Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 93: Nitrate, Sulfur, and Charcoal, Add Some Aluminum Powder, Big Ivan
"Fuck you, fuck you!"

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were fighting and cursing at the same time.

The morning court ended in chaos only after many guards pulled the people apart.

However, in just a short while, the two men beat Chang Mao so badly that his face was bruised and swollen, and even his mother didn't recognize him.

There is actually nothing wrong with Chang Mao.

It’s okay to dislike it, and it’s normal to have some small actions, as long as everything is done within the rules.

After all, there can't be any big moves in the morning court. Disgusting others and making them angry but not able to speak out is also the basic operation of a high-ranking noble like him.

However, the problem is that he can only do things within the rules, while others can break the rules and do not play by the rules.

You said you are good at chess?
Sorry, I am the chess master of Han Dynasty!

You dare to elbow me? You dare to kick me?

Beat him!

No matter whether you are in the morning court or not, if you provoke me, you have hit a wall.

Ji He and Zhu Yunfeng are not necessarily stronger in fighting than Chang Mao.

After all, as the son of Chang Yuchun and the son-in-law of Feng Sheng, Chang Mao was ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang to join the army and participate in training. He just returned from Shaanxi this year.

But he couldn't withstand the two men's killing blow. Ji He had over 200 pounds of muscle, so he pressed on Chang Mao as the main tank, while Zhu Yunfeng provided damage on the side. The two men pinned him down and beat him up.

By the time the guards pulled them apart, Chang Mao's face was covered in blood.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry and scolded them for not knowing the rules of the court. Then he asked the reason. When he knew the whole story, he just raised it high, put it down lightly, fined them three years' salary, and then lightly let it go.

Such blatant favoritism shocked all the civil and military officials in the court.

But to be honest, since Chang Mao has a bad character and is not very popular, no one speaks up for him.

Therefore, although all the officials felt that His Majesty was too partial and even covered up things like fights during the morning court, no one stood up to say a word of "fairness".

After all, given Chang Mao's usual arrogant and domineering character, it was considered good enough that no one praised Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He for their good fight.

So the matter was over very quickly and everyone treated it as if nothing had happened.

But Old Zhu was still a little unhappy. He returned to the Qianqing Palace angrily and asked Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He to come over to be scolded in private.

Mainly because of the fights during the morning court, it was his face that was hurt.

If outsiders saw this, they would think that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was no longer majestic enough to allow people to fight in the court, which would greatly damage his authority.

But Old Zhu couldn't do anything about Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He.

Zhu Yunfeng stopped talking.

Ji He accompanied him and Queen Ma in Changsha for nearly two months, serving them busily and being more sensible than his own son.

If it weren't for the issue of seniority, Empress Ma would have wanted to adopt him as her godson.

Therefore, it was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to punish them severely in public, and he could only fine them their salaries.

Anyway, they have no salary in the Ming Dynasty. The titles of prince and duke are just nominal. Not only do they have no salary, they don't even have guards. At most, they have a few sets of prince and duke uniforms. Deducting their salary is no different from nothing happening.

"What on earth are you two doing!?"

Back at the Qianqing Palace, Old Zhu angrily slammed the table and shouted, "In Fengtianmen Square, during the morning court session, you fought in public. Do you still take me seriously?"

“Grandfather, you also know about this. Chang Mao is just a moron. He is inexplicably jealous of Chi Chi and uses small tricks to mess with him.”

Zhu Yunfeng immediately cried out in grievance: "Who can tolerate him? Anyway, I can't stand it!"

"You can't fight in public."

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and said, "Can't you wait until the court session is over and ask Mao Xiang to lead people to block him on the street? How can you behave in front of all the civil and military officials?"

Ji He and Zhu Yunfeng were close friends from childhood and were very loyal. He stood up and said, "I was the first to start. I just can't stand this kind of scum who only does small things behind the scenes. If you think I'm wrong, you can kill me at any time. It has nothing to do with Fengzi."

"I think I should ask my grandmother to judge the matter!"

Zhu Yunfeng put his hands on his hips and said sarcastically, "Some people only care about their own face. They don't care about the grievances suffered by their wives, grandchildren, or who is on the righteous side. Let's go to Kunning Palace."

As he was about to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly said, "Come back!"

"Why are you back?"

Zhu Yunfeng said lazily: "I have to ask my grandmother for clarification. If she says I did something wrong, I will jump off the Qianqing Palace and die outside!"

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't hold it anymore and quickly winked at Zhu Biao on the side.

joke.

If they were asked to go to Queen Ma, Queen Ma doted on her grandson and, considering Ji He's contributions, she would definitely favor Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He.

Zhu Biao will probably have to help them, and then it will be a fight between one mouth and four.

