Chapter 293: Have to Hand It Over to the Army
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
If he wanted to strengthen the tribe, he had to have a lot of lambs and wealth to attract everyone to gather.
The sheep only had to be trimmed twice a year. The thinnest and softest fur would be used to weave cotton cloth and make clothes. As for the outermost layer of fur, because of its poor quality, it could only be woven with linen and become the material for mending the tent.
But tents did not have to be mended often, which led to an increasing backlog of canvas.
If he went to the market to sell, the situation would be the same.
The tribe people had gone to sell a few times and did not even earn a day’s worth of food. They would rather sell it to Jiamu at a low price and let her resell it than go themselves.
Jiamu was going to buy canvas from them for the Han people for a long time. Ah Yu was sincerely happy for her.
This way, the tribe people could buy two more lambs by weaving a few more bolts of cloth.
She quickly went to count the canvas kept by every tribe member and even specially sent someone to help transport to the caravan store.
Yu Suisheng kept his word and immediately settled the bill for Jiamu.
Jiamu also returned with the tribe and gave the money that belonged to Ah Yu’s tribe.
This was the first time Ah Yu had seen canvas being sold for so much. When Jiamu distributed the silver to the tribe people, everyone was very happy and even warmly invited Jiamu and her partners to stay and eat roasted whole sheep.
Jiamu ate a big meal happily. Before she left, Ah Yu stuffed a large bucket of dark water and two big black rocks into her mouth. She said, “This is petroleum. Take it back and use it to light the lamp. It’s bright and lasts for a long time. Central Plains people like to write. This thing can also be ground into ink. Take it and give it to that Han businessman.”
There were also many tribes that had acc.u.mulated quite a lot of canvas. Ah Yu gave these things because he wanted to rope in Jiamu and also to stabilize the relationship between Jiamu and the Han businessman.
Jiamu smiled and waved her hand. ‘Thank you.’
Since it was on the way, she brought the petroleum and two large rocks to the store.
Yu Suisheng was about to set off with the large amount of canvas to chase after Bai Wutong and the rest.
When Jiamu found out, she hurriedly stuffed the big rock that Ah Yu had given her into Yu Suisheng’s hand. ‘This is a thank-you gift from Tribe leader Ah Yu.”
Yu Suisheng looked at the two black rocks in his hand and asked in confusion, ‘What are these?”
Jiamu said, “Ah Yu said that it can be ground to write. Don’t you Central Plains people like to write?”
Yu Suisheng’s interest was suddenly piqued. He got out of the carriage and rubbed it on the inkstone. As expected, there was ink.
He picked up his brush and wrote a word on the paper. His eyes lit up and he praised, “The dark glow is like paint. It’s incomparable to pine ink.”
It was probably the legendary stone ink.
Jiamu was confused by his words. She only felt that Yu Suisheng was quite happy, so she was quite happy herself. She realized that he was quite good-looking and took a few more glances.
Yu Suisheng asked happily, “Do you have many of such ink?”
Jiamu shook her head. “Not really, but the ink you produced is similar to the petroleum in my bucket. Haha, it’s both black. You should be able to write with it too!”
“Petroleum?’
Jiamu asked Yang Qiu to hand the wooden bucket to Yu Suisheng.
The semi-solid black thing in the wooden bucket appeared in front of Yu Suisheng.
He stared at it. “Is that oil in it?”
Jiamu nodded. “It’s oil, but it can’t be eaten. However, I’ve seen Ah Yu and the others use it to coat the wooden bucket. The surface will become smooth.”
Yu Suisheng dipped his hand in it and sniffed it. He asked, “Can this be used to light the lamp?”
Jiamu’s eyes lit up. “Hey, how did you know? Did you guess? How are you so smart!”
Her eager gaze at Yu Suisheng made the two men behind her sense danger. They held her hand and reminded her, “Jiamu, we should go. ‘
Jiamu nodded. “Alright, let’s go back I won’t disturb you from setting off. Have a safe trip.”
Suddenly, Yu Suisheng stopped her. ‘Miss Jiamu, can you give me some of your petroleum?’
Jiamu said generously, “Alright, pour half of it over!’
Yu Suisheng got someone to pour half of the wooden bucket and immediately filled the lamp with some petroleum. The moment it was lit, the entire room emitted a bright light.
Yu Suisheng looked surprised. He did not expect the petroleum to be so bright. He could not help but ask, “Is there a lot of petroleum here?”
Jiamu said, “There’s quite a lot of petroleum in Ah Yu’s tribe. You can often see it appearing and staining the gra.s.s. However, petroleum is a sacred item of the tribe. Other than the people of the tribe, only those who have contributed to the tribe can use it. ‘
Yu Suisheng had traveled extensively and was knowledgeable. It was very likely that it was a new mineral.
Since petroleum could be ignited, wasn’t it the same as coal? It could be used for heating!
After accidentally discovering such a treasure, Yu Suisheng did not wait for the convoy to transport the canvas and chased after the convoy.
Because the team was too large and their speed was slow, Yu Suisheng caught up that night.
He handed the stone ink, and petroleum to Sheng Huaixuan and said excitedly, “Master, this is what the Syrian tribe found from underground. ‘ “This is petroleum. You can light the lamps to keep warm!”
“This is stone ink. The black glow is as smooth as paint!’
Sheng Huaixuan was the most experienced businessman, so he naturally could tell at a glance that these two things could bring about huge profits.
However, anything dug out from the ground belonged to the royal family. If they operated a business selling it privately, they would be beheaded and their entire family would be exterminated.
Although Emperor Ling Hui did not know about such a thing, it would be over if they were discovered.
There was no need for Sheng Huaixuan to destroy his future for a small profit. He decided to report the stone ink and petroleum to the Imperial Court.
However, he still did not trust You Huaijie very much, so he went to discuss with Bai Wutong and Chu Tianbao about what to do.
If he did not tell the royal family, it would not be good if someone else had used such a good thing privately.
When Bai Wutong heard the words “stone ink and petroleum”, she suddenly stood up and looked at it carefully for a moment. Instantly, she was taken aback.
This was clearly petroleum!
And these two things called stone ink were crystals formed after petroleum was burned!
They had actually discovered petroleum, and no one knew about it.
Bai Wutong sighed. This was the most precious energy source for modernization.
Whether it was planes, cars, trains, or the daily use of electrosynthetic fibres, plastic asphalt around the factory... petroleum was indispensable!
In particular, the most powerful use of petroleum is to make firearms!
It played a pivotal role in the history of ancient war in China.
Such things had to be controlled by the country.
If it fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions and was made into a lethal weapon, it was very likely to cause a war.
Regardless of whether they should tell Emperor Ling Hui first, they had to send someone to guard the oil first.
Bai Wutong said, “l once read in an ancient book that light lit with petroleum can’t be extinguished. I wonder if it’s true.”
Everyone was immediately interested. They lit an oil lamp and splashed water on it.
Unexpectedly, the fire did not extinguish. Instead, it became even more turbulent and almost burned the dark guard’s clothes.
In an instant, Chu Tianbao’s expression darkened and he said firmly, “We have to hand it over to the army!’