Found it!
Chapter 79: Found it!
"Now, let me tell you guards, when you go to the southern mountains, the more poisonous insects and animals you find, the further south you go. Be careful when entering caves. If you come across a cave with animals, as long as there's soil, you can probably extract saltpeter."
"As for pyrite, it's exposed directly on the surface in some places. If anyone sees that most of the rocks in the mountains are yellow, remember to bring a hammer and chisel them open to see if you can find any yellow cubes. If you do, bring them back. Otherwise, just bring back any colored rocks you don't recognize."
Chu Huaibei explained the characteristics of the ore to the two of them in detail.
Qin Feng suddenly stood up and shouted, "I remember!"
Chu Huaibei and Xue Zhan rubbed their ears at the same time.
"Why are you shouting so loudly? Qin Feng, you've learned Jin Hongye's loud voice. Sooner or later, your ears will be deafened by your shouting at such a young age."
"Your Majesty is right!"
Qin Feng glared at Xue Zhan first, then explained excitedly: "The first time I heard the prince talk about the origin of saltpeter, I felt vaguely that I had seen it somewhere, but I really couldn't remember where."
"Just now, the prince reminded me that there are many poisonous insects and animals living in the southern mountains. I finally remembered it!"
"You all know that my grandparents' home is in Lingnan. I've only been there once when I was young. There are lychee trees all over the mountains there. At that time, I was playful and insisted that my cousins take me to explore the mountains."
"I ended up falling into a hole. My cousin was so scared that he rushed home to call for help. Of course, after he pulled me out, my father beat him up."
"The cave was dark, the soil was damp, and there was a faint rustling sound coming from deep inside. Occasionally, a foul smell would drift in with the wind. I was terrified at the time."
"I think the cave I fell into that year must be the one the prince is looking for!"
Qin Feng laid out the entire cause and effect in one breath.
The more Chu Huaibei listened, the brighter his eyes became. There was a high probability that bats were living in this cave, and the nitrate content in the soil was even higher!
"Do you still remember the location of the cave? Well, that's not possible. We are too far away from Lingnan. Is there anyone in your maternal family who I can entrust my care to?"
"Yes, Your Highness, rest assured. My maternal grandfather's family has a history of a hundred years in Lingnan. Although the clan members are only county magistrates now, and the highest position is prefect, their words carry a lot of weight in Lingnan. Letting them act is relatively safe."
"Yes, contact your maternal family as soon as possible and have them fence off the nearby caves and send people to guard them. Once everything is arranged, I will send the alchemist over."
"This matter must be kept as secret as possible, and the fewer people in your maternal family who know about it, the better. Besides keeping it secret, it's also about saving lives."
"Arrange for 50 kilograms of refined saltpeter to be delivered to the northern border. Remember, store them in jars and seal them with yellow mud."
"Saltwater is flammable, so keep them away from fire sources to avoid injury."
Chu Huaibei repeated all the points he had thought of, but he was still worried, so he wrote them down on a piece of paper and asked Qin Feng to send it back to Lingnan.
"Okay, Your Highness. I'll remember that. Then should we continue to send people to the south to search for mines?"
Qin Feng wrote down everything Chu Huaibei said. The matter was of great importance and required extra caution.
Xue Zhan will also ask with his eyes.
Chu Huaibei tapped his fingers unconsciously on the table. He had solved the problem of saltpeter and sulfur. He should look for the ore himself or go to the pharmacy to cooperate with the person who sells sulfur.
If you look for it yourself, it will definitely cost more manpower, material resources and time. You can shorten the time by cooperating with dealers, but you have to carefully consider whether the dealer is reliable.
"Let me think about this for two days and see if there is a way to have the best of both worlds."
Xue Zhan and Qin Feng nodded to indicate that they understood.
After the discussion, Chu Huaibei wrote a note to Qin Feng on the spot and asked him to take it away. Then they went back to their respective homes.
Qin Feng discussed with his mother Zhuang that night who would be the most suitable person to take over this matter.
Once this matter is taken over, this person will be inseparable from the King of Zhenbei.
After discussing with her youngest son, Zhuang decided not to say anything for the time being and to send a letter to her three uncles, explaining the pros and cons and letting them make their own choice.
Chu Huaibei was absent-minded during dinner today, and even Mother Wang noticed it.
The Queen Mother knew in her heart that it was most likely related to the gunpowder issue, but her caravan traveled all over the country, always taking official roads, and knew very little about what was happening in the mountains.
These days, who knows what's hidden in the deep mountains and forests? If you go in rashly, you might never come back.
In the end, Sun Mingsi couldn't help it and asked when the two of them had washed up and were lying on the bed chatting.
"Huaibei, you are so worried today, what kind of trouble have you encountered?"
"Huh? Am I that obvious?"
Chu Huaibei paused as he was caressing Hu Zhi's back.
"He stared at the dish in front of him and didn't even notice it was empty, and he put the food in his mouth."
Sun Mingsi was both angry and amused.
"Really? It's over! My image as a wise and brave man in front of Heng Heng has collapsed!"
"You're still talking nonsense at this time. Can't you tell me what you heard? Then I won't ask anymore."
"No, it's not that I can't tell you, but it seems like telling you would only cause you more trouble."
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm telling you what I'm saying."
Chu Huaibei saw that Hu Zhi's eyes were wet, obviously hurt by what he had just said, so he quickly changed his words to comfort him.
"I need something to make weapons, which is sulfur. You've studied medicine for so long, so you must know about it. You can usually buy it in pharmacies. Another method is to refine it yourself from pyrite."
