A group of people walked out of the large salt mine. Shulot took a long breath and blew out a faint white mist in the slightly cold and humid wind. He looked around and saw that the salt mine was built in a valley with dense salt springs. In the low-lying areas were continuous patches of white saline-alkali soil, interspersed with many small brown soil mounds. The vast white valley is like a world after snow, and the slightly arched brown mounds are like eyes looking up at the sky.
Shulot shook his head and brought his thoughts back to the salt mining industry. The need for salt was an important factor in the formation of primitive Mesoamerican states. Only the state, a more efficient economic and political organization, can more easily obtain the necessities of daily life.
These necessary supplies also included cotton to withstand the cold, obsidian for weapons and tools, and jade for religious needs. Salt, cotton, obsidian and jade are also several strategic materials that the Mexican Alliance consciously controls. In comparison, glittering decorations such as gold, silver, and feathers do not seem so important.
Shulot walked in deep thought. The boy accidentally stepped on an arched brown mound and stumbled immediately. The mound looked compact, but in fact it was fluffy. It sank immediately as soon as you stepped on it. The fluffy salt soil sank into the boy's ankles, and the soil particles seeped from the edges of the moccasins and fell into the simple laced socks.
Shulot pulled out his foot, and as soon as he walked, the granular salt soil abraded the soles of his feet, causing a slight irritation to the skin. The young man bent down and before taking off his shoes, he felt as if he had been cursed by an evil spirit. He suddenly opened his eyes wide, stared at the brown soil in front of him, and suddenly became motionless.
"White saline land, brown fluffy salt soil, particles like ant eggs...this is..."
Shulot was frozen like a sculpture, with countless real and illusory fragments flashing like fleeting glimpses, finally settling on a virtual scene of doomsday survival. He opened his mouth in surprise and murmured softly.
Looking at the boy who suddenly stopped, the surrounding warriors looked at each other in confusion. Under Bertard's command, they drew their weapons vigilantly and spread out to guard the surroundings, guarding against possible enemies. The warrior commander observed for a moment without disturbing the boy's "divine enlightenment". He just took out his longbow and pointed it diagonally at the ground to guard against the confusing earth spirits in Mexica mythology. The surrounding areas were suddenly filled with mourning, and there was silence between heaven and earth.
After a while, Shulot waved to the guard. His expression was extremely serious.
"Go and call the samurai overseer of the salt field."
The guard bowed his head in salute and hurried away silently. The young man continued to look at the ground, his eyes full of energy, and he was silent in thought.
After a while, the round-faced samurai overseer arrived from the big salt mine. He looked at the solemn scene in front of him, sweating slightly on his forehead, and cautiously slowed down. Then, under the stern urging of the guards, he reluctantly walked to the center surrounded by warriors.
"Dear priest, I wonder what you have ordered."
The round-faced supervisor lowered his head deeply and followed the young man's gaze, but saw nothing.
"What is this brown loose soil?"
Shulot solemnly pointed to his feet.
The round-faced supervisor continued to take a look and saw the young man's feet that were sunk in the loose soil. He knelt down and saluted with some fear.
"Dear priest, this brown loose soil has nothing to do with the big salt mine! It does not appear most of the year, and it is quite convenient to walk on the salt-alkali land. Only when cold days come, such as the current one Months later, these brown loose soils will suddenly seep out of the land.
Legend has it that this is because the earth spirits underground wake up in the cold weather. It swims underground and lifts up the soil, but it doesn't hurt anyone. And as soon as spring comes, especially when the rain falls, it will fall asleep again. "
Shulot thought for a moment, his eyes shining brightly. He asked sternly, his voice urgent.
"Is it salt soil?"
The round-faced supervisor looked at the young man's face and really couldn't figure out what His Highness was paying attention to. He had to be careful and report truthfully.
"This brown pine soil is indeed salty salt soil. But usually, salt workers do not use it to make salt, because the salt made from it will be a bit bitter and spicy. However, hunters from the mountains come here occasionally Dig some soil and use it to make leather. Since it’s not used in the mine, we don’t care about it.”
Hearing this, Shulot hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his finger, dipped a little brown fluffy salt soil, and put it into his mouth. He felt it with the tip of his tongue. It had a normal salty taste at first, then some bitterness and a slight spiciness. The young man's eyes became brighter and brighter.
"What color is the salt made from this soil?" Shulot's tone was filled with joy.
"The color of salt? Salt... is all white."
