Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 249 Wild Chemist
Three days later, Jia Lian fled the Jia Mansion with dark circles under his eyes. When he turned around, he smiled disdainfully: "Humph! Woman!"

It is Jia Lian's style to never be cowardly in words, even though his hands are now rubbing his waist.

A woman who wants a child is crazy. If it was just Guixiang, it would be fine, but Ping'er also joined in.

In response, Wang Xifeng merely made a few sarcastic remarks and did not make a fuss.

It's not that I'm not jealous, but I don't have the confidence. No matter how powerful a woman is, she can only stay in the backyard. A strong man protects the whole family. As she became pregnant, Wang Xifeng gradually became tired and no longer had the heart to be jealous. She just warned Ping'er to keep an eye on other vixens.

Now Jia Lian no longer has to worry about the affairs of the backyard. On the surface, Mrs. Wang has basically withdrawn from the position of housekeeper, and Li Wan helps to hold a key. This is Mrs. Wang's last stubbornness.

Jia Lian returned to the R&D Department and convened a general meeting, and this time everyone was present.

"The R&D Department should have a doctor, but the higher-ups didn't make any arrangements, so I'm here to take over. I invited everyone here today to set up some rules. The first rule is that part-time jobs are prohibited, except for me. The second rule is that departments will be divided, and a new safety supervision department will be added..."

It took an entire morning to clean out the people who shouldn't be there, and a new safety supervision department was set up. Jia Lian was in charge of the overall work of the R&D Department. Although there was a "deputy" in the position, it was self-appointed, but no one dared to disobey orders.

After the meeting, Ma San was called to the office, and Jia Lian told him directly: "Quit your job at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and take up the position of Safety Supervisor, an eighth-rank position. In principle, you can be in charge of all safety violations, and you will be directly supervised by the Research and Development Department, which is me."

Ma San did not hesitate at all, bowed and clasped his hands: "Thank you for your support, sir!"

"Okay, go back and resign, and come back here to take up your post. Also, call Leng Yong in."

After a while, Leng Yong came in. Jia Lian looked up at him and said, "Quit your job at the Ministry of Revenue and come to the Research and Development Department to be a full-time accountant. I'll be a seventh-rank official. Are you willing?"

This situation is different. After all, the salary in the Ministry of Revenue is not bad. If you come here full-time, you will only be promoted to the next level, which may not be a guarantee. Jia Lian's attitude is also different, much gentler.

Leng Yong did not answer immediately, but hesitated for a while before saying: "Can you give me a few days to think about it?"

"One day, at most one day. The decision must be made tomorrow. The entire government office cannot wait for you alone."

"One day is enough!" Leng Yong thanked Jia Lian and said goodbye.

Li Daoxing has a nickname of "divine stick", which is not wrong, because he really worked as a Taoist priest. It was only because his elder brother died that he had to return home to inherit the incense. Daoxing was his name when he was a Taoist priest, and he insisted on using this name to show that he did not forget his roots.

This guy was a lucky boy. He was forced to study hard for more than ten years, but it was difficult for him to pass the imperial examination. He went down the mountain at the age of fifteen, passed the examination at the age of sixteen, and passed the imperial examination at the age of nineteen. If his parents had not forced him to die, he would not have participated in the imperial examination, but planned to go back to his old job, not to be a Taoist priest, but to practice the alchemy he learned when he was a Taoist priest.

At the age of 30, Li Daoxing passed the imperial examination on his first attempt. However, he failed to perform well in the palace examination because he did not get enough rest, so he was only a Tongjinshi. Even so, he was still a winner in life.

When others chose to be sent to other places to serve as officials, Li Daoxing went to the Imperial Observatory, where he fiddled with his own jars and pots every day.

Jia Lian knew this person by chance. When he was in the R&D department, a fellow villager who had a lot of experience mentioned him as a joke. But the speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional.

Jia Lian came to the Imperial Observatory specifically because he heard about "a liquid that can melt metal".

When the officials of the Imperial Observatory learned that Jia Lian was coming, they didn't believe in the rumors of a bad star. They only knew that Jia Lian had suggested increasing everyone's salary at the cabinet meeting. The chief and deputy chief officers received Jia Lian together. When they learned that Jia Lian was looking for a charlatan, they both showed strange expressions.

Although Jia Lian noticed it, he didn't know the truth. When he was led to a private courtyard, the two officers knocked on the door and said they had something to do, so they left first and ran away like they were fleeing from famine.

No one responded from inside the house, so Jia Lian had to push the door open. A strong, pungent smell filled the courtyard. Others felt uncomfortable and wanted to vomit after smelling it, but Jia Lian was delighted.

