Chapter 192: The Gao Family Village Ordnance Bureau
The master gunpowder maker's arrival truly revitalized Li Daoxuan.
At last, the firecrackers he'd prepared so long ago could finally be put to use.
"Yiye," Li Daoxuan instructed, "settle him into the Craftsman Well. Have him report to Gao Yiyi, and arrange a temporary room according to the artisans' standards. Let him rest well for a day; I'll assign his work tomorrow."
Gao Yiye acknowledged the command and led Xu Dafu toward the main fortress.
Xu Dafu felt a twinge of apprehension, yet a flicker of anticipation stirred within him as he realized they intended to take him in. The three taels of silver the lamp maker had just received had bolstered his own confidence.
Before long, they arrived at the Craftsman Well.
During the day, the Craftsman Well bustled with activity, artisans of every trade at work in the courtyard. But now, with dusk settling, most had retired. Only the blacksmith's forge still glowed, where Li Da sat by the furnace, a spring in hand, lost in troubled thought.
The scene imbued the Craftsman Well with a certain eerie quality.
San Shier had just been there, escorting the lamp maker. Master Craftsman Gao Yiyi had only just finished settling the lamp maker into his room when he turned to see Gao Yiye approaching with yet another person.
Gao Yiye replied, "The master gunpowder maker."
The words gave Gao Yiyi a start. Simultaneously, Li Da in the blacksmith's shop abruptly lifted his head, eyes wide.
Gao Yiye added, "The Heavenly Lord instructed that you arrange a temporary room for him first."
Gao Yiyi blinked in surprise. "Temporary? Won't he be staying in the Craftsman Well?"
From the side, Li Da interjected, "I can roughly surmise the Heavenly Lord's reasoning... This is likely because of... the great explosion in the capital."
The isolated villagers of Gao Family Village didn't comprehend the "great explosion in the capital," but county blacksmiths like Li Da did, and Xu Dafu, the gunpowder master, understood even more clearly. A strange expression crossed his face. "If I were to handle gunpowder here, it would indeed be quite improper. This is the master's fortress, isn't it? If gunpowder were to explode here... well, that would be disastrous..."
Gao Yiyi now understood. "Alright," he conceded, "we'll find him a temporary room for now. We'll await the Heavenly Lord's further instructions."
He temporarily settled the master gunpowder maker in a room next to the lamp maker's.
That night, both new artisans were abuzz with excitement. They huddled together, chattering animatedly for several hours, far too thrilled to sleep. A brand new life was unfolding before them, and they already sensed, vaguely but powerfully, that it would bring them ten thousand times more joy than their old lives.
In the early morning, Gao Yiye, sporting dark "panda eyes" from lack of sleep, knocked on the artisans' room, only to be greeted by Xu Dafu, who likewise bore his own pair of shadowed eyes.
Two pairs of "panda eyes" met in a silent, mutually understanding stare.
Gao Yiye chuckled. "Haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"
Xu Dafu nodded pitifully. He had been awake for a while already. The lamp maker had been whisked away by Master Craftsman Gao Yiyi to begin his duties, but Xu Dafu had separate instructions and couldn't follow. Hungry, and hesitant to venture out to seek food, he had simply remained, foolishly waiting and famished.
Gao Yiye smiled. "I haven't had breakfast either. I've been terribly busy lately, haven't cooked in days. I'll take you for a bowl of rice noodles, and then we'll await the Heavenly Lord's divine decree."
Xu Dafu looked utterly bewildered. "Rice noodles? What in the world are those?"
Soon, Gao Yiye led him to "Laba Rice Noodles" in the commercial district. Though it was still early morning, the place was already bursting with activity. Gao Laba spun around, a whirlwind of motion, ceaselessly plunging rice noodles into pots and pulling them out.
The Village Chief, Mr. Wang, and others—the "wealthy who preferred not to cook"—were packed into the shop. Some were already happily slurping their rice noodles, while others, anxious with hunger, awaited their turn for the noodles to hit the pot.
Gao Yiye produced ten copper coins, paid for their two bowls of rice noodles, and motioned for Xu Dafu to sit. "It seems you haven't taken a wife either," she observed. "Once you get busy, you likely won't have time to cook for yourself. You can always come to Uncle Laba's for rice noodles. They're really delicious, I hear it's a specialty of the southerners."
Xu Dafu thought to himself: *Five copper coins a bowl? How could I possibly afford that? I wouldn't dare be so extravagant. Even in Xi'an Prefecture, I doubt many people would splurge on it. If it were one or two copper coins, perhaps some people would be willing to try.*
But what *was* this village, he wondered?
How could so many people afford such a luxury?
As he gazed at the small rice noodle shop, practically overflowing with customers, his mind reeled with questions.
While he and Gao Yiye were slurping their rice noodles, Li Daoxuan was already immersed in preparations for the "Gao Family Village Ordnance Bureau."
The Ordnance Bureau was destined to become a critically important department in Gao Family Village. It would inevitably phase out most cold weapons, ensuring that every villager would eventually wield firearms. Consequently, the bureau would house immense quantities of gunpowder, and the safety precautions for such material simply could not be overlooked.
A single misstep could easily trigger another "Tianqi Great Explosion."
Therefore, the Gao Family Ordnance Bureau needed to be a significant distance from the main fortress, and also well away from the Labor Offenders Village and the Short-term Workers Village. Ideally, it would be nestled in a valley, forming its own isolated compound, much like how most military bases in later eras were situated within mountains.
Li Daoxuan randomly tapped at the compass points on the diorama box. Two *li* to the northwest, he found a small valley, mostly rock with sparse trees—a surprisingly suitable location.
He produced a metal scraper and swiftly brushed it back and forth several times between Gao Family Village and the valley. A rudimentary dirt road, resembling an official route, was thus formed. Later, he would arrange for the villagers to pave it with cement.
Next, he turned his attention to the main structure of the Ordnance Bureau.
Most modern military bases were constructed from sturdy reinforced concrete. Li Daoxuan pondered this, then went to his balcony and retrieved a small, flat, oval-shaped stone planter he used for flowers. It was dozens of centimeters long, crafted from thick, durable stone.
With a drill, he bored four large openings along its edge to serve as the main entrances—east, south, west, and north—then a ring of smaller holes for windows. Finally, he flipped the stone planter upside down and placed it into the valley...
Done!
A colossal, purely stone structure materialized, bare and unadorned, its massive, unembellished exterior giving it a somewhat rudimentary appearance.
And that was precisely the point: military structures were meant to be stark and functional.
As Li Daoxuan completed his preparations...
Meanwhile, Gao Yiye and Xu Dafu had just finished their rice noodles.
As the two emerged from the commercial district, Li Daoxuan switched his perspective back, leaning in to instruct, "Yiye, lead him out of the village. Head northwest, and you'll soon see a newly built road. Follow it straight ahead."
Gao Yiye promptly took the lead.
The moment Xu Dafu stepped onto the "dirt official road," he sensed something amiss. The path felt as though it had only just been constructed; the soil still carried the fresh, earthy scent of newly turned earth, and along both sides, he could clearly discern the recent disturbance.
Being a cautious man, he dared not ask, simply continuing to follow Gao Yiye.
After walking two *li*, a small valley emerged before them. Within it, a colossal, unadorned stone structure stood, vast in its footprint, immense in scale—nearly half the size of Gao Family Fortress itself.
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