Before Shi Dajian finished speaking, Zhao Chengxiao returned to the yard.
Seeing that everyone had gathered, Qiu Yizhi ordered several people to drive two carriages one in front and one behind, and led a few horses, and slowly headed towards the Ministry of Justice Prison. The group was led by Yelu, who looked like a foreign merchant caravan coming to the capital to pay tribute and do business. Although it was a bit eye-catching, no one dared to cause trouble, so they arrived at the courtyard that Yelu had just bought smoothly.
This house is a large courtyard with two entrances and two exits. The open space in the middle is quite large. Two carriages can be parked in it without any crowding. There are also seven or eight houses in the house, with bedrooms, main halls, dining rooms, kitchens, and toilets. It is really worth the 40,000 taels of silver that Qiu Yi spent to buy it.
Seeing that it was getting late, Qiu Yizhi ordered people to move all the digging tools, Bohai sharp blades, saltpeter, sulfur, and food and clothing supplies out of the car, especially the saltpeter and sulfur that he had managed to buy, and store them in the coolest and most sunny place in the yard.
After doing this round of physical work, everyone was already hungry. Wen Lingjiao was considerate and asked He'er to light a fire and cook. Unexpectedly, although He'er was willful and capricious, she was a great cook. In just a few moments, a table of dishes was served. Qiu Yizi picked up the chopsticks and tasted a bite, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Miss He'er is really good at cooking. These dishes are probably better than those of the imperial chefs in the palace!"
After all, He'er was just a young girl who hadn't experienced the world. She was overjoyed to hear such praise and said, "Of course. It's just that there are no good ingredients at the moment. I still have several specialties that I can't make. You guys are out of luck!"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi thought: Everyone present is a maverick, so it seems that I can only praise them more and criticize them less, and deal with this situation first to prevent internal strife. So he said loudly to everyone: "Now we are all brothers and sisters, and there is no need to distinguish between high and low. Come on! Let's eat together!"
The people in the courtyard ranged from the noble princess of Bohai State to the humble laborers digging holes. After hearing Qiu Yizhi's words, they all had their own thoughts and looked at each other, refusing to go to the table to get their bowls and chopsticks.
Qiu Yizhi saw this and sighed softly, thinking in his heart: This status of superiority and inferiority is determined by heaven, how can it be immediately eliminated by a word from me? He had no choice but to pick up the bowl and chopsticks himself, pretending to smile heartily and said: "Since everyone is not hungry, then I won't be polite!"
Seeing this, everyone also sat down to eat. Although they ate at the same table, they still followed their order. Especially Ye Lu, Zhao Chengxiao, and He'er, who were servants, only started eating after Qiu Yizhi and others had finished. As for Shi Dajian, he was willing to be the last one to eat the leftovers.
Although Shi Dajian's status is the lowest, he is the key to the success of this plan.
Qiu Yizi waited quietly for him to finish his meal, then walked up to him and asked, "Master Shi, did you enjoy your meal?"
Shi Dajian actually had tears in his eyes: "I have never had such a delicious meal in my life! I have only met you for a few days, and you are giving me money and food... Oh, forget it, just tell me what you want!"
Qiu Yizi felt a little embarrassed after hearing what Shi Dajian said. He scratched his head and said, "In that case, please let Master Shi start the work now."
Shi Dajian shouted "OK", picked up a shovel from the side, and paced around the open space in the yard, digging here and there. He walked several times before stopping at the southeast corner of the open space, shouting loudly, and digging vertically downwards. For a moment, the yard was filled with flying sand and dust.
After a cup of tea, when the smoke and dust dispersed, everyone saw Shi Dajian, shirtless, standing in a pit half a person deep, with a shovel on his shoulder, and said to Qiu Yizi, "You are so lucky, sir. The soil here is neither soft nor hard, neither dry nor wet. It's just right for me to show my skills!" As he said that, he perked up and continued to dig down.
Qiu Yizhi saw that once Shi Dajian started working, his humble and listless demeanor disappeared, replaced by an unconcealed heroic spirit. He couldn't help but pull Yuchi Lianghong over and said, "Brother, look at the skills of this Master Shi. If he were placed in the martial arts world, he would be considered a master of his generation!"
Yuchi Lianghong also nodded seriously and said, "The way this brother swings the shovel and shovel looks like he is performing a set of extremely advanced martial arts. It is really worth watching."
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "But don't tire Master Shi out." Then he called Zhao Chengxiao over and said, "Go to Nuanxiang Pavilion now and ask your brothers to come here to help. Your brothers are so fierce and ferocious that they are too conspicuous when walking on the road. Ask them to break up into smaller groups and come in batches. Be careful along the way and don't reveal any flaws!"
Zhao Chengxiao bowed and nodded, saying, "I just walked a few more times."
Qiu Yizhi was still worried, so he asked Yuchi Lianghong to go with him. He turned around and asked Yelu, "Brother Yelu, how many envoys from Bohai are still staying in the Four Barbarians Pavilion?"
Yelu counted on his fingers and said, "There are still eighteen people."
"Then do you have anything else that needs to be taken out of the capital?" Qiu Yizi asked again.
Yelu smiled cheerfully and said, "Those are just my possessions, so I can just throw them away. But the Ferghana horse that His Highness Yi gave me to raise is really rare, so it would be a pity to throw it away."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi changed his mind and said, "When I was living in the Four Barbarians' Hall, I seemed to see a lot of fine horses in the stables, and they all seemed to be from your Bohai Kingdom."
Yelu replied, "Your Highness Yi is right. These are fine horses from Bohai. We brought them to Luoyang and prepared to pay tribute to the emperor. There are a total of 49 horses. Including the ones we use for personal use, there are now nearly 60 fine horses in the Four Barbarians Hall!"