"Stop, don't go up the stairs, I'll be out soon." Someone was talking in the house. Jia Lian had no choice but to stand under the jujube tree in the yard, looking at the dimly lit house and seeing a shadow swaying.

The jujube tree is very familiar because there are really two jujube trees in the yard, and there is no need to do reading comprehension.

The next moment, when the people in the house came out, Jia Lian just covered his nose slightly, and Zhuzi, who was following him, turned around and vomited.

The person who came out smelled terrible. Jia Lian knew without thinking that he hadn't taken a shower for at least half a month. His clothes were wrinkled like soy sauce dumplings, and his hair was messy like hay, with clumps of hair sticking together, which reminded him of the unwashed stinky socks in the dormitory that could stick to the wall.

"Who are you? What's up?" The man was standing on the steps. The yard was overgrown with weeds, and it was obvious that no one took care of it.

"You don't have a servant?" Jia Lian forced himself to hold back and asked curiously.

Li Daoxing shook his head: "Yes, I deliver meals every day, but I'm not here normally."

"Come here, wash Master Li and change his clothes." Jia Lian gave the order helplessly. The guards covered their mouths helplessly and rushed forward to carry him away. No matter how Li Daoxing called for help, no one came to save him. The two chief officers of the Imperial Observatory nodded with satisfaction. What kind of disaster star is this? It's obviously a lucky star.

Li Daoxing, with a look of grief and indignation on his face, was stripped naked and thrown into a bucket of hot water, where he was soaked for a stick of incense. After a pound of mud and dirt was brushed off with a boar-bristle brush, he was tied to a bench and forced to wash his hair with soapberry.

After nearly two hours of tossing and turning, Li Daoxing finally felt relieved. After changing into clean clothes, Jia Lian appeared again: "Don't worry about your experiment, have a good sleep, and I will tell you something more interesting tomorrow."

Li Daoxing refused to give in after hearing this. Instead, he sneered and said, "You come to me to make pills? You will be disappointed."

Jia Lian smiled and shook his head, "I call what you play with chemistry, which is to make various materials react chemically under different environments to produce new materials. In my opinion, your way of playing is too elementary. Nowadays, Westerners use pure and transparent glassware for experiments. To produce pure glass, you need soda ash, but it's a pity that this thing doesn't exist on this land. Maybe there is in the deep, but I haven't seen it. The liquid you made that can clean rust, I call it sulfuric acid, which is extremely corrosive to substances. The scar on the back of your hand was burned by sulfuric acid, right? It should be washed with water after being splashed, which is wrong, because water cannot neutralize sulfuric acid. Well, neutralization is also a chemical reaction."

Li Daoxing was completely stunned. He had no chance to learn systematically. He just accumulated some experience based on his personal interests. It could be said that he was just messing around. He was able to live until now. It was really God's love for talents.

"I'm very energetic now, can you tell me more in detail?" Li Daoxing's eyes were full of curiosity, very pure. Jia Lian shook his head: "No, you have to sleep, and after you have a thorough rest, we can talk in depth."

Li Daoxing, who was rejected, had no choice but to smile bitterly and said, "Okay, I'll go to sleep now."

Jia Lian said, "Eat first and then go to bed after your hair is dry, otherwise you will catch a cold."

After saying this, Jia Lian walked away at a leisurely pace, leaving Li Daoxing alone. Looking at the unfamiliar courtyard in front of him, with only two servants in front of him, Li Daoxing muttered, "There's not even a maid!"

When Li Daoxing woke up, he saw that it was almost dusk and the maid was right beside him. She was his own maid.

"Where is the master here?" Li Daoxing had a wife at home, but he only had a maidservant who followed him to the capital. The maidservant replied unhappily, "I was also brought here by someone, and I didn't see the master here."

After seeing the letter on the table, Li Daoxing perked up and quickly took it out and opened it to read.

【Since the Renaissance, various trends of thought have emerged in the West, including the trend of natural science, which has led to the three natural disciplines of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Chemistry is a basic natural science that studies the composition, structure, properties, transformation, and other applications of matter at the atomic, molecular, and ion (group) levels. I can't explain it clearly in the letter, so let's wait for the interview.】

Jia Lian did not visit at night, and Li Daoxing was trapped in the yard. The maid who accompanied him took the opportunity to quench her thirst.

The next morning, the maid in a very good mood came out to open the door. Seeing that it was Jia Lian, she bowed and said, "I greet you, sir. Thank you for saving the master from the dire situation." Yes, the maid's understanding was so simple. Her master was simply a lunatic. Jia Lian's appearance saved Li Daoxing's life.

Li Daoxing ran out without even putting on his shoes, shouting, "Master Jia, you are finally here. If you hadn't come earlier, I would have been so anxious."

