"When you have a nitrate field, pour the collected human and animal urine into it." Xiao Qingxue pinched her nose and pulled her mother back a little further: "In about nine or ten months, the soil will contain a lot of nitrate. , when the time comes, dig out the nitrate soil and mix it with plant ash and dissolve it in water according to the proportion, you can get high-purity nitrate water."
"Boiling salt water can produce high-quality potassium nitrate."
"This is a good thing. With them, we can make better black/fire/powder." Xiao Qingxue got excited thinking about it. The most important thing is that this can be mass-produced, but it takes a little longer. , but history has proven that this is feasible.
If history works, so can she!
Xiao Qingxue was full of confidence in herself.
"You must never do it alone, be careful of the bomber." After listening to her daughter's words, Xiao Luolan saw that she was very organized and her eyes were shining, and she was happy for her in her heart.
"I know." Xiao Qingxue held her arm in her arms and went out, looking at the surrounding hillside. Remembering the little secret that her mother told her on her birthday, she snickered and said, "You said my father knows that I am so powerful. Will you let me work as a supervisor? Wuxie Mountain is so big, the Nitland Industrial Park can be built there, and it can also be used as a companion to the weapons workshop over there."
"If it's safe, you can ask your father yourself." Xiao Luolan said with a smile.
Xiao Qingxue frowned, feeling that her father seemed to agree but also seemed not to agree. After all, when it came to safety, maybe she felt very safe, but her father and mother didn't.
"Go back, wash your hands, eat, and rest for a while. Let's go into the alchemy room again." Xiao Luolan looked up at the sky. It was almost noon.
"Okay." Xiao Qingxue had no objection at all: "The vegetarian food made by Xiaoyaozi is delicious. Auntie will try it later. They grow the vegetables in this small view by themselves, even the ones in the cabin. It was also Xiaoyaozi and the others who collected it from the villagers down the mountain, haha, it was a pain for them."
As soon as the vegetarian meal came out at noon, Xiao Luolan thought it was really delicious.
After eating for a while, Xiao Luolan opened the door of the alchemy room. All the utensils of the alchemy furnace inside were gone. The front room was empty, without the heat source and flames. Xiao Luolan's heart skipped a beat. Just relax.
Xiao Qingxue took A Niang to her secret base.
"This is an iron bucket, with burned willow wood inside." Xiao Qingxue patted the small iron bucket on the desk. The ones she had made before were not satisfactory to her, so she made another one. While tinkering with these things, Xiao Qingxue felt so accomplished.
Xiao Luolan touched the inside and saw that the black charcoal ash was still lumpy, grainy and rough to the touch. It was estimated that it would be ground into powder later. There was a matching mortar and grinder next to it. pestle.
"This is the saltpeter that was collected before, and it needs to be ground into powder." Xiao Qingxue was swinging things on the table. She had imagined it countless times in her mind, so she was very good at doing it. There were three tables in total, and each table had its own place. A gunpowder material, pestle and mortar are all matching.
"The sulfur stone belongs to Xiaoyaozi. He can make elixirs, and sulfur can turn into gold, silver, copper, and iron. So he has a lot of sulfur stones in his own private collection. I feel that these sulfur stones should come from pyrite ore. Smelted.”
Xiao Qingxue touched the light yellow lump crystal in her hand and felt that its smell was no longer unpleasant.
"After everything is ground, melt them all together according to the proportion." When Xiao Qingxue was about to do it, she found that she was still nervous, panicked, and started talking more: "The proportion cannot be wrong, saltpeter accounts for The ratio is the most, we need to make a few more portions. If it is granulated, I don’t know whether it is better to bind it with water, rice water or egg white...sugar is best, but I am worried that I can’t control it, it..."
Xiao Luolan walked over and held her daughter's hand, hugging her gently: "I understand, you don't need to be nervous."
"We'll come the same way."
"Aniang is by your side."
