Fang Er shook his head.
He fetched paper and a brush, sat down at the stone table, and began to sketch.
He had drawn blueprints for a steam engine when he was at the estate.
He had just started when he was interrupted by events.
He drew and revised continuously.
Xiao Qing's little head peeked over and took a few glances.
Then, she walked away looking bewildered.
What was the young master drawing?
It looked like scribbles, and she couldn't understand a single word.
Three full days passed, and the blueprint was finalized.
Fang Er opted for a 16-cylinder engine.
Arranged in a V-shape, it was also known as a V16 engine.
After all, no one was checking emissions in this era!
He would do as he pleased!
Lu Shuang and the others finally returned.
They carried a small wooden bucket.
"My lord, we've found the naphtha."
Fang Er, who was reviewing the blueprint, quickly set it aside.
He walked over and took a look at the naphtha in the bucket.
He picked up a stick and sniffed it.
It was very viscous.
It smelled like a mixture of kerosene and gasoline, with a hint of asphalt.
That's right!
It was definitely petroleum!
Looking at the petroleum in the bucket, Fang Er frowned.
"Is this all there is?"
Lu Shuang quickly replied.
"My lord, it's all outside. I just brought a little for you to see."
Fang Er's spirits lifted upon hearing this.
"Let's go and have a look."
Outside the Chen residence.
Five ox carts were lined up.
A team of blond merchants stood beside the carts.
Fang Er couldn't tell where they were from.
But they were definitely not from Datang.
The carts were all filled with large wooden barrels.
Fang Er could smell it from a distance!
Fang Er walked over excitedly.
He opened them one by one and took a look.
Indeed!
He wondered where they had found them.
Clearly, these people were not residents of Shenyang.
Lu Shuang must have encountered them somewhere.
Lu Shang said.
"Reporting to my lord, we met these people to the west. Their interpreter said they heard this area was occupied by Datang, so they wanted to come and see if they could do some business."
Hearing this, Fang Er secretly clicked his tongue.
These foreigners with their big noses had such keen senses.
Fang Er looked at the blond merchants.
"Who among you is the leader?"
One of the men spoke in a jumbled manner to the others.
It was clear that this person was the interpreter.
After a moment, one person emerged from the group.
The interpreter pointed to this man and said.
"Respected Earl, this is our leader, Abuaka, Sankabulieka, Bunkabuka, Yiqilaika, Mo'ersi."
"You may address him as Abuaka."
Fang Er was stunned!
What a terrible name! So long!
He wondered how many characters it contained.
"Let me count…"
A total of fifteen characters!
"Oh my!"
How did they remember it and pronounce it correctly?
But fortunately, he could remember Abuaka.
"Alright, Mr. Abuaka, where are you from?"
"And, the origin of this naphtha, would you be so kind as to inform this lord?"
The interpreter listened, then spoke again to Abuaka, Sankabulieka, Bunkabuka, Yiqilaika, Mo'ersi in a jumbled fashion.
Fang Er felt as if a flock of ducks was quacking incessantly in his ear.
Then he saw Abuaka, Sankabulieka, Bunkabuka, Yiqilaika, Mo'ersi respond to the interpreter with similar duck-like noises.
Afterward, the interpreter said to Fang Er.
"Respected Earl, we are from Suyab city in the west, here for trade."
"As for the origin of the naphtha, that is a secret, and we must beg your forgiveness for not being able to inform the respected Earl."
"Damn!"
Suyab city!
That's really far!
It must be over ten thousand li!
A round trip would be a long march?
Scratching his head, Fang Er said to him.
"This lord was too presumptuous. Since that is the case, this lord will buy all of this naphtha. How much silver will it cost?"
The interpreter and Abuaka, Sankabulieka…
(God, it's too hard to remember!)
After the interpreter and Abuaka exchanged words again, he said.
"Respected Earl, there are thirty barrels of naphtha here in total. Each barrel costs five taels of silver from your country."
Fang Er looked at the barrels.
Each barrel was about a hundred catties.
Considering the long journey from the Western Regions to here.
This was ridiculously cheap!
Thirty barrels, only a hundred and fifty taels of silver.
"Is that all? It's too little!"
Fang Er suddenly shook his head and looked at Abuaka.
These fellows must have more!
They wouldn't have traveled all the way from the Western Regions to the Northeast for such a small sum of money!
The journey alone would probably take half a year!
A year round trip!
How could a mere one hundred and fifty taels of silver be enough!
The interpreter, hearing Fang Er's words, had a bitter expression.
Without consulting Abuaka, he replied directly.
"Respected Earl, to be frank, we brought over a hundred ox carts on this journey eastward."
"They were all loaded with this kind of naphtha."
"However, when we passed through Khitan, we were robbed by the Khitan Khan."
"Not only were the ox carts and goods stolen, but our people were also taken."
"When we escaped from Khitan, only these five ox carts and our remaining people were left."
Fang Er's mouth twitched.
A hundred carts!
Six hundred catties per cart.
That was sixty thousand catties of petroleum!
Even with the simplest distillation and separation method, it would yield 15% gasoline and 35% diesel!
In other words, ten thousand catties of gasoline and thirty thousand catties of diesel.
It was intercepted by Khitan!
How was he supposed to drive his four-wheeled vehicle back to Chang'an to show off now?!
Damn it!
How could he tolerate this!
Tolerate his grandmother!
How dare a tiny Khitan steal his belongings?!
Life and death are fleeting! If you disagree, fight!