My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 151 Nitroglycerin and High Explosives!
The production of nitroglycerin requires three main materials: sulfuric acid, nitric acid and glycerin, as well as glassware for mixing and storage.

And Zhu Cilang just happened to have these things.

Glycerin is a by-product of soap making, and several tons of it were already stored in the warehouse.

Concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid appeared as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, and were also used by the Ming Dynasty, so it was easy to get a lot of them.

As for glassware, Bi Wenxuan is proficient in glassmaking techniques. He can make glass products of any style and purpose, so meeting the needs is naturally a piece of cake.

The manufacturing method of nitroglycerin is also relatively simple. Just mix two parts of concentrated sulfuric acid with one part of nitric acid and stir thoroughly, then add glycerin and stir again.

During this process, the solution needs to be cooled with ice cubes, but this is not a difficult task for Zhu Cilang.

Because the palace stores ice every winter, just moving a few blocks out of the ice cellar can come in handy.

To ensure absolute safety during the entire experimental process, all operations were performed on a large block of ice.

Because low temperatures can make nitroglycerin more stable.

After completing the above steps, nitroglycerin will settle at the bottom of the cup. By separating it, you will get the real liquid bomb - nitroglycerin.

Originally, Zhu Cilang planned to carry out the manufacturing operations himself.

After all, in the entire Ming Dynasty, he was the only one who knew the power of nitroglycerin.

However, when Zheng Chenggong, Li Hu, Bi Maokang, Song Yingxing and others heard that the explosive to be manufactured this time was far more powerful than gunpowder, they were determined not to let Zhu Cilang take action.

If anything goes wrong during the manufacturing process and the prince is injured, they will be held accountable.

Seeing that everyone was so determined, Zhu Cilang had no choice but to compromise and finally decided to select someone from the Jinyiwei to be responsible for the specific operation.

The requirements for selecting personnel are quite strict, and the most basic point is that the operator cannot have shaking hands.

After some screening, a more suitable candidate was finally selected. He was then put on a mask and armor, and the experiment began.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang was standing ten meters away, staring intently at the Jinyiwei who were operating not far away. He was so nervous that his palms were sweating, and he picked up the telescope from time to time to observe the progress of the experiment.

Make sure every step is carried out strictly according to his requirements.

There's no way around it. After all, this is nitroglycerin, so it's always better to be cautious.

After all, if this thing explodes, it will be troublesome!

In contrast, Zheng Chenggong, Li Hu, Bi Maokang, Song Yingxing and others around him all had helpless expressions on their faces.

At first, when they heard that Zhu Cilang had a way to create a new type of explosive that was several times more powerful than existing gunpowder, Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing were very excited.

But when they learned about the raw materials of explosives, they couldn't help but feel disappointed.

In their opinion, these raw materials have nothing to do with explosives, not to mention that they are all liquids.

Can liquids explode?

What a joke!
Although they had doubts in their hearts, seeing Zhu Cilang's expectant look, they finally chose to remain silent and wait quietly for the final result.

After all, they can't spoil the prince's fun, right?

After a moment, Zhu Cilang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Because through the telescope, he clearly saw that the Jinyiwei had completed the last step.

The finished nitroglycerin has been extracted and placed in a glass.

The glass containing nitroglycerin is also placed on ice to keep it cold.

You should know that once the temperature of nitroglycerin exceeds 37 degrees, it will begin to evaporate and cause an explosion, so it must be stored at a low temperature.

Judging from the current situation, there seems to be no danger for the time being.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang said to the people around him:
"Success! Now let's go over and take a look, but remember, no one can touch that glass."

When the people around heard this, although they felt that Zhu Cilang's instructions were a bit too cautious, they all nodded in response:

"Don't worry, Your Highness. We understand."

Then, Zhu Cilang took the lead and stepped forward.

But after taking a few steps, Zhu Cilang's face suddenly became very ugly, and his steps stopped abruptly.

Because at this moment, the glass containing nitroglycerin actually began to slide on the ice and slid straight towards the edge of the table.

Zhu Cilang thought to himself that something was wrong, and then he suddenly remembered that he had neglected something extremely important.

It is already mid-May and the maximum daytime temperature is approaching 30 degrees Celsius.

At such a temperature, the ice will melt faster, and as the ice melts, the friction on its surface will gradually decrease, and objects placed on it will naturally slide off easily.

