Water Margin Survival

The dawn of dawn lifts the veil of night, and the streets of Tokyo are already quite lively under the morning light. Various porridge shops and noodle shops along the road have already opened for business, and the early risers in Beijing are serving colorful and delicious breakfasts.

Lu Fang, who had been waiting outside the imperial city for a whole night, didn't care about his exhaustion, and bought some steamed buns stuffed with meat with his brothers to satisfy their hunger. They dragged their exhausted bodies and rushed back to the secret stronghold.

At this time, Wang Lun and the others had already woken up early and tidied things up. When they saw Lu Fang coming back, they hurriedly asked him how the situation was. Lu Fang replied, "It was quiet and safe all night, and nothing unusual was seen in the palace city!"

Wang Lunjian said, thought for a while, and said, "This brother has either not made a move yet, or he has already succeeded! Well, you and the brothers have worked hard, go in and have some breakfast, go down and rest!"

"What's so tiring? Wait for my little brother to wash up before going to investigate!" Lu Fangfu begged for his life.

Yan Qing saw and said, "Brother Lu Fang, go in and rest, I will leave these things to my younger brother!"

Whether the two came in different shifts, Wang Lun immediately nodded and said, "If I'm right, it will be even more difficult to get out of the city after the officials find out that they have lost something. So Lu Fang hastened to rest, and Yan Qing led people to continue searching. Shi Qian, I'll go to the market right now and buy what I need to buy, when Shi Qian comes back, we can leave as soon as we say!"

When Lu Fang and Yan Qing saw each other, they looked at each other, bowed to accept the order, and parted ways.At this moment, without Wang Lun's instructions, Jiao Ting went and called five or seven brothers from the personal guard camp, drove a carriage, and went out with Wang Lun.

With the experience of living in the capital for more than half a month last year, Wang Lun walked on the streets of Tokyo again at this time, feeling less strange and more friendly.Looking at the gorgeous scene like the Riverside Scene during the Qingming Festival on the street, Wang Lun felt an emotion that was impossible for people at that time.

How many years can this prosperous scene last?Perhaps, when the next coming, this pleasing world scene.Can only remember on the scroll of nothingness.

There is not much time left for myself!

At this time, Wang Lun couldn't help feeling anxious. At the beginning, the small village in Liangshan, which had only a thousand people and no more than three leaders, and could not even guarantee its own safety, had grown from small to large, from weak to strong, and finally developed into a small village in the past two years. With more than [-] leaders and more than [-] soldiers, Dazhai is the leading benchmark in the green forest.This ever-changing and rapid development situation cannot be described as being fast or powerful.But in the face of the imminent disaster of destroying the country, this young village seems to be a little immature.

Time!What I lack most now is time!If you give yourself another ten years to fight steadily.At that time, Liangshanbo will definitely become a powerful force with a fixed territory, a sufficient population base, and ample reserve sources of troops. No one dares to underestimate it!

It's a pity that time doesn't wait for me, and this is just a good wish!The current situation made Wang Lun unknowingly come to a crossroads.Although at this time, he can already copy Li Jun's trajectory and escape overseas.Stand up for yourself and give an explanation to the brothers who choose to follow you.But sitting back and watching his motherland fall and his compatriots humiliated made him unable to give himself an explanation.

Wang Lun's gaze pierced through the bustling phantom in front of him.From the vivid compatriots cited in these picture scrolls and poems, I can faintly hear the cry in my heart.

Every ordinary person has the right to back down, but Wang Lun at this time does not feel that he has such a cold-blooded right.

"Work harder!" Wang Lun's inexplicable words stunned Jiao Ting for a while.But his excellent obedience kept him from questioning, and he immediately said loudly: "Keep going! There is still a long way to go, if it is so slow, eating feces can't keep up with the heat!"

Everyone burst into laughter when they heard the words, but they all quickened their pace and moved forward energetically.

……

“硫黄870五斤、窝黄430七斤八两、焰硝两千五百斤、麻茹62斤八两，黄蜡31斤四两、清油三斤九两八分、桐油半两、松脂一14两、浓油一分。……”一个朝廷官员打扮的汉子，对着手上的货单照宣科道。

"Okay, I'm going to prepare it now!" The shopkeeper of this shop replied with a smile, but he replied very expertly, "Dry lacquer, setting powder, bamboo sticks, and yellow dan, don't you want?"

The official smiled when he saw this, and replied: "Old Huang, I'm purchasing this for the royal ceremony of the Chinese New Year. You think it's a war! What do you want these poisons for?" Sometimes, if the state government below escorts the tax goods to Beijing not in time, the relevant yamen of the imperial court will buy them from the market nearby.Therefore, this kind of transaction is not once or twice, and both buyers and sellers are quite familiar with each other.

"Talking, talking too much!" Shopkeeper Huang said with a smile, "Master Liu, please come into the room to rest for a while and have a sip of tea. The villain is ready!"

Master Liu nodded, looked at his colleague who was squatting on the ground, and said, "Vice Envoy Ling, shall we go in and have a seat?"

"I'll check the quality of the goods, Mr. Liu, please help yourself!" Deputy Ling replied, and then lowered his head in concentration.

Mr. Liu shook his head. In fact, there was no such thing as a buyer, so he wanted to follow to see.In fact, those who are in the business of purchasing are afraid of encountering serious people, but Deputy Envoy Ling is exactly such a person.Master Liu didn't say anything, and went into the house.

