The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

Just as Xue Gang's long sword was about to touch the carriage curtain, the carriage door creaked open.

A rich aroma of millet porridge wafted over.

Su Shi jumped off the carriage carrying a steaming bowl of millet porridge, his face flushed and humming an unknown tune. When he saw Xue Gang, he waved the spoon in his hand enthusiastically: "Oh, Commander Xue is back? Good morning! Did you sleep well last night? It's windy out there, you didn't catch a cold, did you?"

Xue Gang froze on his horse, the long sword in his hand clattering to the ground, his facial muscles twitching wildly.

This script is all wrong! What happened to being hacked to pieces? What happened to being devoured alive? And what's with that "just had a massage" look on your face?!

"Lord Su... Lord Su?" Xue Gang stammered, "Those bandits from Black Wind Stronghold...?"

"Oh, them." Su Shi slurped up a mouthful of porridge and casually pointed to the mountains behind him. "They said they forgot to turn off the gas at home and went home in the middle of the night. Before they left, they took pity on us and left us a lot of mountain produce. Commander Xue, would you like some roasted sweet potatoes? They're quite sweet."

Xue Gang felt a surge of blood rush to his chest and almost fell off his horse. What the hell?! The gas was left on! Those were bandits! Ruthless, bloodthirsty bandits!!

"Alright, stop spacing out." Jiang Lin's lazy voice came from inside the carriage. "Now that Commander Xue has 'woke up,' let's set off. It's still half a day's journey to Zhen Ding Prefecture, so let's not miss lunch."

Xue Gang gripped the reins tightly, his fingernails digging into his flesh. Although he didn't know what had happened, he knew that his plan to use someone else to do the dirty work had completely failed.

"Yes... Your subordinate obeys." He spat out these words through gritted teeth, his eyes fixed on the carriage with a venomous glint. Just wait, once we reach Zhen Ding Prefecture, that's the Wang family's territory. We'll have plenty of opportunities to kill you!

The convoy set off again. In contrast to the low pressure outside, the atmosphere inside the carriages was incredibly warm and enthusiastic.

Shen Kuo was holding a dark earthenware jar containing a viscous liquid he had collected from the ravine behind Black Wind Village the night before. He picked up a little with his chopsticks, smelled it, and his eyes lit up with excitement.

"This is petroleum! The 'stone lacquer' recorded in the Book of Han!" Shen Kuo exclaimed excitedly, gesturing wildly. "Headmaster, this is extremely pure! With just a little refining, it can be made into a combustion agent ten times more powerful than flammable oil! And judging by its viscosity, it can also be used as a lubricant..."

"Calm down." Jiang Lin held down Shen Kuo, who was about to jump up. "This thing is a hot potato right now."

Zhao Lingjun unfolded a hand-drawn map he had just obtained from Black Wind Stronghold, pointing to several points circled in cinnabar, his expression grave. "The headmaster guessed correctly. Black Wind Stronghold's intelligence network is even more efficient than the government's. Recently, the areas around Daming Prefecture and Zhengding Prefecture have indeed been cracking down on 'Black Water.' Merchants who privately mine or sell Black Water have all been secretly arrested, and their whereabouts are unknown."

"Moreover..." Zhao Lingjun pointed his slender finger to the location of Daming Prefecture on the map, "The garrison here was rotated half a month ago. The new garrison commander is a protégé of Wang Kui."

Jiang Lin squinted and leaned back on the cushion. Sure enough, every step of this seemingly absurd path of exile was a carefully orchestrated scheme.

The Wang family wasn't just trying to kill Su Shi; they were covering something up. Oil, a strategic resource, was considered a monster or a low-grade fuel in this era, but what if someone knew its true value?

"Looks like someone wanted to keep this for themselves," Jiang Lin sneered. "Too bad they ran into me."

"What does the headmaster plan to do?" Su Shi leaned closer, looking curious.

"No rush." ​​Jiang Lin glanced at the desolate scenery outside the window. "Let them run wild for a few days. The key now is how we can swagger into the city."

As they were speaking, the carriage suddenly lurched violently. Immediately afterwards, a dull tremor came from the ground, as if a thousand troops were approaching.

"Enemy attack!! Protect the convoy!!" Outside the vehicle, Xue Gang's raspy voice boomed again, tinged with fear and a strange excitement. "Everyone draw your swords! Prepare for battle! This time it's definitely a large group of bandits!"

"Again?" Su Shi was so startled that the bowl in his hand trembled. He was about to crawl under his seat when Jiang Lin grabbed him.

"Don't panic, the sound doesn't sound like horses' hooves." Jiang Lin listened intently. "It sounds more like..."

The carriage curtain was suddenly flung open. The sight before them left everyone inside and outside the vehicle utterly astonished.

At the end of the official road, ten miles outside the city gate of Daming Prefecture, dust billowed. It was neither cavalry nor bandits.

It was a dense, dark mass of people. Thousands of ordinary citizens, and even many scholars in long gowns, were surging forward like a tide, holding all sorts of banners.

On the largest white cloth at the head of the display, a line of striking characters was written in bright red cinnabar:

"A literary masterpiece of the Song Dynasty! Farewell, Su Tanhua, on your final journey!!"

Following that were things like "Although you have been exiled, we still love you," "Su Shi, hang in there," and "Here's some freshly cooked braised pork knuckle"... The wailing was deafening, and paper money flew everywhere.

The scene was so tragic that it seemed as if Su Shi had already died.

Xue Gang stood there dumbfounded, knife in hand.

Standing atop the carriage shaft, Su Shi gazed at the grand spectacle that was "sending him off" in this manner, his lips twitching uncontrollably: "Headmaster... this... should I cry or laugh? I'm not quite dead yet, am I?!"

Jiang Lin watched the paper money fluttering in the air, a playful smile playing on his lips: "See, this is what you call popularity. Xue Gang wanted you to die quietly, but the people of the Great Song Dynasty won't allow you to keep a low profile."

Jiang Lin took out a folding fan from his pocket, unfolded it with a "whoosh", and looked through the paper money flying everywhere at the tightly closed city gate of Daming Prefecture in the distance.

On the city wall, several figures seemed to be looking around in a panic.

"Get ready to get off the bus, big star." Jiang Lin's voice carried a chilling undertone. "The stagnant waters of Daming Prefecture have been stirred up."

"Since the Wang family wants to play dirty tricks, then we'll play a big game with them—let the cries of these thousands of people blow their skulls off!"