For example, this glass of nitroglycerin
The next second, Zhu Cilang shouted without hesitation:

"Run!"

After shouting, he immediately turned around and ran away.

Are you kidding? If you don’t run now, will you be blown away?
He just saw that the nitroglycerin extracted this time was as much as half a cup. If this thing exploded, the house would probably be blown up!

This sudden action scared Zheng Chenggong, Li Hu and others. They subconsciously rushed to protect Zhu Cilang and then ran towards the door.

Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing were also pulled by one arm each by Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu, and they stumbled and ran after them.

At this moment, the two old men looked confused and had no idea what was going on. They could only be pulled and run.

Immediately afterwards, there was a "clang" sound, and the glass containing nitroglycerin fell to the ground.

next second.

"boom!"

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded behind him. The sound of the explosion was deafening, as if it was going to shake the entire world.

Even the roof of the entire room was blown away by the explosion!

Although Zhu Cilang and his companions had already run out of the house, the blast was still very strong and blew them away, causing them to fall heavily to the ground.

Fortunately, Li Hu reacted quickly at the critical moment and pulled Zheng Chenggong together to act as a "cushion", which prevented Zhu Cilang, Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing from falling directly to the ground and avoided more serious injuries.

Such a loud noise instantly attracted the attention of the Jinyiwei and other people from the Firearms Research Institute who were patrolling outside. When they saw Zhu Cilang standing up from the ground, everyone was scared out of their wits.

what's the situation?
Did the explosives hit the prince?

Although everyone knows that accidents are inevitable when researching firearms, people who come here to work are also mentally prepared for this.

But if this happened to the current crown prince, it would be a huge incident!
If something happens to the prince, I'm afraid the Ming Firearms Research Institute will have to close down tomorrow.

In an instant, everyone ran over here, looking at Zhu Cilang with eyes full of fear and worry.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

"Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician! Hurry and find the Imperial Physician!"

"Master Bi, how could you do such a dangerous thing in front of the Crown Prince?"

For a moment, everyone was talking at once, saying all kinds of things.

Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu were even more frightened. They ignored the pain caused by the collision and hurriedly reached out to feel Zhu Cilang's body to see if he was injured.

They both muttered in their minds at the same time:

My prince! Please don't let anything happen to you!

Seeing more and more people gathering around and the situation becoming increasingly chaotic, Zhu Cilang could not help but frown and shouted loudly:
"Why are you panicking? I'm fine!"

When everyone heard this, they suddenly became quiet.

Zhu Cilang continued:

"Alright, stop standing there. Leave some of you to clean up here, and the rest of you can go do whatever you need to do."

No one dared to disobey Zhu Cilang's orders, so except for some people who stayed to clean up the explosion scene, the rest of the people left one after another.

Only Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu still looked at Zhu Cilang with concern.

Li Hu asked with a worried look on his face:

"Your Highness, are you really okay?"

Zhu Cilang waved his hand and said:
"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Although the explosion just now was quite powerful, Zhu Cilang was only affected by some of the impact force. Moreover, with Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu protecting him, he was not injured at all.

On the other hand, Song Yingxing and Bi Maokang were still a little frightened at the moment.

They were also affected by the shock wave just now, but fortunately Li Hu and Zheng Chenggong acted as "cushions", so they were not seriously injured.

But at this moment, the two of them were really frightened by the scene just now. They were trembling all over and didn't know what to say for a moment.

It took a while to calm down.

Then, Song Yingxing couldn't help but ask:
"Your Highness, this... is this the nitroglycerin you mentioned? What on earth is this thing that has such great power?"

He saw it clearly just now. The amount of nitroglycerin extracted was only a small amount. He didn't expect that it almost blew up the entire house. It was really incredible.

This was completely beyond his knowledge.

Although Bi Maokang didn't say anything, he was actually as curious as Song Yingxing.

Zhu Cilang was about to say something when he suddenly seemed to have thought of something. He widened his eyes and shouted:

"Oh no, there's someone in the house!"

When Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu heard this, they immediately realized that the Jinyiwei who was in the house had not escaped yet!

However, the explosion was so powerful, and the Jinyiwei was closest to the explosion point, so he was in great danger.
Although they had a bad feeling in their hearts, the two of them hurried to go in and check the situation. But at this moment, they saw the Jinyiwei suddenly staggering out of the door by himself.

Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, then hurried forward to support the man, and then carefully checked him again before saying to Zhu Cilang:
"Your Highness, everyone is fine."

It turned out that just when Zhu Cilang shouted "Run", this Jinyiwei reacted immediately and then ran away with Zhu Cilang and others.

But before he could run out of the house, he was hit by the shock wave. Fortunately, he was wearing thick armor, so he was not injured.

In any case, Zhu Cilang finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the explosion did not cause any casualties.

Otherwise, if someone died while making nitroglycerin, Zhu Cilang would have a shadow in his heart.

Not long after, in a tidy room, the imperial physician who had hurried over was examining Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing.

This imperial physician was invited by the Jinyiwei who was responsible for patrolling the Daming Firearms Research Institute. After all, such a big thing had happened, and they really wouldn't feel at ease if they didn't ask the imperial physician to see the prince.

The final examination results showed that Zhu Cilang did not suffer any injuries, but Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing had some scratches on their bodies, while Li Hu and Zheng Chenggong suffered some impact injuries and bruises on their bodies.

Overall, it was a safe escape.

After sending the imperial physician away, Zhu Cilang continued:
"Okay, let's just assume that the experiment just now failed. Let's try it again, but this time we have to make comprehensive preparations and there can't be any more accidents."

"After all, you all witnessed the power of nitroglycerin just now!"

When Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu heard this, they turned pale with fear and hurriedly tried to persuade him:

"Your Highness, why don't you just forget about it! This thing is far too powerful. You can't take any more risks."

"Let Lord Bi and the others study this matter. You should hurry back to the East Palace!"

To be honest, Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu were really scared at this moment. Just a little bit of nitroglycerin almost blew up the house. They really didn't dare to do it again.

It would be fine if the explosion killed other people, but if Zhu Cilang was injured, then both of them would be dead.

Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing, who were standing by, were also very concerned about the power of nitroglycerin, but considering that it was too easy to explode, they quickly agreed:
"Your Highness, we have memorized the manufacturing method you just mentioned. Let us study it slowly from now on!"

"You should go back to the East Palace and rest. We will report to you when we have news."

They were also frightened by the explosion just now and were afraid that another accident would happen.

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang felt somewhat helpless, but he still said patiently:

"I know what you're worried about, but you can rest assured, because I actually have a way to stabilize the nitroglycerin."

"By adding some special materials, it can be transformed into a stable high explosive, which is probably more than five times more powerful than gunpowder."

"Don't worry, what happened just now was just an accident. You can avoid it if you pay more attention next time!"

What Zhu Cilang called special material was naturally diatomaceous earth.

As long as diatomaceous earth and nitroglycerin are combined, stable nitroglycerin explosives can be made!

As early as the Tang and Song dynasties, diatomaceous earth mining activities had already taken place in southern China.

However, at that time, diatomaceous earth was called "white mud" by the locals.

It is said that this white mud has a wide range of uses and has a unique position in the papermaking field.

In addition to being used for papermaking, white clay also plays a role in daily life, such as being used for washing clothes and even as food!

Sometimes when there is famine among the people, the people will eat white mud as food in order to survive.

From this we can see that diatomaceous earth was actually not a rare thing in ancient China.

After hearing Zhu Cilang's words, Zheng Chenggong and Li Hu were still a little worried, but Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing's eyes lit up.

Afterwards, Zhu Cilang did not hide anything and told them directly about the diatomaceous earth.

Finally, with Zhu Cilang's insistence, they started a new round of experiments.

In order to ensure that everything was foolproof this time, Zhu Cilang directly sent someone to bring a large pile of ice from the ice cellar, filling half of the room, lowering the temperature of the entire room to below ten degrees.

In the middle of summer, anyone entering this room has to wear thick winter clothes.

Then all of them retreated directly to a place thirty meters away and placed some shields in front for defense.

The Jinyiwei in charge of the experiment put on three layers of armor inside and outside, and wore a mask on his face, and then repeated the previous steps.

Finally, nitroglycerin was successfully extracted again this time, and no accidents occurred throughout the process because the temperature in the room was low enough and the ice did not melt.

Later, nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth were combined to successfully produce nitroglycerin explosives.

In order to test the safety of this high explosive, Zhu Cilang specifically asked the Jinyiwei to carefully pick up a piece and then throw it to the ground.