Qiu Yizhi was overjoyed when he heard this and asked, "Can these horses be used in a hurry?"
Before Yelu could answer, the princess beside him interrupted and said, "Of course, we Bohai warriors grew up on horseback, and we can go out to fight the enemy at the command of a single blow!"
Qiu Yizi became even happier after hearing this and said, "Good princess, you have helped me a lot again!"
Yi Ran was confused and asked angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Qiu Yizi smiled and replied, "You will know when the time comes. Oh, by the way. Master Zhongli told us not to go out these few days. You should rest well in this courtyard. You will be busy rescuing my adoptive father." After that, he turned and went into the warehouse, found a few pine torch candles he had just bought, lit them, handed one to Yiran, and then said, "If you are bored, you can also watch Master Shi work. This kind of bustle can't be seen in Bohai and Guangyang."
Qiu Yizhi had a thorough understanding of Yiran's temper. After hearing what he said, the princess of Fanbang actually took a pine torch, squatted beside the newly dug hole, and watched it very attentively.
Not long after, the courtyard door was pushed open. It turned out that Zhao Chengxiao and Yuchi Lianghong led seven or eight brothers to meet here, and then they went out to meet people.
Seeing the new helper, Qiu Yizhi asked Shi Dajian to climb out of the cave and rest for a while, and then asked the bandits to dig the soil. Unexpectedly, although these bandits looked rough and strong, they were far inferior to Shi Dajian in terms of work. Several people took turns digging for half an hour, but they still did not dig as much as Shi Dajian did in one pack of cigarettes.
Qiu Yizi saw that this method of digging was ineffective, so he simply let them all rest. When Zhao Chengxiao brought all the brothers into the yard in two batches, he asked Shi Dajian to be their teacher and teach them the tricks and techniques of digging tunnels.
Although those bandits were recruited, they were still wild and untamed, and originally looked down on this livelihood of eating ashes and drinking pulp. But they saw that they were indeed not as good as the mud-legged man in front of them, and he made sense when he spoke, and with Qiu Yizhi and Zhao Chengxiao supervising them, they were very humble and listened to Shi Dajian's lectures seriously.
After listening to the lecture, the group of people went down to the cave again and dug, and their efficiency was much higher. Qiu Yizhi was relieved when he saw this, so he asked Zhao Chengxiao to wait by the side, and he went back to the house to sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, Qiu Yizi listened carefully, but could not hear any sound of digging. He put on his shoes in a hurry, and without even having time to wash up, he pushed the door and walked out. Unexpectedly, a mountain of earth more than one person high had been piled up in the yard, and the tunnel under the "mountain" was even deeper than the bottom.
Qiu Yizi saw more than a dozen exhausted brothers lying on the mound of earth, and he knew that these people had not slept all night and the progress of the project had increased greatly. He shouted into the cave, "Master Shi, is he in the cave? Can he come up and talk to me?" Before he finished speaking, an echo resounded in the cave.
Shi Dajian shouted from inside the cave: "Coming!" and then he climbed out of the cave carrying a basket of soil.
Qiu Yizi took the soil basket and felt a sudden weight in his hand. He said, "Master Shi, you are really strong. This basket of soil must weigh at least 70 to 80 kilograms. It doesn't seem heavy at all when you carry it on your shoulders." He then helped him brush off the dust on his body and asked, "I wonder how long this tunnel has been dug?"
Shi Dajian relaxed the muscles on his shoulders and said, "The brothers you brought with you are all great. We have been digging for most of the night and have already dug about fifty steps. At this rate, we will be able to dig to the bottom of the Ministry of Justice in two days at the fastest, or within three days!"
Qiu Yizhi was very satisfied after hearing this, and comforted her again, then went back to the house to wash up. After eating a little breakfast prepared by He'er, Qiu Yizhi saw that the earthen hill in the yard was higher, and after thinking about it, he went straight into the hut where sulfur and saltpeter were stored.
Qiu Yizhi carefully separated the saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, and piled them into three piles according to their categories. He squatted on the ground and carefully recalled the Tianzun Sect books he had read in Guangyang City. According to the proportions recorded in the books, he mixed these things into a ball, wrapped them tightly with cloth, inserted paper twists, and then carefully piled the cloth bags together.
Just when Qiu Yizi was concentrating on his work, he suddenly heard a voice in his ear: "Hey! What are you doing!" He was so scared that he sat down on the ground, his tailbone hurting.
Qiu Yizi turned around and saw Yiran had barged in without her noticing, so she scolded him, "Why are you yelling so loudly? You're making my butt hurt so much..."
Yiran didn't buy it and asked, "I asked you what you are doing. I called you outside for a long time to eat, but you ignored me." After saying that, he reached out to take the cloth bags.
Qiu Yizi quickly stopped him and said, "Don't play with these things randomly, or they will explode!"
Yiran showed some disdain and said, "Oh, I get it, it's just gunpowder! It's used to make fireworks and firecrackers. Others are busy, but you are here playing with these things."
"What do you know? It's written in the books of Tianzun Sect that the power of gunpowder can be greatly increased by using different proportions. The people in the Western Regions rely on this to capture cities and strongholds." Qiu Yizi explained.
Yi Ran then suddenly realized something and said, "I remember now. You told me about this several times in Guangyang City and said you wanted to find a chance to try it. What? Have you tried this thing?"
Qiu Yizi replied: "Once this thing is used, the sky will collapse and the earth will crack. How dare I try it easily?"
"What if it doesn't work then?" Yiran asked again.
Qiu Yizi stuck out her tongue and said, "Even if this thing doesn't work, it's still a big firecracker. As long as it can scare the pursuers for half an hour, I will have another way." (To be continued)