Lord: Starting with Summoning the Regular Army of Earth

Chapter 71 The Pleasant Sound of an Explosion (Please Subscribe)

The curious gazes of the people gradually shifted from the waterwheel to the grinding equipment assembled by Wang Qinian and his team. Seeing the huge grinding disc, they thought it was a stone mill used to grind flour.

"I understand. This is the stone mill that Lord Will was talking about, which is powered by a waterwheel to grind flour."

"This stone mill looks so complicated."

"There's a sieve over there, can it be used to sift flour?"

The people discussed it curiously, unaware that it was not a stone mill for grinding flour, but a stone mill for grinding ash, a kind of "art" that would eventually belong to Ashstone Ridge.

The equipment is connected to the waterwheel axle via a series of wooden gears using a specially made granite grinding disc.

The gears are handcrafted and precisely calculated to ensure that the grinding disc rotates at an extremely slow speed.

The grinding tank is made of thick wooden planks, and the inside is coated with a layer of clay to prevent leakage.

Beside it, three screens of different mesh sizes are fixed to an intricate wooden vibrating frame and connected to a small cam via a connecting rod, which is also powered by a waterwheel.

With the waterwheel installed, Wang Qinian's grinding and screening equipment has also been assembled. All that is needed is to connect the power transmission shaft between the equipment and the waterwheel to get the equipment running.

"Mr. Will, could you please have everyone leave here temporarily? We need to conduct an experiment," Wang Qinian said to Will.

Will can now understand most Chinese. Although he doesn't understand what Wang Qinian and the others are trying to do, he still immediately orders the people to leave the area.

After all the people had left, Wang Qinian ordered the power transmission shaft to be connected and the first test of the equipment to begin.

Soon, the huge millstone began to turn slowly, driven by the waterwheel, emitting a low, grinding sound.

"Bring in water!" At Wang Qinian's command, a craftsman pulled the wooden sluice gate, and the water drawn by the waterwheel gushed into the grinding tank through the wooden pipe.

"Feed!" Another craftsman used a long wooden shovel to carefully feed several fist-sized pieces of ash ore, which had been soaked in water beforehand, into the feed inlet of the slowly rotating lower millstone.

Everyone's heart was in their throat.

The most dangerous crushing stage has begun.

Glug glug ...

A deep grinding sound came from the contact point of the millstone. The grinding force of the heavy stone was strong, but the rotation speed was very slow. With the lubrication and cooling of the water flow, no intense friction or high temperature was generated.

The murky slurry slowly flowed out from the grinding seam.

It worked!

The most crucial "wet low-speed grinding" method has been validated!

Wang Qinian breathed a sigh of relief, and smiles appeared on the faces of the group of craftsmen.

This means they are one step closer to achieving gunpowder.

The ground slurry is then introduced into a screening system.

Driven by the water flow, the cam rhythmically pushes the screen frame to vibrate back and forth. The slurry is washed and dispersed by the water flow on the uppermost coarse screen, while the finer particles fall through the screen into the lower fine screen for further classification.

Wet screening effectively eliminates the risk of dust flying around.

After about half an hour of operation, Wang Qinian used a wooden spoon to scoop up a spoonful of dark red, damp powder that had settled at the end of the fine sieve. He carefully rubbed it between his fingers, feeling the uniformity of the particles.

"The first step was a great success!" Wang Qinian excitedly told his team members.

The craftsmen excitedly high-fived each other, their hard work in designing and repeatedly debugging over this period of time had finally yielded fruitful results.

"Next, carefully spread this damp powder onto a ceramic plate and place it under a well-ventilated shed to dry in the shade. Remember, no one is allowed near any source of fire!"

"Engineer Li, you personally lead a team to guard the area, and stay there every step of the way until the powder is completely dry!"

"Understood!" Engineer Li replied, and began directing his assistants to carry out this seemingly simple but crucial drying process.

"Xiao Liu, go and invite Comrade Matthew over!" Wang Qinian instructed an assistant, eager to share this crucial breakthrough with Matthew.

Soon after, Matthew arrived in a hurry, accompanied by Will.

From afar, he could see the slowly turning waterwheel and the grinding equipment that had stopped operating, as well as the barely suppressed joy on the faces of Wang Qinian and the others.

"Professor Wang, I heard the experiment was a success?" Matthew stepped forward quickly, his tone filled with anticipation.

Will looked at the millstone and was somewhat surprised. He had originally thought it was used to grind grains, but he hadn't expected it to be used to grind ash.

This only made Will more curious about what Matthew and the others were going to do with these stones.

Equally curious was Night Song, hidden in the shadows, who blinked her round eyes as she observed everything that was happening beside the Teardrop Creek.

"Yes, Comrade Matthew! Look!" Wang Qinian handed a ceramic dish to Matthew as if presenting a treasure.

It contained a small amount of dark red ash powder collected from the final sieve: "This is the 120-200 mesh ash powder we prepared; it has a uniform texture and retains good activity!"

Matthew picked up a pinch of powder with his fingers, savoring its delicate texture. Equally excited, he couldn't help but joke, "This is the truth of the future!"

