The Tang Dynasty started from saving Empress Changsun

Chapter 92 Black Gunpowder

New Year's Day (Spring Festival) has been the most important festival in China since ancient times, not one of them.

Later, in order to be in line with the world, the first day of January in the Gregorian calendar was designated as New Year's Day, and the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar was called the Spring Festival, forming the familiar New Year's Day in the Gregorian calendar and Spring Festival in the lunar calendar.

If the winter solstice is an important day for national sacrifices, then New Year's Day is a festival celebrated by the whole people.

During the more than ten years of the Taiping period in the Tang Dynasty, the people gradually regained some vitality. As long as they are not particularly poor, they will find a way to have a decent Spring Festival.

Even ordinary people are like this, not to mention Chang'an City in the capital, which is especially festive and lively.

The streets and alleys are full of people coming and going, and the children are running in groups to watch the excitement, and the markets have become more lively.

There is an endless stream of people who come to Zixiao Temple to offer incense every day, and the market in front of the gate is very lively every day, regardless of the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year.

On such a festive day, Chen Jingke naturally wanted to come out to join in the fun, and he took out many tricks of later generations.

The first thing to come out is the couplet.

"The peach charms are too small to be festive, so we use red paper to write couplets and door gods and paste them at the door... Print couplets and door gods with printing, and give a pair to everyone who comes to burn incense."

The door god at this time is not Qin Qiong and Wei Chigong, but the two ancient gods Shen Tu (shū) and Yu Lei (lǜ).

Sun Simiao supported his apprentice unconditionally, and wrote dozens of different couplets in his own hand.

Although his handwriting is not as good as those of those famous masters, he still belongs to the outstanding group.

Chen Jingke has been practicing calligraphy, but the time is too short to see any effect. It can only be said that it is not ugly, and it is far from good.

There are two kinds of couplets written by Sun Simiao, one is full of Taoism.

For example: Ziqi came 5000 miles from the east; Hanguan first crossed [-] years ago.

There is also an ordinary festive couplet.

Such as: the lucky star shines brightly on the family portrait; the spring is full of spring.

After the couplet was written, Chen Jingke immediately sent someone to the printing shop for printing.

Then all the door frames of the Taoist temple were pasted up, and the red paper and black letters were really beautiful.

All the people who came to Shangxiang naturally saw such an obvious change. After inquiring about what was going on, everyone was also very interested in this novel way of celebrating.

Zixiao Temple launched a free couplet service at the right time. Anyone who offers incense and worships gods can receive a couplet for free.

There are even more people coming down to offer incense, and soon the printed couplets will be delivered.Chen Jingke had to ask the book printing house to suspend other work and focus on printing Spring Festival couplets.

This trend quickly became popular, and more and more people began to post couplets.

Qin Mansion, Yuchi Mansion, and Cheng Mansion took the lead in posting it, causing many dignitaries to follow suit.

Li Shimin didn't know where he heard about this matter, and he wrote many couplets with his own hand and posted them all over the imperial city.

What is good at the top must be good at the bottom, and even the emperor posted other ministers naturally not to be outdone, and soon the residential areas of the nobles in the north of the city were full of couplets.

This trend quickly spread throughout the city of Chang'an. First the rich imitated it, and then the common people began to follow suit.

It is impossible for all couplets to come from Zixiao Temple, which is unrealistic.Most of them are written by themselves, or asked to write by others.

Many poor scholars who sold calligraphy on the street were more clever, and immediately bought red paper to sell Spring Festival couplets, and really made a small fortune.

Spring Festival couplets and the like are just small tricks. Chen Jingke is going to make fireworks and firecrackers this time, and give Li Shimin a big one.

As mentioned earlier, there were fireworks during the Sui Dynasty, and Emperor Sui Yang wrote poems praising them, which is recorded in history books.

It's just that the fireworks at that time were relatively simple and primitive, that is, black gunpowder was packed in a bamboo tube and ignited to spray sparks outward, and the effect was more like the big bared flowers we are familiar with.

At the end of the Zhenguan period, someone sealed black gunpowder in a bamboo tube, which would make a loud noise after being ignited. This is the earliest firecracker. It was not until the Song Dynasty that there were firecrackers that we are familiar with.
The fireworks that are common now also first appeared in the history books of the Song Dynasty.

What Chen Jingke has to do is firecrackers and fireworks.

The production of firecrackers and fireworks is not difficult, but the raw material, black powder, is difficult.

This also did not bother him. The formula of black powder was not only well known, but it was not much different.

The Chinese should have some understanding of the four great inventions, and it is not difficult to figure them out with a little care.

He first sent people to old houses or old toilets to collect nitrate, and then boiled nitrate.

The process of boiling nitrate is hard to describe in one word, and the word boiled urine can be used to describe everything, and the taste can be imagined.

No one doubted his behavior. Nitrate had always been used as medicine, and it was normal for Sun Simiao's disciples to boil nitric acid.

The only strange thing for everyone is, why don't you go out and buy it? Isn't it a crime to suffer by yourself?

In fact, the reason why he doesn't buy it is not complicated. The nitrate outside is not pure enough to buy it, and he still needs to boil it for a second time to purify it.

After getting enough nitrate, he couldn't take it anymore, so he hurried back to take a bath, and everyone he met on the road couldn't help but cover his nose.

Fortunately, the two maids treated him as before, and Yuzhu hurriedly boiled water for him to take a bath.Yi Nu wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, bit his lip and blushed.

After taking a shower, he still felt a faint smell of urine on his body, so he had to smoke himself with incense to suppress the smell.

With the most difficult nitrate, the following things will be easier.

Various materials are ready, add water and egg white and grind into powder.

Fully stir it into gunpowder mud, then make the gunpowder mud into fine particles, and dry it in the sun to become simple granular gunpowder.

He experimented a bit, and the effect was great.

With gunpowder, the next firecrackers and fireworks will not be a problem. By the way, he also made a big killer.

When everything was ready, he ran to the palace to look for Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, I have a big baby to show you."

Li Shimin squinted at him, and squeezed out a word between his teeth: "Say."

Chen Jingke was a little puzzled, since the last time he finished the finale of Journey to the West, the emperor's attitude towards him has become abnormal, picking his nose and eyes.

But it doesn't look like crossing a river and demolishing a bridge, it's a big headache.

If the gender is wrong, Chen Jingke would suspect that he has reached menopause.

But whoever makes him the emperor can only pretend that nothing happened, saying: "This thing makes a lot of noise, like thunder. It's best to find a deserted and more secret place."

Li Shimin said disdainfully: "It's just playing tricks."

But immediately added another sentence: "There is a cellar in the palace, several meters deep underground, is it enough?"

Chen Jingke was contemptuous in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, and said, "Yes."

"That thing is too dangerous. I put it in Zixiaoguan. Why don't you ask someone to fetch it? I just took advantage of this time to go to the cellar to prepare."

Seeing that he was so serious, Li Shimin immediately sent Ren Feng and a group of people to fetch it, while Chen Jingke went to the cellar to start the arrangement under the guidance of the servant.

(End of this chapter)