At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, with the demise of the Jin Kingdom and the surrender of some Song troops, the Mongolian army also mastered the use of firearms. Both sides also used rockets, flying guns, thunder cannons and other firearms in the war, but mainly as incendiary weapons. use. Firearms similar to modern times, such as thunderbolts and muskets, are too weak to be considered weapons and play a supporting role in the military. At this time, the development of firearms lagged behind because of immature technology. An important factor was that the composition ratio and quality of black powder needed to be improved. In addition to "mononitrate, disulfide, and charcoal", the black gunpowder produced by the Song and Mongolian armies was also mixed with more than ten substances such as clear oil, maru, tung oil, and rosin. As a result, the black gunpowder produced was highly flammable but insufficiently explosive. In addition, due to the lack of a complete quality control system, the quality of raw materials varies. The production of black powder relies more on the experience of craftsmen, and the explosive power and killing effect are uneven. There is also the production process. Until modern times, the black gunpowder used was in powder form. However, if the black gunpowder is made into granular form, it is much more lethal than the powder form. To improve black powder, we must start from three aspects: ratio, quality control and granulation. This is not difficult for Ouyang Xuan, a chemical engineering major. However, because he was busy with affairs, he could not do everything personally, so he asked Chen Hu to find a few clean, sophisticated and steady people from the industrial team to assist in the trial production of black powder. These were also the talents who trained the industrial team to make gunpowder.
The site for making black powder was chosen in a remote house in the village. Ouyang Xuan divided the black powder production process into three links: raw material purification, mixing and granulation, which are each responsible for the personnel who assist in the production. Among them, charcoal, fire saltpeter, and sulfur collection are each responsible for one person; one person is responsible for the three raw materials. For quality control, Ouyang Xuan explained the identification and detection methods in detail; one person was responsible for the proportioning and mixing. This person was jointly recommended by Lu Dezhi and Chen Hu, and was the most loyal and steady. "One nitrate, two sulfur and three charcoal" means one pound of soil saltpeter or fire saltpeter, two ounces of sulfur, and three ounces of charcoal. The ratio of black gunpowder is only a rough ratio. The optimal ratio is 15 parts of nitrate, 3 parts of charcoal and 2 parts of charcoal. of sulfur, Ouyang Xuan dictated the recipe and memorized it. The other two are responsible for granulation, that is, spraying the powdery black gunpowder with water into a semi-moist state, drying it and then crushing it into fine particles, and using a fine sieve to sift out evenly distributed particles of suitable size. This process is the most cumbersome.
After arranging the production of black powder, Ouyang Xuan came to Hu Tiejiang's house again. Because the rest of the industrial team had gone to participate in the construction of the new blacksmith shop and other facilities, there were only Li Saner, Blacksmith Hu and their three sons in the blacksmith shop. Several of them are making pig iron grenade casings, and they have made four or five now, just in different sizes. Ouyang Xuan held the largest one in his hand. It was very heavy, probably weighing more than 4 kilograms. He took the smallest one and weighed it. It was estimated to be more than 2 kilograms. If such a large grenade was filled with gunpowder and small iron nails, it would be too heavy. He suggested to several people that the iron shell made in the future could be made thinner. Moreover, the tortoise pattern on the shell should be deeper, and the weight of the empty shell should be controlled under 1 kilogram. At the same time, do not spend too much time on the quality of the pig iron. Poor quality pig iron will make it easier to burst. As for the several iron shells that have already been made, do not remanufacture them, they are just for testing.
After returning to his residence from the blacksmith shop, Ouyang Xuan took Cao Ergou and Yang Xiucai to visit Yu Zhu's condition. As soon as they left the shack where Yu Zhu was recuperating, he met someone sent by Lu Dezhi to invite them to discuss the matter. The person led Ouyang Xuan and the others to the place where the last meeting was held. Ouyang Xuan found that in addition to Lu De and the previous village elders, Huang Dagen was also in the house, but they all looked solemn and worried.
As soon as Ouyang Xuan sat down, Lu Dezhi told him what he had discussed. It turned out that Minzhuang, who was guarding the village just now, came to report that several bandits from Wanjiaping had come to the gate of the village to cause nuisance, and that Liuliba was required to send the "taxes" to Wanjiaping within ten days, otherwise they would have to Come and attack Liuliba. Because the people guarding the stronghold could not open the door, the bandits shot the letter into the stronghold with arrows and then went back. Because the matter was urgent, Lu Dezhi sent someone to find Ouyang Xuan and others to discuss the matter. Huang Dagen couldn't find Ouyang Xuan, and he was afraid that everyone in the village would be panicked and come over first to appease Lu Dezhi and others.
Ouyang Xuan took the bandit's letter and couldn't help but laugh after reading it. It turned out that the writing was crooked and he even drew the words he couldn't write. For example, the word "Lu" was a deer. On paper, it looks lifelike. The bandit said it was a letter rather than a list. It listed the "taxes" demanded by the bandit, such as three tiger skins, five hundred catties of wild boar, ten deer skins and a thousand catties of meat... This bandit has an appetite. Not to mention the strange thing, in the end he also wrote that he wanted two women to be given to bandits as wives. Lu Dezhi and others gradually relaxed when they saw Ouyang Xuan reading the letter with a smile on his face and no fear of the Wanjiaping bandits, but there was still a worried look on his face.
Because the Wanjiaping bandits have been causing trouble in the mountain for a long time, although Ouyang Xuan tried his best to comfort them, and Huang Dagen and Cao Ergou even patted their chests to express that they would be there in the cottage, the fear of the people in the cottage could not be eliminated with just a few promises. . Upon seeing this, Ouyang Xuan no longer comforted, but discussed with everyone how to deal with the bandits. Cao Ergou proposed to strengthen the training of the militia and speed up the production of spears and folding shields. Huang Dagen proposed to build an earth and stone wall behind the existing wooden fence of the village, and proposed to find a secret place outside the gate of the village to ambush elite soldiers for opportunities. Ouyang Xuan agreed to ambush the bandits one by one. Lu Dezhi and the other elders did not understand marching and fighting, so they had no objections to the above measures. Ouyang Xuan also proposed to collect pine needles and soak them in water for everyone to drink to overcome night blindness and enhance night vision. Although everyone was surprised by this proposal, they knew that Ouyang Xuan was knowledgeable and agreed without hesitation. Ouyang Xuan also proposed the idea of contacting other cottages to jointly fight against the bandits. Lu Dezhi and others looked embarrassed, but they still agreed after some hesitation. Ouyang Xuan also told everyone that he was developing a powerful weapon that would definitely defeat the bandits. Everyone was doubtful after hearing this, but they only said it was Ouyang Xuan's words of comfort. This made Ouyang Xuan secretly determined to give the invading bandits a head-on blow in order to gain unconditional support from everyone for his next reform measures.
On the way back to his residence, Huang Dagen grabbed Ouyang Xuan and quietly told him when no one was around that he had sent two people to follow Dong Hu to find the secret trail.
