Borrow the day to change the day

The face of the Director of the Gunpowder Department changed really quickly. As soon as Zhong Jinwei asked him about his professional knowledge, he immediately showed a confident expression.He introduced to Zhong Jinwei: "The refining process of sulfur can be roughly divided into four steps."

"The first step is to smash the sulfur block to remove sand and debris."

"The second step is to put the crushed sulfur into a pot and boil it with fresh water to remove impurities, and pour it into an urn for precipitation for a day, then remove the sediment to obtain crude sulfur."

"The third step is to pour ten catties of sulfur into two and a half catties of butter and one catty of sesame oil, and fry it so that the oil does not stick to the sulfur. Then add cypress leaves to the pot and cook with the sulfur, and absorb the oil from the pot. into black scum."

"The fourth step is to put the slag-removed crude sulfur into the boiling oil and cook it. After the oil surface is foamy, put it in a basin to cool. Finally, remove the scum and impurities on the surface, and take out the scum-free and oil-free oil. of pure sulfur."

At this point in the introduction, the director of the Gunpowder Department pointed to the pure sulfur that his subordinates had already prepared to show Zhong Jinwei, which was a lemon-colored massive crystal.

Zhong Jinwei nodded his head, he couldn't underestimate the intelligence of the people of Ming Dynasty.

He thought that the remaining raw material, charcoal, should be nothing, a very simple thing.It's just that I have already asked two questions before, so I asked by the way: "Is there any charcoal?"

Unexpectedly, the answer from the director of the Gunpowder Department was beyond his expectation: "The best charcoal is to use wicker from before and after the Qingming Festival. The wicker with straight branches and even branches is removed, peeled and knotted, and sealed to dry naturally. Then it is baked into charcoal and ground into powder."

Speaking of this, he pointed to the charcoal powder to show Zhong Jinwei.Zhong Jinwei was really surprised, he didn't expect Tan to be so particular.

He didn't know that charcoal powder is a combustion aid in gunpowder, and its quality can affect the burning speed of gunpowder.

The wicker leaf buds before and after the Qingming Festival will not sprout, and the nutrients will be concentrated on the wicker.The gunpowder prepared with this kind of charcoal powder has no smoke due to the peeling of the charcoal, and no resin due to the removal of knots, which improves the burning speed and uniformity in all directions, and enhances the instantaneous explosive power.

People in the Ming Dynasty found the best charcoal powder long ago through trial and error.

The technology at the end of the Ming Dynasty was far more powerful than that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which can be seen from the acquisition of gunpowder raw materials.

After Zhong Jinwei admired secretly, he naturally asked how their gunpowder department configured gunpowder.

When the Director of the Gunpowder Department heard Zhongxinghou's question, he immediately stretched out his right hand and said, "Master Hou, please move."

Zhong Jinwei knew that he should let him watch it live, so he nodded and walked over according to his guidance.

Fan Jun followed behind him, seeing his subordinates entertaining Zhongxing Hou graciously, feeling slightly satisfied in his heart.He obviously listened to what he had said in advance.

The director of the Gunpowder Department invited Zhong Jinwei to some places where stone mortars and wooden troughs were placed, and then said: "The process of preparing gunpowder can be divided into four steps. The first step is to mix the selected and refined nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. According to the requirements of the formula for preparing gunpowder, measure the correct amount, put them into stone mortars or wooden troughs, and pound them repeatedly to make them into fine powder.”

Zhong Jinwei listened to what he said, and observed carefully on the side. Sure enough, white, lemon-colored and black powder could be faintly seen at the bottom of these stone mortars or wooden tanks.

The director of the Gunpowder Department walked to the other side and continued pointing to the wooden mortar on the ground, and introduced: "The second step is to mix the finely ground nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal powders into the wooden mortar. Then add an appropriate amount of pure water or shochu, the mixture is mixed into a wet puree and pounded thousands of times with a wooden pestle."

