Liu Haichan thought for a moment and raised his hands and said: "Which book is the Governor talking about? Could it be the "Master Sun's Alchemy Sutra" by the 'King of Medicine'? I have also read this paragraph before, the 'King of Medicine' three hundred years ago. Master Sun, that is the leader of our generation! It’s a pity that the book has been lost, and all those in circulation today are forgeries...
It doesn't matter, although there is no recipe for refining gunpowder now, I believe that Zhenren Sun must have obtained it accidentally instead of deliberately refining gunpowder. After all, what the alchemists like us want to refine is the elixir, not what the governor needs, so the direction of development is deviated.
However, after working hard for a whole month, the old man finally became enlightened and seemed to know what the problem was. "
"Have you found the problem? Hurry up and tell me." Li Yuan said in surprise.
Liu Haichan said solemnly: "I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'm still pretty close. These hundreds of failures have finally made me see the crux of the problem. I think that the reason for repeated failures should be due to the use of On the raw materials.”
"Raw materials?" Li Yuan frowned and said, "How do you say this?"
Liu Haichan cupped his hands and said: "The Grand Governor mentioned before that the fire recipe required for refining should be made of three main raw materials: saltpeter, sulfur or realgar, and charcoal. I deeply agree. Dozens of seniors have written about it. There are records in the alchemy scriptures that these three things can produce drastic effects when mixed together, such as "Secrets of the Golden elixir of the Supreme Saint" written by Qing Xuzi.
Therefore, the direction we followed was also based on what the Grand Governor said. Grand Governor, although the two bowls of refined medicine you just saw are not very effective, they are all made from formulas based on these three raw materials. "
(Note: In 808 AD, in order to refine elixirs with effects such as "immortality and soaring from the ground", the alchemy master Qing Xuzi of the Tang Dynasty wrote "The Secret of the Golden Pill of the Supreme Saint", but in the end he was not successful in refining the so-called " "The Golden Pill of the Supreme Saint" made the world's earliest gunpowder, which is the "fire alum method": mixing sulfur, saltpeter and carbonized aristolochia together and burning them with fire, this method can produce a certain amount of gunpowder. Explosive power. So if you have to identify an inventor of gunpowder, Qing Xuzi is actually the most suitable, but he is not included in the textbooks of later generations)
Li Yuandao: "Needless to say, it is certain that these three raw materials are mixed with other raw materials to refine the Fuhuo recipe. What I am concerned about here is, what do you mean by the problem of raw materials?"
Liu Haichan said in a deep voice: "I was about to explain to the Governor that sometimes although the raw materials are exactly the same, the elixirs refined are completely different. This is also puzzled by many alchemists. As far as raw materials are concerned, the elixirs are not the same. Commonly used raw materials are saltpeter and sulfur. These two substances actually have unique names in the mouths of our alchemists.
For example, saltpeter is called "Yinjun", while sulfur is called "Yanghou". When two things meet in the cauldron, the yin and yang complement each other and help each other. As for the explosion of cauldrons recorded in the Alchemy Sutra, most of them were caused by the addition of other raw materials or impure quality. "
Liu Haichan shook his head as he spoke, but Li Yuan was confused.
"What Master Liu means is that there are differences in quality between saltpeter and sulfur?" Li Yuandao said.
"Exactly! Please take a look, Grand Governor, I will make a comparison for you. Part of the saltpeter in this jar was transported from Jinling, and part of it was purchased from our saltpeter people in Chu, but these two kinds of saltpeter are completely different. "
Liu Haichan scooped up a small spoonful of crushed saltpeter powder, and ordered the Taoist boy to get a piece of firewood to sprinkle the powder in the spoon on the red charcoal. After a while, he saw the saltpeter powder burning violently and making a loud sound. A bright flame came, and the fire was fleeting, and the air was filled with a pungent smell.
"Did you see it?" Liu Haichan asked.
