After listening to Liu Yu's words, Ge Hong seemed to have opened a door to a new world in his heart, and he could not calm down for a long time.
It wasn't until Liu Yu left that Ge Hong remembered the scroll he had just held.
However, there are many people in the iron yard, and Ge Hong is still unwilling to show such treasures to others easily.
Ge Hong immediately gave up his work in the iron field and returned home.
As soon as he entered the home, he couldn't wait to open the scroll.
"Ah? This is it?"
As soon as the scroll was opened, Ge Hong was shocked by the sight in front of him.
What appeared before him was a huge map.
The map not only marks the place names, rivers and lakes of states and counties in the Central Plains, but also the very far away areas of the Western Regions, Tianzhu, Donghu, Dongying and Nanzhong.
However, what interests Ge Hong the most is that the specific locations of a large number of copper and iron mines are marked on the map.
It is not known who discovered the location of these copper-iron deposits.
"Your Majesty, what is the purpose of giving this picture to me?"
Ge Hong was confused for a while.
However, as the scroll was opened, Ge Hong gradually understood the purpose of this scroll.
On the back of the scroll map, the specific locations of various gold, silver, copper and iron deposits are marked, as well as their approximate reserves.
The contrast between copper ore and iron ore is very strong.
There are also instructions left by Liu Yu himself.
Ge Hong finally understood when he saw this.
"It turns out that His Majesty gave me this map to tell me that I should improve the art of iron smelting to replace copper mines."
Ordinary officials or idlers would not have such thoughts after reading this map.
However, Ge Hong is no ordinary person.
He is now in charge of the manufacturing of weapons and equipment, and knows that the next step in the development of the Han Dynasty is to use a large number of gunpowder weapons.
After the great improvement in the preparation and storage of gunpowder, the manufacturing output of gunpowder weapons will increase on a large scale.
However, in the current imperial weapons manufacturing, almost all gunpowder weapons are made of copper.
Although there are some Japanese silver coins, large-scale copper coins are still the mainstream currency.
In other words, gunpowder weapons are made of money, so you can imagine how expensive they are.
If Ge Hong could use smelting iron instead of casting copper, it would be a huge achievement.
"Oh, it's a pity. If you want to melt cast iron weapons, I'm afraid it won't be effective without ten years of effort."
Ge Hong shook his head and sighed.
He was originally a cultivator of alchemy and immortality, and he also had a certain understanding of smelting. After all, many alchemy furnaces had to be made and improved by himself.
However, it was precisely because of this understanding that Ge Hong knew how difficult it was.
Iron has been known as the evil metal since ancient times, and its properties are extremely difficult to control. Iron coming from the same furnace often has different properties, which is extremely difficult to figure out.
Ge Hong knew that those gunpowder weapons that could burst out flames and make loud noises were so powerful that ordinary cast iron would simply not be able to withstand them. Once their chambers exploded, it would be a disaster.
"Put it aside and let me take a look at this book."
Ge Hong had a headache thinking about it, so he simply put the matter aside and picked up the book Liu Yu gave him and started reading.
The book was beautifully bound and the words in it were simple. Although many of the names were unknown, with the last annotation, Ge Hong actually understood it quite a bit.
When he just read the first two pages, Ge Hong shook his head while reading.
"Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, and all these elements make up nothing in the world."
"Your Majesty heard the rumors from nowhere. Time and all things are obviously related to the five elements. Where do these weird words come from?"
Although Ge Hong disagreed in his heart, over the past few days, Liu Yu had answered some questions that had puzzled him for a long time, so Ge Hong couldn't help but continue to read patiently.
"Oxidation and reduction, what is oxidation?"
"There is air between heaven and earth, in which more than 20% of the oxygen that can survive is nitrogen,,,,"
When Ge Hong saw this, he already felt that although Liu Yu's nonsense in the book was weird, it was coherent and self-consistent.
When he continued to look down, he discovered several pictures drawn with pens.
The pictures included in the text show how a burning glass bottle was used to test the oxygen content in the air.
After reading it, Ge Hong suddenly felt interested.
He happened to have a few transparent glass bottles at home, so he went to get them.
After another busy day.
Ge Hong looked at the transparent glass bottle in his hand and was stunned.
"It's actually true!"
"So, the qi in the fields is actually not one kind at all, but is composed of many different qi."
When Ge Hong thought of this, he immediately fell into ecstasy.
This is not because of how high his scientific awareness is now, but because he thinks of it from the perspective of cultivation.
"No wonder I always felt like I couldn't make progress when I was practicing huffing and puffing. It turns out that there are too many impurities in the air, and only 20% of the essence of the temperament is absorbed in just one breath!"
"If this essence and this oxygen can be increased to 100%, then when practicing breathing, wouldn't it be able to achieve several times the effect?"
After Ge Hong was taught by Liu Yu about the poisonous effects of cinnabar refining elixirs, he turned to studying breathing and breathing.
Now that I see the composition of Qi in this book, I am even more convinced about this cultivation method.
"Haha, no wonder Your Majesty doesn't let me continue to practice alchemy. It turns out that it's not just the cinnabar that's poisonous, it's also the right way to practice qi."
"No, I have to take a closer look at how to make this energy purer!"
For most of the day.
Ge Hong held the book in his hand and studied it repeatedly in his room. When he encountered a word he didn't understand, he would first read the annotations at the back. If he still couldn't understand it, he would write it down for now.
The book in his hand became thinner and thinner as he looked at it, but Ge Hong became more and more melancholy as he looked at it.
Not only is he shaking his head back and forth, but sometimes he is even mumbling something.
In such an abnormal state of mind, when dinner time came, Mrs. Ge Hong couldn't help but feel very worried, and wanted to go into the house to dissuade her husband from resting more. Ge Hong held the book in his hand and studied it repeatedly in his room. When he encountered a word he didn't understand, he would first read the annotations at the back. If he still couldn't understand it, he would write it down for now.
The book in his hand became thinner and thinner as he looked at it, but Ge Hong became more and more melancholy as he looked at it.
Not only is he shaking his head back and forth, but sometimes he is even mumbling something.
In such an abnormal state of mind, when dinner time came, Mrs. Ge Hong couldn't help but feel very worried, and wanted to go into the house to dissuade her husband from resting more.
Never thought about it, dd Ge Hong.
Never thought about it, Ge Hong.
