Chapter 192: Gaojia Village Firearms Bureau

The arrival of the gunpowder makers greatly lifted Li Daoxuan’s spirits.

Finally, the long-prepared firecrackers would be put to use.

“Yiye, have him stay at the artisans’ well. First, report him to Gao Yiyi. Assign him a temporary room according to the standard for artisans and let him rest well today. I’ll arrange work for him tomorrow,” ordered the Deity.

Gao Yiye acknowledged and led Xu Dafu towards the main fortress.

Xu Dafu felt a bit uneasy, but seeing they seemed willing to take him in, he felt a flicker of anticipation. Earlier, the lamp maker had received three taels of silver as wages, which gave Xu Dafu newfound confidence.

Soon, they reached the artisans’ well.

The artisans’ well was bustling during the day, filled with craftsmen working in the courtyard. However, it was late now, and most had gone to sleep. Only the blacksmith’s shop still glowed with the furnace fire, where Li Da sat by the forge, frowning at a spring.

The scene cast a somewhat eerie atmosphere over the artisans’ well.

Thirty-Two had just been there, bringing over the lamp maker. Artisan Master Gao Yiyi had just finished assigning the lamp maker a room when he turned and saw Gao Yiye bringing another person.

Gao Yiyi smiled, “Another craftsman? Who is this sir?”

Gao Yiye replied, “Gunpowder makers.”

This startled Gao Yiyi. Simultaneously, inside the blacksmith’s shop, Li Da jerked his head up to look over.

Gao Yiye continued, “The Deity ordered you to arrange a temporary room for him first.”

Gao Yiyi was puzzled, “Temporary? Not letting him stay in the artisans’ well?”

Li Da, nearby, spoke up, “I think I can roughly guess the Deity’s intention… It’s probably because… of the incident of the Great Explosion in the capital.”

The people of Gaojia Village, isolated and poorly informed, didn’t understand what “Great Explosion in the capital” meant. But Li Da, the former county blacksmith, knew. Xu Dafu, the gunpowder maker, was even more aware and wore a strange expression. “If I were to play with gunpowder here, it really wouldn’t be very appropriate. This is the master’s family Fortress, isn’t it? If the gunpowder were to explode here… then that would…”

Gao Yiyi understood now. “Alright then, find a temporary room for him to stay in for now. We’ll see how the Deity arranges things later.”

He temporarily placed the gunpowder maker in a room next to the lamp maker’s.

That night, both newly arrived craftsmen were incredibly excited. They gathered together and chatted incessantly for hours, too exhilarated to sleep. A completely new life had unfolded before them, and they faintly sensed this new life promised happiness thousands of times greater than their old lives.

…

Early in the morning, Gao Yiye, sporting a pair of panda eyes, knocked on the door of the two craftsmen’ room and was met by Xu Dafu, who also sported a pair of panda eyes.

Two sets of panda eyes stared wide at each other.

Gao Yiye asked, “Haven’t had breakfast yet?”

Xu Dafu nodded pitifully. He had woken up a little while ago. The lamp maker had already been whisked away by Artisan Master Gao Yiyi to be assigned work. Xu Dafu had different arrangements and couldn’t follow Gao Yiyi. He was hungry but dared not go out to ask for food, so he just waited stupidly on an empty stomach.

Gao Yiye smiled, “I haven’t had breakfast either. I’ve been terribly busy lately, haven’t cooked in days. I’ll take you for some rice noodles, then wait for the Deity’s decree.”

Xu Dafu was very curious, “Rice noodles? What are those?”

Soon, he was led by Gao Yiye to “Laba Rice Noodles” in the business circle. Despite the early hour, business was booming. Gao Laba was busy running around, constantly adding noodles to the pot and taking them out.

Village Chief, Mr. Wang, and other “wealthy folks who didn’t want to cook themselves” were crowded in the shop. Some were already slurping their noodles, while others impatiently waited for theirs to be cooked.

Gao Yiye took out ten copper coins, paid for two bowls of noodles, and gestured for Xu Dafu to sit. “Seems you haven’t taken a wife either? When work gets busy later, you might not have time to cook. You can come to Uncle Laba to eat rice noodles. They are really delicious, a specialty from the south, I hear.”

Xu Dafu thought to himself: Five coppers a bowl? Where would I afford that? I can’t be so extravagant. Probably not many people in Xi’an Prefecture eat like this either. If it sold for one or two coppers, maybe some would be willing to try.

But what’s going on with this village? So many people can afford it?

He watched the small rice noodle shop packed to bursting, his mind full of questions.

As he and Gao Yiye slurped their noodles, Li Daoxuan was busy preparing for the “Gaojia Village Firearms Bureau”.

The Firearms Bureau would undoubtedly be a critical department for Gaojia Village in the future. Because he fully intended to phase out most melee weapons, arming all Gaojia villagers with firearms would mean the bureau would stockpile vast quantities of gunpowder. The safety of this stuff absolutely could not be overlooked.

A single slip could trigger a “Tianqi Grand Explosion.”

Therefore, the Gaojia Firearms Bureau must be situated a safe distance from the main fortress, the Labor Offenders Village, and the Short-term Workers Village. Ideally, it should be within a valley, forming its own isolated compound – much like the military bases often located in mountains in later generations.

Li Daoxuan tapped randomly on the outer regions of the box – north, south, east, and west. About two li (roughly 0.6 miles) northwest, he found a small valley. The valley was mostly bare rock with very few trees. It seemed an excellent location.

He took a metal scraper and swiped it back and forth several times between Gaojia Village and that valley. A basic yellow earth official road was swiftly scraped out. Villagers could be assigned to pave it with cement later.

Next was the main building for the Firearms Bureau.

Future military bases mostly used sturdy reinforced concrete structures. Li Daoxuan pondered this carefully. He ran to his balcony, grabbed a small, flat, oval-shaped stone vat he used for flowers – it was several centimeters long and made of thick stone.

He drilled four large openings along the rim for gateways: north, south, east, and west. Then he drilled a series of smaller openings for windows. Finally, he flipped the stone vat upside down and placed it… capsized it… onto the valley floor…

Done!

A gigantic, utterly bare, pure stone structure was born. It looked somewhat crude, just a plain outer shell devoid of any decoration.

Exactly right, he thought. Military buildings should be precisely this sparse and functional.

Just as Li Daoxuan finished these preparations…

…on the other side, Gao Yiye and Xu Dafu slurped their last noodle.

The two walked out of the business circle. At that moment, Li Daoxuan happened to shift his perspective back and looked down to instruct: “Yiye, take him out of the village, heading northwest. You’ll soon see a newly made road. Follow that road all the way.”

Gao Yiye promptly led the way.

As soon as Xu Dafu set foot on the “yellow earth official road,” he sensed something amiss. This road felt freshly made. The earth still radiated that raw, just-turned-over scent of soil. On the sides, he could see the marks of the earth that had recently been dug up.

Being cautious by nature, he didn’t dare ask questions and simply followed in Gao Yiye’s footsteps.

After walking two li (approx. 0.6 miles), a small valley appeared ahead. Inside the valley stood an enormous, stark, stone building. Its footprint was vast, its scale immense – nearly half the size of the Gaojia Fortress.