"Huh?" Li Yuan was puzzled. Can this tell anything?
Hu Gui on the side couldn't help it and asked directly: "Zhenren Liu, what are you asking the Governor to see?"
"Watch the fire." Zhang Zhengyi said with a frown, his expression somewhat helpless to Niu Tanqin.
"The colors of fire are different. Didn't you notice the color of the flames?"
"I didn't see clearly." Hu Gui said. Liu Haichan quickly looked at Li Yuan, and Li Yuan also shook his head.
Liu Haichan said patiently: "Okay, let me try again."
After saying that, he scooped up a small amount of powder with a small spoon, placed it on top of the sparkling charcoal and said, "Watch it." He sprinkled the powder gently.
The charcoal emitted a bright flame again, and the fire was fleeting and died down instantly.
"Did you see it?" Liu Haichan asked.
"This flame seems to be yellow with purple...it is indeed a little different." Li Yuan said in surprise.
"The Governor has good eyesight, that's right. This shows that the quality of this saltpeter powder is impure. Real saltpeter burns with a purple flame when exposed to fire, and the flames in this saltpeter powder are purple and yellow. I suspect that this saltpeter is mixed with impurities. It's because of the large amount of Glauber's salt. Glauber's salt emits a yellow flame when exposed to fire, and there is white powder after burning. Look, the charcoal is covered with white powder, which must be Glauber's salt." Liu Haichan said.
Li Yuan suddenly recalled some long-discarded knowledge in his mind, which was the memory of some prototypes in chemistry experiments in middle school. For example, in the flame reaction, potassium ions are purple and sodium ions are yellow. The composition of saltpeter is potassium nitrate, so it turns purple when exposed to fire, but Glauber's salt is sodium nitrate, which turns yellow when exposed to fire. Therefore, it is easy to distinguish potassium ions and sodium ions through the flame color reaction.
But now we are in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, where does the knowledge of chemistry come from? Witnessing an old Taoist priest using this "chemical experiment" method to identify two substances in front of him, Li Yuan secretly admired it. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would have been unbelievable.
"So I believe that this is the problem that has always troubled our generation's effectiveness in alchemy. All the alchemy materials used are saltpeter. Once mixed with sodium salt, it will not have the effect of contradicting yin and yang. This is why some alchemists can produce golden elixirs, and some have But I can't practice it, I guess it's because I confused these two things." Liu Haichan said eloquently.
"That's it!" A surprised shout suddenly came from outside the house: "Oh, my confusion has been cleared up. Master Liu, Master Liu, really has some skills."
Everyone was stunned and looked at the door, only to see a skinny old man in long robes and a square scarf walking in. His beard and eyebrows were tangled together, and he looked very slovenly.
"It turns out to be Zhenren Du. Why are you here?" Liu Haichan said with a smile.
Du Zhenren, who was also one of the invited alchemists, strode in with his hands raised and said loudly: "I heard that the Governor came in person, so I came here to join in the fun. Governor, Du Yulin, I'm so polite."
Li Yuan naturally knew this alchemist. After all, his slovenly appearance stood out among the twenty sorcerers and was extremely impressive. So he smiled and replied, "Master Du, you are polite."
Du Zhenren came close to Liu Haichan and praised: "As expected of Fuyaozi's junior brother, you really have some real abilities! I was also suspecting that the saltpeter was impure. What you said just now woke me up. Do you still remember? The one in the afternoon seven days ago? Only a small part of the potions produced burned fiercely, but most of them had no reaction at all. At that time, I suspected that the raw materials were impure.
Now that you say it, I finally understand. It turns out that we have been busy for a month, but our energy was wasted on this impure saltpeter. "
Liu Haichan smiled kindly and said: "Zhenren Du, you can't be so arbitrary. I'm just guessing."
