flares
Chapter 78: Flares
Qin Feng has always been very efficient and brought sulfur to the military camp in the afternoon.
However, this medicinal ingredient is not used very frequently, so Qin Feng had people run all over Youzhou to buy three pounds of it.
There were still a lot of thin bamboos left from when Zhuangzi made bamboo pots, which could be processed and used.
Take a bamboo joint that is longer than 20 cm, open the front end, keep the knot at the back end, and cover it with a layer of yellow mud 3 cm thick.
Chu Huaibei had one hundred such thin bamboo tubes made.
He took Qin Feng and Xue Zhan with him and found a farm far away from people. The farm belonged to Xue Zhan's family. It was too remote and the land nearby was too barren. Apart from horse grass, nothing else could grow there.
Horse grass is really worthless, and no one would come here to steal it, so Aunt Xue is less strict about this place.
So when Chu Huaibei was looking for a place, Xue Zhan dug out this place from one of the few farms in his family, which was just right.
Chu Huaibei also brought some charcoal from home. The three of them carried their things, and the dog sneaked into the farm.
"Your Highness, why do we need to sneak over here like this? It's so inappropriate."
Xue Zhan didn't understand this behavior at all.
"Oh, it's just that what we're going to do later might be a bit high-profile, so we can only try to keep a low profile for now."
Qin Feng just wanted to take the prince with him no matter what he did, but this explanation was equivalent to no explanation, and the two of them were still confused.
There is no high-precision scale here, so Chu Huaibei can only weigh the approximate amount to mix the gunpowder.
One sulfur, two nitrates, three charcoals, and a little sugar. Big Ivan, this essential knowledge for time travel, now it's her turn to use it!
There is no time to research and purify white sugar, so let’s ignore it for now.
The three people divided the work, each taking one material and pounding it into fine powder using a stone mortar.
After processing, Chu Huaibei first wrapped the saltpeter powder in rice paper and rolled it into a thin fuse. For the first test, she made the fuse longer to avoid making it too short so that she would not have time to run away and hurt her own people.
Then use a small bamboo tube made in advance, put the prepared gunpowder into it, plug it with a round gasket made of oil paper, and open a small hole in the middle to place a short fuse.
A small amount of gunpowder was put into the bamboo tube as propellant, and then the small bamboo tube was inserted into the bamboo tube upside down. Considering the recognition of the flare, Chu Huaibei also added some salt to the gunpowder.
Yellow fireworks are made with sodium chloride, the most economical and convenient fireworks colorant.
Chu Huaibei thrust the bamboo tube into the soil, lit the fuse with a tinder, and told the two people following behind him to retreat quickly.
Don't ask why you don't hold it in your hand. Not to mention whether it will explode if you make it for the first time, the warning about setting off fireworks in the previous life strictly prohibits holding firecrackers. Many people did not listen to the advice and were injured. Every Chinese New Year, there are patients injured by fireworks in hospitals across the country.
Chu Huaibei believed that he had always been obedient to advice, so of course he needed to be highly cautious about something that was very likely to cause injury.
"Swoosh-bang-"
The sudden explosion startled the two of them.
"Your Majesty!"
Xue Zhan drew his sword and used it to protect Chu Huaibei.
"It's okay, don't be nervous."
Chu Huaibei reached out and pressed the hilt of the knife to retract the half-unsheathed knife.
Seeing this, Qin Feng began to reflect on himself and wondered why he trusted the prince so much that he did not worry about the safety of everyone present.
Xue Zhan, the boss, got the chance to get close to the prince for nothing!
Qin Feng stared at Xue Zhan's knife handle, his mind wandering.
"What do you think of using this thing on the beacon tower?"
"Your Highness, the explosion just now was deafening. Even if we didn't notice it the first time, setting it off twice should have attracted the attention of the nearby beacon towers."
Xue Zhan thought this thing was amazing. It was just some powders, but when mixed together they could actually fly up into the sky and make such a loud noise.
"Absolutely. It takes time to light a beacon fire. Once this is lit, it will send out a signal in a split second."
Qin Feng came back to his senses and joined in the discussion of this matter.
"If we have enough saltpeter, we can make it bigger, the noise will be louder, and the fireworks will be brighter."
"It's evening now. After dark, I'll put another one on and see how it works at night."
In fact, the sound just now was not very loud, just like the small rockets that children played with in the previous life.
"Your Highness, can saltpeter be found in the mountains? I will send people to search for it in the mountains of the northern border."
Xue Zhan was very interested in this.
"Saltpeter isn't a stone. It's a substance found in cool, dark caves. It's extracted from the soil."
"I had people search all the hills of Qizhou, but unfortunately there wasn't a single cave with earth inside. It was all stone."
Chu Huaibei explained it to the two of them in words they could understand.
Qin Feng pondered over Chu Huaibei's words. He always felt that he had seen such a cave somewhere, but he couldn't remember where for a moment.
During the conversation, the Golden Crow fell until the last bit of its light was swallowed by the darkness.
Chu Huaibei lit the second flare he had just made.
"Swoosh-bang-"
A bright yellow light burst out, and the sound was louder than the first time.
"Your Majesty! This one is louder and more conspicuous than the first one!"
Xue Zhan was so excited that he even shouted out his words.
Chu Huaibei nodded in satisfaction. This ratio was enough, but the remaining amount could not be used to make many. Forget it, he would just equip one beacon tower first.