The round-faced supervisor lowered his head, secretly wondering in his heart whether there was a spirit in the soil that confused His Highness.
"Can the salt you make burn?" the boy continued to ask.
"Salt, burning? This... Your Highness, we have not tried it."
The round-faced supervisor was confused, and his guess became more and more certain.
Shulot thought unusually solemnly.
"Saline-alkali land, brown fluffy salt soil, ant egg particles. It appears in winter, salty, bitter and slightly spicy. This must be saltpeter! The most important raw material for making gunpowder!"
Thinking of this, Shulote straightened his back in excitement, and his eyes glowed with excitement. He looked up at the bright sky. The sun was slightly setting in the west and it was still early to set. The young man paced back and forth twice, then waved decisively and shouted orders.
"Bertard, let's not go to the obsidian mine now, let's go back to the salt field!"
With that said, Shulot strode away in the direction of the meteor. he asked as he walked.
"May I have your name?"
"Your Highness, I am Cavare, Queen of the Nobles of Tenotictlan, and I am willing to die for your great Highness! Marshal Casal is my uncle, and I was honored to work with you to conquer the evil Otomi people."
The manager of a wealthy place like the Great Salt Mine must be a noblewoman. Shulot nodded slightly and asked casually.
"Oh? It turns out he is the nephew of an old friend! How is General Casal doing lately?"
"General Casal is teaching his younger generation at home. He often tells us that he regrets not following the great king earlier. Now he is ready to lead the army to fight for the king at any time, and will fight to be loyal until his death!"
After everyone walked for a while, the salt field was already in sight. Overseer Cavare was half a body behind Xilot.
He bowed and replied with an enthusiastic expression, while gesturing to the salt farm supervisor in a concealed manner. The overseers looked away for a moment, then swarmed in and saluted again. Only the tiniest figure disappeared into the salt field.
Shulot was silent. The Alliance's saltworks have been in peace for a long time, and the place where huge interests are located has become rotten from top to bottom. If the fluffy salt soil is as expected, we must vigorously renovate the salt field, or simply start a new business and establish a new military industry department.
As soon as he entered the salt field, the young man gave a serious order: "Let the salt workers collect the fluffy brown salt soil! Clear the innermost salt-making field and guard it with the guard warriors. All the samurai supervisors will go outside the salt field to supervise the work!"
By the salt pond, Moreno was quietly thinking about life and the future. There was a rare look of confusion and confusion on his fierce face. Surrounded by dozens of muscular salt workers' henchmen, their muscular upper bodies were shirtless. Everyone accompanied the leader and looked at the salt pond in confusion.
After an unknown amount of time, the sharp sound of conches suddenly echoed through the entire salt field. Moreno came back to his senses and saw the handsome and ruthless Highness coming back. He shuddered and subconsciously pressed his abdomen, where there was still a faint pain.
Soon, a samurai overseer came over and gave orders. Everyone put down their work and went to the saline-alkali land to dig brown loose soil for the distinguished big man. Moreno felt confused, but he honestly set off with the shovel, sack and brothers.
Brown fluffy salt soil is everywhere. In this cold season, salt workers sometimes step on this loose soil for fun and bet on who will be dragged away by the underground spirits. Everyone worked for two-quarters of an hour before filling the sacks, and delayed for a while to kill time before returning with the large army.
As soon as Moreno handed over the salt and soil and was about to find a place to rest for a while, he saw the terrifying warrior captain coming towards him.
"Moreno, His Highness summons you! Take a few experienced salt cooks and follow me inside."
The calm warrior commander smiled slightly.
Moreno shuddered. He looked around, lowered his head and thought about it, then took a few of his cronies to the inner layer of the salt field.
The interior of the saltworks has been emptied. In a hidden corner, strict elite warriors sealed off the surrounding area. The salt workers delivered bags of brown salt soil and were immediately driven away. Even the samurai overseeing the work were not allowed to approach.
Shulot was surrounded by everyone, looking at the brown soil and salt pits and thinking. He struggled to recall the chemistry knowledge from his previous life, looking melancholy. If I had known today, I should have studied hard back then.
From a distance, Moreno and the salt workers knelt down and saluted respectfully. The young man nodded, without any nonsense, and directly ordered them to use brown soil to make salt.
Under the strong watch of many warriors. The fierce leader of the salt workers was like a docile domestic dog, and he began to work cautiously. He built mounds of salt and then drained out the murky brine.
