Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The gunpowder research institute was not located in the city because of its dangerousness.

However, due to confidentiality requirements, it cannot be placed anywhere randomly.

Eventually, the Jingxi Bastion, which was used for military exercises, became a gathering place for confidential offices such as the Gunpowder Research Institute after the exercises.

There is also a training ground inside, which is specially used for weapons training.

Lu Xiang knew that the emperor intended to introduce some talents from outside to participate in gunpowder research, and Gu Yanwu was a trustworthy person, so he applied for confidentiality qualifications for Gu Yanwu so that he could enter the bastion.

When Gu Yanwu and Lu Xiang took the rail carriage all the way to the Jingxi Bastion, they found that the people here were not conducting experiments on the parade ground, but were gathering around a platform under a shed on one side of the parade ground, cheering from time to time.

A few people were curious and went to watch. Zhang Tao, the military commander in charge of the gunpowder research, said:
"Lü Gong, you come here to inspect!"

"Look at the billiards we made."

Pull Lu Xiang and others to see the billiards they are using.

Lu Xiang knew about this thing; he had seen it in the palace.

The emperor seemed to like this game very much and once invited him to play with him.

He also heard from some dignitaries who also liked billiards that the emperor had planned to list billiards as a sport and set up billiards competitions in martial arts conferences like Cuju.

However, the billiard balls used are made of ivory, which is not only too precious, but hunting ivory is also detrimental to nature.

Therefore, this sport was not popularized in the end, and now only some upper-class people in the capital can play it. These people have enough financial resources to obtain ivory balls and can afford to pay for them even if they are accidentally damaged or lost.

The furniture company of the Royal Construction Group also had people who specialized in making billiard tables, and used wool blankets woven by the Royal Weaving Group as tablecloths and sold them to some dignitaries.

The ash wood, originally used to make spears, is now also used to make billiard cues. This has given the folks who make ash cues a new way to make a living.

After the army replaced the long gun with a musket and a bayonet, the number of specialized cold weapons has become less and less. Craftsmen who make white ash rods, ox-tendon wood, and sword-ridge wood are also facing transformation, and some have tried to make billiard cues.

The Gunpowder Research Institute could not afford billiard balls, and they did not have the funds. The billiard balls they used were defective ones sent by the emperor. The people in the institute were allowed to play with them in their spare time, and they also used collodion to research new materials to replace ivory for billiard balls.

This work has been going on for several months and now appears to be bearing fruit.

Looking at the billiard ball made of collodion in his hand, Lu Xiang nodded slightly and asked Zhang Tao:

"It's a good quantity. Have you tested how long it lasts?"

Zhang Tao finally came up with results and said excitedly:
“The cotton balls are not as durable as ivory and the touch is not as good.”

"But it will last at least a thousand times and won't explode."

This is the biggest obstacle encountered when making billiard balls with collodion.

At first, they just rolled the nitrated cotton into a ball, but after hitting it with a white wax rod, it would not only be easily broken apart, but it might also explode and catch fire due to the high-speed impact.

This made them realize that what the emperor said about nitrates being flammable was not false, and that there really was something like fulminate of mercury that would catch fire at the touch of a finger.

So those who studied collodion soon split into two groups.

One group worked on how to make it easier to catch fire, while another group worked on how to make it more stable.

It is difficult to make it easier to catch fire, but it is easy to make it more stable. The simplest way is to reduce the amount of collodion in the collodion ball.

They initially mixed the soil directly into the mixture, but that affected the coagulation of the collodion and prevented it from clumping into a ball.

Later, they imitated paper-wrapped bullets by wrapping the cotton balls in paper and coating the outside with lard, butter or paraffin.

Eventually, they discovered that paraffin wax was more useful because it made the collodion less likely to catch fire and could also help hold the collodion together.

However, paraffin wax is slippery and difficult to use as billiard balls. The gunpowder research institute's craftsmen could only continue their experiments.

After several months, although there was some progress, we were still unable to get the collodion balls to replace the ivory billiard balls.

Until a few days ago, a craftsman accidentally dropped collodion into camphor wine when he was using it to treat injuries from falls. After a violent reaction, a new type of collodion with flexible properties, hard but not brittle was obtained.

It can be molded into various shapes under heat and pressure and can be easily made into balls.

Zhang Tao was very happy when he heard the news, and he rewarded the craftsman handsomely. After many experiments, he made the billiard ball that Lu Xiang was holding.

