Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

"All gunpowder is mainly composed of saltpeter and sulfur, supplemented by plant ash. The nature of nitrate is yin, and the nature of sulfur is yang. The two gods of yin and yang meet in a seamless space. When it comes out, the characters are haunted, and the soul is scattered and frightened. "---Ming Song Yingxing "Tiangong Kaiwu Gunpowder"

Due to the problem of iron ore and fuel sources, Taiwan's pig iron production cannot be improved qualitatively. The first fire was set on the iron smelting workshop and the expansion project of the official road, but unexpectedly, it first intervened in the production of gunpowder by the Ministry of War.

"Jianguo, the manufacture of gunpowder in this feudal domain is strictly in accordance with the records in "Wu Bei Zhi" and "Bing Lu"."

According to the official system of the Ming and Zheng Dynasties, under the six officials equivalent to the ministers of each ministry, each ministry has a doctor in charge of specific ministries. However, the Ministry of War is very special. First, the Ministry of War does not have military officers, and second, it is equivalent to military officers. Chen Shengwu was dismissed again by Zhu Jin in a fit of anger, so Cai Qian, the doctor who is expected to go further, did not care about Zheng Kezang's overstepping his power at all, but hoped to use his own careful explanation to make a good impression in front of the grandson of the supervisor. .

"Among them, saltpeter is produced in three steps: the first step is to dissolve the saltpeter in clean water to remove impurities such as sediment; the second step is to put egg whites and carrots into the saltpeter solution. Boil for many times in the middle to absorb the saline and alkali and slag in it; the third step, put the newly condensed water gel into the nitric solution and boil again, then put the solution into a porcelain urn to cool and solidify, the waste water floats on top, and the mud The sand sinks, the pure nitrate is in the middle, and finally the water is removed to remove the slag, and the pure nitrate is taken out and dried in the sun. In this way, the refined nitrate is in the shape of white salt grains, and only [-] jin of pure nitrate can be obtained for every [-] jin of saltpeter.”

Zheng Kezang picked up a crystal of pure nitrate offered by the officials of the Ministry of War, played with it for a while, and then signaled Cai Qian to continue speaking for himself.

"The purity of sulfur has a great influence on the explosive power of gunpowder. It is often said among the people that most of the sulfur is horizontal medicine, and less sulfur is straight medicine. This is why the steaming process is divided into four steps: first, the sulfur Smash the chunks, remove sand and sundries; secondly, put the smashed sulfur into a pot, add fresh water to boil, remove impurities and pour it into a porcelain basin for precipitation, and then remove the sediment for a day to obtain crude sulfur; thirdly, Inject two and a half catties of butter and one catty of sesame oil into every ten catties of crude sulfur, and then cook to make the oil not sticky to the sulfur, then add cypress leaves to the pot and cook with the sulfur, and absorb the black slag in the pot; Finally, put the slag-removed crude sulfur into the boiling oil and cook it, and when the oil surface becomes foamy, put it in a basin to cool, and finally remove the foam and impurities, and then you can get pure sulfur with good quality.”

While listening to the explanation, Zheng Kezang secretly planned in his heart.That is, there is no pyrite, otherwise the production of sulfur would not have to be so cumbersome and costly.However, it’s not good to say this in front of Cai Qian’s face. If you say it, it will make the other party feel that you are talking nonsense and picking thorns in the egg shell, and maybe it will also make the other party feel frustrated. Not to mention that Cai Qian might be dissatisfied because of this, so Zheng Kezang just listened quietly without putting his thoughts on his face.

