The rise of the prince

Chapter 112 Gunpowder
Lying on the bed at night, Li Ye couldn't help thinking about the imperial decree during the day, the Queen Mother's birthday, and her tour of the capital. It seemed that life would not be peaceful again.

Recently, it has been spread in Kyoto that the birthday gifts for the Empress Dowager from all over the country have been transported to Kyoto by water. They will arrive at Kaiyuan on an auspicious day, that is, the day of the Empress Dowager’s birthday. The deepest port in Kaiyuan is Yuanmendu outside the west of the city. Will dock there.

The next morning, Li Ye got up early for morning exercises, greeted the old man next door Chen Yu as usual, and then asked Ji Chunsheng to continue to help find out about Ding Yi and his party. He always felt a little weird.

During the morning practice, Wei Yubai also taught Bajiquan by the way. Wei Yubai felt a little uncomfortable at first. After Li Ye explained the mental method and essentials to her, the more he learned, the more subtle he felt. all day.

As the end of the new year approaches, the neighbors in the neighborhood are lively. From time to time, children play and set off firecrackers, which startled the dog behind the tall gate to bark.

The palace is surrounded by high-ranking and wealthy households, and the purchases of new year's goods by wealthy households are naturally generous, and they are all dispatched together by carriages and carriages, calculated according to the carriage.The purchase of new year's goods for the palace was handed over to Yan Yan. Li Ye didn't know what to buy, so he felt relieved when he left it to him.

Li Ye also found that there are many "firecrackers" in the New Year's goods purchased by wealthy families. The firecrackers are different from those of later generations. The shells are really made of bamboo. Paper is a scarce product in this era and cannot be wasted in such places.

The palace also purchased firecrackers. Li Ye specially pulled a few down, then got out the gunpowder inside, and poured it on the stone slab in the garden. Qiu'er, Yue'er, Wei Yubai and Wei Xingping all looked at it curiously. He said: "What is the son going to do?"

Li Ye actually wanted to see the power of this gunpowder. Although they are called gunpowder, and gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, this gunpowder is different from the black gunpowder of later generations. These gunpowders are mixed with lead powder, incense ash, etc. All kinds of mess.The ratio is unscientific, and the power is very small. After all, it is the product of Taoist alchemy.

Compared with the real black powder, the power of the black powder produced by the optimal ratio is too far away. When the black powder burns, the instantaneous temperature can reach thousands of degrees, and it can produce a large amount of gas, mainly carbon dioxide and nitrogen, with amazing destructive power.

Li Ye carefully observed the light black powder piled on the stone slab and said, "I want to see if the power of gunpowder can hurt the enemy."

Wei Xing laughed out loud when he heard Ping: "Your Majesty, I've thought too much. I play with this firecracker every year. At most, it's just a sound. It doesn't hurt much when I hold it in my hand. How could it possibly hurt the enemy?"

Qiu'er thought for a while and said in a low voice, "Why does the gunpowder burn?"

"I know that. My father said that this is a miraculous thing refined by Taoist priests. It can burn and make noise when it encounters fire." Wei Xingping replied flamboyantly.

Li Ye shook his head, that's not what Qiu'er wanted to ask.

He ignited the gunpowder on the stone pile, and the gunpowder burned quickly, producing an unpleasant green smoke. The combustion was not violent or thorough, and there were still many black and white residues left on the stones. He knew that these were useless impurities. Taoist priests didn't understand the principle when making alchemy, so many of the things added were just guesswork, and some were simply hindering the combustion.

This is like some folk remedies, for example: hiding behind the door and eating sheep's tail can cure teeth grinding.

Maybe it works, but no one has ever thought deeply about it: what is the effect of hiding behind the door?Or is it the function of the sheep's tail?If it is the function of the sheep's tail, why not other parts of the sheep's body, but the tail?

In the final analysis, because the problem has been solved, it is enough to use it, so why bother to delve into it, this is a manifestation of the pragmatic spirit.

So being pragmatic is good sometimes, but not always. Everything has to be viewed dialectically.

This is like a lot of meaning parties, always asking some seemingly useless things: what's the point of this, what's the point of that?
The meaning is that exploration can never stop at being pragmatic.

This is a lesson of history. Take the later generations as an example. Newton’s question of why the apple would fall was meaningless at first; If you don’t insist on making strenuous efforts in the field of aerospace, which is called “meaningless” by many people, you will be left behind again when the future era of “big aerospace” comes.

Exploration cannot stop at "meaningful", which is the spirit that is lacking in this era.

Li Ye came to this world and met many people, some are excellent, some are mediocre, everyone is accustomed to the things around them, and then try to adapt, some people want to do their best under the established rules, even De Gong is like this.

Can playing under the established rules reflect the value of people?Maybe, but the answer is gradually being given in later generations. That is not necessarily the case. Under the established rules, can humans calculate faster than computers?Can it load more than a train?Can it run over a plane, can it beat a tank?

Human beings have the power of continuous exploration and progress, so they are constantly evolving and innovating, and sooner or later everyone will be inferior to machines in terms of performance under the established rules. Humans are not as valuable as machines.

So Qiu'er is the most gratifying thing for Li Ye. Her lonely life experience has made her suffer a lot, and it has also made her smart and sharp. She is born with a depth of thinking far beyond ordinary people. She is not a person who will stop at "meaningful" .

Seeing that everyone has the same expressions as they should when the gunpowder will burn, only Qiu'er frowned slightly and was still thinking about something.

Li Ye nodded her little head and said: "It's good to think more, don't be afraid of using your brain, and don't be afraid of being laughed at, one day you will go further than anyone, if you don't understand anything, come and ask me at night .”

Qiu'er blushed, and nodded quickly and quietly.

At noon, a guest came to the mansion. They came from Yuanmen Ferry. The official on duty at the port received a letter from the south. Since it was sent from the son-in-law's mansion, he sent it right away. It was Li Xingzhou. From my sister-in-law Li Nianqiu.

Li Nianqiu is the queen's daughter, the younger sister of Xiao Wang Li Chengshe, Princess Feng Qing'an, who married far away from Luzhou, Li Xingzhou has a vague impression of him as a sister-in-law. He only had to come back once a year, so he became estranged naturally, but every year during the holidays, I would send him something from the south.

And this time too, at the same time, she also said that she is pregnant, and the Queen Mother’s birthday is not good enough to go north, and she also hopes that she can help deliver the gift when the time comes, the ship delivering the gift is a step late, and it is estimated that it will arrive tomorrow, and then let him go to the pier take over.

After reading it, Li Ye put it away, rewarded the official who ran the errands with half a penny, and then put the letter away.

It seems that Yan Shen is going to take someone to Yuanmen Ferry tomorrow, but after thinking about it, he still wants to go in person, because he is also very curious about the docks in this world.

(End of this chapter)