1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 114 Gunpowder
"There is not much gunpowder!" During lunch, Qi Yuanshan told Qi Tian bad news.

"Ah? No way, I remember there were thirty or forty barrels." Qi Tian was inexplicably surprised.When Cao Xiong left, he kept nearly 40 barrels of the [-] barrels of gunpowder provided free of charge by the Dutch East India Company. Adding the dozen barrels looted from Boni in the early stage, there were more than [-] barrels of gunpowder anyway.Even if he used to practice musket shooting in order to guard against the aborigines, and the pirates attacked a month ago and fired dozens of cannons, it would not be so fast.

"Heishan Fort is firing artillery every day, and it's firing continuously..."

"Oh!" Qi Tian understood.A while ago, it was a small gun test. In the past ten days, 6-pound guns and 8-pound guns have been trial-produced one after another, which means constant consumption of gunpowder.Cast iron projectiles can be used repeatedly, but gunpowder is consumed once.

"According to the current situation, how long can it be used?"

"At most half a month!"

"No, you have to save some self-defense!" Qi Tian shook his head, at least five to ten barrels of gunpowder should be kept, in case the enemy came, wouldn't the muskets and artillery be just for display.

"In the future, the artillery will be trial-produced, and only the performance and range will be tested. Other shooting elements will be tested, and we will implement it when there is enough gunpowder." Qi Tian ordered.

After more than ten days of artillery testing, the consumption of gunpowder was no less than that of a medium-intensity hot weapon battle.No wonder, in future wars, only some countries with strong industrial strength will be able to continue.

"Uncle Kun, I want someone to go to Batavia to buy some supplies!"

In the evening, Qi Tian returned to Jianye City and couldn't wait to find Yu Fukun.

"Over the artillery test, too much gunpowder is consumed. Our inventory is not enough, so we have to buy some."

"To sail there, we need to draw 30 people!" Yu Fukun said: "There are less than half of the guards left, what about the safety issue?"

"We can take out experienced boat operators, not many, only a dozen or so. Then transfer a dozen or so immigrants from the camp to operate the less important positions. Is it feasible to match it like this?" Qi Tian asked.

"On the voyage from Jianye City to Batavia, there are almost no ships from foreign forces sailing, so you don't have to worry about safety. The only concern is whether you can adapt to the transfer of newcomers to the ship?" Yu Fukun said. worry.When a newcomer boards a ship, it is not only physically, but also psychologically. Everyone's adaptation process is different.

Unable to adapt, sickness, madness, self-mutilation, and even death are all things that happen with a high probability.

"Try to...choose something." Qi Tian said cruelly: "For a long time to come, we will be indispensable to rely on maritime trade, requiring a large number of ships and sailors....We must train ourselves!"

Yu Fukun nodded. What Qi Tian meant was to spend more lives to train qualified sailors. Although it was cruel, it was also a helpless move.

"There will be more people in the future, build some fishing boats, and let more immigrants adapt to life at sea." Qi Tian added, as if he wanted to make a comment on his cruel suggestion just now.

Yu Fukun smiled, where is life not difficult?At the very least, when you come to Hanzhou, I can let you eat, dress and have a house to live in, and choose some people to go to the sea to experience the wind and waves. How dare they complain?

Now that it was decided to go to Batavia, the personnel were quickly settled.Eighteen old brothers led by Dong Fengshan, together with twenty selected immigrants, drove one of the Haicang boats named "Polang 1" and slowly sailed out from the pier.

The ship carried 1 taels of silver, because it was worried that after arriving in Batavia, the funds in Hu Wenjin's hands might be exchanged for various supplies, and he would not be able to purchase additional gunpowder.According to the plan, their round-trip time is about 25 to 30 days.

Another Cangshan boat named "Polang 2" continued to fish in the nearby bay every day. Seven or eight immigrants were also added to the boat. They trained and practiced to prepare sailors for additional boats in the future.

In the past few days, Qi Tian led several teenagers and craftsmen to research and manufacture a hydraulic forging equipment.As the name suggests, forging is the general term for forging and stamping. Using hydraulic drive equipment, relying on the cooperation of the press and the mold, an external force is applied to the metal material, so that the material is plasticized according to the shape of the mold and deformed into the required shape and size.

This kind of equipment has long been used on a large scale in countries and regions such as England, France, and the Netherlands.For the manufacture of tools and utensils, it can greatly save manpower and material resources, and reduce product manufacturing costs.

For example, large-scale manufacturing of muskets, swords, spearheads, and even plate armor can be easily realized in the future.

"Teacher, this craftsman said that he can make gunpowder." Huang Mingfang ran over excitedly, followed by a Spanish craftsman from the former town of San Fernando in Luzon.