"The quality of charcoal is related to whether the gunpowder can be ignited quickly and evenly. Therefore, the charcoal used in medicine has always been only three types: willow charcoal, Chinese fir charcoal, and eggplant ash. Among them, willow charcoal is the best, and the latter two are the second. However. Even for willow charcoal, usually you can only use willows around Qingming, because the willow leaves will not sprout at this time, and the essence is all on the willows, so the texture is the best. When choosing willows, the branches must be straight and even. Then peel off the skin and remove the joints and let it dry naturally." Cai Qian explained. "Peeling is to reduce smoke, removing knots is to avoid bursting when burning, and it is also for uniform firepower after ignition. As for air drying, it is to reduce moisture and improve the quality of willow charcoal. After that, it can be baked into charcoal and finally ground. into a powder."

Hearing this, Zheng Kezang said: "Yu tried to build a retort kiln in the process of making cement, and it was also helpful for making charcoal. Benefits, as for the willow charcoal, the source is very harsh, I may suggest to replace it with bamboo charcoal, but it is just a family opinion, the Ministry of War may try to compare before making a conclusion."

"No!" With Cai Qian's level, he certainly knows what cement is, and also knows the role of Zheng Kezang in cement production, so he voted for Zheng Kezang's favor and agreed on the spot, and even made a decision in his heart. It was decided that regardless of whether the dry distillation kiln is good or not, the Ministry of War must build one. As for which is better to use, willow charcoal or bamboo charcoal, let the people below try to compare, so as not to be "cold". The heart of the grandchildren of the country.

Zheng Kezang was very satisfied with Cai Qian's acquaintance, so he nodded at Cai Qian with a smile.When Cai Qian saw it, his face burst into a smile, but he understood that Zheng Kezang's smiling face was rewarded by his own attitude, and as for really getting into the opponent's eyes, it would depend on what he did next.With this thought in mind, the fiery Cai Qian explained more earnestly.

"When the above three materials are ready, then we can actually start making gunpowder. According to the "Bing Lu", the artisans of this domain are also divided into four steps: first, grind the nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal into powder with a stone mortar; 99. Put the three kinds of powders into the wooden mortar according to the blending ratio, soak them with pure water, then mix them into mud and pound them repeatedly for [-] times. When the medicine mud dries up, add water and pound again. Make the paste even and fine, then take it out and expose it to the sun; thirdly, put the same finished product on the paper, ignite the gunpowder, the one that burns out the gunpowder and does not damage the paper is the best product, and the rest are inferior products that are unqualified and need to be smashed again until The quality of the finished product is up to the top grade; finally, the medicine granules are screened, and the dry top-grade medicine blocks are broken into granules, and various gunpowders of large, medium and small sizes are sifted out by sieves of different thicknesses. granules, and those that are not granulated are used as ignition powder for the fire door, and all powders are discarded."

"Slow?" Zheng Kezang stopped abruptly. "As Mr. Cai said just now, is the charge of the cannons of this clan the same?"

In Zheng Kezang’s memory from his previous life, there was a difference in the propellant between the muskets and cannons of the British army during the Opium War. Could this be one of the mysteries of the short range of the Qing army’s cannons during the Opium War?

"No, no, I was too quick to speak, and the supervisor misunderstood." Cai Qian's explanation dispelled some of Zheng Kezang's doubts. "In fact, there are more than [-] formulas for gunpowder in the Kingdom of China, which are used for different types of firearms. After the simplification of the Han Dynasty, one type is used for big guns and Frang machine guns, and bird guns and Miru guns are used. A sort of."

"I see." Zheng Kezang thought for a while and continued to ask. "Both, how much saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal are in the medicine?"

"This?" Cai Qian was taken aback. This is an absolutely confidential thing, but Zheng Kezang's identity is different, so Cai Qian made a decision not to hide it within a moment. "The gunpowder nitrate is [-]% and half, the remaining half is sulfur and charcoal, the gunpowder nitrate is about [-]% and [-]%, the sulfur is [-]% and [-]%, and the remainder is charcoal."

Zheng Kezang compared the powder formulations used by the British Army in the First Opium War that he knew, and found that these two formulations of Zheng Jun were the same as the gunpowder and gunpowder formulations used by the British Army more than 150 years later. There are big differences, but it goes without saying that after more than 150 years of practice, the British formula should be more practical.

