Chaotic Frontier: I Picked Up a Peerless Little Wife at the Start

Making gunpowder is a dangerous business.

Because Lin Hui didn't know what the proper proportions should be between the three of them, the real work was about to begin.

He repeatedly adjusted the amount of each ingredient.

Lin Hui was well aware of the dangers involved, so he was extremely careful with every step he took.

Lin Hui used dry wood for grinding instead of using an iron pestle, and he didn't even put the wood in the sun for the short drying period after grinding.

Instead, they were placed in the dim light inside the house to dry.

When preparing the final formula, we used small batches and repeated trials.

Su Yuanzhou, who was outside, had no idea what Lin Hui was doing, but Lin Hui had not come out since he went in.

What Su Yuanzhou found even stranger was that occasionally, strange plumes of smoke would rise from the room.

There was no such thick smoke when we went in on the first day, but it started appearing intermittently from the second day onwards.

When it was time to eat, Su Yuanzhou would send someone to pack the food into a food box and place it outside the small house.

Occasionally, Lin Hui would come out, but he looked nothing like a great general. His face was covered in soot, and his hands were covered in some kind of black, unidentifiable substance.

Despite this, Lin Hui remained in good spirits, with bright eyes.

He only comes out occasionally. When he does, he eats something, finds a place to sleep, and then goes back into the little house.

Rumors have begun to circulate among Su Yuanzhou's men that the general possesses witchcraft skills and that he hides in a small hut every day to refine elixirs of immortality.

Although Su Yuanzhou would severely punish the soldiers who spread such rumors each time he heard them, the longer it went on, the less confident he became.

After about four days of this, things took a turn for the better. Su Yuanzhou, who had been holding out for many days with his men, started playing Pai Gow with his confidants in an open space outside to relieve his boredom.

Several people were having a great time playing under the makeshift thatched shed, their enthusiasm palpable.

That day, just as everyone was busy drawing cards, suddenly, a loud sound came—an explosion—without any warning.

"What's that noise? Why is it so loud?"

"Yes, the earth shook so badly that it almost shook down."

"No, look! That's the general's house!"

"Ah, General?"

All eyes turned to the small hut where Lin Hui was doing his research. As the dust settled, they finally got a clear look at him.

The small house where Lin Hui was located had been reduced to ruins.

This completely unsettled Su Yuanzhou.

She had only just gotten on Lin Hui's good side, and was just waiting for him to take her to the battlefield to fight and make her a hero.

If Lin Hui dies, he shouldn't live either; the Cheng family won't let him live.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and save him! If the general dies, none of us will survive!"

Su Yuanzhou immediately led his trusted men to rush to the scene to rescue the people.

The powerful explosion shook the entire mine, leaving the miners inside completely stunned.

They dropped their tools and rushed out to search for the source of the explosion.

Su Yuanzhou, accompanied by several close confidants, arrived at the small house as quickly as possible.

When they arrived at their destination, the group was completely dumbfounded.

From their perspective, the entire house was practically gone.

The surrounding walls had completely collapsed, leaving only a small section. The wooden beams and pillars above were so shattered by the impact that they lay scattered on the ground like tofu.

A large crater was blasted into the ground, and there were scattered stones, broken bricks and tiles, black powder everywhere, and strange smells.

The smell of rotten eggs mixed with burnt wood was so pungent that it made it hard to open your eyes.

Su Yuanzhou stood amidst these ruins, his face as pale as paper.

He glanced at the ruins in front of him, then suddenly lunged into them and began to pull them up with his bare hands.

Several close friends and confidants rushed over to help when they saw this.

They moved the broken beams and lifted the scattered rubble, as if they wanted to completely turn the ruins upside down.

But after searching for a long time, there was nothing. There was no trace of Lin Hui at all, not even a scrap of flesh or a piece of clothing.

One of the confidants stopped, shook his head, and said, "General, I knew it! The General must be using some kind of evil magic. He must have misjudged the situation and gotten himself into trouble."

