The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 350 Hard Acting
Qin Hui looked bewildered and didn't quite understand.

He saw the protruding mountain; it was huge, huge, huge!

If you want to mine it manually, you need a lot of workers to chisel many holes in it and then smash it bit by bit with a sledgehammer. That's no joke; it really requires a lot of manpower and resources.

But there were few workers in sight, and these workers were not carrying chisels or sledgehammers; they were empty-handed, circling around the protruding mountainside.

The mountain looked like it had just been burned; the entire mountain was blackened and still smoldering. You could see with the naked eye that the rocks were scorching hot.

Qin Hui couldn't understand why they were burning the mine that was about to be mined.

The engineering officer shouted, "Is the explosives in place?"

Several people around the mountain responded, "Position number one, installed."

"Position number two, installed."

"Position number three..."

The engineering officer waved his hand: "Everyone evacuate, prepare to detonate."

After saying that, he turned to Yue Wenxuan and said, "Young Master Yue, please step back a little further. We'll be fine if we stay close, but you can't afford to make a mistake."

Yue Wenxuan readily agreed and immediately stepped back, even pulling Qin Hui aside as he did so, saying with a smile, "Lord Qin, it's dangerous ahead, the farther you retreat, the better."

Soon, the area was cleared, and everyone had retreated to a great distance.

At the command of the engineering officer, several fuses were lit at the same time, and the flames spread.

Qin Hui followed the burning fuse with curious eyes as he walked forward, completely unaware of what he was doing.

Finally, the matchlock was lit.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several explosives detonated in quick succession within a second, and another terrifying blast resounded.

Qin Hui then realized what sound he had just heard. Hearing it up close here was even more terrifying than when he heard it in Tiebao City. The mountain beneath his feet seemed to be shaking, as if an earth dragon were turning over.

The massive protruding mountain ahead collapsed and shattered instantly amidst the deafening explosion.

Smoke and dust filled the air, sand and stones flew everywhere, creating an apocalyptic scene.

Qin Hui was terrified. Suddenly, he felt something gripping him tightly. He turned around sharply and saw Wang Shi pulling him... Wang Shi's face was completely white, without a trace of redness: "Husband... I... accidentally... peed... I need to find a place to change... otherwise I can't bear the shame..."

Qin Hui wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; in fact, he had almost wet himself just now.

Turning to look at Weng Shun and Gao Yigong beside him, he saw that the two of them also looked like they "almost peed themselves".

At this moment, the engineering officer shouted again: "Success! Everyone, approach carefully and inspect the explosion site..."

A group of miners began to cautiously approach the explosion site.

After a short inspection, the miners shouted, "No problem, the blast was a success!"

"The mountain was completely blasted to pieces!"

"The quarry workers are on site!"

A large group of "stone breakers" carrying sledgehammers entered the site. These people swung their sledgehammers and smashed the still large stones a couple more times.

Since these stones were heated and made brittle beforehand, they were not too difficult to smash with a hammer. Usually, after two or three blows, they would be crushed.

"Porters, come in!" A group of porters carrying baskets entered the mine. Some used shovels to scoop up the rubble on the ground and pour it into the baskets. Once the baskets were full, the porters would shout "Heave-ho!" and shoulder their loads, heading towards the blast furnace, singing as they went: "Feet on stones, hands digging in sand, we travel the world through wind and rain!"

Qin Hui stared at them in astonishment...

Suddenly it dawned on me: this is how ore is sent to the blast furnace.

Holy crap, that was fast.

In just a short while, they broke up a large chunk of the mountain and carried it to the blast furnace.

This iron smelting speed is fucking insane!

Qin Hui's heart trembled...

The kind of shaking that's unbearable.

Fear, deep fear.

Yue Wenxuan was still at Versailles: "Sigh! Too slow!"

He beckoned the engineering officer over, giving him a meaningful look while criticizing him: "You're all so inexperienced. You've taken so long to blast such a small piece of mountain?"

The engineering officer understood Yue Wenxuan's signal and, of course, had to play along. He quickly said, "Reporting to Young Master Yue, this batch of miners are all novices who are just starting out, so they are not yet proficient. If I teach them for a while longer, we should be able to double our speed."

Yue Wenxuan continued, "Alas! Slow, too slow! When will I have 200,000 musketeers?"

Qin Hui's face turned ashen: Two hundred thousand? Do you have such a big heart?
Yue Wenxuan: "Lord Qin, you flatter me. We've already looked at the mining and smelting processes. Now it's time to look at the firearms manufacturing process."

Qin Hui's spirits lifted: "I should definitely go and learn from this."

Yue Wenxuan gave a wink, and the engineering official understood, nodded, and withdrew. Once out of Qin Hui's sight, he immediately took off running towards the workshop...

When Yue Wenxuan brought Qin Hui and his entourage to the workshop, Li Tiezhu, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, was already dressed in a very clean and pretentious official robe, waiting there with a group of old craftsmen.

Upon seeing Yue Wenxuan, Li Tiezhu stepped forward, adopting the demeanor of a "righteous official," and loudly proclaimed, "Young Master Yue, I have heard that you intend to bring people to see our blacksmith workshop. This is absolutely unacceptable!"

Yue Wenxuan feigned surprise: "Why not?"

Li Tiezhu turned to Qin Hui, his expression hostile: "This man escaped from the Jin Kingdom. He might be a Jin spy. If we let him into our blacksmith workshop, wouldn't he steal our firearms manufacturing methods? And if he turns around and teaches these methods to the Jin people, that would be unwise! Absolutely unwise!"

Qin Hui was startled and quickly said, "I am not a spy. I escaped from the Jin Kingdom after going through countless life-threatening situations. I am a citizen of the Song Dynasty and will die a ghost of the Song Dynasty."

Li Tiezhu muttered, "Heaven knows if they really escaped or if Talan released them."

Qin Hui: "!!!"

Yue Wenxuan: "Hey! Li Tiezhu, how can you talk to our distinguished guest like that? It's so rude of you."

Li Tiezhu: "Whether they are distinguished guests or spies is still hard to say."

Yue Wenxuan pretended to be angry: "He has no class at all! Lord Qin, let's ignore him and just go in and see."

He led Qin Hui and his entourage into the workshop.

Li Tiezhu raised his voice and shouted into the workshop, "All craftsmen, stop! Don't let outsiders see our skills!"

The artisans in the workshop immediately put down their work and stared blankly.

So when Yue Wenxuan led Qin Hui inside, all they could see were the various finished parts and some boring machines that had stopped operating... They didn't see the manufacturing process at all.

(End of this chapter)