“Mr, what does ‘saying xiangsheng’ mean?”
The ninth princess asked curiously.
She had now grown accustomed to the unfamiliar words that occasionally popped out of Jin Feng’s mouth.
“The way the two of you were just now, one singing and the other joining in to tell jokes, that is what we call saying xiangsheng.”
Jin Feng replied.
“Mr, Her Highness and I were not telling jokes at all!”
Wei Datong said with a serious face. “I truly admire Mr…”
“Hurry up and get to the main point. Otherwise I really will leave!”
Jin Feng glanced at Wei Datong. “I dragged myself all the way up to the mountain top, enduring this cold wind, just to listen to your nonsense?”
Everyone likes to hear nice things. Jin Feng was not some masochist who enjoyed being scolded to his face, so naturally he was no exception.
The main issue was that Wei Datong and the ninth princess were being far too exaggerated.
When it came to serious matters, Wei Datong stopped fooling around. He pointed to a spot on Yulei Mountain and said, “Your Highness, please look over there!”
“Mr said we need to carve through the mountain to divert water, so why has no one started work in that area?”
The ninth princess asked.
“The canal on the east side is not yet finished. If we break through the mountain now, when the water comes there will be nowhere for it to go. Mr said we should wait until the canal is mostly dug before starting to carve the mountain.”
Wei Datong explained.
Wei Datong was clearly flattering again, while the ninth princess was teasing him.
“Enough, Wei Daren. Get to the point, or Mr really will leave.”
The ninth princess ended the topic and asked, “Where is the position of the Bottle Neck that Mr mentioned?”
“I originally had the same plan as Your Highness, but Mr said he had a way to open the mountain, so he instructed this humble official to focus manpower on building the canal first.”
Wei Datong said.
“What method does Mr plan to use to open the mountain?”
The ninth princess turned to look at Jin Feng.
“Explosives! I have already arranged for the explosives workshop to work overtime on production. I also asked Man Cang to make drill bits capable of boring into stone. Once they are ready, we can drill holes into the large rocks, insert the explosives, and blast the stone apart like that.”
“Carving through the mountain should take a very long time, right? Can we not start work on multiple sections at the same time?”
The ninth princess asked. “If we wait until the canal is finished before starting to carve the mountain, will we make it in time before next summer?”
Summer brings high temperatures, heavy rains, and storms. Flood disasters basically all concentrate in summer every year.
The ninth princess was worried they would not finish in time for next summer’s rainy season, and that Sichuan would suffer disaster again.
Jin Feng had promised them that while they worked, their wages would be settled normally. The wages could be delivered by escorts to designated people. As long as they honestly and diligently produced a sufficient quantity of explosives, they could even have their families come to visit them.
The death row prisoners considered this a narrow escape from death. They were very satisfied with the outcome and were currently working obediently. No escape attempts had been discovered so far.
Even if they wanted to run, they could not.
Jin Feng did not hide anything and answered directly, “This way, the common people no longer need to hammer away bit by bit with iron hammers to carve the mountain. They only need to clear away the blasted fragments. Would the speed not be much faster?”
“That is indeed a good method!”
The ninth princess nodded slightly.
Back when the idea of using death row prisoners was proposed in the Xichuan prison, Jin Feng had brought them back to Jinchuan and arranged them in a secret location specifically to produce explosives.
“What are explosives?”
Wei Datong asked.
“Hand grenades are made using explosives.”
Jin Feng explained.
“So that is how it is!”
The location for producing explosives was even more rugged than Man Cang’s new workshop. It had steep cliffs on three sides and faced the Jialing River on the fourth. Entry and exit were only possible by boat, and a full platoon of escorts guarded it.
That platoon of escorts consisted almost entirely of veterans from the earliest two batches. They were the people Jin Feng trusted most after his personal guard team.
Even when manpower was so short not long ago, Jin Feng had not touched that platoon.
“Of course one hand grenade cannot blast it open. But what about a hundred, or a thousand?”