"My demand for sulfur is so great that I'm considering whether to save time and work with a sulfur supplier for pharmacies, or to go to the southern mountains and look for pyrite mines myself."
"I have to do this now, and the sooner the better."
"Well, Huaibei, what does the pyrite you're talking about look like?"
"Oh, it's a yellow, cubical natural mineral. Generally, if there are a lot of yellow rocks on a mountain and there are sparse plants around them, you can dig further and there's a high chance you'll find something."
After Chu Huaibei finished speaking, Sun Mingsi unexpectedly fell silent for a moment.
He actually has this stuff! And a lot of it!
When he first discovered this mineral, he thought he had found gold in his fiefdom, which made him nervous and excited.
After all, the golden appearance is the most direct association. However, the reality is contrary to expectations. No matter what method is used for calcination and smelting, there is only a pungent smell filling the forge room, and nothing is produced.
The smell would make people feel uncomfortable if they smelled it for a long time, so the mine was abandoned later.
Chu Huaibei saw that Hu Zhi didn't say anything, so he didn't care. This thing was not a common thing.
The person in his arms supported himself with one hand and turned over to sit up, and then pulled her up as well. Chu Huaibei had a puzzled expression, but was very obedient.
"Well, Huaibei, the kind of ore you're talking about, I have... a lot of it in a mountain in Longzhou, my hometown. When I found this ore, I thought it was a gold mine, but later I found out I couldn't refine anything out of it, so I just left it there and didn't care about it."
"Really? I'm afraid I'm dreaming. No, let me take it easy..."
Chu Huaibei felt that he might have been hallucinating because he had been thinking about this matter all the time.
"Really? I'll send a letter to Jin Er tomorrow and ask him to go to the mine and pick up two and send them over to you."
Sun Mingsi saw Chu Huaibei close his eyes and open them again and again, doing this several times in a row. He took her hand, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and pinched her forearm hard.
"Hey, be gentle, it hurts. You've become much stronger lately!"
Chu Huaibei came back to his senses, covering the place where he was pinched and shouting exaggeratedly.
Sun Mingsi naturally knew that she did it on purpose. This man often had deep wounds on his arms and legs that could be seen to the bone during battles, and he would not even frown when treating the wounds.
It was rare for the prince to act like a spoiled child. The sound of Sun Mingsi's heart beating gradually grew louder in his ears. He held Chu Huaibei's wrist with one hand, and with the other hand he smoothed away the hand that was rubbing it. He slowly leaned over and left a string of wet kisses on the red marks from being pinched.
At that moment, Chu Huaibei's usually thick-skinned face began to turn slightly red.
"Hey, it's okay, I don't feel any pain..."
The last word "了" disappeared between their lips and teeth.
Two days later.
Chu Huaibei called Xue Zhan and Qin Feng to the tent and told them his plan.
"There's no need to send anyone out to look for ore for now. I might have already found some. After refining it, I'll send it directly to the North."
"Okay, Your Majesty. My guards will be withdrawn."
Xue Zhan didn't ask the reason. Since the prince said she was pregnant, then it must be.
Qin Feng nodded and said that he had already sent the letter to his grandparents' house and was waiting for a reply.
Five days later.
Chu Huaibei was holding the pyrite sent by Jin Er in his hand, and his joy was beyond words.
Holding Huzhi's face, he gave a loud "bo bo" on each side.
Chu Huaibei carefully wrote down the steps for extracting sulfur, looked at the text-only instructions, and decided to add some simple drawings. With both pictures and text, he should be able to understand it.
It is not difficult to extract sulfur from pyrite. First, smash the ore into powder, pour the powder into the furnace, and cover the furnace with an iron cover with a tube.
Place a basin of cold water at the end of the catheter, find a piece of thick cotton cloth to cover the basin, cut a hole in the middle, let the catheter mouth pass through the hole, wrap the cotton cloth around the upper end of the catheter mouth and tie it tightly.
In this way, the sulfur dioxide gas cools down to form liquid sulfur, which slowly drips into the basin of water. When it fills up almost half the basin, change to another basin to continue collecting it.
By continuously adding pyrite powder to the furnace during this period, sulfur can be produced continuously.
However, this furnace must be built in an open and well-ventilated place outdoors. The sulfur dioxide gas emitted during the refining process, when the concentration reaches a certain level, will damage the human respiratory tract.
Then pour out the water in the basin and dry the sulfur settled at the bottom of the basin.
Chu Huaibei showed Hu Zhi the instructions for refining sulfur that he had made. If Hu Zhi, who didn't know anything about forging, could understand it, then there would be no problem.
After reading the instruction manual, Sun Mingsi nodded to indicate that he understood it.
Call Jin San and ask him to send someone to deliver the letter to Jin Er as quickly as possible.
While the sulfur refining began here, Qin Feng also received replies from his three uncles.
The letter stated that after discussion among the three brothers, the third uncle would be responsible for taking over the matter.
My third uncle is in charge of the family’s business dealings. With this identity, it is easier for him to get things done.
As for the relationship with the King of Zhenbei, the Qin family is so close to the King of Zhenbei. If anything happens in the future, as long as someone wants to deal with the banker, it will be easy to find an excuse, so they don't have to worry about this.
Qin Feng and Zhuang Shi thought the same thing. In this world, there are many excuses to bring down a noble family. But as long as the King of Zhenbei doesn't fall, then the rest of the people will not fall either!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
