Jiang Xue skeptically tugged at her lips: "Can you not exaggerate so much? I don’t believe that just because I treat soone or save a life, the Old Emperor would make a County Master?"
Shui Yixuan retorted: "Why not? If you’re willing, I can ask the Fifth Prince to request it for you!"
Jiang Xue was taken aback by Shui Yixuan’s serious expression: "Alright, stop talking about it, I won’t go back, and as for this County Master title, I’m not interested. Whatever I, Jiang Xue, want, I have always relied on my own ability to get it."
This migration is massive, just within the Royal Family alone, there are over ten thousand people. The convoy might have already traveled twenty or thirty li away, and those waiting at the original site may not have even set off yet. Aftershocks occur every so often; sotis they are strong, and other tis they only make you feel dizzy.
"What if those three lakes don’t drain after we leave?"
"Then we’ll wait until they do."
Jiang Xue widened her eyes: "Are you serious? That could take forever, and maybe after this earthquake, the landscape has changed and they can’t even drain?"
Jiang Xue then asked about explosives. Incredibly, in this world of Martial Arts Supres, there were no explosives yet. She bowed her head in silence, pondering whether to reveal the formula for explosives. Obviously, to ensure permanent safety, those damd lakes with hidden dangers must be blasted open for flood release, otherwise, they’re like a bundle of explosives hanging over your head, ready to explode at any ti.
Now that people have migrated away, it’s a golden opportunity. Missing this chance may an not having such a large-scale operation next ti. But if the explosive formula is revealed, will it change the entire structure of this world?
After much contemplation, she decided to conduct the experint herself and not make the formula public. So, she stopped her steps.
"I can’t leave, I have to stay behind. Leave those three damd lakes to to deal with. You lead everyone out of this place first. The guarantee I can give you is, the lakes will definitely drain. What you need to do is go as far away as possible."
Shui Yixuan was stunned by her bold words and asked several tis before he understood that this world indeed had sothing as powerful as explosives. He did not press Jiang Xue on how she knew the formula, but since this young lady had always been a self-taught talent, it seed only logical that she would know such things.
He definitely didn’t feel comfortable with Jiang Xue doing this alone, so after thinking about it, he suggested.
"How can you handle the blasting of three mountains by yourself, that’s simply a joke. Moreover, you need to find raw materials, how can you manage all that alone? By the ti you’ve managed, these people might see no flooding and co back again, so I think if you’re going to do this, you must arrange it in advance. Whether it’s evacuating, gathering materials, or helping you complete the experint, at least a hundred people should be involved, and the sooner, the better."
Jiang Xue compromised but insisted that those participating in the experint must be from the Shui Clan. She couldn’t trust others because the explosive is so powerful; if the Royal Family got hold of it, the damage it could cause is unbearable for them.
Even though Shui Yixuan didn’t know how powerful these so-called explosives were, since Jiang Xue ntioned it, he felt he needed to take it seriously, especially given Jiang Xue’s trust in the Shui Clan, which made him feel very pleased.
What followed was arranged by Shui Yixuan. One day after they set off, they returned to Beijing. Shui Yixuan then dispatched three teams from the Royal Family, Tang Family Manor, and Shui Clan to search for sulfur, saltpetre, and charcoal, as much as possible.
Among them, saltpetre and sulfur are also important dicinal materials that can be used to treat illnesses and save lives. The Shui Clan is most familiar with them, as they deal in dicinal materials business, so they know better than anyone where saltpetre and sulfur can be found. As for charcoal, that’s even simpler; it can be obtained by burning wood.
To mix the proportions, experints had to be repeated, especially as the initial black gunpowder was used for alchemy and acrobatics, and scaling it up to a mountain-blasting level was no easy formula to co up with. It required large open spaces for repeated experints.
Additionally, to confuse the other two teams, she added more components like iron, salt, and li to the mix. With more types, it beca harder for others to detect the exact formula.
Based on the combustion properties, gunpowder can be divided into two categories: black gunpowder (which emits smoke when burned) and smokeless gunpowder.
Smokeless gunpowder is mainly used as an igniter or propellant in ammunition.
How to turn gunpowder into black gunpowder and make fuses or land mines from warti—these issues were not in Jiang Xue’s mories, so she needed continuous contemplation and experintation.
Those of us who have studied chemistry or history know that gunpowder is a mixture of sulfur, saltpetre, and charcoal.
A long, long ti ago, our ancestors had a certain understanding of these three substances.
As early as the Neolithic Age, of course, the Beast World she experienced also went through such a period. In pottery firing, she taught people to recognize charcoal and use it as fuel.
During the Shang and Zhou Period, our smart ancestors even used charcoal extensively in tallurgy.
Because charcoal has less ash than wood and is stronger, it is a better fuel than wood.
Sulfur is naturally occurring and has been mined since long ago.
In daily life and production, sulfur is encountered frequently; such as the sulfur sll released from hot springs and the acrid sulfur dioxide emitted during tal refining leave an impression. If near a volcano, sulfur is so abundant that there’s no need to search for it deliberately.
As far as she knows, the earliest nitre mastered by ancient people might have been soil nitre under corners and eaves. Saltpetre’s chemical nature is very reactive and can react with many substances; ’burn it with fire, purple-blue smoke rises, that’s saltpetre’. This is the simplest identification thod. In "Shennong’s Materia dica", both sulfur and saltpetre are widely used dicinal materials. Moreover, saltpetre can be ground into powder to make ice. In hot sumrs, as long as there is enough saltpetre, ice can be created continuously.
Unlike now, where the ice used was stored from winter. Now that saltpetre is ntioned, Jiang Xue seed to find yet another opportunity to make a quiet fortune.
The people of the Shui Clan can easily identify saltpetre and sulfur. Others have limited identifying capabilities, so they let the Shui Clan’s sons lead them to find it. Jiang Xue wasn’t idle in this process either, letting Shui Yixuan take her to climb mountains for a field survey of those damd lakes.
During this ti, it continued to rain. They traveled in the rain, and if it got too heavy, they would find caves to take temporary shelter. Fortunately, this rainy day wasn’t accompanied by thunder; otherwise, it might spark a forest fire. In ancient tis, there were many trees, and various natural disasters could easily occur. Even while climbing mountains, they had to constantly guard against poisonous snakes and beasts hiding in the grass. After all, this was ancient tis, only slightly more advanced than the remote past.
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