"Eunuch You is smelting lead?" As soon as Su Ze entered the silver mine, he saw little Eunuch You staring blankly at a pot of lead water.
Little Eunuch You turned around and saw Su Ze and said quickly: "Ms. Su has embarrassed me. I am just a servant in the palace, how can I be called a chief eunuch?"
The eunuch is an honorific title for a powerful eunuch, and some people call him "the noble man", which probably means the noble man in the palace.
Su Ze smiled and said: "This dynasty does not have a prime minister, so doesn't the eunuch also call me prime minister?"
Little Eunuch You smiled softly and felt that Su Ze was getting closer to him.
Unlike other scholars, Su Ze did not discriminate against the father and son.
Young Eunuch You followed Eunuch Hu out of the palace, but he was often scolded by these scholars. All eunuchs are considered good, and there are also unpleasant things like rape.
The superficial respect is just fear of the power in the palace, which is completely different from Su Ze's attitude of equal treatment.
Su Ze is a capable scholar, so Eunuch Xiaoyou naturally thinks that Su Ze is extraordinary.
Su Ze continued to be polite without any pretense, and addressed him directly as Eunuch You: "I wonder what Eunuch You is looking at?"
Eunuch Xiao You said: "Last time Mr. Su mentioned the melting point. Gold, silver, copper, iron and lead can be melted by heating. There are high and low melting points. Is there a quantitative method?"
Eunuch Xiao You stared at Su Ze. He had also asked his godfather about this question, but Eunuch Hu was also stunned by his question.
Doing chemical experiments naturally involves temperature, but when Eunuch Hu conducts experiments, he only has vague temperature divisions such as cold and warm, and measures temperature like a ruler and compass? Can this temperature also be measured?
Su Ze looked at Eunuch Xiaoyou with even more admiration. These godfather and son are really talented people!
Su Ze said: "Of course it's okay."
Eunuch Xiaoyou said happily: "Mr. Su really has a way?"
Su Ze said: "I told my father-in-law before about the art of observing objects. Did my father-in-law understand the expansion of heat and contraction of cold?"
Eunuch Xiao You is indeed good at observation. He nodded and said, "It's true. When wrought iron is heated, the iron will expand, and when it is cold, it will shrink. This is the law of the world."
Su Ze even looked at Eunuch Xiaoyou highly.
Being able to summarize patterns from life is already the basic quality of a scientist. Unexpectedly, the little eunuch in the palace could also notice this phenomenon.
Su Ze simply sat on the floor and said to Eunuch Xiao You: "With thermal expansion and contraction, you can use this method to determine the value of temperature and make a thermometer to measure temperature just like a ruler measures length."
Eunuch Xiaoyou quickly said: "How to make this thermometer?"
Su Ze said: "Pour oil into a thin tube, and the freezing of water is zero, and the boiling water is hundreds. When it is heated, the oil column rises, and when it is cold, the oil column falls, and you can make a thermometer."
"Wonderful! I'll make it right away!"
Su Ze pulled Eunuch Xiao You and said, "Oil does not expand much when it is heated. If you want to make a thermometer, you need a very thin tube."
Eunuch Xiao You said: "My godfather has a slender piece of transparent colorless glass. I can borrow it first and punch holes in the glass and pour oil into it, okay?"
borrow? Are you afraid that you are going to steal it?
Seeing Eunuch Xiaoyou's eagerness to try, Su Ze was also curious about whether he could tinker with a thermometer.
Su Ze added: "Actually, besides oil, there is something better."
"What?"
"Danmercury."
Alchemy is mercury. Emperor Jiajing liked to make alchemy, and almost all the eunuchs in the palace knew some alchemy skills. This alchemy was really familiar.
Mercury is liquid at room temperature, but as a metal, its thermal expansion coefficient is much better than that of oil.
Eunuch Xiao You immediately said: "I'll go find it right away! I can make mercury from cinnabar, I know how to do it!"
Su Ze asked quickly: "This mercury gas is poisonous, father-in-law must be careful when refining it."
"Of course, mercury gas is poisonous and it takes three transformations to become an elixir. Everyone in the palace knows this."
So that was it. Su Ze then remembered that the emperor was not a fool. He would have been poisoned to death by taking mercury directly. What the emperor was refining was actually a compound of mercury, other metals and sulfur.
If he drank mercury directly, Emperor Jiajing would not live to be fifty-nine.
Looking at Little Eunuch You who was hurriedly making a thermometer, Su Ze couldn't help but sigh. In fact, physics in this era is also a hot land waiting to be explored.
This era is simply a paradise for scientists.