Shulot looked carefully and saw that the salt water had a very light reddish-brown color. The young man was slightly happy and silent.
Afterwards, Moreno lit a fire and boiled the salt water in the pit dry, producing white mixed with brown salt powder. Finally, he looked up at His Majesty His Highness, looking confused.
Shulot observed the salt powder for a while, then stretched out his finger to taste it again. Bertard held his arm gently and tasted it with his index finger.
"Salty, a little bitter, slightly spicy."
The boy nodded. He took two steps back and asked the guards to light a fire to try to ignite the salt on the ground. The powdered salt burned slightly, a little flame appeared, and there seemed to be very light smoke, and then there was no reaction.
There was a burst of joy in Shulot's eyes at first, and then it turned into confusion. He pondered distressedly, this must be nitrate soil, but the nitrate content extracted was not enough and there were too many impurities.
"Nitrate soil has a salty taste, so there must be sodium chloride in it. The nitrate in nitrate soil should be in the form of nitrate roots. Since it comes from soil, it should be calcium nitrate. I have learned in the textbook that the final soil The nitrate should be potassium nitrate. Then the calcium needs to be removed first...Yes, it needs to be precipitated...If you are in doubt, add plant ash first!"
Shulot ordered again. Let the salt workers on the periphery collect the plant ash after boiling salt in the salt field, let the salt worker leader lead his men to build a higher primary nitrate tank, and change the salt pit into a lower secondary filter tank.
Moreno sighed inwardly. He worked hard to build a large earthen pond, reinforced the walls with stones, and then spread hay boiled with salt on the bottom to serve as a first-level nitrate pond. Then leave a channel under the nitrate tank to connect to the lower secondary filter.
Then, under the command of His Highness, he and his men filled the saltpeter pond with saltpeter. After repeated compaction, a large amount of nitrate soil was filled in, and the top of the nitrate soil was twenty centimeters from the mouth of the pool.
Shurot continued to recall vague fragments from movies, TV shows and books. He asked Moreno to start pouring saltpeter, and after observing the color of the water, he asked the salt worker leader to switch to boiling hot water. Because the boy finally remembered that it seemed that the solubility of soil saltpeter changed drastically with the temperature, and there was always a boiling cauldron in the movie.
As hot water pours in, the color of the filtrate obviously becomes darker. After several times, when the filtrate became dilute, Shulot ordered the soil to be replaced. After being sprayed with saltpeter twice more, the lower secondary filter has been filled. And when the young man looked at the sky, it was already the glorious setting sun and the end of the old sunset.
Shulot took a deep breath with excitement. While waiting for the solution in the secondary filter to settle, he sent his guards back to the capital to inform his grandfather that he would not be going back tonight as he was busy with important matters. The warriors lit bonfires outside, and the collected plant ashes gathered into piles.
When the filtrate was allowed to stand, Xiulote ordered the leader of the salt workers to take out the upper layer of clear salt water and pour the salt water into the large pot for boiling salt. Then, add enough plant ash to the pot and cook over high heat for half an hour to filter out impurities.
After looking at the filtered effect, Shulot thought for a moment and decided that he would rather work twice more to ensure the effect. Then he asked the bitter-faced salt worker leader to boil the saltwater again, add plant ash, and cook over high heat for another half an hour. This time the impurities were significantly reduced. The young man nodded with satisfaction.
The sun sets from the west and darkness envelopes the land. In the dim salt field, there was only a burning bonfire. The majestic young man was contemplating, the leader of the salt workers lowered his head and was busy, the elite warriors were solemnly guarding, while the supervisors and salt workers gathered in the distance, with frowning faces and did not dare to leave. Whether they like it or not, everyone is witnessing the opportunity of change in the times.
After a long time, the highly concentrated salt water finally cooled down, and a layer of white ice-like solid precipitated from the solution. Under the guidance of His Highness, the leader of the salt workers carefully took out the solid white ice, peeled off the outer layer, and gathered them together. These crystals are so beautiful, crystal clear and translucent.
Shulot held his breath and lit the fire himself, igniting a small amount of white ice crystals. In an instant, a dazzling flame burst out in the darkness, and a thick plume of smoke erupted. Everyone retreated in horror, looking at the burning "salt" in fear. Only the young man raised his head and laughed uncontrollably!
"This is saltpeter! The era of gunpowder is just around the corner!"
Shulot looked up at the starry sky, and there were already stars in the sky.
