warring states careerist

Chapter 696 The Eve of the Chaos ([-])

Sheng Chuo's shock was not unreasonable, he was a traitor to Mo, and he knew too well what kind of people in the Mo family who really mastered the core secrets.

However, the middle-aged man with the pile of powder and the weird copper hook said: "Mr. is right, but this is not a recipe stolen from the Mohists. I am an alchemist, and I have cracked the secret of gunpowder. The Mohists have been lying to us! They are lying to everyone in the world."

"Gunpowder only needs three things, nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. There is no need for salt, cinnabar, and clay..."

When this statement came out, the whole audience was shocked.

Gunpowder has been in the world for 20 years, but in the past 20 years, everyone in the world knows that gunpowder is made of six substances besides sulfur and nitric acid.

The world of charcoal has long existed.

The world of sulfur has long existed.

The method of raising nitrate has long been spread all over the world, because if you want to buy gunpowder from the Mohists, you must exchange it with nitrate.

Except for these three types, the remaining ones flowed out through various channels.

Everyone in the world thinks so.

Although the Mohists monopolize the production of gunpowder, they can buy it as long as it is used for mining and digging canals.Gold, copper, tin, silver, grain, saltpeter, mercury, leather armor...all kinds can be exchanged.

Therefore, the world does not have the motivation to know the gunpowder formula urgently.

Two... Except for Sishang, the proportion of firearms in the armies of the princes is not too high, and they are mainly used as auxiliary troops.

The person in front of him, Sheng Chuo, had met before when he was in Wei State, obviously he was Qin Jun's confidant.

The deciphering of the gunpowder formula cannot be completed within a day or two. Sheng Chuo thought to himself: "Could it be that your lord was already trying to figure out a way to figure out the gunpowder formula when he was in Wei? I have been paying attention to the Xihe reform... the heart of the emperor, can it be tolerated in a mere Weiluo?"

At this time, Qin Jun waited for everyone to be surprised, smiled lightly, and signaled the alchemist to continue.

The alchemist said: "I am an alchemist, and I am good at refining alchemy. When I was in Anyi, I heard a lot about the Mohism. Later, Wu Qi broke the Liang, and the Mohist defeated the Yue people in Lushui. Your Majesty let me try to refine it."

"Those who are kings and plan for the country should not be controlled by others."

"There are not many people in the world who want to crack the art of gunpowder, but there are also many. It's just that they don't know the law, so they are deceived by the Mohists."

"Twenty years ago, Kai Zhishi was in Surabaya, and poisoned Sishang Wu Zhu with Zhu Rong's blood. Since then, I have learned more about Mohist articles..."

When he said this, it didn't matter to others, but Sheng Chuo immediately understood what this person was doing.

This alchemist is the one who does the dirty work around Young Master Lian.

It is said to be alchemy, but in fact it is also responsible for refining poison. How can the nobles' conspiracy be non-toxic?

Even if you don't use poison, you must guard against others using poison.

In the past, the story of Sishang Zhu Rong's blood poisoning and murder of Wu Zhu had already spread all over the world. I am afraid that this alchemist had already tried to refine it, and the Mohists did not shy away from what happened back then, and even wrote about how to refine it. For "phosphorus".

Sheng Chuo knew it in his heart, but he also thought it was normal. He was not surprised, and just listened to the alchemist continue talking.

"Those alchemists and Danshi who try to crack the art of gunpowder in the world are preconceived, thinking that making gunpowder requires nearly ten kinds of medicines, and how to mix them will never work."

"But I know that if you want to crack the secret recipe of the Mo family, you need to find the answer from the Mo family."

"The Mohists have a book called "Thirty Questions to Solve", which is said to be [-] questions asked by his two hermit masters to test his intelligence when he was just entering the Mohism."

"One thing, it is said that one day Mr. Tang Han asked about the suitability of the harness, saying that everyone in the world knows that there are six kinds of gold. Today there is a gold, which is different, made of tin and copper, and the proportion of the same is unknown. Ask how the suit is suitable. Only then can the ratio of tin to copper be found.”

"The method of drainage and weighing was applied to the scorpion, and the ratio of tin to copper was obtained. This is the first question in the "Thirty Questions Explained". I think many people have read it."

This is true, many people have seen it.The thirty stories in it are not true or false, but they are all carefully arranged. The purpose is to make people understand the "knowing why" summary, induction, and finding the law through a series of stories after reading. Law.

The alchemist said with a smile: "That day I suddenly thought of this story, and then I thought of another thing."

"The various raw materials used in refining can actually be separated."

"Charcoal, cinnabar, clay, sulfur, insoluble in water."

"Saltpeter, salt, and Glauber's salt are all soluble in water."

"Those that are insoluble in water can be divided into charcoal that floats in water and sulfur that sinks in water."

"Since there are nearly ten substances in the formula of gunpowder, why don't I separate these ten substances? There are only a few kinds of substances that dissolve in water, which is much less, and the ratio can be calculated more easily; there are two kinds of substances that float on the surface of the water. Easy to roll out proportions…”

Speaking of this, Sheng Chuo, the rebel, had already enlightened, and couldn't help but clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful! Great! Simplify the complexity and find out the law, which is the reason for the No. 17 question in "An Explanation of Thirty Questions" .”

The alchemist smiled and nodded, and said again: "So I took a hundred catties of gunpowder from your majesty, dissolved it in water, waited for the sediment to float and no longer become cloudy, and then took the solution first."