"Lord Cai, I have two prescriptions for this one, you may try it." Zheng Kezang reported the data. "In gunpowder, nitrate accounts for [-]% and sulfur accounts for [-]%, and charcoal is used for the rest; in gunpowder, nitrate accounts for [-]%, sulfur accounts for [-]%, and charcoal is used for the remainder," Cai Qian wrote like a flying pen. What he said was recorded on paper, and before he picked up the ink-stained paper to read carefully, he heard Zheng Kezang say. "In addition, whether it is gunpowder or gunpowder, the particles should not be too large. It is best to change them all to the size of rice grains. Except for powder, the finer the better. As for the benefits, the Ministry of War can also compare them with the previous ones." Cai Qian said at this time He was already grimacing, but Zheng Kezang's words were not over yet. "It's best to pack all the gunpowder in four taels of gunpowder and four yuan in gunpowder. Originally, it's best to wrap it in silk, but the financial resources of this domain are not good, and silk is too expensive. The texture should be slightly better. Paper is also fine."

There may be some arguments for changing the proportion of the charge and the granules of the finished medicine before, but at first, only a small batch will be produced, and then large-scale changes will only be made if it is relatively successful. The impact is not too great, but the use of paper Custom fit is different.

Among other things, paper is not a cheap commodity in this era, and good paper is even more expensive and hard to find. Zheng Kezang would spend tens of thousands of taels of silver for a piece of paper, even if he had the intention Cai Qian, who was attached, also hesitated.

"I asked the supervisor why this is so?"

"This is the shooting watch made by the French gunners I invited." Zheng Kezang gave Cai Qian a piece of paper. "Of course, the shooting table of each gun is different, but only by memorizing the shooting table, you can know how the range of the cannon in front of you will change after you lift it up and down. You can hit as far as you want." Zheng Kezang looked at the dumbfounded Cai Qian and asked. "Lord Cai, do you think it was hard to find a gunner in the past?"

"Is what Jian Guo said true?" Cai Qian's breath was chaotic. Of course, he knew how difficult it is to train a good gunner with a hundred shots and ten hits. Feeling, but now, the common sense of the past has been overturned, and it is no wonder that he is frightened by it. "Could it be that Hong Yi was joking."

"He dares!" Zheng Kezang shouted domineeringly. "Lord Cai, don't worry, the boy camp has been tried many times. Except for the rough sea and the gunners need to pay more attention to training, the land firing is almost inseparable." In order to dispel Cai Qian's suspicion, Zheng Kezang even sent an invitation. "If you still don't believe me, Mr. Cai can go to the artillery team of the boy camp to have a look."

"Of course I'm going, of course I'm going." Cai Qian knew that he was witnessing a period of history, so even though Zheng Kezang had a precedent of taking out an iron model to speed up the casting of cannons, he still had to go there as soon as possible to confirm. "Also ask the supervisor to make arrangements!"

"I'm afraid it won't work today, so tomorrow, anyone related to the Ministry of War can go, but it will rot in my stomach after seeing it."

"I'll save you." Cai Qian promises hastily. "I can save it."

"Since it's easy to save, I won't talk about it." Zheng Kezang was about to stand up when he suddenly sat down again. "Charcoal, I can burn and distill by myself, where do the sulfur and saltpeter come from?"

"Most of the sulfur comes from Japan and Ryukyu, and some of it is traded with alpine farmers in the inland of Taiwan. As for saltpeter." Cai Qian replied. "It can be extracted from nitrate soil, and the Ministry of War regularly sends personnel to dig nitrate from pigpens and grain reincarnation places in various places every year"

"I'm afraid there are not many of them." Zheng Kezang cut off his words. "Go to buy it from the British Guilian merchants. The British Guilian people have several large mines in Tianzhu. If you want to exchange porcelain tea with them, they will be happy."