All kinds of achievements are at your fingertips, unlike before time travel, when Ph.D.s in science and engineering lost their hair just to publish some papers in core journals and improve the parameters of a certain material a little bit.
Like the great geographical discoveries, this was also an era of great discoveries in the field of science.
The deeper he got into this era, the more Su Ze dared not underestimate the wisdom of the Ming people.
Eunuch Hu's research on dye technology was very fruitful. He was even able to extract salicin from willow bark.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chinese craftsmen were able to create the Yue King Goujian Sword, a sharp sword that would not decay for thousands of years.
But what is most lacking is quantitative analysis.
Metrology is an often overlooked subject in the development of science and technology, but it is actually one of the most important subjects.
Temperature, time, these abstract things can be quantified into measurable indicators. Only in this way can we have the basis for further research on smelting and materials science.
Take steelmaking as an example. At what degree is it quenched to austenitize the steel, and then rapidly cooled to what degree can the transformation of martensite be completed? The first step in these studies is to know the temperature.
It's not that ancient Chinese craftsmen couldn't make swords, but these swords were all made by chance based on experience and coincidence. There was even a legend about the general Mo Ye who was tempered with the blood of human sacrifices.
Therefore, in Su Ze's view, Yangming's Theory of Mind is not a scientific theory at all. The study of things to achieve knowledge is just a summary of philosophy and methodology, and has nothing to do with modern science.
The scholars in the Qing Dynasty were even more indulged in this kind of "thinking game", and further turned the theory of mind into metaphysics similar to the discussion of metaphysics and Taoism in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, further turning it into idealism.
Putting his thoughts away, Su Ze walked towards Eunuch Hu's laboratory.
I could only see Eunuch Hu busy with bottles and jars, while recording something with charcoal on the paper.
Ever since Su Ze proposed the idea of using wine or oil to extract natural substances, Eunuch Hu had started experimenting.
Sure enough, many substances that could not be extracted before were extracted using oil, but when using wine to extract, Eunuch Hu encountered a problem.
If Su Ze were around, he would definitely tell Eunuch Hu that the current wine contains too much water and is not pure alcohol, so it cannot extract more substances.
Although Eunuch Hu did not understand the principle of similarity and compatibility, nor did he understand what organic and inorganic solutions were, he also guessed that it was because the wine contained water.
When Su Ze entered the laboratory, Eunuch Hu said in surprise: "Ms. Su!"
Eunuch Hu immediately led Su Ze to an experimental table, looked at the table full of bottles and jars, and said, "Ms. Su, this is the essence of plants and trees extracted from Zajia oil!"
Eunuch Hu was like a child offering a treasure. After taking Su Ze to see his latest achievements, Eunuch Hu guided Su Ze to the experimental table where he had just been writing and drawing.
"Ms. Su, look at this."
Su Ze saw a lot of connected bottles and cans, and he had to say that Eunuch Hu was still very capable.
There are no glass test tubes, but ceramic jars made by Eunuch Hu himself.
Su Ze also saw a slender porcelain tube connected to a wooden stopper. The entire experimental platform was filled with a Chinese cyberspace feel.
"Director Hu, what are you busy with?"
Eunuch Hu carefully took out a small bottle, handed it to Su Ze and said, "Ms. Su, look at this."
Su Ze took it and smelled the strong smell of alcohol.
"Superintendent Hu still likes to drink?"
Eunuch Hu immediately shook his head and said: "This is not wine. This small bottle is the essence of wine extracted by the Za family using two cans of wine!"
The best of wine? Wait, isn’t it just high-purity alcohol?
Su Ze looked at the complex equipment on the experimental bench. Isn't this equipment for condensing and purifying high-concentration alcohol?
High-purity alcohol can not only be used as fuel for alcohol blowtorches, but is also an important chemical solvent.
Su Ze said with admiration: "Superintendent Hu can actually extract the essence from wine, he is truly a god!"
Su Ze just told Eunuch Hu some basic principles of dissolution and separation, but he was able to come up with this method of heating, condensation and purification of alcohol. Su Ze did not dare to underestimate the wisdom of people of this era.
Eunuch Hu touched his beardless chin and said:
"The Zajia family was also inspired by Su Xianggong's theory of mixture, and guessed that the wine was also a mixed solution, so they came up with a method to purify the essence of the wine."
After saying that, Eunuch Hu immediately put the cork on the bottle and said, "Ms. Su, the essence of this wine is naturally lively. If the cork is not plugged, it will soon dissipate between heaven and earth."
Well, the volatile properties of pure alcohol have been studied.
