217: Chapter 217 Surprised? Unexpected? Happy? Joyful?

As soon as Lu Jia finished speaking, Lie Yun burst into hearty laughter.

“Are you trying to make me laugh so hard that I can't even hold my blade!”

“Trading wool for grain.”

“Listen to this, everyone, listen to this. Does this sound reasonable?!”

“Exactly, exactly!”

Qing Ying, Chi Yan, and the other chieftains all sneered.

In their eyes, wool had some value, but not much.

Even if the Qin people allowed them to exchange wool for grain, how much grain could they possibly get?

“My lord is merciful.”

Lu Jia cupped his hands and bowed toward the south, toward Yangshan Pass where Zhao Fusu was located. Ignoring the sneers of Qing Ying, Chi Yan, and the others, he said calmly, “Five catties of wool can be exchanged for one catty of grain.”

“What!”

Once Cao Jiacheng translated those words, Qing Ying, Chi Yan, and the other chieftains lost their composure.

“Chieftain Qing Ying, Chieftain Chi Yan.”

Lie Yun said coldly, “It's not like you don't know how cunning the Qin people are. Their words are nothing but deceitful lies.”

“Don't tell me you actually find him credible!”

Qing Ying's gaze fell upon Jin Tu's face, and he saw Jin Tu nodding.

Lie Yun also saw Jin Tu nodding.

“What is the meaning of this!”

Lie Yun was somewhat annoyed.

Jin Tu nodding like this—wasn't he slapping his face in public!

“I actually got the grain!”

Jin Tu replied.

“Ah!”

Lie Yun was stunned.

“No, are you for real?”

Lie Yun still couldn't believe it was true.

“If it weren't true, could it be a lie?”

Lu Jia mimicked his lord's actions and expression, saying, “Are you surprised? Are you shocked? Are you happy? Are you glad?”

“It's true!”

Cao Jiacheng said, “I was the one who escorted the grain.”

“This!”

Qing Ying, Chi Yan, Lie Yun, and the other chieftains looked at one another, all of them staring in mutual bewilderment.

“His Majesty the Head of State has also invented a divine tool for heating in winter—the honeycomb coal heating stove.”

Lu Jia urged Jin Tu, “Chieftain Jin Tu, why don't you bring it out and let the other chieftains test its effects.”

“Alright.”

Jin Tu said, “I will send men to set up a yurt.”

Lu Jia's words successfully piqued the curiosity of all the chieftains.

They watched as the men sent by Jin Tu began to pitch the yurt.

The main components of a Xiongnu yurt include: the Hana, the Uni poles, the Toono, the wall felts, the roof felt, and the ropes.

The Hana is a lattice wooden frame made of thin wooden sticks connected by leather thongs; it forms the wall section of the yurt where the Xiongnu people live, and it can be expanded or folded for easy relocation and transport.

The Uni poles are slender wooden poles that connect radially between the circular skylight at the top of the yurt and the Hana, serving to support and secure the roof.

The Toono is the circular skylight at the top of the yurt, composed of a wooden ring and radial wooden slats, used for lighting, ventilation, and smoke exhaust.

The wall felts are made of wool that has been rolled and pressed, used to wrap around the Hana to provide warmth and wind protection.

The roof felt is a circular piece of felt covering the top of the yurt, used to shield it from rain and snow.

The ropes are mostly made of cowhide, used to bind and secure the various components.

The people of the Tuan Tribe chose a high, flat, dry area with lush grass and water to set up the yurt.

The site for their yurt had to avoid wind funnels while remaining close to water sources and grazing grounds.

At the selected location, they first cleared debris and stones from the ground, then spread a layer of dry grass or branches to act as a moisture barrier.

They expanded the Hana and connected it into a circle, securing it with ropes.

The Hana they set up was about 1.8 meters high and 8 meters in diameter.

They placed the Toono at the center of the circular top formed by the Hana and used ropes to fix it to the Hana.

Afterward, they inserted one end of the Uni poles into the holes of the Toono and connected the other end to the Hana, distributing and securing them evenly.

There were 40 Uni poles in total.

Next came the covering of the wall felts and the roof felt.

First, they wrapped the wall felts around the outside of the Hana and tied them tight with ropes, then they covered the Toono and Uni poles with the roof felt, securing the edges with ropes.

There was a small opening in the roof felt for the ventilation and smoke exhaust of the honeycomb coal heating stove's chimney.

On one side of the Hana, they left a space for a doorway and installed a wooden door. The door generally faced south to facilitate lighting and avoid the wind.

After an hour of busy work, a yurt was successfully erected.

Once the honeycomb coal inside the core of the honeycomb coal heater was ignited, it was placed in the very center of the yurt.

After the smoke pipe was connected to the honeycomb coal heater, the chimney protruded through the roof felt of the yurt.

The honeycomb coal in the heater core burned brighter and brighter, releasing a massive amount of heat.

“What is this thing?”

Qing Ying said in shock, “It burns without producing any smoke!”

“Indeed!”

“The heat output is actually so high!”

Shuang Ao, the chieftain of the Shuangzong Tribe, was the most excited.

The pastures occupied by their tribe were the furthest north.

Every winter, a large number of their tribesmen froze to death.

If they had these honeycomb coal heating stoves in the winter, then none of their people would have to freeze to death!

“This is the honeycomb coal heater, and what burns inside the core is honeycomb coal.”

Seeing that all the chieftains present were awestruck by the honeycomb coal heater, Lu Jia took the opportunity to say, “As long as you are willing to submit to my lord, you can also exchange wool for honeycomb coal and honeycomb coal heaters.”

“Two catties of wool can be exchanged for one catty of honeycomb coal.”

When Cao Jiacheng translated Lu Jia's words, the chieftains present were all in an uproar, their eyes filled with shock.

This honeycomb coal burned without smoke and had such a high heat output; it was countless times better than wood.

They had originally thought this honeycomb coal would be incredibly expensive, but it turned out that only two catties of wool were needed to get one catty!

This simply shattered their worldview; it was so mind-blowing that they didn't dare believe their own ears.

They even suspected that Cao Jiacheng was translating incorrectly.

How could this be possible!

“Don't disbelieve it!”

Jin Tu said, “My honeycomb coal was exchanged for wool!”

“I, Jin Tu, can swear to the eternal blue sky that if there is a single lie in what I say, may I be struck down by five bolts of lightning!”

“Rumble, rumble, rumble!”

A continuous rumbling sound echoed.

Jin Tu was startled. What was going on?

All the chieftains were looking at him with strange expressions.

“It's not thunder!”

Jin Xishan said.

Jin Tu breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew it; he really wasn't lying, so there was no reason for the eternal blue sky to punish him.

“It's the sound of hooves!”

Qing Ying said, his face as dark as water.

Sure enough, the ground beneath them was shaking, showing that a large number of cavalry were rapidly approaching.

“Could it be!”

The faces of Jin Tu, Jin Xishan, Qing Ying, Lie Yun, Shuang Ao, Chi Yan, and the others changed drastically.

The twenty thousand cavalry of the Right Great Danghu and the White Sheep King had arrived—they had even already begun their charge!