"Treasurer Huang, why do you have so many impurities in the flame nitrate, and sulfur? The quality is far worse than last time!" Deputy Ling turned around and saw that shopkeeper Huang was about to leave, so he stopped him and said.

"The deputy envoy is an expert. He knows that the flame nitrate is dug out from the soil at the bottom of the wall. The personnel of our [-] military state nitrate refiners are uneven. Who dares to say that they are all top-grade? And this sulfur is all Our products from Jinzhou are not imported from the sea merchants, so some flaws are unavoidable, the deputy envoy must not see the truth!" Shopkeeper Huang was the one who wanted to hide, but he was stopped by this person. Helpless, but still forced a smile on his face.

"You always say that, I almost recited it!" Deputy Envoy Ling shook his head, stood up and said.He knew very well that there were too many disadvantages in purchasing by the imperial court, and he was not looking for good things, but only looking for related merchants to purchase.Fortunately, this time it was not for the military to make firearms, but for the officials to join in the fun during the Chinese New Year, so although he felt a little helpless, he didn't say anything.

Shopkeeper Huang laughed and went in as if he was hiding under the pretext of talking to Mr. Liu.Deputy Ling couldn't stay idle, he just checked the goods over and over again. Even the apprentices around him were familiar with his behavior, and no one stepped forward to find it boring even though he inspected it.

After watching for a while, Deputy Envoy Ling suddenly noticed that there was a white-clothed scholar beside him, and said casually, "Go to the inner room to buy the goods! But I would like to advise you, the quality of the goods this time is not very good, and the medicine may not be effective! It is better to go Let’s take a look at Fanshang! We are good at everything in Song Dynasty, but we don’t produce much of these things!” Just as shopkeeper Huang said, Deputy Ling is an insider who not only knows that sulfur and saltpeter can be used to make firearms, but also Used as medicine.

"Thank you, don't dare to ask the general's name?" The white-clothed scholar laughed.

Seeing this, Deputy Envoy Ling stood up and looked at the person who came. This person is gentle and young, and he doesn't look like a famous doctor in the capital. He is probably an apprentice of some medical school.After all, although these two substances can be used as medicines, doctors who weigh too much dare not use them lightly. Firstly, if they are used in small amounts, they will have no effect, and if they are used in excess, they will have too many side effects.

"Miangui, your surname is Ling!" Deputy Envoy Ling replied.

"Xiao Ke just overheard that the shopkeeper here is called Your Excellency Deputy Envoy Ling, how dare I ask Jiazhanku Deputy Envoy Hong Tianlei Lingzhen what is the relationship with Your Excellency?" The white-clothed scholar asked again.

"You know me?" Ling Zhen asked in surprise, looking at the scholar.In words, he looked up and down this person, but no matter what, he couldn't remember where he had seen this person.

"Xiao Ke is now looking for work near Xiqing Mansion. I know an old soldier in Dezhou. In my spare time, I often listen to him talk, saying that the deputy envoy is the first gunner in my Song Dynasty, and he has the essence of using firearms. Xiao Ke was curious for a while, so Come forward and ask, please forgive me for taking the liberty!" said the white-clothed scholar.

"Old Army?" Ling Zhen asked suspiciously.

"Exactly, this person is just like your Excellency, and he also has a deep understanding of firearms. He once developed a thing that can open mountains and crack rocks when it explodes. Serious illness, Zuojin doctors are helpless!" The scholar sighed, and said: "I don't know about him, whether he has found a successor!"

Ling Zhen was shocked when he heard the words, and said: "Can you open mountains and crack rocks? You scholar, don't brag about it!"

"This is what I saw with my own eyes, how dare I bully each other? My family members have all seen this person!" After the scholar finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the big men around him, only to see a strong man in front of him. Fangcai said: "Why is my master bragging? Don't believe me!"

It was only then that Ling Zhen noticed that there were a few big men beside the scholar, all of them were very strong and strong, and the first strong man was even more impressive, not inferior to the guards around the official's family.

"This old soldier once said that the three methods of gunpowder in the world mainly rely on arsenic, crotons, wolf's poison, dry lacquer, fixed powder, bamboo sticks, and yellow dan to poison people, or add iron nails to hurt people. In fact, there is no need to add it. These auxiliary materials only need sulfur, flame nitrate, and charcoal! As long as the proportion is right, it can completely produce the power of breaking mountains and cracking rocks! By then, the enemy will be dead, so why poison him?" Seeing the other party's excited expression, the white-clothed scholar said again.

Seeing that this person spoke clearly and logically, Ling Zhen could no longer doubt the authenticity of what he said, and he couldn't bear it, so he hurriedly asked: "Has this old soldier ever mentioned the ratio of sulfur, flame nitrate, and charcoal?"

"I don't know this little thing!" The scholar shook his head and said, "I only know the three current methods of gunpowder. Flame and nitrate account for about [-]%, charcoal may account for [-]% or [-]%, and sulfur may account for [-]% or [-]%. The army once said that flame nitrate is indispensable, sulfur must not be too much, and charcoal is the best!"

As the saying goes: Once an expert makes a move, he will know if there is one.As soon as Ling Zhen heard that the scholar's speech was accurate, he obviously didn't just talk nonsense, so he didn't shout, "Ah! I don't think there are such strange people in this world! Where is he? Ah Xiqing Mansion, by the way, it is Yanzhou. Right? It’s not too far from here, so I’ll go back and ask for leave, and hope that the scholar will be me and let me see him for the last time!” (To be continued..)