"Haha, yes." Wang Qinian and the others laughed along, naturally understanding what Matthew meant.

"But this is only the first step." Wang Zhengnian calmed down and looked intently at Matthew. "Next comes the real test: the gunpowder compatibility and detonation. Let's conduct the first test tonight."

Matthew nodded immediately: "Okay, have Team Leader Sun designate a safe zone in that deserted wasteland on the west side of the Rift Valley. Tonight, we'll watch a different kind of fireworks together."

Listening to Matthew and Wang Qinian's conversation, Will's curiosity intensified. He seemed to understand, but not entirely. Truth? Gunpowder? Fireworks?

What exactly do Your Highness and the others intend to do with the Ember Stone?

On the way back, Will couldn't help but ask Matthew for an answer, but Matthew only said something that confused Will even more:

6

Art is an explosion!

After leaving the stream, Carl, Bob, and the other young men went back to the construction site to move bricks.

Just yesterday, the city wall construction project was officially launched. From now on, all construction priorities and resource allocation for Jinshiling will focus on the construction of the city wall.

One reason is that lime and bricks are now being produced, which can meet the needs of city wall construction.

On the other hand, having city walls can greatly improve the security of the territory and reduce the need for personnel to defend it.

Of course, although Matthew can now summon two hundred goblins at the same time and has eighteen large goblin units, the demand for labor for the production and construction of the territory is also increasing.

So early this morning, Matthew sent Conrad and old Sam out to gather information and find suitable new inhabitants to bring in.

I expect to receive a reply in a few days.

As evening fell, the open space inside the western rift valley had been designated as a test blast site.

In addition to the research team members, key members from the military, logistics, and agricultural geology teams also came to witness the explosion of the otherworldly version of gunpowder with Matthew.

-

Everyone took cover behind the designated bunkers, while Matthew and Will stood beside the bunkers at the back of the crowd, their eyes filled with anticipation.

"All personnel! Final check of the bunker! Prepare to detonate!" Wang Qinian's voice echoed through the empty valley, carrying an undeniable authority.

Sun Zhengwu made a gesture, and everyone immediately lowered their bodies.

Matthew patted Will on the shoulder, and the two quickly retreated behind cover.

The other researchers also took their places.

Only Wang Qinian remained in the room.

He took a deep breath, checked the length and stability of the fuse again, and then decisively lit the end of the fuse with a tinderbox.

hiss-

A cluster of dazzling sparks lit up instantly, spreading steadily downwards along the fuse with a chilling, faint hissing sound.

Without hesitation, Wang Qinian immediately turned around, jogged steadily and quickly toward the cover, and nimbly flipped over and jumped in.

Everyone's hearts were in their throats, their eyes fixed on the stone mortar.

One second, two seconds —

boom!!!

A muffled but powerful explosion suddenly rang out!

The sound wasn't deafening, but it was exceptionally clear and deep in the silent wilderness, carrying a unique and heart-pounding sense of power.

A small plume of thick black smoke rose from the white stone, and the heavy white stone was blasted into pieces, with fragments flying everywhere.

The sound of the explosion, however, was pleasant to Matthew's ears.

He was thrilled; the art belonging to Jinshiling had finally been born!

After the explosion, there was a brief silence, followed by a burst of frenzied cheers and exclamations.

"We did it! We did it!"

"This power! It's more potent than ordinary gunpowder!"

"Delightful! That explosion was so delightful!"

"Haha, it seems we're about to grasp the truth!" Everyone cheered excitedly. The happiest people weren't just the researchers of Emberstone Gunpowder, but also Sun Zhengwu and the other members of the military team.

After all, with gunpowder, they could exert even greater power in the future.

Wang Qinian stood up from behind the bunker, his face beaming with indescribable excitement and pride.

He strode to the explosion site and carefully examined the remaining traces and broken stones.

"The detonation velocity is very high, and the power is indeed superior to traditional black powder! Moreover, the combustion is complete, leaving little residue!" Wang Qinian excitedly reported to Matthew, "Comrade Matthew! Our preliminary assessment is that the power is at least 30% higher than what we calculated based on the traditional black powder formula!"

Matthew and Sun Zhengwu also quickly walked over.

Looking at the obvious crater on the ground and the rubble scattered everywhere, I felt a great sense of security.

He finally laid a true cornerstone of modern power for this territory.

Sun Zhengwu's face beamed with joy: "This power is truly impressive! Professor Wang, immediately assess its feasibility for making hand-thrown grenades, landmines, and explosive charges! I hope to see combat data as soon as possible!"

"No problem," Wang Qinian said with a smile.

Will stood there, staring blankly at the mess.

He slowly walked forward, bent down and picked up a small piece of shard with burn marks on the edge from the ground, then looked at the deep crater.

His worldview was shaken like never before.

He finally understood what Matthew meant when he said those things: art is an explosion.

These goblin craftsmen actually used the most common stones to create miracles that were almost magical, which was like the highest level of alchemy.

Moreover, it seemed to be completely different from the alchemy he was familiar with.