Chapter 67: Treated as an Honored Guest

"This... this is..." Zhang Qian's voice trembled slightly. He couldn't help but lower the telescope, stare at the city wall, and then raise it again, repeating the process several times to make sure.

Guo Xin and the veteran soldiers of Anxi all noticed the deputy general's unusual behavior, growing deeply curious about what he had seen that left him so profoundly shaken.

"Deputy General Zhang," Guo Xin called out.

The call snapped Zhang Qian out of his trance of utter shock.

He turned to look at the grand general, his eye rims reddened. "General, this device... this device can actually bring scenery a thousand paces away right before our eyes!"

Zhang Qian's voice choked. "If only... if only we had possessed this back then..."

His fingers gripped the metal tube so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Everyone could see the battle-hardened deputy general's shoulders trembling slightly.

The horrific memories of being ambushed by the Tibetans in the pitch of dark, the sentries who had died in vain because they could not make out the enemy's movements—all these bloody flashbacks replayed before his eyes.

Guo Xin's expression tightened as he reached out and took the telescope.

When the old general's aged eyes met the eyepiece, his wrinkled hand suddenly shivered.

The texture of the bricks on the distant city wall was clearly visible, and even the weeds growing in the cracks were distinct. What shocked him even more was that a soldier on the watchtower was rubbing his eyes and yawning—a detail that would have been entirely impossible to perceive under normal circumstances.

"Heaven bless the Great Tang." When Guo Xin lowered the telescope, his voice was rasping beyond recognition.

The old general gently stroked the body of the telescope, as if touching a divine artifact.

The gaze he directed toward Jiang Ye had completely changed, mixed with shock, gratitude, and a trace of indescribable awe.

Although the surrounding Anxi veterans were burning with curiosity, not a single one dared to step forward without permission.

Wang Zhengqing perceived the longing in the veterans' eyes and immediately turned to take more telescopes from the crate. He handed one to the nearest Anxi veteran. "Have a try as well."

Chen Xuelin, Tong Yi, and He Xu immediately understood and picked up telescopes to distribute among the surrounding soldiers.

The three of them patiently instructed, "Hold it like this... place your eye right here. Yes, adjust it slowly."

The veteran who received the telescope first tremblingly aligned the eyepiece with his right eye.

When he clearly saw the texture of every single brick on the city wall, his chapped lips trembled violently. "Clea—clear as if it's right in front of my eyes!"

He abruptly lowered the telescope, tears swirling in his eyes. "If we had this thing back then, my son wouldn't have..."

Another white-haired veteran received a telescope, handling the object in his hands with utmost care.

When he looked toward the distant beacon tower and clearly saw the facial features of the soldiers upon it, he cried out in joyful ecstasy toward the sky, "Heaven bless the Great Tang!"

Soon, echoes of astonished cheers resounded throughout the courtyard.

"I can see the banner of the No. 3 beacon tower! Even the tear at the corner of the flag is clear!"

"That's... that's the tip of the pagoda! I can see the sand sparrows perched on the spire."

"Little Zhao on the watchtower is gnawing on a sesame cake!"

Watching these veterans who were as excited as children, Guo Xin raised the corners of his mouth slightly beneath his white beard.

Seeing the stirred emotions of the Anxi soldiers, Jiang Ye also found his lips curving upward. He turned to Guo Xin, "General Guo, this device can also be used at night. Once darkness falls, you may all try it once more, and you will know that my words are no exaggeration."

Hearing this, a flash of incredulity crossed Guo Xin's eyes. "It can enable sight even in the night?"

All the Anxi veterans stared uniformly at Jiang Ye, their weathered faces filled with utter disbelief.

"If—if night battles allow us to see the enemy..." Zhang Qian took a sudden step forward, his scarred face flushed with excitement. "Even without moonlight, can this thing allow us to clearly see the movements of the Tibetans?"

"Yes," Jiang Ye nodded. "Though not as clear as in broad daylight, shadows of figures beyond a hundred paces can still be distinguished."

A collective intake of breath swept through the courtyard.

Several veterans instinctively stroked the telescopes in their hands, as if cradling rare and priceless treasures.

Some had already begun calculating in low whispers that if every watchtower were equipped with this device, casualties among the night-watch soldiers could be reduced by at least thirty percent.

Guo Xin looked toward Jiang Ye and his group.

If what he claimed was true, leaving aside the snow-white wheat flour, rice, refined sugar, and salt, this single item alone was enough for the entire Anxi army to treat them as honored guests.

While the Anxi army was immersed in the joy of acquiring the telescopes, Jiang Ye bent down and dragged out a dusty woven sack from the very bottom, upon which the words "XXX Cement" were clearly printed.

Chen Xuelin, Tong Yi, and the others exchanged a knowing look.

They had noticed those bags of cement when unloading supplies earlier, and had wondered why Jiang Ye would bring such a thing.

Now, looking at the gaps on the city walls of Kucha that had been patchworked barely together with rubble and mud, they finally understood Jiang Ye's intention.

"This item is called 'cement,'" Jiang Ye patted the woven sack, and gray powder drifted from the seams of the bag's opening. "When mixed with water, sand, and gravel, it can be used to build city walls as solid as a monolith."

Guo Xin stepped forward and pinched a pinch of the gray powder between his fingers.

This seemingly ordinary gray powder bore some resemblance to the lime commonly seen in the Western Regions, yet it was much finer.

Having witnessed the snow-white flour, fine salt, telescopes, and other supplies brought by Jiang Ye, he naturally would not underestimate the object before him.

Zhang Qian asked eagerly, "Can this thing truly build a city? How is it applied?"

The surrounding Anxi veterans also stretched out their necks, looking curiously at the seemingly ordinary bag of materials.

Having witnessed the miraculous nature of the telescope, no one dared to underestimate the items brought by these men.

Jiang Ye untied the bag's opening so everyone could see clearly. "Take one part cement, add fine sand and gravel, mix it with water, and it will achieve initial set in a day and complete curing in seven days, becoming as hard as iron and stone."

The few bags of cement he brought this time were far from enough for the Anxi army's needs, but it did not matter. He had already compiled the process for forging cement, specifically using the most crude and primitive methods.

He had checked the records and found that raw materials for cement production existed near Kucha, which was why he brought both the cement and its manufacturing method.

What needed to be done now was to let the Anxi army understand the benefits of cement so they could eventually become self-sufficient. That was the long-term solution.

"Seven days?!" Zhang Qian was astonished.

Having supervised city defenses for years, he knew best that ordinary rammed-earth city walls required over a month to become sturdy.

If this substance was truly as Jiang Ye claimed...

Guo Xin instructed his personal guards nearby, "Fetch water! Bring sand and gravel!"

A few Anxi soldiers quickly gathered fine sand, gravel, and clean water, clearing a flat patch of ground in the courtyard.

Jiang Ye rolled up his sleeves and began mixing according to the proportions provided by the system guide.

He first poured out a pile of cement, then added fine sand and gravel in succession.

"Water must be added slowly," Jiang Ye explained the intricacies while stirring with a wooden stick.

Wang Zhengqing stepped forward to help, and the two of them worked together to mix the mortar evenly.

The color of the mixture gradually turned into a uniform dark gray, emitting a distinct mineral scent.

Jiang Ye poured the mixed concrete onto the prepared open ground and smoothed it out with a wooden board.