Throne of Vientiane Civilization

The truth is revealed.

But since they have used it, they are not afraid of people knowing it.

In fact, when Barley came over, Shi Lei had already guessed this.

However, Barley's next words still surprised Shi Lei.

"That's gunpowder, right?"

Shi Lei was slightly stunned.

"Sir Barley also knows about gunpowder?"

"To be honest, we in Tongluobao have actually been developing gunpowder."

After hearing this, Shi Lei's eyes flashed with a hint of understanding. Judging from the military weapons currently displayed by Tongluobao, the other party's gunpowder has obviously not been successfully developed.

This is indeed the case. With the collapse of the world and the destruction of the old civilization, many technologies and formulas have been lost. The same is true for the dwarves. The formula for gunpowder handed down has long been incomplete. The only thing we know is that sulfur is needed to make gunpowder.

But other materials, even the specific proportions, are unknown.

This forced the dwarves in Tongluobao to invest more time and energy in research.

However, no results have been found so far.

Now that he had seen the power of the Great Zhou's explosive bombs, Bale couldn't remain calm even if he wanted to.

However, Shi Lei had no intention of saying anything.

At this moment, Bale had only two purposes: either he wanted to get gunpowder from them, or he wanted to go a step further and get the formula of gunpowder directly from them.

No matter which one, the initiative was in the hands of their Great Zhou.

Sure enough, seeing that Shi Lei didn't say anything, Bale could only continue to speak shamelessly.

"Sir Shi Lei, on behalf of Tonglubao, I hope to negotiate a deal with your Great Zhou."

Shi Lei pretended to be "listening attentively" and still didn't speak.

Bale, who had already said the word "deal", was completely open, and at the same time, he made up his mind and said it directly.

"We want to buy the formula of gunpowder!"

"Impossible, the formula of gunpowder can't be sold to you."

Although he hadn't asked their majesty yet, Shi Lei knew without thinking that the formula of gunpowder was definitely not on their Great Zhou's trading list.

This situation was within Bale's expectations. The reason why he expressed his desire to buy the formula of gunpowder at the beginning was to give each other room for bargaining.

He retreated directly after Shi Lei refused.

"If the formula doesn't work, buying gunpowder is also fine."

Needless to say, this is Bale's real purpose.

Shi Lei is undoubtedly clear about Bale's idea. Don't forget that their Great Zhou has always had a tradition of trading with allies. Therefore, even generals like Shi Lei have a good idea about trading and naturally know Bale's tricks.

"I have to ask our Majesty for instructions on this matter, but before asking, I need to know what you can use to buy our gunpowder."

Shi Lei directly said that he could not make the decision, which was a troublesome thing for Bale.

Because in this way, if he wanted to bargain slowly with the chips, the efficiency of the entire conversation would be affected by the efficiency of message transmission and would be greatly slowed down.

And if he took out all the chips at once, it would undoubtedly be unfavorable to their negotiations.

"Mr. Shi Lei, I want to know how long it will take for you to send a message back?"

"It can be sent faster, about 20 days for a round trip."

"..."

When they heard this number, both Bare and Woking were dumbfounded.

Bare was still calm, but Woking couldn't help but say something.

"If the road is clear, it will only take half a day for a small group of cavalry to get from our Tonglu Fort to the border of your Great Zhou."

The towering rock wall next to the Plain Fortress is, to put it bluntly, the back of the mountain of Tonglu Fort, so the distance between the two forces is closer than expected, and they are real neighbors.

In response, Shi Lei said calmly...

"It only takes half a day for a small group of cavalry to get from Tongluobao to the border of our Great Zhou, but it will take ten days to reach the capital of our Great Zhou from our border. This is when I sent the Giant Eagle Knight to fly back to send the message. If it is cavalry, it will take more than half a month to get there one way, and it will take at least thirty or forty days to go back and forth."

Shi Lei's answer made Bale gasp.

Balai, who had participated in the coalition, was very clear about the mobility efficiency of human cavalry. It took thirty or forty days for cavalry to go back and forth? How big is the territory of the Great Zhou?

Balai and Wojin, who realized this problem at the same time, both had a flash of horror in their eyes.

You must know that before this, according to the information provided by Wojin, the Great Zhou has always existed as a "human country with weak military strength" in the eyes of the dwarves of Tongluobao.

Based on this premise, they almost instinctively believed that the Great Zhou was just a small force with little territory.

But now the information revealed by Shi Lei has greatly exceeded their expectations.

After a brief shock, Bale quickly calmed down and wondered if Shi Lei was bragging.

With this thought in mind, Bale couldn't help but put forward an idea.

"Mr. Shi Lei, why don't we send a representative directly to your capital to negotiate."

This method can effectively ensure their negotiation advantage, and it is undoubtedly a test for Bale.

Hearing this, Shi Lei directly said...

"If representatives from other countries want to enter our country, they also need to apply and get permission first."

Bale was not surprised by this. Things like this are basically the same everywhere.

For example, the Great Zhou troops were able to enter their Copperforge territory unimpeded this time. In addition to the boar knight leading the way, it was also because Woking had applied in advance and obtained the king's permission.

Just as Bale was thinking about this, Shi Lei's voice sounded again.

"But I have to remind you, if you want to send a representative, considering the efficiency of the journey, it will take 40 to 50 days, or even longer..."

Emergency information, there are messengers on the ground in their Great Zhou who can rush 800 miles, and although the physical strength of the Giant Eagle Knight in the air is not as good as that of the warhorse, it can't stand that they can fly directly in the sky and fly in a straight line regardless of the terrain. It is basically impossible for the delegation to have this efficiency.

It takes about two months to send representatives back and forth, and it takes about 20 days to apply for information. My goodness, it basically takes a quarter!

Under this premise, with negotiation as the premise, it would probably take half a year or even longer for the gunpowder to be delivered to them...

As a race with a long life span, a year or half a year is nothing to the dwarves.

But the continuous siege of the greenskin army has changed their concept of time in the simplest and crudest way, making Bale a little nervous about this efficiency.

However, the coalition forces and the greenskins have fought for so many years before. Now that they have the support of the Great Zhou troops on their defense line, their defensive strength has been significantly improved, so this time does not seem to be unacceptable...