Hearing that the billiard ball was no longer so easy to catch fire and was also easy to shape, Lu Xiang was thoughtful and asked:
"You said that collodion is easily dissolved in camphor wine, and that a new kind of collodion can be obtained."

"Was it the camphor that dissolved it, or was it the alcohol?"

"Besides nitrocellulose, can other nitrates be dissolved in it?"

Zhang Tao was shocked when he heard this and responded:
"I haven't tried it yet. I don't know what dissolves the nitrocellulose."

Lu Xiang immediately said:

"Then do an experiment right away to see if mercuric nitrate can be dissolved in it."

"Also, separate the camphor and alcohol and use them separately for nitrifying mercury."

Zhang Tao is now a fourth-rank captain of the imperial guards, and is also a deputy director of the Equipment Department and in charge of the Equipment Research Institute. His rank is higher than that of Lu Xiang, who holds the fifth-rank title of Shaofu Temple Secretary.

But he did not dare to act arrogantly in front of Lu Xiang, because Lu Xiang was someone who often met the emperor and was the actual person in charge of the Equipment Academy.

Even his teacher, Li Zhizao, who served as Shaoqing in Shaofu Temple, did not have as much face in front of the emperor as Lu Xiang.

This also led to the fact that as the captain of the guard of the Equipment Academy, he was only responsible for the Gunpowder Research Institute.

After Lu Xiang gave the order, he and the craftsmen of the institute stopped playing billiards and divided into several groups to do experiments separately.

Because gunpowder experiments were dangerous, they were usually conducted in open sheds and were spaced far apart from each other.

Gu Yanwu and other irrelevant personnel were kept far away. Only with a telescope could one see clearly what they were doing.

Gu Yanwu saw from afar that the researchers were wearing masks and holding various strange-shaped transparent glass test tubes with scales and volume units written on them.

There are also written records next to it, recording what materials were used each time and what results were obtained.

He found the whole process very interesting and was extremely curious about this alchemy-like experiment.

Especially when he saw mercuric nitrate dissolving in alcohol and producing white mist, he felt as if he could fly in the clouds.

However, people at the Gunpowder Research Institute were not surprised by this.

They had seen so many strange reactions, most of which were meaningless and were just recorded by the clerks as experimental records.

This time they thought that like before, there would be no useful results. However, the operator was still very serious.

If you are not serious, you may lose your life and be poisoned by the contents.

After experiencing the damage of poisonous gas, liquid erosion, and even explosion and fire, they have strictly implemented the various regulations proposed by the emperor, and are perfecting the relevant regulations during the experiment.

Under the methodical operation of these researchers, a solution of camphor wine, camphor liquid, alcohol and mercuric nitrate was soon produced. They dried it, took out the powder, put it on a copper block and hit it with a pointed hammer.

This simulates the firing pin striking the primer, and they have been doing experiments this way all the time.

As long as the powder can be struck to produce sparks, fulminate of mercury has been produced.

Camphor wine and a mixture of camphor liquid and mercuric nitrate did not react at all when struck.

However, the gray crystals produced by mixing alcohol and mercuric nitrate make a crisp "pop" sound when struck, and obvious sparks appear.

When Lu Xiang, Zhang Tao and others heard the crisp sound, they could hardly believe it.

They had failed to produce sparks many times, but they didn't expect that this routine experiment would be successful.

They couldn't believe it. After Gu Yanwu reminded them, Lu Xiang said with some trembling:

"try again!"

"quick!"

Regardless of the possible danger, he had someone pour the powder onto the copper block and hit it with a hammer.

After successfully striking out sparks again, Lu Xiang finally believed:

The fulminate of mercury that the emperor and himself had longed for was finally produced.

The same was true for Zhang Tao and others. Especially after they had tried many times and found that the success rate of starting a fire by knocking was almost 100%, they were sure that this was the fulminate of mercury that the emperor had asked them to make, and it was also the biggest purpose of establishing the Gunpowder Research Institute.

"This……"

"We must tell the Emperor immediately!"

"We want to report the good news to the Emperor!"

Zhang Tao said excitedly.

He seemed to have seen that he would be granted a title by the emperor like Lu Xiang.

Compared to the billiard toy, this is what the emperor truly values.

With it, the flintlock can basically be replaced, and the reward for the flintlock can naturally be fulfilled in this regard.

Not to mention that the emperor had already offered a bounty for fulminate of mercury, and as more places needed fulminate of mercury, the bounty was getting higher and higher. Now he was a viscount and was also allocated a fiefdom.