Sheng Chuo nodded, saltpeter is indeed the key, if saltpeter is not the key, why would the Mohists spread the method of raising saltpeter to the world?
Because the saltpeter in Sishang is not enough, people from all over the world have to help them raise saltpeter, and they use saltpeter to make gunpowder, and then sell it with excess profits.

Saltpeter, salt, and Glauber's salt, how to mix these three is really the key.

The alchemist said in a deep voice: "Take a pot with a certain amount, and put the same saltpetre, salt, and Glauber's salt in it. After I weighed it, I found that their weights are not the same. This is the first in the "Thirty Questions". Ask, the method of six Qi."

"We weighed many times, and I found that saltpeter is the lightest, followed by salt, and thenardite is the heaviest. The ratio is 78, 81, and [-]."

"If that's the case, then this problem is simple. You have also learned nine numbers, and the problem of finding grain with equations is the same."

"Today there are three parcels of upper grain, two parcels of middle grain, one parcel of lower grain, and 39 dou; , three packs of lower grains, 34 buckets of real grain. How about one pack of upper, middle, and lower grains?"

Hearing this, Sheng Chuo clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful! Wonderful! This is a ternary equation. You only need to measure the weight of the saltpeter you precipitated from the gunpowder solution, and you can know the weight of saltpeter, salt and thenardite. How much!"

At this point, everyone present has understood that the proportion of the most mysterious saltpetre, salt and thenardite in gunpowder can be known.

Glauber's salt absorbs water. Anyone who has really studied gunpowder knows that this is also a major factor why the gunpowder they mix is ​​not as powerful as Sishang gunpowder, especially because there are so many residues left. It will also harden the gunpowder very quickly.

Few of the people present are proficient in alchemist methods, but they can talk about nine numbers, but they are one of the six arts of a gentleman. As a gentleman, who can't count a three-dimensional equation?

At this point, it is already a question of Shanghe, Zhonghe, and Xiahe in the Nine Numbers routine.

The alchemist was silent for a moment, then said: "But after I weighed it, I found a problem. If gunpowder really contains salt, Glauber's salt and saltpeter, then this three-variable equation has no solution."

"Because the amount of salt and thenardite I calculated is negative. Negative numbers can exist in the nine numbers, but they cannot exist in the reality of the world."

"Unless... there is no Glauber's salt and no salt in it, this is only possible."

"As the Mohists say, nine numbers and geometric Pythagorean will not deceive people."

"So at this point, there are only two possibilities left."

"Or, the number nine can be deceiving."

"Either...the Mo family is lying - there is no salt in the gunpowder, and there is no Glauber's salt! Only saltpeter!"

Everyone present was shocked by the use of this method.

No one doubted that the gunpowder did not contain Glauber's salt, because the Mohists demanded too much, and it seemed useless at all.

Glauber's salt is found in many saline-alkali ponds. Mohist's "Tian Zhi Jie of Cooking and Analyzing Salt" introduced the relationship between temperature and solubility, and explained how to cook various nitrates, salts, and alkalis.

They didn't know that the thenardite that seemed to be transported to the gunpowder workshop was actually used in the production of bast paper, kirlin, enamel and other industries.

This is a big deception. There are not many people who think about what gunpowder is all about, and among the few who think about it, there are people who have to think about people's hearts: Glauber's salt is useless, why does the Mo family spend money to buy it from other places? ?Unless it's a recipe for gunpowder.

The alchemist didn't doubt it at the beginning, he just thought of the problem of "grain yields rice", divided the complicated raw materials into water-soluble and insoluble, and then used the ternary equation in the nine numbers to solve the answer.

But he calculated two negative numbers, which is obviously wrong.

If you believe that nine numbers can't deceive people, then the Mohists are deceiving people. There is no salt and Glauber's salt in the gunpowder.

When he got here, Sheng Chuo no longer doubted the authenticity of the pile of gunpowder. He was sure that the alchemist had come up with the correct formula for gunpowder.

Sure enough, the alchemist went on to say: "At that time, I was just skeptical. Then I took those gunpowder and those things that sank under the water."

"Dinsha... I am naturally familiar with alchemists. Sulfur is flammable, and cinnabar can be used to refine mercury. All alchemists know it. I first assumed that there is really cinnabar in it, but the result is that I did not refine any mercury."

"The Mohist's "Theory of Heavy Qi" says that things already existed when the Emperor of Heaven created the world and Fuxi opened the sky, and there can be neither more nor less. Then, since there is no mercury, that is to say, there is no mercury in those things. cinnabar."

"I took some more and just ignited it. Clay is impossible to burn. If there is clay in it, it is obviously impossible to burn it all. So I know that there is no clay in it."

"At this point, I am convinced that the Mo family has been lying to the princes. So I spent a year, found many disciples and attendants, and together I found something from all the books of the Mo family... Did the Mo family say that gunpowder must be needed? Those nine substances?"

"However, no. The Mohists don't lie, this is their righteousness."

"But in some matters, they will tell part of the truth. From the beginning to the end, the Mohist school did not explicitly say that gunpowder is a combination of nine substances. It is just some rumors and speculation based on the raw materials that the Mohist school shipped to the workshop."

"So I guess, this gunpowder... I'm afraid it's not that complicated at all."

"It is reasonable to simplify the complex."

(End of this chapter)