Qikou had long since become hell on earth.
Upon entering, the eight contingents were so appalled by the scene that not a shred of defiance against the Great Tang remained.
Pockmarked ground was littered with bodies.
It took the eight contingents, numbering tens of thousands, two full days to clear the area. Bodies were buried, and valuables were sorted and packed.
"My Lord, it's all done. It seems they didn't miss much in terms of valuables."
Zhuzi stood behind Fang Er, watching the eight contingents haul cartload after cartload of wooden chests from Qikou.
"They are merely passing through, let them pick what they can."
"Were those places found?"
Fang Er was referring to the locations of what would later become major open-pit coal mines on the grasslands. In addition to these, there were also the copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, and tin mining sites marked on the mineral map.
The war on the grasslands had thus come to a close, and it wouldn't be long before Tubo and Nanyue were dealt with. These three fronts would bring substantial revenue to the Great Tang's treasury, making it time to expand workshop capacity and gradually put railways on the agenda.
"Reporting to my Lord, I took the map and spoke with Yi Nan. He said that coal does exist in those areas!"
"However, burning it inside tents is highly dangerous, and no one on the grasslands dares to use such things, so they haven't dug for it."
"Heh heh, burning unprocessed coal inside tents, it's no wonder people would die."
Fang Er chuckled and continued to ask, "Does anyone know about the others?"
Zhuzi shook his head.
"Very well, then summon the leaders of the eight contingents.
Zhuzi turned and left. Shortly after, eight men walked towards them, followed by two ragged individuals.
"Greetings, my Lord!"
The eight men bowed in unison, and then Ashina Bòbì pointed to the two men.
"My Lord, these are the artisans that Jielì had previously abducted from you. There were ten of them, but Jielì tortured eight to death, leaving only these two."
The two men, with dishevelled hair and heads bowed, were not recognized by Fang Er. Upon hearing Ashina Bòbì's words, he stood up abruptly. He then walked towards the two men.
"Lift your heads!"
The two men, resembling beggars, slowly raised their heads upon hearing Fang Er's voice. They pushed aside the tangled hair obscuring their eyes and stared at Fang Er for a good while.
"My, my Lord!"
The two men looked at him with disbelief. After confirming his identity, they fell to their knees with a thud.
"Wuwuwuwu! My Lord, they're dead, all of them are dead!"
"Lǎo Liù was beheaded, and Lǎo Jiǔ was beaten to death!"
"Wuwu! They forced us to make gunpowder, and when we refused, they tortured us in every way imaginable!"
"Xiǎo Dīngzi was dragged to death by horses!"
"And—"
"Ashina Bòbì!"
Fang Er's eyes turned red, his entire body trembling, as he roared at Ashina Bòbì, word by word.
"My, my Lord! It has nothing to do with me. Jielì forbade anyone from interfering with the gunpowder matter!"
"It was Ashina Shābì! He led the men who did it!"
"I tried to dissuade them at the time, but Jielì sent me away directly!"
Seeing Fang Er's expression, Ashina Bòbì immediately knelt on the ground, not daring to look up as he explained.
"Where are they?"
Fang Er roared again.
"Yes, yesterday I tied them up! And handed them over to your personal guards."
"Su Feng!"
"My Lord, please wait. I will go and bring them here immediately!"
Su Feng nodded and turned to leave. A short while later, he returned with several soldiers from the Heavenly Fire Army, escorting the men Ashina Bòbì had brought yesterday.
"Kneel!"
Su Feng kicked the back of one of the men's knees.
The man cried out and fell to his knees.
Fang Er stepped forward and helped the two artisans to their feet.
"Ma Huzi, Liu Jiuzhi, get up and see if it's them!"
The two artisans looked tremblingly at the men Su Feng brought, then instantly rushed towards Ashina Shābì on the ground. They tackled Ashina Shābì to the ground and began punching and kicking him.
"Avenge my brother!"
"Avenge my brother!"
"Madman, pull them away."
Fang Er walked to Ashina Shābì, grabbed him by the hair, and hauled him up.
"You want gunpowder, don't you?"
Ashina Shābì, with a bruised and swollen face, looked at Fang Er, his mouth twisted into a smile.
"Heh heh, hahahaha! Gunpowder? Your two subordinates have already revealed the formula!"
"Hahahahaha! From now on, gunpowder will no longer be the exclusive domain of the Great Tang!"
"Furthermore, the Great Khan has already handed over the gunpowder formula to the merchants who came to the grasslands, and now it is probably known to everyone!"
"Hahahahaha—!"
"My Lord! We said the formula was three parts niter, one part sulfur, three parts charcoal, and one part iron powder!"
Liu Jiuzhi, upon hearing Ashina Shābì's words, quickly shouted from the side.
Fang Er did not doubt Liu Jiuzhi's words. At least, during the recent attack on the Turks, there was no sign of gunpowder. If Jielì had indeed obtained the correct formula and produced a large amount of gunpowder, the war would not have proceeded without a hitch.
"Did you hear that? Then this Lord will tell you the correct formula!"
After speaking, he leaned close to Ashina Shābì's ear: "Remember, the correct formula is three parts niter, one part sulfur, four parts charcoal, and seven parts saltpeter!"
"Remember, when you go down, walk slowly and wait for old Jielì to take credit."
"Su Feng!"
"My Lord!"
"Since they like gunpowder so much, let's give them some. Don't let anyone say we're stingy!"
"And have Zhang Tian escort them personally!"
Fang Er threw Ashina Shābì to the ground and took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands.
"Yes!"
Su Feng turned and went to make arrangements.
Ashina Shābì, listening to the formula Fang Er had just spoken, roared in frustration, "You're lying! The previous formula was real! I tested it myself, it can explode!"
"It can explode!"
"Explode your ass! Since you want to explode, I'll let you have your fill of explosions!"
Zhang Tian, leading his men, rushed over and dragged Ashina Shābì and the others away.
For the past few days, the ten hot air balloon envelopes had been kept inflated, ready to ascend at any moment. Ashina Shābì and the others were thrown into the hot air balloons. As the balloons ascended, they rose higher and higher.
After reaching an altitude of over a thousand meters, the hot air balloons adjusted their direction and flew westward, leaving the scope of the Heavenly Fire Army.
Zhang Tian smiled and attached a satchel of explosives to Ashina Shābì's chest.
"Hahahaha, my Lord is merciful, allowing you to experience the feeling of being a flying man before your death!"
After saying that, he ignited the fuse on the satchel of explosives and then threw Ashina Shābì directly out of the basket.
Ashina Shābì was initially excited because the nomadic people worshipped the Eternal Heaven, and the sky was the most sacred. However, when he was thrown from the basket, he was utterly terrified. The satchel of explosives with its burning fuse on his chest made his soul want to fly away.
"Ah~~~~!"
"Ah~~ Holy crap!!"
Then, a series of screams echoed from above him.
He twisted his head with difficulty and saw that his brother, Ashina Diāo, had also been thrown down. And everyone else who had been tied up and delivered to the Tang army by Ashina Bòbì were also thrown down.
"Ah~~~~!"
"Ah~~ Holy crap!!"
"Ashina Bòbì! I'll fuck your second uncle!! Ah!"
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The screams finally ceased when the fuses burned out, and bursts of bloody fireworks exploded in the sky.
ps: First update.