Zhu Biao went up to hold Zhu Yunfeng and said with a smile: "Alright, alright, we have fought and vented our anger. Father is the emperor after all. You are fighting in the Fengtian Palace Square. Aren't you disrespecting your father?"

"It's not that I don't care, it's that Chang Mao is going too far."

Zhu Yunfeng said angrily: "He is still a duke, how is he different from a street thug? Putting such a bastard in the court would be a disgrace to our ancestors."

Zhu Biao glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Let's talk about Chang Mao later. We can find a way to deal with him then. Let's talk about business now."

He smiled bitterly at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Father, why is it so sudden? Isn't it a bit hasty to lead the army in person?"

Talking about business, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice: "I have considered this matter carefully. Since I drove the Mongols out of China, I have always had difficulty in the Northern Expedition and sweeping the Central Plains. When there is no war, the national strength can only be maintained with difficulty. Once a war breaks out, the national treasury will be overspent and the national strength will be seriously damaged. But now there is enough money and food in the second half of the year, which can support me to go north to the Central Plains and fight a war."

"Does that mean we have to wait until the autumn crops are harvested?"

Zhu Biao advised: "Besides, at present, only one million mu of grain is planted around Taihu Lake, and the estimated increase in production is only 5 to 6 million shi. The silver dollars sent by Yunfeng every month are useful. Wouldn't it be better to save money and grain for another two years and save enough at once before sending troops?"

"Yes, father, it is still a little unstable to send troops now. My eldest brother has already established an imperial farm in Bianliang and is preparing to plant sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, etc. These crops will be promoted throughout the country next year."

Zhu Di also advised: "Within two years, the grain production of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably grow explosively, and the national strength and financial resources will also usher in a rapid improvement. Why rush now?"

"I know what you said is right, but I haven't fought in many years. While I'm still young and not too old to walk, and you've accumulated prestige now, it's time to go for a walk on the Mongolian grasslands."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said.

After all, seeing that the fourth son was able to lead the expedition to Mongolia in person, although he was 53 years old, he still had great ambitions and naturally could not fall behind his son.

"But why should we fight against others with cold weapons?"

Zhu Biao raised a question: "Wouldn't it be better to wait until Yunfeng's factory is bigger, build some other metal processing factories, and get some lathes, so that we can make guns ourselves?"

"Forehead"

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head and said, "Hot weapons may be difficult to obtain in the next few years."

"Why?"

"Because of production capacity, how many guns can we make with just generators? Our current production capacity relies on terrifying power generation. Making guns in modern times is courting death. There is no energy to make guns in the Ming Dynasty."

"That's true. I didn't know much about industry before, but now I understand why our country has such an exaggerated industrial capacity." Ji He also said: "Electricity is too important. The current priority is not for Ming to manufacture thermal weapons, but to quickly develop energy, whether it is steam power, electric power, or oil and gas power. This is the top priority."

"Is it possible that the Ming Dynasty cannot upgrade its military equipment in the next few years?"

Zhu Di said in surprise.

"It's not impossible, just nitrate, sulfur, charcoal, and some aluminum powder, Big Ivan."

Zhu Yunfeng suddenly said in a dark voice.

“Isn’t it sugar?”

Ji He was surprised.

"That's a rumor. I looked it up before. White sugar is a binder and a flame retardant. Adding white sugar will actually slow down the burning speed. It's good enough if it doesn't reduce the power. If you add aluminum powder or magnesium powder to speed up the burning, the power can be eight times greater."

"Ok."

"In addition to traditional black powder, even nitroglycerin is not impossible to obtain. Daming can make it."

Zhu Yunfeng had a lot of random knowledge. He said, "Get some sulfur and saltpeter to extract sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Use wood ash and lard to make a saponification reaction to make glycerin. Mix the three in proportion and add diatomaceous earth to improve stability. Get some mercury, add nitric acid and ethanol to make mercuric fulminate. Mix nitroglycerin and mercuric fulminate together. Do you know what it is?"

"what?"

Ji Hyuk's mouth opened slightly, his eyes flickering with a thirst for knowledge.

"Detonator!"

Zhu Yunfeng took out his phone and opened the "Using Wood Ash and Lard to Make Soap and Nitroglycerin" and "The Principles of Mercury Fulminate Manufacturing" that he had downloaded from the B station cache. He said: "Moreover, these can be made into explosives with great power. They can also replace the black powder in guns and be replaced with bullet primers and firing pins. Guns in World War I and World War II were like this. However, due to its instability, the primers of modern weapons have been changed to lead azide."

"Why not just make lead azide? And TNT?"

Ji Hyuk asked.

"Because the production of lead azide and TNT requires a sophisticated chemical laboratory, the Ming Dynasty cannot produce the raw materials. If we go to modern times to buy the raw materials."