Xiao Luolan comforted her nervous daughter with a gentle voice.
After a while, Xiao Qingxue came out of her mother's arms. She blushed with embarrassment. She was thinking about it before she did it, at least she had to do it first.
"Auntie, I'm fine. Let's start grinding first. The finer the grinding, the better. It's best to grind it into powder." Xiao Qingxue was full of energy at this moment.
"Don't worry, put on some thick clothes first, then put on gloves, see if you can find a mask, and take protective measures first." Xiao Luolan's first concern is safety.
After taking protective measures, Xiao Luolan ground the sulfur with a pestle on the table and asked her daughter to grind the charcoal. The smell of the sulfur hurting her hands was still unpleasant, so Xiao Luolan was reluctant to let her daughter do this.
Xiao Qingxue and Aniang talked about the ratio, and after a while her hands became sore: "Manual work is still not enough, we still have to find a way to make it autonomous, using machines instead of people to hammer and grind it into powder. This can be done by Yanshi. "
After everything was ground into powder, Xiao Luolan asked her daughter to calculate the proportion on the table, and mixed and ground the sulfur and charcoal as finely as possible. There was a mesh sieve with extremely small mesh next to it, and there were several baskets of eggs below. .
After calculating, Xiao Qingxue roughly put the three powders together and divided them into three equal parts. It was also her first time to experiment with granular gunpowder. She prepared to add water to the first part to bind it, egg white to the second part, and egg white to the third part. A portion of rice soup. As for sugar, she really doesn’t dare to do it now.
Xiao Luolan was frightened when she saw her daughter tinkering with the three-in-one powder, and asked her to step aside. She said she would do it herself. Xiao Qingxue frowned and said, "Mom, I can do it."
Xiao Luolan disagreed.
Xiao Qingxue had no choice but to tell her mother to be careful. She looked at her mother. She didn't feel anything wrong when she did it. But when her mother did it, her heart started to rise. Xiao Qingxue knew that her temper was not meticulous. , but at this moment she thought about all the factors that disturbed her, and watched with concern as she put the three powders into a clean small basin, then added egg whites, mixed them into a semi-sticky state, and put them in Press the mesh sieve with a spoon and then fall into the dry basin. Xiao Qingxue catches them. These little guys still need to be dried slowly and cannot be exposed to the sun.
Although three portions were not much, the two of them were still busy until the evening without realizing it.
Three parts of granular gunpowder in just the right proportions were covered with a layer of white cloth to prevent dust.
After Xiao Qingxue waited for everything to be done, she reviewed it for a while and felt that there were still many shortcomings. For example, the holes of the mesh sieve should be smaller. The smaller the granularity, the better. Now this one is still a bit bigger. Maybe she It's time to find the Yanshi that her father gave her.
Xiao Luolan took off her gloves and thick clothes and found that she was covered in cold sweat and her forehead was soaked with sweat. Knowing what she was doing, she felt a little stressed and was afraid of any accident. Fortunately, there was no accident.
When I walked out the door, the sky was filled with sunset.
"The city gate will probably be closed when we get back." Xiao Qingxue stood next to grandma and said suddenly: "Grandma, I now have a team, retainers, and weapons. If it succeeds, I want dad to First, get a nominal official and let me be the official."
"Whoever dares to bully you in the future will be treated rudely."
Xiao Qingxue crossed her arms with a bright and confident smile, like a little phoenix that had just emerged from its nest.
Chapter 165
Winter twilight comes quickly, a little leaden gray spreads from the sky, and the temperature soon drops.
Xiao Luolan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little cold. Xiao Qingxue took Xiaoyaozi and emphatically told them not to go to the alchemy room. The candles in the alchemy room had been placed in another room by them. After leaving, I locked up the alchemy room. I still needed to add a pot of charcoal fire to the small wooden house on the mountain. I mentioned all the precautions two or three times before I felt relieved.
