I was flipping through the pages and saw the firearms chapter in the previous volume, Volume 12.
Han Zhen's eyes narrowed and he looked carefully.
There are many types of firearms recorded in the book, such as turkeys, bamboo fire harriers, iron-billed fire harriers, gunpowder whips and arrows, muskets, smoke blankets, poison smoke blankets, thunderbolt fire blankets, artillery, etc., and each item is accompanied by pictures and Notes explaining the power and effects of each firearm.
Seeing this, Han Zhen couldn't hold himself any longer and laughed out loud.
Zeng Gongliang was a fool, but Song Renzong and Zhao Zhen, who ordered him to compile this book and printed it all over the world, were not clean either.
Firearms are meant to hit someone by surprise and attack them unprepared. You have written down the power and effects of various firearms, and you still use it!
Looking further down, there are even more outrageous things.
It turned out to be the formula for gunpowder...
[Gunpowder Method: Fourteen liang of Jinzhou sulfur, seven liang of wohuang, two and a half kilograms of flame salt, one liang of maru, one liang of dry lacquer, one liang of arsenic, one liang of fixed powder, one liang of bamboo rut, and one liang of yellow pill , half a liang of yellow wax, one point of clear oil, half a liang of tung oil, one or fourteen liang of rosin, and one point of thick oil. 】
Han Zhen frowned slightly and murmured to himself: "Does gunpowder require so many materials?"
Isn’t it just sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal?
It’s amazing that in order to prevent explosion caused by excessive dust during manufacturing, besides adding some egg white, nothing else seems to be needed.
This is dry paint and rosin... I'm afraid this isn't alchemy.
Let’s try it first.
Han Zhen took out a pen and paper and copied the formula materials, then called a soldier and asked him to go to the county town to purchase.
"County Magistrate, I don't know so many words."
The soldier took the paper and looked troubled.
Although he has been taking night classes during this period, he has only mastered less than a hundred words so far, and they are still used daily.
I don’t recognize most of the people on this piece of paper right now.
Han Zhen said: "If you don't recognize it, ask the county government officials for help and say it was my order."
"I understand."
The soldier nodded and rode out of the military camp on a horse.
Not long after, the soldier came back with a bag of materials.
Han Zhen took the materials, thought about it, and did not dare to make it in Baihutang.
After all, it is gunpowder. If there is an accident, it will be troublesome if the White Tiger Hall is burned down.
Taking the tools, he went all the way to the open space deep in the military camp.
This open space is located at the edge of the mountain, next to the woods, and the nearest building to the military camp is two hundred meters away, so you can move around as you like.
Taking out the materials one by one, Han Zhen turned out the "General Martial Arts" and followed the steps recorded in the book.
[On the right, pound Jinzhou sulfur, wohuang, and flame salt together; grind together arsenic yellow, Dingfen, and Huangdan; pound dry lacquer into powder; stir-fry Zhuru and Maru into powder; yellow wax, rosin, clear oil, and tung oil , thick oil and boil together to make a paste. Boil together to make a paste. Before entering, swirl the powdered medicine evenly, wrap it with five layers of paper, tie it with hemp, and melt it with rosin. Using cannons, there are also methods of setting poison and smoke balls, and using fire to attack the door. 】
After working back and forth for nearly half an hour, Han Zhen finally made the firearm.
The shape resembles an enlarged and thickened firecracker. In order to allow the paper to fix the gunpowder more tightly, the outside is also tightly wrapped with hemp rope several times.
The reason why they went to such trouble to make it was because they wanted to see how powerful the Song Army's firearms were.
One thing the ancients were bad at was that they often liked to exaggerate when describing numbers and some scenes.
For example, Zeng Gongliang recorded in "Martial Arts Summary" that the sound of gunpowder explosions was like thunder, and the internal organs were shattered... According to the records, this power is almost as powerful as the high-explosive grenades of later generations. .
At this time, Nie Dong's voice sounded in his ears: "Is the county magistrate refining elixirs?"
"Make gunpowder."
Han Zhen replied without turning his head.
Nie Dong was stunned for a moment, then said with a sudden look on his face: "Oh, the county magistrate makes firearms!"