As a result, the nitroglycerin explosive did not explode, which proved that this new type of high explosive was very stable.

When Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing saw this scene, they felt like they had found a treasure and their faces flushed with excitement.

Then they planned to conduct further experiments. They first stuffed nitroglycerin explosives into a bamboo tube, and then filled it with some gunpowder to make a simple bomb.

Then he found a mountain, lit the bomb with a fuse, and threw it far away.

next second.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the bomb exploded instantly, blowing up a small hill into flying debris.

It felt like the ground was shaking.

When Bi Maokang saw this scene, his beard trembled with excitement, and he praised repeatedly:

"Great! Great! Great! This explosive is surprisingly powerful! It's more than five times more powerful than ordinary gunpowder! This is truly a powerful weapon for conquering cities!"

"If this kind of gunpowder is used in artillery and thunder bombs, then even the thickest city walls will be as fragile as tofu in front of it!"

Song Yingxing also nodded excitedly.

"Master Bi is right. This kind of explosive will become an invincible weapon for our Ming Dynasty!"

Seeing Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing's reactions, Zhu Cilang smiled knowingly.

Because at this moment, options of nitroglycerin and nitroglycerin explosives also appeared on his system interface.

In other words, as long as he needs it, he can buy nitroglycerin and nitroglycerin explosives from the system anytime and anywhere!

This is undoubtedly a happy thing for him.

Then, Zhu Cilang said with a smile:

"I have already handed over all the information regarding the manufacturing method of nitroglycerin to you. The subsequent production and research are up to you."

"Remember, this is the sacred artifact of our Ming Dynasty. It must not be leaked."

"Besides that, you have to find a way to apply this explosive to artillery and other firearms."

"Soon, the Ming Dynasty will face a tough battle. I hope to be able to use this new type of explosive-improved artillery and firearms to defeat the enemy!"

When Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing heard this, they hurriedly replied solemnly:

"Don't worry, Your Highness. We will do our best to not let Your Highness down!"

After a few more pleasantries, Zhu Cilang led his men back to the East Palace.

After returning to the East Palace, the first person to greet him was Zheng Xiaomei, who looked anxious.

She walked up to him with a look of concern on her face, looked around Zhu Cilang, carefully examined his body, and then asked in a worried tone:
"Your Highness, have you consulted the imperial physician? Are you really not injured?"

"I've heard that this kind of thing can sometimes cause internal injuries, so you must not be careless!"

"Why don't we ask the imperial physician to take a look?"

Looking at Zheng Xiaomei who looked worried, Zhu Cilang smiled and said:
"Don't worry, little sister. The imperial physician has checked me out and I'm fine. Besides, I still have my brother-in-law to protect me."

When Zheng Xiaomei heard this, her expression instantly turned cold. She then turned to look at Zheng Chenggong and said unhappily:
"Brother, is this how you protect the prince? If something really happens to the prince, how will you bear the consequences?"

When Zheng Chenggong heard this, his face suddenly turned pale and he didn't know what to say.

Even Li Hu, who was standing by, didn't dare to breathe.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang hurriedly comforted Zheng Xiaomei, which made her calm down.

In the next few days, the various commercial tax reforms previously implemented by the court continued step by step, but related controversies still existed.

The strongest opposition came from the southern businessmen and officials.

Although the capital is quite far away from the south, these merchants seem to have their own unique information channels and can quickly transmit news from the capital to the south.

As a result, in recent days, the cabinet has received joint memorials from many southern officials.

Without exception, all of them opposed the commercial tax reform, especially the salt tax.

But the cabinet simply ignored these memorials and didn't even bother to send them to Zhu Cilang.

After all, they knew in their hearts that the reason these officials opposed the commercial tax reform was definitely because they had gained a lot of benefits from it before, and some of them were even the umbrellas of salt merchants.

In the past, they made a lot of money relying on salt merchants. However, now the court has issued an order to reform the salt tax, which has directly cut off their source of income. How can they not be anxious?

However, there is no point in them being anxious. After all, this is a decision made by the imperial court. No matter who opposes it, they cannot change the final result!

Of course, there is another most important reason why the cabinet is so determined to push forward reforms.

That is, in just these three days, the Ministry of Revenue received a total of more than three million taels of silver in salt taxes and deposits paid by merchants.

And this number is increasing every day!

(End of this chapter)