"Don't worry, young master. The old master knows this and will definitely not miss the young master's business." Xiaoyaozi was not impatient at all and made a promise after hearing this.
"That's good, you can't let the little Taoist boy do those things." Xiao Qingxue said with a dry mouth. She was also afraid that if the hard work was destroyed, her and Aniang's hard work today would be in vain. She The palms of my hands hurt now, and my grandma must be hurting too.
"Little master, don't worry, I won't do it." The little Taoist boy assured him quickly.
After everything was done, Xiao Luolan left the Taoist temple with her daughter. The stone steps going down the mountain were covered with a thin layer of snow. By the time they reached the bottom of the mountain, it was already dark.
Jiang Da and his people have been guarding at the foot of the mountain, with thirty strong men and a carriage. The lantern in front of the carriage gave off a hazy yellow light in the twilight of the night.
Not long after the group walked back, they heard the thunderous sound of horse hooves ahead.
Jiang Da raised his hand to ask his troops to protect the carriage, and then checked in person. He saw a group of light armored cavalry suddenly emerging from the dark night. The middle-aged man at the head was tall and tall, with slightly frosty and black sideburns. There was a hunting sound under the cloak.
"It's Jiang Da."
Zhou Xu recognized Jiang Da within a few seconds. Jiang Da had fought with him before. Later, when he got older, he wanted to retire. Wanting to have a peaceful life, he gave Jiang Da to his daughter. Although the veteran He is old, but his experience in daily training and killing enemies on the battlefield is beyond what ordinary newcomers can compare with.
When Jiang Da saw Lord Jiedushi dismounting his horse and saluting, there was excitement in his eyes.
"You don't have to salute when you're wearing armor." Zhou Xu rode up to him and patted his shoulder, smiling, feeling very satisfied. Although it was quite safe here, after all, his daughter's Nanshan Manor was not far away, but Jiang Da was only a short distance away. The person who put on his armor and hunched over his back with a sword on his back showed that he was seriously responsible for his daughter's safety.
Jiang Da still clasped his fists and saluted: "My subordinates pay homage to the general." He was not only the general's subordinate, but also the general's former domestic servant, so the courtesy cannot be discarded.
"I'll pick up Madam and the others. Just go back." Zhou Xu said.
"Wei." Jiang Da left with the remaining people.
Xiao Luolan heard a familiar voice and pushed open the window. Xiao Qingxue squeezed over and showed a big smile: "Dad, are you here?"
Zhou Xu rode a horse next to the window. He glanced at his wife first, and then said with a smile: "The city gates are closed, and you and your mother-in-law haven't come back yet. I can't rest assured, so I came here."
"Dad, that's so nice." Xiao Qingxue opened the curtain even wider, and seeing the fine snow falling outside, she said, "Dad, please get in the carriage. It's warm inside."
Zhou Xu didn't want to go in. My good daughter is a big lady after all, but seeing that the lady's forehead hair was thin and sticking to her ears, it looked like it got wet and then dried. It's the cold winter season, and I don't know what could happen to make the lady sweat. With his hair on his temples and his jade face showing signs of fatigue, Zhou Xu felt uneasy and still got into the carriage.
The carriage was either big or small. When Xiao Luolan saw Sect Leader Zhou coming in, it seemed that most of the light was blocked, and there was a slight smile on his lips.
Xiao Qingxue and her mother-in-law were sitting on the small couch, opposite her father.
Zhou Xu sat down cross-legged and smiled at his daughter: "It's winter, are you taking your grandma to watch and play there?"
"It's not a joke, I'm doing business, I want to give you a surprise, Dad." Xiao Qingxue looked at Dad with her hand on her chin, and said seriously: "When it succeeds, Aniang and I will be your great contributors, Dad. "
Zhou Xu laughed dumbly, feeling warm in his heart. He couldn't help but rub his daughter's head: "You and your mother-in-law have done nothing, and they are also my great contributors."