Jia Lian looked at him with a smile and asked, "Are you also so anxious when doing experiments? You shouldn't be like this. If you were impatient and liked to fiddle with experiments in a hurry, you would have died countless times, or even if you didn't die, you would have been disabled."

Li Daoxing nodded in agreement: "The process of alchemy is indeed dangerous. Well, chemistry, I think your definition is better."

Jia Lian took out a handwritten copy of "Elementary Chemistry" and handed it over. "The world is material, and matter is in constant change. When external conditions are right, different substances will change when mixed to form new substances. Let's take the simplest example, gunpowder. When it is ignited, it produces pungent gas, which is a chemical reaction that produces new substances."

Li Daoxing was overjoyed when he received it. Just as he was about to open it, Jia Lian stopped him and said, "Four hours a day, you can't look at it for a moment longer, or I'll take it back." He turned to the maid and said, "Keep an eye on him. Such a talent is rare. I must take good care of him."

"Don't worry, sir. I will definitely keep a good eye on him."

In fact, Jia Lian bet that Li Daoxing would only half understand this book, "Elementary Chemistry", because it is full of current professional terms and chemical equations. Although it is only a junior high school chemistry book, it is already a subversive thing in this era.

The purpose of giving Li Daoxing this book is to open his eyes. For such a strong man with strong hands-on ability, Jia Lian may not be his opponent after making up for his shortcomings in theory. If there was no plug-in to reproduce this textbook, Jia Lian would have no chance to show off in front of Li Daoxing.

To put it simply, Li Daoxing is a genius and Jia Lian is a jerk.

Well, making glass in the novel is actually a very absurd thing, because without soda ash, transparent glass cannot be made. In the long history before modern times, there was no technology tree for pure glass, not because the Chinese were not capable, but because there were no soda ash mines. The West can make it because they have soda ash mines, and they are open-air.

Soaking wood ash in water will not produce soda ash, but only a liquid containing alkali and various impurities.

By the way, Jia Lian didn't plan to make glass, because the chemical method of making soda ash requires ammonia. The theory is in the textbook, but Jia Lian is a scumbag in operation. So, we can only rely on Li Daoxing. At this stage, Jia Lian needs a percussion cap.

A breech-loading rifle without a flash hider and integrated powder charge is just an idea and cannot be realized.

The emergence of the percussion cap is a leap forward for the development of firearms. If Li Daoxing can make it and realize mass production, then we can consider the issue of integrated charge. Even if it is a paper-wrapped integrated charge, it will be ten times stronger than the current front-loading.

Of course, there is also airtightness, which is a problem of processing technology. There is only one way to solve this problem, which is to pile up people and vigorously train technical workers. Of course, for the current level of technology, it is still better to solve the muzzle-loading percussion cap gun first, and wait until the metal processing technology is improved a little bit before considering the pin-fired bolt-action rear-loading gun.

In fact, Jia Lian felt that he would not be able to see it in his lifetime, as the ugly country was still using muzzle-loading rifles during the Civil War.

Why Jia Lian took the new fire gun so seriously because it was so advanced. Once it spread out, the Minié bullet, which had no technical barriers, would be like a gift to foreign enemies.

Li Daoxing was a simple person. After getting the textbook, he ignored Jia Lian and read it while walking, eagerly.

Seeing this, the maid could only apologize: "Sir, our master..."

"No need to apologize. If I didn't know who he was, I wouldn't have come here. Take good care of her, and I'll send you two servants to help you later." Jia Lian left without a care. Others thought Li Daoxing was a nuisance, but Jia Lian knew he was a treasure. It was a pity that there was only one like him at the moment, and Jia Lian needed more similar talents.

Three days passed in a flash, and a new decree was issued in the form of an imperial edict.

Jia Lian was unable to take care of Li Daoxing for the time being, so he could only take time to go and see him. He found that this guy had not gone out for three days, so he gave him a few words of advice, left some money, and went back to the Wucheng Bingmasi first. There were more important things here, such as the birthday of the retired emperor, and the Wucheng Bingmasi had to work overtime.

When the autumn heat was raging, Jia Lian was still sitting on the street, watching the busy people in the distance.

The streets were decorated with red and colorful decorations everywhere to celebrate the retired emperor's 68th birthday.

The money was paid by Emperor Chenghui, but he had no say in how it was spent. Emperor Chenghui had no idea where the one million silver dollars had been spent, and he couldn't even ask.

During this period, Dai Quan was very popular, walking around the streets with a group of people every day. This old man did not walk, but was carried on a sedan chair. Every time Jia Lian got the news from afar, he chose to hide, fearing that this old man would take the opportunity to cause trouble.

(End of this chapter)