Jin Feng said. “Moreover, I am not planning to collapse Yulei Mountain all at once. Instead, we blast a portion each time. After the common people clear the debris, we blast another portion. This is the safest approach.”
“Mr speaks with reason.”
Wei Datong nodded.
Wei Datong suddenly understood.
He had witnessed the power of hand grenade explosions at Great Python Slope, but he had never come into close contact with them, and he had no idea what hand grenades were made of.
“Mr, I admit hand grenades are very powerful, but can they really blast open Yulei Mountain?”
Wei Datong asked again.
Besides Jin Feng, only Guan Xiaorou and Zhang Liang knew the exact location of the explosives workshop, apart from the escorts who guarded it and transported goods back and forth. Even Tang Xiaobei and the ninth princess did not know.
Moreover, Jin Feng had specially established strict procedures for transporting explosives.
According to the procedures, when escorts went to transport raw materials or collect finished products, they had to anchor the boat quite far from shore and only send small boats to land.
“Then does Mr have enough explosives on hand to blast open Yulei Mountain?”
The ninth princess asked.
Explosives were like a dangerous beast. If released carelessly, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Apart from using wages and family visits to pacify the death row prisoners, Jin Feng had also given the escorts guarding the explosives workshop a strict order: if anyone tried to escape, kill them on the spot.
Even with the death row prisoners, Jin Feng had not pushed for higher output at the risk of their safety. Instead, he conducted experiments and production in the safest possible way.
Since the explosives workshop was established, there had not been a single casualty.
Perhaps because of this, the death row prisoners felt Jin Feng’s kindness and had remained very obedient all along.
Transportation also had strict requirements.
“Not quite enough,”
Jin Feng shook his head. “Not only are there not enough explosives, the drill bits for boring stone have not been made yet. That is why I asked Wei Daren to gather the common people to build the canal first. Once we have enough explosives stockpiled and the drill bits are ready, we can then gather manpower specifically to come to Yulei Mountain and clear the debris.”
Jin Feng was not the kind of noble who disregarded human lives.
“Over there…”
Wei Datong began explaining to the ninth princess the positions and principles of the Flying Sand Dike and the Fish Mouth Water Divider.
The group stayed on the summit of Yulei Mountain until evening before starting to descend.
By now the death row prisoners were quite familiar with explosives production and had basically reached assembly-line standards. Only then did Jin Feng send word back, instructing them to increase output.
“Very well. This palace awaits good news from Mr.”
The ninth princess nodded slightly. “Wei Daren, where are the Flying Sand Dike and Fish Mouth Water Divider that Mr mentioned?”
Wei Datong immediately realised the two had something to say. He quickly slowed his pace and put some distance between himself and them.
Although Da Liu also very much wanted to hear what Jin Feng and the ninth princess were saying, when he saw Qin’s threatening gaze, he could only smile awkwardly and fall back a few steps with the escorts.
Soon, only Qin and Beiqian Xun remained beside the ninth princess and Jin Feng.
On-site inspection was far more intuitive than looking at a sand table. Under Wei Datong’s explanations, the ninth princess gained a deeper understanding of the Dujiangyan project.
She also admired Jin Feng even more for coming up with this plan.
On the way down the mountain, the ninth princess deliberately lagged a few steps to walk side by side with Jin Feng while watching the worksite where people were starting to finish work for the day.
Only then did the ninth princess speak softly, “Mr, do you know? This palace feels that the greatest fortune in this life is meeting you. Without Mr, this palace truly dare not imagine what Sichuan would have become this year, or what Great Kang would have become.”
“Your Highness speaks too highly,”
Jin Feng said with a smile. “Actually, I am also very fortunate to have met Your Highness. Without Your Highness, I might already have become a bandit by now and would not be able to do what I am doing today.”
“Perhaps this is what Mr calls fate.”
The ninth princess tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned to give Jin Feng a gentle smile.