Gu Yanwu had just seen the experiment of making fulminate of mercury and did not understand its significance. But after the researchers at the Gunpowder Institute explained it in detail, he immediately understood that this was something that could start a fire, so he didn't have to pour the ignition powder.

Later, they only needed to install a primer on the pilot hole so that they could pass the spark in by tapping it.

Ignition by pouring the primer would soon be replaced by installing a percussion cap.

You don't even need to install a percussion cap. Just install the primer on the metal cartridge case and it will fire by impact.

Listening to the researchers' fantasies, Gu Yanwu, who had spent a lot of effort to improve the musket, had keenly realized that fulminate of mercury would bring great improvement to firearms.

The ignition methods of all firearms will undergo great changes. The existing firearms of the Ming Dynasty will be completely updated.

What made him particularly happy was that he no longer needed to use ignition powder. The ignition powder used in muskets and cannons would be completely replaced by fulminate of mercury:
“That’s really great!”

"We must report the good news to the Emperor!"

The group of people came in a grand manner, ready to take fulminate of mercury to report the good news to the emperor.

But perhaps because he was too excited, the researcher holding the fulminate of mercury accidentally dropped the test tube in his hand.

Suddenly, sparks burst out on the ground and the entire test tube exploded.

The explosion was so violent that Gu Yanwu, who was far away, was covered with glass fragments.

There were also several researchers with blood all over their bodies.

Zhang Tao was so panicked that he quickly called for a doctor to come and treat the injuries of these people.

At the same time, it was also recognized that fulminate of mercury was not suitable to be presented to the emperor:

“If it suddenly explodes in front of the emperor, who will be able to bear the consequences?”

"Let's go report the news first and see if the emperor will come."

After being excited, Lu Xiang also calmed down. On the one hand, he sent someone to announce the good news, and on the other hand, he asked the guards of Jinyiwei to block the news.

The production method of fulminate of mercury must be kept strictly secret to prevent the enemy, such as the Jianlu, from sending people to learn it secretly.

As an outsider brought here, Gu Yanwu was strictly examined by the Jinyiwei. Fortunately, he was not only a Yuanshi awarded by the emperor, but also had the rank of major and hereditary knighthood.

This allowed him to pass the review smoothly and sign several confidentiality agreements.

At the same time, the Jinyiwei personnel also arranged guards for him to be responsible for protection and confidentiality.

Gu Yanwu was speechless in the face of this situation. He really didn't expect that he would get caught up in such a thing just by chance.

However, thinking about the method of mixing mercuric nitrate and alcohol to make fulminate of mercury, it was indeed very easy. He also understood why Lu Xiang asked the Jinyiwei to keep it secret and warn everyone who knew about it.

This method is too easy to leak, and anyone who knows it can make fulminate of mercury.

In the palace, Zhu Youjian also fell into ecstasy after hearing the news.

After breech-loading muskets and round-nosed lead bullets were manufactured, the greatest difficulty in making paper shell fixed bullets and metal fixed bullets was making the primer.

Now that mercury fulminate has been invented, it can almost be declared that the era of fixed-load ammunition is about to arrive.

The rotary locking rear-loading musket used now will become a firearm similar to the 1871 Mauser rifle, which was used by Zuo Zongtang when he recovered Xinjiang. Its improved version after adding a bullet tube is the famous Nine-son Mauser.

It was also because of this firearm that the Mauser rifle became famous in China. Later, when the Qing court introduced rifles, it specifically chose Mauser, but was deceived by the committee rifle.

The rotary locking rear-loading musket that Zhu Youjian asked Lu Xiang to make was modeled after the appearance of the Mauser 98K that he often saw pictures of, but it omitted the firing pin and other mechanisms. After adding them, it could be easily changed to use metal fixed ammunition.

The magazine can also be changed to hold ten rounds or more, and the firepower sustainability exceeds that of the Nine-Body Company.

So he immediately gave orders to install primers on the sub-guns and bullets, and asked Lu Xiang to improve the musket and create a new musket that used metal fixed bullets.

The electric rifle and thunder rifle, which originally used sub-guns, must immediately change to use bullets with added primers.

The same is true for revolvers, which use primer-loaded bullets instead.

The meritorious officials who invented fulminate of mercury were all credited with their achievements. Lü Xiang was promoted to the first-class viscount, and Zhang Tao and other craftsmen who had made outstanding contributions were also granted titles. They did not need to open up territories, they would be directly allocated.

The staff of the Gunpowder Research Institute were all rewarded, which made them feel proud after being frustrated for a long time. (End of this chapter)