Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2621 Nitrate
At this moment, the images of the two veterans grew a little taller in Chen Wuren's heart.The concept of clan was prevalent in the Ming Dynasty, and the yamen could only be managed at the county level. The so-called imperial power did not go to the countryside, and the order in the countryside was mainly maintained by the clan rules.

But Chen Wuren still kindly reminded him: "The chief is kind, but the subordinates don't know whether to say something or not."

"But it doesn't matter."

"Since ancient times, it has been difficult for upright officials to decide on family affairs. If this case is not properly resolved, it may damage the reputation of the Senate."

Zhang Xiao understood Chen Wuren's worry, turned to Zhang Jiayu, ready to give him a try, and asked, "Jiayu, what's your opinion?"

Zhang Jiayu said: "The students accompanied He Ning to the countryside, and they were there at the time. Huang's mother and son were really pitiful, and those who heard it wept. However, as Section Chief Chen said, it is difficult for an upright official to decide on family affairs. The students thought it was inappropriate for the two chiefs. Intervene."

"Oh? The implication is that you don't care?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"No, no," Zhang Jiayu explained, "The students think it's better to let He Ning take care of this matter."

"Hey, that's a good idea, let me think about it," Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "He Ning, now that you are a member of the Women's Federation, I will give you the title of special commissioner of the Guangzhou Women's Federation. The kind where you issue a letter of appointment with an official seal. Not only do we have to manage it, but we also have to manage it so that the name is justified!"

Zhao Hening couldn't hide his excitement on his face, but he said: "For the sake of justice, I will be wronged."

"The athletes are here, but the referee is still needed," Li Yaoer said, "People from the Guangzhou Circuit Court are currently at the Dagang Market in Longshan, not far from here. They will send a messenger to the Dagang Market in the early morning of tomorrow, so that Yuchi from the Circuit Court Gang and Wu Yixuan rushed to Jiujiang immediately."

Jiujiang Qiaonan Village is located about two kilometers northwest of Jiujiang Daxu, where the Jiujiang Zhu family lived.During the Xianchun period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Yuanlong, the ancestor of the Zhu family, moved here with his people from Nanxiong. It has been more than [-] years, and the roots are deeply rooted in the local area, and there are many talents in the clan. ", and a "Liang Erqian Stone Archway" was left in the countryside.

Surrounded by fish ponds outside the village, a large piece of land is enclosed behind a property belonging to the Zhu family. Many of the dry fish ponds are divided into smaller pits by the newly built pond foundations, surrounded by a tall wall , a busy scene inside the wall.The workers are all the children of the Zhu family. Some are pouring water and lime into the pit. The heat generated by quicklime and water keeps the soil at a certain temperature; Urine, silkworm excrement and other filthy things are quietly waiting for the harvest time; some people are digging out mature soil from old pits and mixing them with plant ash and sending them to the processing room.

If a European arms dealer at the same time saw this scene, he would be surprised that someone in the far east had learned the "nitrate method" invented by the French.The earliest records of nitrate production in nitrate fields appeared in the 14th century. By the middle of the 15th century, Europe had become a great sight and became the most important source of potassium nitrate in Europe. The purity of potassium nitrate.

The principle of this "nitrate field method" is actually to summarize the phenomenon of potassium nitrate condensed on the soil wall of the toilet pigsty, and then reproduce the deep environment on a large scale for mass production.

This kind of technology is not complicated, but it has not been developed in China, and the reason is that it will take up a lot of farmyard manure.Compared with European agriculture with well-developed animal husbandry, China's traditional agricultural planting industry is highly developed, occupying almost all arable land, making the livestock breeding rate extremely low.Naturally, this kind of nitrate field, which requires a lot of livestock manure, cannot be developed.

When the Senate was in Hainan, they also considered using the nitrate method to produce potassium nitrate by themselves, but after calculating the input-output ratio, they found that they could not collect enough raw materials to maintain the operation. They obtained natural potassium nitrate from India through the Portuguese. After the saltpeter, it's gone.

Who would have thought that such a large-scale nitrate field had been quietly built here.As for the Portuguese who taught this method to the Zhu family, they should have integrated into this nitrate field long ago, and they were dealt with without anyone noticing.

Zhu Zhai has a deep courtyard, with corridors looping around, bypassing the rockery in the courtyard, and arriving at the study.Zhu Shilian put down a roll of thread-bound book in her hand, feeling a little emotional, and said to the guests: "He Zhen (He Rubin) is a generation of heroes who run the army strictly and kindly. "Bing Lu" is especially incisive in discussing gunpowder and firearms, and has its own uniqueness in firearm warfare. It's a pity...if brother Shi Min had assisted him in the past and wiped out the Lingao Kun bandits in one go, the disaster of today would not have happened."

Zhu Shilian is nearly forty years old, the grandson of Zhu Rang, the younger brother of Zhu Bolian, and the cousin of Chen Zizhuang.Chen Zizhuang grew up in Zhu's family in Jiujiang. Zhu Shilian was about the same age as him. The two studied and grew up together, and their friendship is extraordinary.The "Bing Lu" mentioned by Zhu Shilian was written by He Rubin. It was written in the 34th year of Wanli. Chen Zizhuang, Liu Feng and other five people wrote the preface to "Bing Lu".