Another trusted confidant stopped what he was doing, his face filled with fear. His voice trembled as he said, "General, let's go. It's too terrible, it's really too terrible."

"The general blew himself up completely, leaving no trace of his body."

Su Yuanzhou glared at his men and roared, "Shut up! Without the General, who among us can survive? Hurry up and find someone!"

"Even if the general is really gone, his body must be the evidence."

None of them spoke; they focused all their attention on searching for people in the ruins.

The most worried person was Su Yuanzhou, who had placed all his hopes on Lin Hui. He was filled with anxiety and a mix of emotions.

With Lin Hui dead, things have spiraled out of control. Now that the eldest son of the Cheng family is dead, and with his assistance Lin Hui was able to successfully seize the Cheng family's mines, Ling Ziyi is leading Ning Yuanqi to clean up and integrate the Cheng family's private salt network, part of which he also revealed.

Now that Lin Hui is gone, he has no backer. Without a backer, everything will soon return to the Cheng family. What will he do then?

He only has one option: death.

His mind was in a mess, and he had started talking nonsense.

"General, you mustn't die! General, what will I do if you die? I don't want to die!"

"General..."

Just as Su Yuanzhou was at a loss, a voice suddenly came from not far behind him. The voice was calm and composed.

"General Su, what are you saying?"

Su Yuanzhou replied without even turning his head, "Of course I'm looking for the General. Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and find him."

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. The voice was off; it sounded so much like the voice of a great general.

He suddenly looked up and saw Lin Hui standing unharmed in front of him. Compared to the ruins of the house, this place was clean and tidy, without a speck of dust.

Su Yuanzhou was stunned and remained silent for a long time.

He rubbed his eyes vigorously, checking two or three times, and finally confirmed that it was indeed the Great General, no mistake, it was the Great General.

"General, you're not dead! That's wonderful! General, you're not dead!"

Seeing that Lin Hui was alright, Su Yuanzhou was as happy as a child.

Su Yuanzhou calmed himself down, stood up, and stared blankly at everything before him: "General, you... your house was blown up, how come you're alright?"

"General, you don't actually know any magic, do you?"

"Spells."

Lin Hui laughed and said, "What magic do I know? If I knew magic, I could turn beans into soldiers. Why would I need to fight to the death with the Northern Barbarians? I could just grab a handful of beans and scatter them."

"General, what happened? What kind of thing is so powerful that it can blow up a house?"

Lin Hui chuckled and pulled a small paper packet from his pocket. He opened it, and inside was a dark gray powder that gleamed heavily in the sunlight.

"You see, the reason the house was destroyed is because of this."

"The things I asked you to prepare were for configuring this."

Lin Hui held the paper package out to Su Yuanzhou: "This stuff is called black powder, it's a type of explosive, and it's very powerful."

Su Yuanzhou looked incredulous, and his other close confidants also came over to check.

"General, how can such a small amount of black powder have such great power?"

Lin Hui smiled and said, "Of course, this is still under the condition of low power. If the amount were increased, the house would probably have been reduced to dust."

Upon hearing Lin Hui's words, Su Yuanzhou gasped in shock, his eyes widening in disbelief.

The others looked on in disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost.

They watched Lin Hui warily, unconsciously taking a few steps back, trying to stay away from the paper package in Lin Hui's hand. Some of them with weaker mental fortitude were even trembling with fear.

Looking at the expressions of Su Yuanzhou's men, Lin Hui smiled helplessly and put away the gunpowder he had prepared.

Then he said, "Although this thing is very powerful, it requires many conditions to explode, so it won't explode on its own."

Su Yuanzhou felt a little apprehensive. He tentatively took a few steps forward, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that what Lin Hui was holding was not dangerous.

He looked at Lin Hui with some doubt and asked, "Sir, why did you make something so dangerous?"

Lin Hui glanced at Su Yuanzhou and smiled slightly.

"Just think about it, this thing is so powerful. What would happen if I used it on the battlefield?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yuanzhou's expression immediately changed, and then he showed a look of sudden realization.