When the Director of the Gunpowder Department said this, his face showed a solemn expression, he looked at Zhong Jinwei, and mentioned the precautions: "During the pounding process, it is strictly forbidden to mix sand and stone into the mortar, so as not to cause a fire after being bumped. "

These are all lessons learned from blood. Just in case, they decided not to demonstrate in front of Zhong Jinwei, just talking about the specific process.

When he saw Zhong Jinwei nodded in understanding, he continued to introduce: "When the mixture is almost dry, add water and then pound it to make the mixture fully uniform and fine, and then take it out to dry in the sun."

After saying this, he respectfully asked Marquis Zhongxing to return to the long table just now, pointed to the gunpowder on it and said, "The third step is to check the quality of the finished product. Select a part of the dried gunpowder sample and burn it on paper. If it burns out quickly and the paper is intact, it is a qualified product. Or put the sample in the palm of your hand and burn it. If the gunpowder burns and the palm does not feel hot, it means that the finished product burns fast and is a qualified product. On the contrary, if the gunpowder is burned If there is black and white on the paper, or if the palm of the hand feels burned, it is a substandard product. It needs to be reworked and grinded again until it is qualified."

Having said that, he directed one of his men to take a small amount of gunpowder and show it to Hou Zhongxing on the spot.

Seeing this, Zhong Jinwei felt that it was enough, but the director of the gunpowder department said that there were four steps, so there is one more step?

Sure enough, the director of the Gunpowder Department said again: "The fourth step is to screen the qualified pellets. Different firearms must have different pellet sizes. For example, the propellant of the bird's gun is not used for the thick ones, and the thin ones are used. Take powder pellets the size of corn."

Zhong Jinwei didn't know about such details before, so he asked with great interest, "Tell me the details."

Naturally, the director of the Gunpowder Department dared not disagree, so he invited Zhong Jinwei to a large room with good lighting, pointed to different kinds of baskets hanging in the air and said: "Crush the passed inspection into granules, use these different thicknesses to The large, medium and small gunpowder granules used in cannons, franc machines, and bird guns are sifted out separately. Those that are not granulated can be used as ignition powder for fire doors, and the remaining fine powders are all removed."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and his subordinates immediately brought several different granular gunpowders to Hou Zhongxing for a look.

Zhong Jinwei picked up several kinds of gunpowder and put them in front of his eyes, nodding while looking at them.

This method of selecting the corresponding grade of granular gunpowder according to the caliber of the gun and the size of the powder chamber is not only to improve the firing power, but also to ensure the safety of firing.

Zhong Jinwei watched the whole production process of gunpowder, and sighed in his heart, what a pity!

If the standard process was strictly implemented in the late Ming Dynasty, everything from gunpowder to firearms was so strict, it is hard to say what the history of later generations will be like.

Thinking of this, he ordered the director of the gunpowder department: "I don't care about anything else. The gunpowder provided to the new army in the future must be the gunpowder that has been formulated under strict regulations."

Unexpectedly, the Director of the Gunpowder Department had a look of embarrassment on his face. He didn't dare to give Zhongxing Hou a direct answer, so he had to look at his immediate superior, Fan Jun, the eunuch of the Bing Zhan Bureau.

Fan Jun understood what the Director of the Gunpowder Department meant. He chuckled, attracted Zhong Jinwei's attention, and then explained to him: "Master Hou, you want too much gunpowder, and you don't have enough funds!"

After finishing speaking, he spread his hands, expressing that he really had no money or was powerless.

When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he waved his hand and said: "The problem that money can solve is not a problem. If you lack money, you can go to the Ministry of Households and ask for it. They say it is military expenses for the new army, and they will give it to you. It's just that if the money is misappropriated for other place, you'll regret doing it."

Fan Jun's expression brightened, and he quickly said: "Where, where, even if we borrow 1 guts from our family, I dare not embezzle the expenses of Lord Hou's new army!"

What he said was indeed sincere, because Emperor Chongzhen was most concerned about the matter of the new army, and if he wanted to tamper with it, he would obviously be brain-dead.

Zhong Jinwei nodded in satisfaction and said, "Let's go, let's go and see the firearms manufacturing."