Eunuch Hu added: "In addition to extracting the essence of wine, this set of equipment can also extract the essence of flowers."
Eunuch Hu brought another jar. After opening it, Su Ze smelled the strong fragrance of flowers.
Eunuch Hu said proudly: "This is the essence of the flower extracted using the same method. Does Su Xianggong think the fragrance is strong?"
Isn't this essential oil? When Su Ze looked at Eunuch Hu again, he wished he could hold the old eunuch in his arms and give him a kiss. He didn't even think of this!
Rose essential oil, this ancient perfume has always been popular in the Middle East. A drop of high-quality Damascus rose essential oil can be sold for the same volume of gold.
In addition to selling essential oils directly, Su Ze quickly thought of other uses, such as perfume and soap!
Needless to say perfume, you can also mix essential oils into powder.
Nowadays, except for some high-end rouges that are mixed with various medicinal materials and spices, ordinary rouges have no fragrance.
Just a little scent of essential oil can definitely attract the attention of women in the city. How can any woman refuse all kinds of floral scented rouge?
Soap is not complicated to make, but the raw materials are troublesome.
Pig, the main raw material of soap is the saponification reaction of pig fat and lye. The lye can be obtained by reacting plant ash and caustic soda. Eunuch Hu's laboratory can definitely make it.
But a large amount of pig fat is difficult to deal with. These days, people have no oil or water in their stomachs. Fat meat is more expensive than lean meat in an era of scarcity. It is too luxurious to use it to make soap.
Let’s start with rouge first. From the six vacant stores, you can first pick one with a good location and open a makeup shop.
Whether it's high-end essential oil perfume or scented rouge, this is a big killer for women, and they can make money anywhere.
Su Ze was very satisfied with the results of Eunuch Hu's laboratory and said quickly: "Eunuch Hu, can you make a larger equipment to extract these essences?"
Eunuch Hu thought for a while and said: "If it is manufactured on a large scale, it can be simplified."
"You can use a hollow bamboo tube as a conduit and use an iron pot instead of a copper pot, but it won't be as pure as what I make here."
Su Ze was even more pleasantly surprised. Eunuch Hu was an all-round player in industry, academia and research, and he had come up with an industrial solution so quickly.
However, scientists these days seem to be engineers as well, such as Galileo Newton, who is cursed by hundreds of millions of students in physics textbooks. They are not only theoretical physicists, but also experimental physicists and top engineers.
This eunuch Hu seems to have both of these qualities, with strong hands-on ability and strong practical ability, even the little Eunuch You who is obsessed with making swords is like this.
Su Ze once again lamented that there is really no shortage of talents in the land of China.
It's just that under the imperial examination system, many talents are buried in history books.
We must not let these people be buried anymore!
Su Ze secretly thought that a history book should not only record these emperors and generals, but also record the names of those who promoted the development of the times and brought changes and innovations to the world.
Su Ze left some more money to Eunuch Hu as research funds, and signed a contract with him again, agreeing on the dividends from the other party's technology investment.
Su Ze sat down in the laboratory again and wrote some simple acid-base reactions with a reed pen.
[Discover the location 'Laboratory' and discover the skill Chemistry. 】
[Chemistry skill level is assessed as Lv3]
[Discover the skill chemical engineering and merge it with the chemistry skill. 】
[Skill 'Chemistry', Lv3, 27/300]
Chemical engineering skills merged into chemistry skills?
And based on the chemical level before time travel, it was rated L3?
Su Ze quickly opened the panel, and sure enough, the chemical skill was replaced by the chemical skill.
Su Ze picked up the pen again and wrote down those vague reactions in more detail, then handed it to Eunuch Hu and said:
"Superintendent, you can do these experiments. This is what my father once said, and I have never done it."
Eunuch Hu felt like he had found a treasure.
Su Ze added: "Director Hu needs to pay attention to safety in some experiments, such as this experiment of making acid, so you must be careful."
Eunuch Hu nodded repeatedly. Su Ze did not dare to write to him those experiments that might be explosive or poisonous. He just selected some simple experiments for Eunuch Hu to try.
It took a lot of effort to get this baby, but it must not be lost in an experimental accident.
With his chemistry skill reaching Level 3, Su Ze is also preparing to build a gunpowder laboratory near Changning Guards to research and improve current gunpowder.
After bidding farewell to Eunuch Hu, Su Ze continued towards Changning Guard.
Going east along the Jian River, not far from the silver mine, Su Ze saw a huge wooden water wheel. He saw a familiar figure beside the water wheel, it was Lin Xianzong, the master craftsman of Changningwei's shipyard.
(End of chapter)