Yes, this thing is so powerful. If it were used on the battlefield, it would be a very busy scene.

If a small house can be blown to rubble, how can the enemy's flesh and blood withstand it?

Even if the Northern Barbarians had three heads and six arms, they would definitely not be able to stop something so powerful.

Thinking about all this, Su Yuanzhou became even more excited.

He asked, "General, how can this thing be used in battle?"

Lin Hui didn't answer the question, but simply said casually, "I'll find out how to use it when I get back."

Su Yuanzhou nodded and did not ask any further questions.

Lin Hui brushed the dust off his clothes and felt a little tired. He then realized that he had been in the mine for too long and it was time to go back.

"General Su, I've been here for quite some time. There are still a lot of things waiting for me to go back to Ningyuan Town. I have to go now."

"Prepare the pig iron; I'm taking it back."

Su Yuanzhou immediately replied, "General, rest assured, I have already instructed my deputy to prepare the pig iron. It will all be loaded onto the carts, and in another two days, we will be able to load 20,000 jin."

Lin Hui nodded.

Su Yuanzhou continued, "After the general leaves, I will send my trusted men to guard this place, and all the iron ore produced each month will be sent to Ningyuan Town."

Lin Hui nodded again, and was about to leave, but he pulled back as soon as he took a step.

The reason was that Lin Hui spotted the miners hiding in the distance.

Lin Hui shouted gently into the distance.

"Come out, everyone. It's alright now. Get back to work, and you won't be short a penny at the end of the month."

Lin Hui then called over a few more miners and said to Su Yuanzhou, "I have trained these men and taught them the method of making sulfur."

Lin Hui pointed at them and said, "They are doing hard work, and they are paid five taels of silver per month."

"After they refined the sulfur, they sent it to Ningyuan Town every month along with iron ore."

Su Yuanzhou wrote down everything Lin Hui had told him.

Lin Hui then gave some other instructions before riding his horse to Changyuan County and heading towards the inn where they were staying.

Since Cui Dayou was killed by Lin Hui, without this cancer, everything in Changyuan County has improved a lot, and commerce is more prosperous than before.

More and more vendors set up stalls on the streets, their calls rising and falling, and all the merchants wore smiles on their faces.

Some even hung up new signs in front of their homes, and everything seemed to be thriving.

There are no other guests at this inn now. The front yard, back yard, and guest rooms have all been requisitioned by Song Qingyan, and she pays her monthly.

The old shopkeeper was overjoyed and spent all his time trying to take good care of everyone in the shop.

Inside the room, Song Qingyan was gathering her entourage for a meeting.

On the table were the account books they had seized over the past few days. Song Qingyan looked at the account books and sorted out the important parts.

Ling Ziyi sat to one side. He didn't understand business matters, but he would occasionally say a word.

As for the monkey, it knew nothing and served as a guard, sitting to the side with its legs crossed, leisurely drinking tea.

This is the scene Lin Hui saw when he came in. He saw several people there and greeted them with a smile.

"What are you all talking about that makes you so happy?"

Upon hearing Lin Hui's voice, Song Qingyan said with a smile, "You're finally back. With the help of Sister Ziyi these past few days, I've completely taken control of the Cheng family's private salt network."

"Do you know how much silver we confiscated this time?"

Lin Hui shook his head.

Song Qingyan chuckled and continued, "If we add the silver taken from the Cheng family manor, and the silver earned from this caravan's trip south, it totals 600,000 carts."

Then, Song Qingyan handed the account book to Lin Hui.

Lin Hui looked at the numbers on the screen, raised an eyebrow, and couldn't hide his smile.

Six hundred thousand taels of silver is no small sum; with this amount of silver, Ningyuan Town can sustain itself for a long time.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Song Qingyan laughed and said, "This is not my achievement alone, it is all thanks to Sister Ziyi."

Then Song Qingyan pulled Ling Ziyi up and said, "You don't know, Ziyi is really amazing. They hid this silver very well, and it was Ziyi who found it."

"The girl in purple is so elegant, she's the most handsome female general I've ever seen."