Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Passing Down the Immortal Technique
The next day, after Chen Mo absorbed the Innate Spiritual Qi, he once again began recruitment to build a sulfur factory and a pottery factory, initially planning for sixty workers, thirty for each factory.
Since all young men aged between adulthood and under forty-five had joined the Divine Brave Guard and the Fishing Team, this recruitment targeted men between forty-five and fifty-five years old, ensuring they were quick on their feet, and providing them with three meals of solid food.
Afterward, he instructed them to replicate two furnaces based on the one they constructed last night, following it as a model.
Then Chen Mo had them mix coal with water to make coal briquettes and dry them.
Finally, in the furnace, the coal briquettes were stacked with pyrite, and the outside was compacted with soil.
Chen Mo taught them the method first, and once they learned it, they could handle it themselves, freeing his time for other matters.
By the time all these tasks were completed, it was already afternoon.
Currently, they could not start the sulfur firing process, as they needed to wait for Liu Gui to finish making the alms bowl.
Without raw materials, producing gunpowder would be a rather long process as well.
Once sulfur is produced, there’s also saltpeter and charcoal to consider.
Charcoal was easy to obtain.
Saltpeter, without finding a saltpeter mine, could only be collected from dry toilets, the base of old walls, and the edges of saline-alkaline lands, but these quantities were too little.
Therefore, Chen Mo was not in a hurry. It was unrealistic to expect to produce gunpowder in just one or two days.
At that moment, Chen Mo thought of something and built two dry toilets at the village entrance.
Though called dry toilets, they were actually just places for people to urinate.
Indeed, he needed to collect urine because urine contains saltpeter.
America had even collected urine to make bombs during the Civil War.
...
As the sun set in the west.
Taking advantage of everyone gathering in the village for dinner, Chen Mo mentioned two matters.
Since gunpowder couldn’t be made in a single day.
The first thing was for the construction team to finish building the stockade, temporarily delaying the tasks of coal and pyrite mining.
The second matter.
Chen Mo cleared his throat and said loudly, without delay, "Everyone must have seen the two dry toilets built at the village entrance."
"We’ve seen them." Zhang River was the first to respond with his men.
Han Wu, seeing Zhang River had responded first again, felt unwilling.
"The second matter is that from now on, everyone will solve their urination in the dry toilets. I won’t force other villagers, but for the Divine Brave Guard soldiers, unless you’re on guard duty or getting up at night, urination should be done at the dry toilets. If I see anyone violating this, they’ll be punished by running three laps around the whole village." Chen Mo announced loudly.
This statement caused a stir.
It wasn’t that Chen Mo’s demand was too excessive.
Rather, they didn’t understand what Chen Mo intended to do with this.
Did he need their urine for fertilization?
"Didn’t understand?" Seeing them quiet, Chen Mo frowned.
"Understood."
...
Two days later, five hundred pounds of crude salt were purified, and Zhang River led fifty Divine Brave Guards, along with Hu Changsheng, with two mules carts, marched grandly to Quanyang County.
At the pottery factory, Liu Gui also completed the alms bowl needed for sulfur firing.
At the sulfur factory, the sulfur firing work could finally commence.
In the Chen Family Courtyard.
Chen Mo looked seriously at Han Wu and Hu Qiang in front of him, saying, "Today, I officially teach you two the Immortal Technique."
Upon hearing this, Han Wu and Hu Qiang trembled with joy, having learned words from Wang Ping during their leisure just for this day. They bowed with hands cupped, saying, "Thank you, Immortal Master Chen."
Chen Mo nodded and said, "To learn the Immortal Technique, it’s essential to endure hardship and persevere. Never give up halfway. Without sufficient determination, the Immortal Technique cannot be mastered. Once learned, you must cultivate diligently without wasting a moment."
"I will never betray...Immortal Master Chen’s trust." Han Wu said hastily.
"Me too." Hu Qiang clasped his fists again.
"Very good, now I’ll start teaching. Watch closely..."
An hour later.
Hu Qiang and Han Wu were drenched in sweat, practicing repeatedly according to what Chen Mo taught, but couldn’t meet his standards, falling short.
"With you two like this, do you think you’re worthy of learning the Immortal Technique?"
Chen Mo gave each a kick, knocking them to the ground.
Although Chen Mo applied only a little force, both still felt sharp pain in their abdomens, their faces contorted in agony, tears involuntarily welling up in their eyes.
This did not earn Chen Mo’s sympathy, who sternly exclaimed, "Two grown men, crying like girls. Get up and continue practicing. If you’re not qualified, you can’t rest."
"Get up."
A loud shout exploded near their ears.
The two were startled and hurriedly got up, continuing to hone their bodies with the actions Chen Mo taught them in the Immortal Technique.
In front of the house, Han Anniang and Song Min sat on little stools, watching the two practice and passing the time.
Seeing the actions, Han Anniang found them increasingly familiar.
Weren’t these the basic moves from the Cultivation Technique her uncle taught her before?
Recalling her uncle’s gentle teaching, she felt a bit embarrassed seeing the harsh way Chen Mo was training Han Wu and the others.
Another hour passed.
The two were nearly exhausted, their clothes soaked with sweat, just as they were about to give up.
"Not bad, qualified." Chen Mo said.
The words fell on their ears like a spring breeze, giving them relief as they lay on the ground, breathing heavily.
Just as they rested for a while and were about to leave, Chen Mo said, "Don’t go without having dinner."
Dinner included a dish of white steamed buns, a dish of venison, a bowl of meat sauce, a bowl of bamboo shoots stir-fried with preserved meat, and a bowl of wild vegetables.
Seeing the dishes on the table, Han Wu and Hu Qiang couldn’t stop drooling. It was so lavish, with a special aroma incomparable to the communal meals.
"Eat up, fill yourselves." Chen Mo said.
"Thank you, Immortal Master Chen."
They felt an inexplicable sense of gratitude.
Imposing authority first, then showing kindness yields gratitude.
Showing kindness first, then imposing authority yields resentment.
Through the ages, the art of leadership has often been like this.
While eating, Chen Mo said, "Starting tomorrow, come to me every noon for cultivation training. With Shui not around, take turns in the morning and afternoon supervising the Divine Brave Guard training."
"Understood."
...
The next day.
In the morning.
"Three laps around the village in two periods. If anyone can’t finish, don’t blame me." In the village, Han Wu told the Divine Brave Guard.
"Understood."
Under Han Wu’s command, everyone started running around Fu Ze Village.
If someone slowed down or slacked off, Han Wu, imitating Chen Mo, would give them a kick: "Damn it, a bunch of grandmasters running like girls and shedding tears, isn’t it shameful? Get up and continue running. If you don’t finish, do three extra laps."