“There are criminals who have committed crimes, and among the refugees fleeing the chaos in Shouzhou, some whose origins are unclear and whose accents sound suspicious have also been locked up here. They might be spies from the northern country.”

Nathaniel Brooks nodded slightly. “Investigate their identities thoroughly.”

Henry Clark agreed repeatedly. After taking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something. “Your Excellency, Edward Foster was also thrown into prison this morning. He’s being held right here.”

Nathaniel Brooks was momentarily surprised, then understood. “Mrs. Foster’s second brother?”

“Yes…” Henry Clark heard Nathaniel Brooks refer to her as “Mrs. Foster” and knew his reminder was well-timed. He grinned obsequiously. “That’s right, Edward Foster is the village head of the Foster family village, recommended by Rebel Clark. When Rebel Clark was exposed, Edward Foster just happened to be on duty at the county office, so he was thrown into prison as well.”

Nathaniel Brooks knew that a village head was similar to a township chief in later times, and that the various village heads in the county would occasionally come to the county office for duty.

“Alright, release him!” Nathaniel Brooks gestured.

“Yes!” Henry Clark bowed. Now that the country had been established, even the Shengyuan Code, similar to the Tang Code, was not above the authority of the sovereign in this county. Besides, the sovereign was supposed to wait a few days for an auspicious date to grant a general amnesty, which would be even more celebratory.

Edward Foster was the man lying in the other iron cage, his silk clothes soaked in filth and urine. The yamen runners carried him out of the cell. He groaned and whimpered, and only after a basin of cold water was poured over him did he suddenly sit up.

“Wake up! The sovereign has shown mercy and pardoned your crime! Aren’t you going to thank him quickly?” Henry Clark squatted down with a smile, enduring the stench, and patted Edward Foster affectionately on the shoulder.

Edward Foster, still dazed and confused, didn’t know what was happening. He only knew someone had pardoned him, so he immediately knelt and kowtowed. “Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!”

In a haze, he saw that the handsome young man he was kowtowing to was quite young. He didn’t know who he was, but since he could pardon him, he must be a newly arrived dignitary in the county.

“You should thank the sovereign!” Henry Clark said helplessly, then came to Nathaniel Brooks’s side and grinned. “Edward Foster must have been scared out of his wits—his soul’s probably gone. He’ll need the old Daoist from Foster family village to make him a calming elixir before he’ll recover.”

Nathaniel Brooks was slightly surprised when he heard this. “There’s a Daoist in Foster family village who makes elixirs?”

“Yes, there’s a Daoist temple in Foster family village. Didn’t you know, Your Excellency?” Henry Clark asked, a bit puzzled.

Nathaniel Brooks was moved. “Then, do they use saltpeter in their alchemy?”

“They probably do?” Henry Clark scratched his head. “Foster family village has always had a tradition of making crude saltpeter. Many farmers make it, and the Daoists from Baiyun Temple in Haizhou even buy saltpeter from Foster family village.”

Nathaniel Brooks immediately felt a surge of excitement.

Ever since he regained consciousness and was made the ruler of Donghai, he knew that in this chaotic world, he probably wouldn’t be able to escape the turmoil.

What’s more, he had killed Richard Grant, so now he had no idea how history would unfold.

According to historical development, during the southern campaign against Tang, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin achieved great merit, which earned him the trust of the Zhou ruler and gradually made him the commander of the Zhou imperial guards.

But now, Zhao Kuangyin’s power was not yet consolidated, and he couldn’t suppress the original powerful ministers of Zhou. The struggle between the two sides—who knew how it would end?

And if Zhao Kuangyin couldn’t seize power, or if both sides were evenly matched, and Edward Grant grew up to remain the Zhou ruler, would he spare the man who killed his father?

So, he had to prepare in advance.

Actually, even if the entire Zhou state was against him, if he had no family or friends, he wouldn’t need to worry or flee with his sword. He would just need a little time to make some devices, and he could single-handedly stir up chaos within Zhou.

But he had an elderly mother, family, and friends to protect. Doing it alone would be difficult.

If only his old action team were here.

It seemed he could only train an elite personal guard.

This personal guard didn’t need to be large—about a thousand men—so the devices he made could be supplied to them.

As for what kind of devices to make, Nathaniel Brooks was still considering.

And whether these devices could use gunpowder, Nathaniel Brooks was also pondering.

He wondered if, using the resources available to him, he could produce some firearms.

As for black powder, the golden ratio was still unknown in this world, but for him, it was a piece of cake.

The real challenge in making firearms nowadays was actually the technique of smelting iron.

But the current iron-smelting techniques, in terms of iron quality, were no different from those of the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. In fact, after the Song, the widespread use of coal in smelting led to a decline in iron quality, because during the Song, Ming, and Qing, there was no technology to remove carbon impurities from iron, not to mention that domestic coal was high in sulfur, which further reduced iron quality.

For example, the matchlock guns produced in the Ming dynasty were far inferior in power to European matchlocks, mainly because of the quality of the iron. Ming-made firearms could only use one-third or even less of the gunpowder charge of European guns; otherwise, the barrels would easily burst.

If they had equipped several thousand European heavy matchlocks and used them properly, the Jurchens would have stood no chance.

At the same time, Europe was using firearms to rout the fierce, cold-weapon-wielding natives of Africa and the Americas with just a small number of troops.