Lord: Starting with Summoning the Regular Army of Earth

In discussing farmland management, Professor Zhang Hongjian suggested that byproducts generated during soap making, such as organic residues left after refining oils, as well as waste alkali and glycerin solutions, could be used as valuable resources for soil improvement.

This allows for resource recycling and can even accelerate the composting process.

Moreover, Professor Li Jianguo also brought good news.

They discovered limestone in the northern foothills near the River Weeping Blood.

It is important to know that limestone is hard, easy to mine and process, and is not only an ideal material for building defensive facilities such as walls and fortresses, but also can be used to improve acidic soil or as building mortar.

It can be said to have great uses.

In addition, they also discovered a layer of good quality clay near the downstream riverbed of the Tears Creek.

This means they can use local materials to make bricks, tiles, and pottery.

This is crucial for improving residential housing, building granaries, and even developing handmade pottery production in the future.

"Comrades, I have also made a very important discovery." Materials expert Wang Qinian placed several dark red stones full of honeycomb holes on the table.

That is the most common stone in Jinshi Ridge—Jinshi stone.

This piqued the curiosity of Matthew and Will, who wondered what the expert had found in this most common stone.

Wang Qinian picked up a palm-sized piece of ash stone, tapped it with his knuckles, and produced a dull sound with a metallic quality.

"As everyone knows, ash is hard and is the main building stone in the area. But after my preliminary research and analysis, I discovered that it also has another very unique property."

At this point, he deliberately piqued skepticism, but seeing Matthew's eager gaze, he said with satisfaction, "It has a porous honeycomb structure and energy-accumulating properties. Look at these holes..."

He scratched the surface of the stone with his fingernail, bringing down some small, metallic-shimmering fragments. "These structures give the embers a huge internal surface area, and during their formation, perhaps due to some special energy environment... such as residual ancient magical energy, it stored unstable chemical energy inside, so..."

At this point, Wang Qinian picked up another smaller piece of flint and then an ordinary piece of flint.

"We conducted a comparative experiment." He gestured for everyone to pay attention, and then struck the ash stone forcefully with flint.

"Swoosh—Bang!"

After a sharp scraping sound, what was ejected was not the sparks from the collision of ordinary flint, but a small ball of dazzling incandescent sparks that suddenly burst open, like a miniature firework. It was extremely bright and lasted for a short time, but a wave of heat could be felt coming towards you.

A spark landed on the dry kindling prepared nearby, instantly igniting a small clump of grass.

Hey!

A murmur of surprise rippled through the conference room.

Matthew and Will instinctively leaned back, even surprising the usually composed Zhang Hongjian, Zhao Lanxin, Li Jianguo, and others.

Wang Qinian put down the stone and said with a hint of pride, "See that? This isn't just a flint; its energy release intensity and the instantaneous high temperature it generates far exceed those of ordinary flint. Our preliminary analysis suggests that it's not merely about physical friction generating heat, but also involves the instantaneous activation of unstable chemical energy within it, similar to... an extremely active natural oxidant or combustion accelerant!"

He looked at Matthew and Sun Zhengwu, who was in charge of military affairs, and his tone became extremely serious: "Comrade Matthew, Team Leader Sun, do you know what this means? It means that if we can crush it into powder of a specific particle size and mix it with suitable combustibles, such as charcoal powder, sulfur, etc..."

"Gunpowder!" Sun Zhengwu stood up abruptly. As an experienced officer, he instantly realized its enormous military potential, his voice tinged with excitement: "Professor Wang, do you mean that this ash can be used as a key ingredient in the manufacture of black powder, or even more powerful high-performance gunpowder?"

"Theoretically, it's entirely feasible!" Wang Qinian nodded confidently. "Moreover, due to its unique energy properties, gunpowder made from it might have a higher detonation velocity and greater power than traditional black powder. More importantly, it's a resource readily available locally!"

wow——

The meeting room erupted in excitement.

"My God, we're not standing on rocks, we're standing on strategic resources!"

"If we could make gunpowder, even just homemade grenades or landmines, it would be a massacre against goblins or hordes of beasts!"

"It can be used for mining and road construction too. Blasting is much faster than using a pickaxe!" The crowd discussed excitedly.

Matthew's heart also began to pound.

gunpowder!

This is a weapon that transcends time; once mastered, the defensive and offensive capabilities of Emberstone Ridge will undergo a qualitative change.

He suppressed his excitement and asked in a deep voice, "Professor Wang, what are the current technical difficulties? What conditions do we need to achieve this?"

Wang Qinian's tone became serious again: "There are three main difficulties. First, the ash itself is unstable, and rough crushing may cause accidental combustion or even explosion. A safe grinding device needs to be designed."

Secondly, extensive experimentation is needed to determine the optimal mixing ratio with different combustibles in order to achieve a balance between power and stability.

Finally, there's the control of particle size; the fineness of the powder directly affects the combustion rate and the explosion effect.

He looked at Zhang Hongjian: "This requires the workshop to manufacture precise and reliable grinding tools and sieving equipment as soon as possible. At the same time, we need an absolutely safe experimental site far away from residential areas."

Zhang Hongjian immediately responded, "No problem, this is the highest priority. We will design water-powered or animal-powered stone mills and sieves as soon as possible."

Sun Zhengwu added, "I'll choose the safe location. It'll be that deserted wasteland on the west side of the rift valley. I'll assign someone to guard it!"

Matthew was overjoyed. He stood up, scanned the room, and said, word by word, "Professor Wang, you are in full charge of this matter. I look forward to you bringing an explosive achievement to Emberstone Ridge as soon as possible."

"Haha, no problem," Wang Qinian said with a smile.

The group then had a brief discussion on several issues, including digging wells and managing the Weeping Blood River.

Based on the experts' initial observations and assessments, flood control is highly feasible, but it is not a simple project that requires a long time and a huge amount of manpower and resources, so it should be considered later.

After all the mission progress and situation reports were completed, Matthew suggested that some people who were unable to work at night, or who were exhausted, could temporarily return to Earth to rest and report.

In addition, a group of replacement personnel will be summoned to participate in the work that can be carried out at night.

For example, the work in the woodworking workshop, the blacksmith's forge, the fortifications, and the soap production that was to be carried out later.

"I agree with Comrade Matthew's proposal," Sun Zhengwu agreed. "The professors can go back and rest for a while, and then make adjustments to the personnel based on the upcoming tasks. For example, we can send more experts in chemistry and metallurgy to support the Ember Stone application project. At the same time, our group can also send some more people to do manual labor and nighttime defense work."

"Then it's settled!" Matthew nodded. "Please have all the leaders immediately draft a list, prioritizing those who need to personally go back to coordinate resources or whose bodies need rest to return first. We'll try to complete all the rotations before midnight."

"Okay!" all the team leaders responded in unison.

After the meeting ended, everyone immediately went their separate ways, leaving only Matthew and Will in the meeting room.

Will was still helping Matthew organize the meeting minutes when he suddenly looked up at Matthew and said, "Your Highness, could you teach me goblin language?"

"Goblin language?" Matthew asked, surprised.

"Yes, this way I can communicate directly with these goblin leaders, and I can help you relay orders and share your workload," Will explained.

Matthew then understood what Will meant and couldn't help but smile, saying, "That's not goblin language, that's Chinese, a great language. Of course, if you want to learn, I can teach you right now."

Upon seeing Matthew agree, Will's eyes lit up with joy, and he immediately knelt on one knee, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness."

……