Zhu Yunfeng patted Ji He's shoulder, looked at him with caring eyes and said, "Their raw materials are dinitrotoluene and sodium azide, both of which are listed as state-controlled products. If we get them, Chi Sang will have them in this life."

"Forehead"

Although Ji He's grades were better than Zhu Yunfeng's when he was studying, he was still not as knowledgeable as Zhu Yunfeng in this area. He scratched his head, with a big look of confusion in his little eyes.

"So what can we get now?"

Zhu Di asked.

"Good question."

Zhu Yunfeng raised a finger and said, "I'll go back tomorrow and ask someone to get some aluminum powder and magnesium powder. You guys buy a lot of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. Guns are hard to make, so make grenades and cannons."

“How long will it take to build it?”

Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"It's hard to say about cannons, but grenades can be made with gunpowder. Ordinary black powder has average power, but with aluminum powder added, the power is many times greater. It's easy to cause accidental injuries if you operate it yourself."

Zhu Yunfeng hesitated.

Although after the emergence of TNT, nitroglycerin, black powder, etc. have gradually withdrawn from the stage of history.

However, this does not mean that black powder is really weak.

In fact, the detonation speed of TNT of the same proportion is about 6900 - 7000 m/s, and the detonation speed of black powder is about 300 - 500 m/s, which is more than ten times the power.

However, after adding aluminum-magnesium powder to black powder, the detonation speed can instantly increase to 2400-4000/second, which is 8 times that of ordinary black powder.

Aluminum-magnesium powder is not a regulated product and is widely used in industry, so it is easy to handle.

But it is not clear whether it is a good thing or a bad thing for the Ming Dynasty to rashly increase the power of black gunpowder so much.

毕竟大明的黑火药应该还是以前武经总要的配比，即硝、硫、炭的配比分别是60:22:18，与完美黑火药比例75:15:10有很大区别。

Although the difference in proportions seems small, the actual power is far different.

Improving the existing black powder to the perfect black powder ratio would be a huge improvement. If we can get aluminum-magnesium powder, it would directly enable the Ming Dynasty firearms to enter the modern era.

The power of a grenade is comparable to that of a bomb.

If we are not careful and something goes wrong in one arsenal, the entire arsenal will be blown up to the sky. It is too dangerous.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunfeng finally shook his head and said, "Forget it. If we take a big step, we may get into trouble. Let's not make aluminum-magnesium powder. I'll get some aluminum-magnesium powder and sugar, and a video on how to mix black powder perfectly. Let's do a small-scale test first and produce high-purity black powder for use."

Safety is the most important thing.

The problem with aluminum-magnesium powder is that it is flammable and explosive. Black powder is relatively stable at room temperature, but if you add aluminum-magnesium powder to it, with a little spark or even some water, it can catch fire.

Moreover, the presence of aluminum and magnesium powder causes the combustion speed to be very fast.

It's okay outdoors, it will just burn, but indoors or in a closed space, it will really explode.

If it is made into a grenade, the burning speed will be too fast, which will lead to a fast explosion speed. The fuse device must also be designed to prolong the explosion time. Comprehensive research is required.

Therefore, we cannot simply increase the power of gunpowder. We also have to develop a stable combustion device and a relatively safe configuration factory.

For example, adding white sugar powder into the fuse device can make it flame retardant, slow down the burning speed, and delay throwing for a few seconds.

If we directly use black powder and aluminum-magnesium powder, a mushroom cloud may appear in the arsenal.

really.

Technology is something that can only be developed step by step.

"so be it."

Hearing Zhu Yunfeng's words, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Since we can't make hot weapons for now, let's use cold weapons first. Now that the war has started, we should repel the Mongols first."

Old Zhu then pondered and said, "This time I will take all the nobles of the court with me, so that no one can threaten Biao'er. You can keep the rest of the military power in your own hands, and just ensure the safety of the palace."

Seeing this, Zhu Biao could no longer persuade him and said, "I understand, father."

"Well, I will be leaving in the second half of this year. You should take good care of the Ming Dynasty in the capital and make sure that the money and grain are not in arrears. Do you understand?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked around and saw Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He. He felt that all the wise men had come together to help with this grand event. He said with satisfaction: "I will entrust my Ming Dynasty to you."

"Don't worry, ancestor."

Zhu Yunfeng patted his chest and said, "When you come back, the Ming Dynasty will be full of vitality, and everything will flourish."

"Humph, the one I'm most worried about is you, little monkey, just don't mess up my Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed with a smile.

The Imperial Study in the Qianqing Palace dared to beat his second son.

He dared to beat the Duke on the spot at Fengtianmen Square.

This is the only one.

(End of this chapter)