In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Li Yuanchang scoffed.

The Changsun family has been targeting me for quite some time now. Compromise and concessions will not bring me peace.

"Disrespect for the imperial court?"

"When did I ever show contempt for the imperial court?"

"You have defied me and insulted me. Isn't that disrespecting the imperial court?" Changsun Huan said in a low voice.

Li Yuanchang said, "You do not represent the imperial court."

"The Tang Dynasty values ​​martial prowess and respects its soldiers. How could Your Majesty and the court allow people to travel thousands of miles to the front lines to beat up their own officers fighting there?"

"The Tang Dynasty's legal code clearly states that all actions that require a written order to arrest or threaten soldiers on the front lines are prohibited."

"Changsun Huan, you don't even know this much? What kind of official are you? What kind of imperial envoy are you?"

Changsun Huan's expression was grim; it seemed there really was such a law.

"Hmph, don't give me that crap. You said yourself those were frontline soldiers, so who are you?"

"You're using the imperial funds to stay here stagnant, spending your days sightseeing. Where are the Goguryeo troops? Where are they?"

Li Yuanchang chuckled: "Lord Changsun, are all your family members adept at sophistry?"

"Li Yuanchang, how dare you insult the Changsun family!!" Changsun Huan roared in fury.

Li Yuanchang scoffed: "Don't resort to insults so easily. What, are you so insecure that you feel insulted just because I say something?"

Changsun Huan gritted his teeth, his anger as simmering as boiling water, almost steaming.

"You seem quite displeased with me?"

"We're about the same age, so I won't bully you. Let's settle this like men do, and let's not hurt our camaraderie."

"How about this, we go out and claim a piece of land, have a little contest, and once the feud is over, it'll be over, okay?"

As he spoke, Li Yuanchang began to roll up his sleeves.

Wan Jun and his men immediately cheered and made a ruckus.

The atmosphere was immediately set for Changsun Huan.

Changsun Huan was immediately embarrassed, his face turning from bright red to liver-colored. Asking him to fight Li Yuanchang one-on-one was like an old man eating poison, tired of living.

"What, you're afraid?"

"If you dare not, what are you yelling about?" Li Yuanchang said disdainfully.

Changsun Huan, enraged and humiliated, shouted: "Fine, fine, Li Yuanchang, you'll remember this!"

"I will definitely report you to His Majesty!"

He snatched the memorial, uttered a harsh threat, and then left: "Go!!"

The large group of over a hundred people left one after another, like stray dogs.

This was probably the most miserable imperial envoy team in history; they arrived and were driven away before they even had a chance to settle in.

As they walked out of the main camp, the soldiers of the three armies erupted in cheers, and some even hurled insults at them.

Changsun Huan and the others were furious, but they couldn't find anyone.

"Lord Changsun, Li Yuanchang is now completely lawless!" someone said angrily through gritted teeth, whispering behind Li Yuanchang's back, but daring not to speak to him directly.

Changsun Huan's face turned sinister as he glanced around the military camp: "Just wait and see. His arrogance won't last long. Arrogance always has its consequences!"

"These peasants will have their day!"

"..."

Inside the main camp, Xue Rengui, usually a man of few words, couldn't help but step forward with concern and asked, "Your Highness, will this person go back and falsely accuse you?"

Li Yuanchang calmly said, "Exaggerating and making false accusations are the specialty of the Changsun family; it's almost inevitable."

"Then..." Xue Rengui asked worriedly.

"I wrote a memorial explaining the situation. It's alright. The truth will be clear at a glance. As long as the person in charge isn't senile, they'll know whose fault it is."

"But Your Highness, what if this person embezzles or alters the memorial?"

Li Yuanchang smiled knowingly, his gaze fixed on Changsun Huan and his entourage, who were barely visible outside the tent, their figures no bigger than insect shadows.

"If he had that kind of guts, he wouldn't be far from death."

"Embezzling and altering the letters of the commander-in-chief of the front-line army—even his father, Changsun Wuji, wouldn't have dared to do that."

"As long as he's not out of his mind, he'll have to obediently hand over the memorial. At most, he'll just exaggerate and make a fuss about me."

There was one more thing Li Yuanchang didn't say: even if the higher-ups were truly dissatisfied with him because of this, he didn't care.

He did nothing wrong.

Even if Li Shimin wanted to punish them, it would never be at this critical juncture.

……

Several hours later, the army mobilized 8,000 men to carry batches of goods back to the main camp by hand.

There is a huge natural cave here, which is not only hidden but also located at a high altitude, so it is not afraid of rainwater flowing back in during heavy rain.

All the saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur were sent to this place, and the army guarded it day and night.

Southern Japan was responsible for collecting raw materials, but not for manufacturing them.

If the method of making black powder were leaked, it would trigger uncontrollable variables.

It wasn't that Li Yuanchang didn't trust Qiandao; it was just that there were many people there, and the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

After receiving the goods, Li Yuanchang set up a simple workshop in the mountains and dug trenches in advance for refuge in case of emergency.

He knew how to make gunpowder, but he had never made it before, so he wasn't confident and could only take precautions first.

Even before the three main raw materials arrived, he had already prepared all sorts of tools, so he could get started as soon as they arrived.

That night, he attempted the purification of saltpeter for the first time.

Based on the knowledge he had learned in his previous life, he first soaked 100 catties of saltpeter in water to dissolve the saltpeter and filter out impurities.

The second step is to pour the upper layer of nitrate water into a pot and heat it. Sodium chloride, which has a lower solubility, will crystallize first, and all of it will be discarded.

The third and most important step is core purification.

After the heated nitrate solution has cooled, a large amount of radish is added again and boiled together. The components in the radish can help remove impurities such as calcium and magnesium once more.

Li Yuanchang didn't sleep all night, working alone in the workshop until dawn.

Through repeated purification in this way, he finally obtained high-quality sodium nitrate, which is the material that can be directly used to make gunpowder.

"call!"

Exhausted, Li Yuanchang exhaled a puff of white mist. The cold winter had cracked his hands, but there was nothing he could do. This thing was so weak that it would have no power if it was even slightly off, and it might even explode unexpectedly.

Therefore, he had to produce the finished product himself in advance to determine a feasible method and quantification.

Then, he taught the group of people he brought from the Liangzhou Prefecture arsenal step by step.

In this way, through division of labor and cooperation, production could be carried out on an assembly line-like basis right here, and then the troops could be directly taken across the Liao River to launch a devastating attack on Goguryeo.

This is his plan, and of course, the process will be very difficult.

When a bag of sodium nitrate was tied to the scale, reality gave Li Yuanchang a rude awakening!

One hundred pounds of saltpeter only yielded about ten pounds of dental saltpeter.

The enormous losses and low productivity caused by hand-rolling cast a shadow over the production of gunpowder.

"How come it's only ten pounds?"