Previously, An Lushan used gunpowder to make porcelain fire mines, and used iron nails to quench the poison during the explosion to kill and injure enemy troops. However, it became unsustainable later because the supply of raw materials was unavailable.
Li Ye also encountered this problem of raw material sources before. Now he indirectly controls the source of saltpeter in Laojun Mountain, Mianzhou through the big businessman Liang family. The Liang family has become Li Ye's white glove, continuously distributing the mined saltpeter.
The raw materials were transported to Longyou for purification and then prepared into gunpowder.
But now that gunpowder is in Li Ye's hands, it only serves as a burning agent to supplement the shortage of fierce fire oil.
For example, kerosene is a liquid and is inconvenient to use. The biggest problem with kerosene sludge is that it is unstable and will fail over time.
Then there will be no problem using gunpowder as the burning agent. Mix arsenic powder into the gunpowder to make a poisonous smoke bomb, which is more powerful than oleander.
Although gunpowder can be made into paper fire thunder, wooden fire thunder and porcelain fire thunder, the power is still too small, and it takes a lot of effort but can't hurt a few people. At most, the flying poison nails can hurt people and horses, and the effect is too low.
Therefore, before the iron fire thunder was developed, Li Ye did not consider the military application of gunpowder explosions.
But Li Ye knew that there was another way to increase the explosive power of gunpowder, which was to exchange quantity for effect. For example, a three-hundred-pound porcelain fire thunder explosion could collapse a city wall, but one explosion would take half a year.
The cost of gunpowder production is too high. If the production increases, it would be feasible to occasionally use it to control the reefs in Sanmenxia.
Although he has a method of using gunpowder to blow up rocks, Li Ye does not plan to use it for the time being. Shaanzhou is not a place he controls. If the secret of gunpowder is revealed too early, it will cause a lot of unexpected troubles.
Thinking of this, Li Ye nodded and said, "You can also go by land!"
Li Ye then said to Ji Shouchun: "Take the three of them to Chen Changshi's place. Chen Changshi will arrange the specific steps."
Ji Shouchun took the three of them out.
Li Ye returned to the official room and took a sip of tea. At this time, an officer said at the door: "General Li, the inner guard, is here."
"Let her in!"
After a moment, Li Chenghua walked in quickly, bowed and saluted, "See you, Your Highness!"
"Is there anything important?"
Although the inner guard is directly under Li Ye, Li Chenghua will not take the initiative to report anything important.
"Reporting to Your Highness, I finally found out the emperor's eyes and ears that were spying on Your Highness."
Li Ye nodded and smiled: "It's not easy! I persevered and searched for half a year, and finally found it. Where is it?"
"Your Majesty, this is the Yellow River Restaurant!"
Li Ye was startled, "Didn't you say before that it had nothing to do with it?"
Li Chenghua smiled bitterly and said: "We did a good job in checking the direction before. We went to check the shopkeeper and proprietor of Huanghe Restaurant, checked their background, and monitored them for two months. There was indeed no problem with them, so we let Huanghe Restaurant go.
"
"Then why did you go back to investigate the Yellow River Restaurant?"
"We searched all the places we should investigate, but found nothing. Later, several of our leaders analyzed the case and searched around, and found that the Yellow River Restaurant was the most suspected. We re-investigated the Yellow River Restaurant and found that the six clerks were actually accountants.
He was hired from a humble position and asked the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper said that neither he nor the proprietor were from Lanzhou, and he was worried about offending local snakes, so the proprietor hired a local to be the accountant, and the accountant introduced them to six clerks and two
The restaurant is supported by a chef, but in fact, only two chefs are locals, and the cashier and six waiters are not locals, but from Chang'an."
Li Ye smiled and said: "It seems that this accountant is the key figure!"
Li Chenghua nodded, "Your Highness is absolutely right. This accountant is the key figure. We kept an eye on him and we soon got results. This person is secretly collecting intelligence, and six guys are also cooperating with him to collect intelligence. They
Seven people make a perfect team."
"I see."
Li Ye smiled, "Then what do you think?"
"The humble official wanted him to become one of ours. The information he sent us has been reviewed by us and has no impact on us."
Li Ye smiled happily and said: "This is a good idea, I support it!"
"Thank you for your support, Your Highness!"
The accountant of the Yellow River Restaurant is surnamed Jia. He is in his thirties and comes from Wannian County, Chang'an. In fact, he is an intelligence spy sent by Chang'an Tianji House. His five subordinates are also famous warriors of the Condor Guards. Their task is to monitor Li
Ye, monitor Helong Jiedu Mansion."
The owner of this restaurant was from Longzhou. A powerful person recommended Shopkeeper Jia to him. He couldn't afford to offend him, so of course he could only use it. Even the shopkeeper didn't tell him about this.
But the proprietor never dreamed that Jia Zhangfang was actually a secret agent of Tianji Tower.
In the afternoon, the accountant Jia Xin came out of the Yellow River Restaurant as usual. His accountant was busy for a while at noon and evening, busy collecting money and making changes. The shopkeeper went to greet the guests and did not care about collecting money.
Jia Xin has been in Jincheng County for half a year. He is actually from Chang'an. He has studied for several years and is literate. He was recruited by Tianji Tower. After a few months of training, he was sent to Jincheng County as an intelligence agent.
Therefore, many of the bad habits brought about by the illegal settlement have not been changed, such as gambling and prostitution, and going to gambling houses and brothels whenever possible.
Jia Xin waited on the side of the road for a while, waved to an ox cart to stop, got into the ox cart and ordered: "Go to Jiangnan Gambling House!"
Suddenly he felt someone behind him, and before he could react, his ear was slapped, and he immediately fainted.
When he woke up, he found himself sitting on a wide chair, with his hands and feet tied up, and the surrounding light was dim. It was a small room with no windows, only an oil lamp was lit, and there were several people standing around.
He was a big man, staring at him like a knife.
"Who are you?"
Jia Xin suddenly saw that the wall was covered with various instruments of torture, and his legs suddenly trembled.
At this time, a woman wearing a black warrior uniform walked in and said coldly: "First of all, think about who you are? You will naturally understand who we are?"
"Are you the internal guards?" Jia Xin blurted out.
The woman in black nodded, "I am Li Chenghua, the commander of the inner guards!"
Jia Xin's brain buzzed. It was over. He knew that he had been discovered. He had hidden himself so well, but he was still discovered.
"You. What do you want to do?"
"What do you think?"
Li Chenghua said coldly: "You and five guys tried to murder His Highness King Qi. Do you think I will let you go?"
Jia Xin was so frightened that he shook his head desperately, "No, we were just collecting intelligence. We never thought about assassinating His Highness Prince Qi. You must have made a mistake."
Li Chenghua is an expert in this field. She just tested Jia Xin a little and then figured out what he was doing.