Xiao Luolan's cheeks turned red. What should she say in front of the child? She said lightly: "Don't be so careless."
Zhou Xu took out the warm cakes from his arms, wrapped them in oil paper, two pieces in total, and distributed them to his wife and daughter.
Xiao Qingxue smelled a familiar fragrance before she opened it, and she said happily: "It's Li Ji's donkey meat roasted on fire."
When I opened it, it turned out to be true.
Zhou Xu smiled and said, "Li Ji's last batch had a lot of meat in it. I know you guys like to eat it, so I bought two on the way. Eat it quickly."
"Have you eaten?" Xiao Luolan held the sesame seed cake.
"I had mutton pancakes and mutton soup at the Yamen before." Zhou Xu watched his wife delicately eating the donkey meat on fire, and for some reason, he felt a little hungry.
Could it be that it is beautiful and delicious? The always arrogant Zhou Zongzhu coughed lightly, shifted his gaze, and then looked at his wife with a smile. Who made his wife look so good-looking?
Xiao Luolan's ears felt hot and she couldn't help but glare at Sect Leader Zhou.
Xiao Qingxue noticed the affection between her father and mother, so she took a big bite of donkey meat and burned it, pretending that she didn't see the expressions of affection between them.
After finishing eating, Xiao Luolan felt warm all over.
"Since you want to do business, Dad won't stop you." Zhou Xu looked at his daughter: "But the place for you to do business is a bit small. Xiaoyaozi is quite famous outside, and he is still your disciple now. Should we find a larger Taoist temple for them to live in?"
"No, Dad, that place is very good." Xiao Qingxue refused quickly. She didn't want to make a fuss, and she had spent a lot of thought on that place, so it was not appropriate to move again.
If his daughter doesn't want it, Zhou Xu won't force it anymore.
After returning to the inner city, the family had another meal.
evening.
The hot spring pool at the bathing place was steaming with steam. Xiao Luolan felt drowsy while taking a hot bath after a tiring day. She didn't even know that Sect Master Zhou had come in.
"Why did you go out and the skin on your hands was broken?" Zhou Xu frowned, turned over the wife's hand, and looked at it carefully: "Do you and your good daughter still have to do rough work? Some things can be left to the servants. , no need to do it yourself.”
"It's not broken, it's just a little red. This servant can't do it." Xiao Luolan said helplessly. Didn't she know she was injured? It was just the grinding of her palms that turned red. As for her daughter's business, if she had told her in advance, this would The surprise seems to be half gone.
Zhou Xu rubbed the madam's red palm with his fingertips, then lowered his head and kissed her. He had no choice but to say to the madam, "It just so happens that I have successfully arranged my affairs in the past few days. I will work as a coolie for you two tomorrow."
Now that Sect Master Zhou said this, Xiao Luolan's confusion was reduced by half.
"Your husband has nothing else, but he still has a lot of strength." Zhou Xu said with a smile, holding his wife on his lap and kissing her.
Xiao Luolan's cheeks were bright red, her eyes were still passionate, and her lips were dewy.
Zhou Xu put his arms around his wife's waist. Under the hot spring water, everything seemed hazy and steaming.
The fresh fruit on the fruit plate by the pool was fragrant, and Xiao Luolan's lips were hot and red from being sucked on. She reached out and picked up a pear, wanting to eat it.
"Eat grapes." Zhou Xu gave the grapes, which were rare in winter, to his wife, and then took the pears and ate them himself.
Xiao Luolan suddenly remembered that there should be sulfur in hot springs. She picked a grape and ate it slowly: "We have hot springs here. Is there sulfur in Wuxie Mountain?"
"Of course there are, but not many. There are several good-sized sulfur mines in Beihao Mountain. The sulfur in them is an expensive medicine. The five-stone powder that the southern nobles like to eat contains sulfur." Zhou Xu replied.
Xiao Luolan felt better when she heard the news.