It was none other than Mao Yuanyi who Zhu Shilian called "Brother Shimin". He once accompanied Sun Chengzong as the supervisor of Liaodong, and together with Yuan Chonghuan, Sun Yuanhua and others, dealt with the Later Jin Dynasty on the battlefield of Liaodong.The "Wu Bei Zhi" engraved in the first year of Tianqi was compiled by him after years of studying military books of previous dynasties and collecting materials.Later, he was squeezed out by the eunuch party and experienced ups and downs in the officialdom. When Jin attacked the capital after Chongzhen two years later, he escorted Sun Chengzong to break through from Dongbianmen to Tongzhou, repelled Houjin's attack, and was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Juehua Island Navy.Later, he was dismissed by Liang Tingdong, Minister of the Ministry of War, and was tired of Liaodong soldiers, so he was sent to Zhangpu, Fujian.Afterwards, the situation in Liaodong became even more serious. Even though he asked Qin Wang many times, he was obstructed by his political opponents, so he had to drink in sorrow and anger all day long.

Mao Yuanyi covered his mouth with his hands and coughed a few times, and said: "After He Zhen was a general, Wen Tao Wu Lue, "Bing Lu" is the first to describe, I wrote "Wu Bei Zhi·Using Firearms Method" and also examined "Bing Lu" I have also heard about the battle of Chengmai in the past. The division under the supervision of He Zhen was able to fight fiercely with the Kun bandits for several days without being defeated. It is really unexpected that the military skills are superior."

Zhu Shilian said: "Now that Xiong Du's army has been defeated, Guangdong and Guangxi have no imperial court management divisions, and the building is about to collapse. Brother Shi Min is still in danger and goes deep into the tiger's den despite his illness. He can really be called the lonely loyalty of the Ming Dynasty. He is called the elder brother 'Young Shaoxi' Wu Chu, whose name is Beiquewen. He is called a scholar, and he will be on the horse, and he will be in the army. With the help of my brother, the chances of winning this matter will be a little bit higher."

Mao Yuanyi said: "I don't dare to do it. The Zijie (Zhu Shilian's word) family helped the country destroy the country and relieve the family. I admire it from the bottom of my heart. I was originally a sinner. I wanted to serve the country but had nowhere. The days are numbered. Thanks to the help of the nobles in the court, I was able to devote myself to Guangdong to serve the country. I will die without regret. It’s just that the bandits are powerful and invincible, and the matter of raising troops still needs to wait for the right time.”

After many years of drinking, Mao Yuanyi died in the 13th year of Chongzhen in history at the age of 46.Not only that, he spent 15 years painstakingly collecting military books from generation to generation, and writing and compiling "Wu Bei Zhi" was once destroyed and banned in the Qing Dynasty, and it was not republished until the Daoguang period.

Zhu Shilian nodded knowingly, "The soldiers and horses are not moved, the food and grass go first, and the preparation of gunpowder, please worry about it, brother."

After talking for a while, the two went to the workshop together.

The production technology of black powder was very mature in the Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court had strict control over the production of gunpowder and firearms, and had strict secrecy measures. In the middle and late period, due to the tense affairs in Liao Dynasty, there were many talks between the government and the public, and the secrecy measures were relaxed. Therefore, the number of fire attack books is the highest in all dynasties, and the knowledge of gunpowder has been popularized among the scholar class.Due to the well-developed fried iron industry in Foshan, it was an important artillery production place for the imperial court. There are also many craftsmen who are familiar with gunpowder and firearms in the Pearl River Delta region.Now with the expert Mao Yuanyi and the servant he brought, it can be regarded as even more powerful.

The theory of gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty was still the "monarch, minister and assistant" of Chinese medicine. Black gunpowder used nitrate as the monarch drug. The simple formula that has been passed down for a long time is "one nitrate, two yellows and three charcoals". The ratio of sulfur to charcoal combined should not exceed one quarter.For the Jiujiang area, it is not difficult to obtain sulfur and charcoal.The local sericulture industry is well developed, and sulfur and lime are mostly needed to disperse insects and ants. Due to the humid climate in the Pearl River Delta, there is an additional process of baking cocoons after silkworms make cocoons, so charcoal is also a common and easy-to-buy item.Only saltpeter is not easy to obtain, and it has always been strictly controlled by the imperial court.

Natural saltpeter mines are very rare in the wild. Most of the saltpeter in China is produced in three places. The saltpeter produced in Sichuan is called Sichuan saltpeter, the saltpetre produced in Shanxi is called saltpeter, and the saltpeter produced in Shandong is called soil saltpeter.These three production areas are currently not in the control area of ​​the Senate. In addition to the combination of war and fire, there are fewer imports of saltpeter from other places. After the Senate occupied Guangdong and Guangxi, it also strictly controlled the import and sale of saltpeter due to military needs.

In order to obtain a large amount of saltpeter without attracting the attention of outsiders, the Zhu family took great pains, and finally learned the European "nitrate production method" from a Portuguese from Macau.Since it takes eight months for a nitrate field to mature, a large number of fish ponds are required to be converted into a nitrate field, and more than one.Thanks to the deep roots of the Zhu family, the huge property, and the support of the local gentry headed by Chen Zizhuang and Taoist Mushi, it was barely managed.

Gunpowder production is a dangerous and high-tech job. After Mao Yuanyi came, he established a set of operating system according to the standards of the official gunpowder factory of the Ming Dynasty, with clear rewards and punishments. Production accidents, avoid exposure.

(End of this chapter)