
Ying Zheng nodded and said: "And if Lord Changping does not send troops to quell the rebellion, it means that he is disloyal to me, and he can be punished."
"Exactly." Li Si smiled and said.
When encountering problems in the past, Ying Zheng was always listening to Li Si. Now, Ying Zheng can follow Li Si's thoughts and analyze them together.
Ying Zheng
I also feel very good. It turns out that analyzing problems in detail is so satisfying.
"Your Majesty, now that the bandits have been settled, the next focus is on making the 'I-ware' and paint. We have developed colored paint, and we have to go to the fourth floor of King Wu's Mausoleum, otherwise Your Majesty will not be able to build it. The royal mausoleum," Li Si said.
When Ying Zheng heard that there were so many things to do, his heart suddenly sank and he said: "It seems that this is still a matter of links, so the most important thing now is to complete the third step to the fourth floor of King Wu's Tomb. Layer tasks.”
"That's right." Li Si said, "Before, the reason why the paint was not completely copied and the coloring was also a problem was because a key material was missing."
"It turns out that sir knew this a long time ago and just didn't say it on purpose." Ying Zheng pretended to curl his lips.
Li Si was also a little apologetic and said: "Wei Chen didn't say anything before because the king's wedding is coming soon. I don't want the king to be distracted. Now is the time."
"Yes." Ying Zheng took a breath and said, "The wedding really made me very busy. Now I finally calm down. By the way, what materials are missing from the paint?"
"Back to the king, the missing materials can only be extracted from black fire oil, so the prerequisite is to find black fire oil and then refine it through a special process." Li Si said.
"Black fire oil?" Ying Zheng asked, "I have heard that it is a kind of fuel buried deep underground, and most of it contains poisonous gas."
"The black fire oil is not that simple. If it is handled properly, it will be a blessing to the world. If it is handled improperly, it may cause harm to the world." Li Si said.
Ying Zheng thought for a while and said: "Since mining is inevitable, no matter how dangerous it is, we must do it. Sir, you should know how to control and use black fire oil."
"I know a little bit about it." Li Si said, "If you look for black fire oil, you will also find some minerals, so the production of 'my weapon' will speed up."
"Are the minerals Jing Fan mentioned difficult to find?" Ying Zheng asked.
Previously, Jing Fan said that only by finding those rare materials could he make 'my weapon', but because of his wedding, Ying Zheng was not in a hurry to do this.
"The Sword Comes"
"It is indeed difficult, but I heard that Sima Hong has already started to deal with it. While inspecting the records of relevant ancient books in his family, he also sent people to visit the entire Sima family to see if there is any relevant information."
"Do the ancient books in the imperial court also have relevant records?" Ying Zheng asked.
"Sima Jie is also searching, and it seems that one of them has been found." Li Si said.
"If everything is found, will it be difficult to mine?" Ying Zheng asked.
"It's not very difficult to mine, but similar to black fire oil, the refining process is a bit difficult." Li Si replied.
"Even if it's a bit difficult, I guess you have your own method." Ying Zheng said with a smile.
Li Si was silent for a moment and then said: "There is one thing that the king needs to know, but the king needs to have assurance for his ministers."
Looking at Li Si's serious expression, Ying Zheng knew that Li Si was very serious at this time, so he also put away his smile and asked, "What do you want to say, sir? What do you need my guarantee for?"
Li Si cleared his throat and whispered in a very cautious voice: "In the future, the king will definitely imitate the royal mausoleum, and maybe build some other buildings, so he must be able to use one thing, but this thing is used to dig the tomb. Mining minerals is very useful, and because of its great power, it has been hidden by successive Heavenly Bearers."
"Hidden in the snow?" Ying Zheng frowned, "Isn't that the same as 'my weapon'?"
Li Si shook his head and said: "This thing,
It is more than a thousand times more dangerous than 'my weapon', so the king needs to ensure that this thing will not be used in war. "
Ying Zheng's heart tightened. What could be a thousand times more dangerous than "my weapon"?
"Since it must be used to build the mausoleum, I can't help it." Ying Zheng said solemnly, "Okay, I promise that I will never use this thing in war, and I will try my best to hide it."
Li Si nodded and said: "This is actually an unwritten rule set by the Heavenly Successors of all generations. But the King is the last Heavenly Successor. After that, the laws of the entire world may change greatly, but Master I still hope that the king will not use it to conquer the six countries."
The more he listened to what Li Si said, the more curious Ying Zheng became, but he felt that it must be of great importance, so he said: "In that case, let's go back to the secret room and talk about it."
"Okay." Li Si said.
After returning to Gucheng Palace and back to Nansu, Ying Zheng and Li Si came to the secret room alone.
Ying Zheng said urgently: "What is this sir talking about?"
"What Wei Chen is talking about is not an object," Li Si said, "but a method of making things. Using this method, you can make something called gunpowder."
"Gunpowder?" Judging from the name, it seems to have some power.
"Yes, gunpowder." Li Si said, "You can mix one part sulfur, one part saltpeter powder, and one part charcoal to make this kind of gunpowder. This thing is extremely flammable."
Ying Zheng's eyes were bright: "Sir, he said it is dangerous. Could it be that it can be used for fire attacks on the battlefield?"
Li Sique shook his head and said: "Not only that, it is said that when the Tiancheng people built tombs in the past, the way to use this thing was to put it into a bamboo joint and then use a fuse to light it, and then the bamboo joint would explode. , so it will break up the surrounding rocks and soil, making it easier to dig."
"Can it break rocks?" Ying Zheng grinned and said, "No wonder Sir said this thing is so powerful. If it were really used on the battlefield, there would be countless casualties."
"So, it must be used with caution." Li Si said.
Ying Zheng nodded and asked, "If there is such a thing, wouldn't it be much easier to mine minerals?"
"Of course." Li Si said without hesitation, "What Wei Chen just said was to put gunpowder in bamboo joints. This is a firecracker, and if it is put in iron, its power will be even greater."
The more Ying Zheng listened, the more excited he became, but he still said with some worry: "Then if we dig mines and dig graves, there is no guarantee that the world will not know about it."
Li Si sighed softly and said: "Master's idea is that this gunpowder can be made public to the world, but it can only be used for blessings and not for disasters."
"Then I need to strictly control it." Ying Zheng said, "But how can I explain the origin of this gunpowder to the world?"
It would be wrong to say that something like this mixture was invented by accident.
"This is not difficult." Li Si's face was finally no longer so serious. "Isn't the king going to make an elixir? It can be said that the method of making gunpowder was accidentally discovered while refining the elixir."
"What about Ling Gu Dan?" Ying Zheng asked, "How should I explain it?"
"Let's call it the elixir of immortality." There was a smile on Li Si's face. "The king said that in order to live forever and prolong life, he ordered people to refine the elixir, and he accidentally discovered the method of making gunpowder."
In this way, there will be something to say to the world.
"Let's go, let's try the gunpowder sir mentioned first." Ying Zheng looked quite eager.
Li Si nodded and accompanied Ying Zheng out of the secret room with a smile.
The two called Zhao Gao, prepared some things, and went straight to Jingyao.