"What's there to guess? It's because of the saltpeter. The ones shipped from Jinling are all defective, and the jars Xu Changshi collected from the local area are the real saltpeter. If we mix them together, it's counterproductive. I think it's counterproductive. I think that all the goods shipped from the capital are good, but in fact they are mostly Glauber's salt." Du Zhenren said loudly.
Li Yuan frowned and said, "What's going on?"
Hu Gui hurriedly whispered: "When these real people came from the south of the Yangtze River, your father-in-law, Mr. Zhou, purchased a batch of saltpeter, sulfur and other raw materials and brought them over. At that time, he was worried that we in Langzhou did not have these things."
Li Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, could it be that my father-in-law bought the wrong one?"
"It's not that I bought the wrong one, it's that no one can tell whether saltpeter is real or fake. It's exactly the same in your hands. Who can tell the difference clearly? Even I can't tell the difference. I just heard Master Liu say this, and I was enlightened. . No wonder the furnaces with good results all used saltpeter purchased locally. The saltpeter from the capital used in the previous ones was refined into a big black lump. I don’t know what it is." Du Zhenren smacked his lips.
Li Yuan still didn't understand. Hu Gui further explained: "That's it, Grand Governor. The saltpeter and sulfur are consumed very quickly, so I asked Xu Changshi to buy some from the private sector. From this point of view, the common people's saltpeter is the Real saltpeter!"
Li Yuan nodded and said: "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and replace it all with saltpeter purchased from the people. It's best to ask them where they mine it. I will immediately order people to mine it directly."
Hu Gui smiled awkwardly and said: "Grand Governor, I'm afraid this won't be easy... Looking at the world, there are only a few places where real saltpeter is mined. For example, Guanzhong and Anxi are not to mention thousands of miles away. How can we mine it when it is so far away and within the territory of another country?"
Li Yuan frowned and said, "Didn't you just say that you can buy it locally? Where can the people get it?"
Liu Haichan interjected with a smile: "The Governor doesn't know that saltpeter among the people is collected from the corner rooms where livestock are kept, such as pig pens, stables, or around the toilet huts. Those places will produce saltpeter." , oh, people call it 'ground frost'. It is generally used as medicine. It is bitter in taste, cold in nature, non-toxic, and can cure headaches and abdominal diseases...
As for why there is ground frost in those dirty places, I don't understand. The people swept up the frosty soil, put it in a wooden barrel, added water, filtered out the dust, and then boiled the water or dried it in the sun to obtain saltpeter powder. It is too labor-intensive and the output is pitifully small, so the price is very high. If you rely on this method alone, it will not work. "
Li Yuan has gained a lot of knowledge. It turns out that saltpeter can be obtained in the place where pigs are raised, or even next to the toilet? ! Never heard of that. But listening to this, this kind of saltpeter should be the purest saltpeter. It is the required raw material. Although the quantity is not large, there is no good way for a while. I can only use this seemingly clumsy method to get it first. Test test.
If the refining of these "ground frosts" is successful, the second step of large-scale refining can be considered. In the future, the source of pure saltpeter can only be slowly figured out.
Li Yuan ordered in a deep voice: "Hu Gui, go and inform Mr. Xu, continue to purchase large amounts of ground frost, and mobilize the people to sweep the ground frost soil to boil saltpeter. It is the governor's wish. I am the first town of Wuping. With the addition of Wu'an Town, we should be able to get a lot.
In addition, in order to save raw materials, twenty furnaces should not be burned together. Headed by Master Liu and Master Du, each led a few warlocks to open a furnace, and they must refine the Fuhuo recipe for the governor!
Whoever refines it first will have the largest alchemy furnace built in Chu for him to refine the elixir. I, Wu Ping, will cover all the necessary expenses so that he can concentrate on refining the elixir and refine the golden elixir of immortality that you all dream of. "
"Okay!" Du Zhenren said excitedly: "But I must have succeeded first. Liu Zhenren, I won't let you do this."
Liu Haichan said calmly: "That may not be you, I will do my job in this matter."