"Your Highness, I think someone should have seen it this time."
Qin Feng looked at the huge signal flare. Yes, that’s what the prince called it.
“······”
"Qin Feng, you're right. That's why we sneaked in when we first entered the manor. Now we pack up our things and run away stealthily."
"As long as no one sees us, the sound won't attract much attention."
Chu Huaibei quickly tidied up the things on the table. Qin Feng and Xue Zhan also quickened their pace to tidy up the manor, restoring it to its original state as before.
The three of them left quickly under the cover of night.
After returning to Youyun City, the three of them divided their search areas and quickly organized people to go into the mountains to explore.
In fact, there is another way to make saltpeter, which is to use human and livestock feces and rotten plants to ferment together to produce a chemical reaction, and then obtain it through extraction.
However, the fields in the north have been planted with the same crops year after year, and the soil is not fertile. Manure is urgently needed to increase the fertility of the land.
Chu Huaibei didn't want to sacrifice the land's productivity to make gunpowder. Gunpowder was a bonus, but food was essential for the people's survival.
I wonder if there are any alchemists or sorcerers in the North. They were the first to extract saltpeter in ancient times.
If there were one or two people like this to help with the refining, the progress would be much faster. It would be quite troublesome and laborious for her to cultivate it on her own.
I'll ask my mother about this later. Her caravan is spread all over Daxia, so maybe she can give me some clues.
There is still one thing that has not been resolved, which is sulfur. To produce gunpowder in large quantities, a huge amount of sulfur is needed.
It's impossible to send people to buy from pharmacies everywhere. It will make such a big noise and will definitely be discovered.
Chu Huaibei remembered that the easiest place to find sulfur was in a volcano crater, but there seemed to be no active volcanoes in Daxia.
There is another method, which is to extract pyrite through high-temperature roasting, but in the mountains of Qizhou, her people searched the entire mountain range and found nothing.
Go back and tell Xue Zhan and Qin Feng that if their people find yellow cubic ore in the mountains, bring some back for her to see.
Unfortunately, the three men sent people to search all the mountains, big and small, in the north for two months, but they couldn't find any cave soil or pyrite that could be used to refine saltpeter.
The three of them got together that day to discuss whether or not to send someone to the southern mountains to look for it.
"Your Highness, if you need to send someone to the south, I'm afraid my family's guards will need more time to investigate, after all, they are unfamiliar with the area."
Xue Zhan was a little worried. It was so frustrating that he couldn't find the raw materials to make such a useful thing.
"This problem is unavoidable. It's not appropriate to let too many people know about it. The people we have now are the most trusted guards of the family."
"It would be much easier if we had a map of the entire Daxia."
Chu Huaibei had no better solution. As the general of Daxia, he was the only one responsible for guarding the map of the area.
"Well, Your Majesty, you can't mention this in front of outsiders."
Qin Feng heard his prince's dangerous words and raised his voice. A war god guarding the northern border wanted a map of the entire Great Xia. If anyone in the court heard this, it would be a disaster.
"It's okay, I know. I'm not that desperate to die yet. I can actually draw a rough sketch, but it might be a bit off."
Chu Huaibei could understand why ancient emperors kept such strict control over maps.
"It's better not to draw it. If someone sees it by accident, you'll get into trouble."
"Yes, Your Highness, we will slowly look for it."
Qin Feng and Xue Zhan rejected this idea, and everything else was based on the safety of the prince.
"Okay, it's just too slow. I just want to speed it up. My mother even found an alchemist for me within the past two months."
"Hmm? Your Highness, why are you looking for an alchemist? These people are all liars."
Xue Zhan really couldn't connect the prince and the alchemist together.
"Well, you might not know this, but refining saltpeter requires some skills. Alchemists are more familiar with this. Leave professional matters to professionals."
"Ah, the prince is really amazing. He can even make use of people like this."
Xue Zhan's sigh made Qin Feng look up at him. This guy actually started to flatter!
What's going on with this guy? He's been getting more and more familiar with the prince over the past year. Did he discover something? Theoretically, this shouldn't happen. He has a tight control over everything concerning the prince.
"Xue Zhan, when did you learn interjections from Jin Hongye? Stop learning random things from him."
Chu Huaibei herself couldn't stand it anymore. Just the communication during the meeting with Jin Hongye had led her subordinates astray.
"Well, I haven't had much contact with General Jin. We just had a few meals together at Ma's Restaurant."
Qin Feng had an expression of "I see". Jin Hongye was a man who admired the prince so much. When the two of them were together, one was willing to express himself and the other was willing to listen. Isn't this contagious?
After all, Xue Zhan himself only follows the prince's orders.
"Okay, as long as you are happy..."
"Your Highness, is there something wrong with Jin Hongye? I'll try to avoid him from now on."
"No major issues, his identity is clean. It's just that I can't stand the way he speaks. It's a bit too blunt."
Chu Huaibei explained the reasons, but did not interfere too much with his subordinates making friends. After all, people like Jin Hongye who are simple and straightforward by nature can easily win the favor of others.
"Oh, okay. I'll be more careful with my words from now on. No wonder Madam praised my improved eloquence recently."
After Xue Zhan finished speaking, a blush appeared on his wheat-colored face, and he looked a little embarrassed.
Chu Huaibei and Qin Feng were surprised to see that the man who used to be as stupid as a saw-mouthed gourd could change so much. Jin Hongye's influence was extraordinary!
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