Radki Keita rubbed his hands, looking a little nervous, "Sir, what he said is not accurate.... It is not gunpowder, but the raw material that can produce gunpowder, saltpeter."

In this era, firearms used basically black powder.The production of black powder requires three raw materials, namely charcoal, saltpeter and sulfur. Among them, sulfur accounts for about 10% of the total weight, charcoal accounts for about 15%, and saltpeter accounts for about 75% (the most suitable black powder ratio).Among them, saltpeter accounts for the largest proportion, which means that once there is a lack of saltpeter, the amount of gunpowder will be greatly reduced.

In the past, there were only two channels for Europeans to obtain saltpeter: mining and importing. However, there were very few saltpeter mines in Europe, especially in Western Europe, and it was difficult to mine with the backward mining technology at that time, so the cost was high and the quantity was still small. The Europeans even had to import saltpeter from elsewhere for use.

In fact, the distribution of saltpeter mines in the world is very uneven. Except for a few large saltpeter countries, such as the current Spanish South American colony, the Chilean Court of Appeal, India, and the Middle East, there are very few saltpeter mines in other countries.

However, in Europe in the 15th-16th century, the method of making nitrate in the nitrate field was invented.

The so-called nitrate production method is actually very simple. It is to prepare a field, remove stones and other debris, then dig some cellars and pits, and then bury wheat straw, fallen leaves, rotten cloth and other items in the field, and then place the dug Lime and water are put into cellars and pits to increase the temperature of the land and keep the temperature constant for a period of time to create an environment suitable for the growth and reproduction of nitrifying bacteria.

Finally, water the urine of humans and animals into the field, so that after a period of time (about 10 months, nitrate soil is usually collected in spring), a large amount of nitrate will appear in the field under the transformation of nitrifying bacteria, and then Dig nitrate rich in potassium nitrate and mix it with plant ash (the ratio of nitrate and plant ash is 3:1), soak in water and brew, and finally, boil the nitrate water to obtain potassium nitrate crystals.

With the method of making nitrate in the nitrate field, Europeans can use some very easy-to-obtain "raw materials", such as human and animal urine, to make saltpeter.

Europeans have long discovered that bluish-white powdery crystals will "grow" on the surface of dark places such as toilets, livestock stables, under beds, and old walls.The crystals are those of nitrate (nitrate is the common name for potassium nitrate), and it is only necessary to scrape the crystals and refine them a bit, add charcoal, sulfur and a small amount of water (approximately 8% of the total weight) It can be made into gunpowder!
However, the amount of nitrate obtained by this kind of "scraping the wall skin" is too small, and it is of little help in the production and manufacture of gunpowder as a whole. However, Europeans gradually discovered the nitrate-collecting characteristics of humans and animals during this process (biological meeting The nitrate inhaled into the body in daily life is excreted through feces, and potassium nitrate can be formed under the conversion of nitrifying bacteria).When potassium nitrate was found to exist in the urine of humans and animals, a new technology came into being, which is the method of producing nitrate in the nitrate field.

"Then what do you mean, we still won't be able to produce gunpowder in the short term?" Qi Tian frowned after listening briefly to the Spanish craftsman's narration.

"Well, yes. . . . At least for now, gunpowder cannot be manufactured. But we can make preparations in advance for the large-scale manufacture of gunpowder in the future."

"As you said, nitrate can be produced on a large scale, um, we can also produce charcoal. But what about sulfur?" Qi Tian asked again.

"There are iron mines, sir!" Radki Keita looked curiously at the young man who seemed to know everything, "That iron mine contains sulfur, although the content is not much, but its use in gunpowder The quantity is also small!"

Qi Tian was taken aback for a moment, how could he know that there was sulfur in the iron mine.Now that all raw materials are available, it seems that self-sufficiency in gunpowder can be achieved in the future.

So, with a big wave of his hand, Radki Keita was responsible for the manufacture and extraction of gunpowder raw materials.Similarly, rewards are given for his ability to propose and realize the manufacture of gunpowder raw materials.

"We can make building materials and steel by ourselves. Now, gunpowder may also be made by ourselves. At this rate of development, we will be completely self-sufficient in a few years!" Yu Fukun stood at the high From the tall watchtower, proudly watching the growing buildings of the camp.

"In the future, we will not only strive to achieve self-sufficiency, but also produce a large amount of industrial and agricultural products, sell them to all surrounding areas, sell them to the West, and earn a huge amount of money, so that everyone can be rich and happy!" Qi Tian also issued some Noble visions (or delusions?).

"A day like that, I'm afraid our Master Yongle before Daming didn't have it!"

Not to mention the Yongle period, there was no such thing in all dynasties, except 400 years later, the era when the giant dragon took off.

"Master Cao and the others should be in Daming now, and I don't know what the situation is..."

(End of this chapter)