Hearing this, Han Zhen asked curiously: "Have you ever used it?"
Nie Dong looked disgusted and said: "Of course I have used it before. This thing is not very powerful. If you don't use it well, it will hurt yourself."
"Now that you've used it, come and order this."
Han Zhen said, handing over the large 'firecracker' in his hand.
He was really unsure about this firearm that he had made with his own hands.
"Got the order!"
Nie Dong took over the firecracker, picked up the fire stick hanging around his waist, and lit the fuse directly.
Seeing that the fuse was lit, but Nie Dong still held the firecracker, Han Zhen quickly reminded: "Throw it away quickly!"
"No need to throw it away. The general said, this thing is not very powerful."
Nie Dong waved his hands indifferently, with a relaxed look on his face.
Han Zhen raised his eyebrows and took a few steps back calmly.
According to the dosage of gunpowder in later generations, such a big stick would be enough to kill both of them.
Finally, the fuse burned to the end.
puff!
Like a loud fart.
Immediately afterwards, thick black smoke rose and soon filled the air.
"Ahem."
Han Zhen coughed twice and said in disbelief: "Are the firearms in your Western Army like this too?"
Is this a fucking explosive or a smoke bomb?
The sound of the explosion was no bigger than a fart.
Then he threw away the firecrackers in his hands and replied: "It's almost the same, but some are more powerful. They can explode the earthen jars and shoot out the caltrops buried in the earthen jars."
Han Zhen asked: "Can the spurred caltrops hurt someone?"
Nie Dong sneered and said: "Everyone on the battlefield wears armor, let alone iron armor. Even leather armor cannot be shot through, so how can it hurt people."
Outrageous!
Han Zhen now understands why Zeng Gongliang published the gunpowder formula in the book. Emotions are of no use at all.
Gunpowder in the Northern Song Dynasty was unreliable, so it seemed that we had to make our own black powder.
"Go to the warehouse and get some charcoal, saltpeter and sulfur."
After hearing Han Zhen's instructions, Nie Dong turned and left without saying a word.
Soon, he came back carrying three sacks.
Seeing that Han Zhen seemed unwilling to give up, Nie Dong couldn't help but persuade him: "County magistrate, firearms are for outsiders, and training soldiers is the right way. Our Qingzhou army is full of food and pay. As long as we train properly, our combat power will be unparalleled!"
"I understand, just go ahead."
Han Zhen waved his hand.
Nie Dong knew that he didn't listen, so he turned around and left with a helpless expression.
The proportion of black powder, Han Zhen remembers, is the mass ratio of potassium nitrate 74.64%, sulfur 11.85%, and charcoal 13.51%.
The first step is to boil the salt.
Whether it is saltpeter or sulfur, the higher the purity, the more powerful the explosion will be when made into black gunpowder.
Boiling saltpeter is very simple. First grind the saltpeter into small pieces and put it into a pot to boil.
The ratio of water to saltpeter is about 1:0.7.
Wait until the water boils to about 50 degrees, skim off the scum, filter it once, and wait for the saltpeter to crystallize.
Repeat this three times to obtain saltpeter with a higher purity.
This large pot of saltpeter will need to be boiled for at least a while.
Taking advantage of this time, Han Zhen picked up the copper still beside him and prepared to start purifying sulfur.
This set of stills was specially customized by him from the craftsmen of the government-run workshop some time ago, and is used to distill high-strength liquor.
With high-concentration liquor and allicin, the mortality rate of soldiers will drop sharply in the future.
In addition, Han Zhen also ordered large quantities of trauma medicine to two medical clinics in the county. At the same time, he invited doctors to come to the army from time to time to teach simple trauma treatment.
Light the stove, place the still over the fire, and add the sulfur.
Han Zhen forgot whether it was 300 degrees or 400 degrees. The sulfur would liquefy and boil, continuously producing a large amount of sulfur gas.
After the gas is condensed and dried, it becomes purified sulfur.
These two steps are very critical. The purity of saltpeter and sulfur is directly proportional to the power of the explosion.
(End of chapter)
