Two days ago
Although saltpeter can make ice, Qin Fang had heard Doctor Li mention that saltpeter is a medicine that can improve the properties of medicines, and saltpeter can also make firecrackers, so Qin Fang is still more cautious about saltpeter. No matter who you are, you are always very strict about medicine. Even if you don't take the medicine, you will still worry about it.
So after finding out that saltpeter can make ice, and Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan planned to tell the court about this method, they naturally had to face this method with a more serious attitude.
Qin Fang said: "Although saltpeter can be used to make ice, it is not known whether the ice can be used. As for sulfur, Doctor Li said that even the smell of sulfur is poisonous, and it is not good to inhale too much, so we must also be careful when facing saltpeter. I will go to the Changshou Taoist Temple in Shoushan to ask Doctor Li now."
Yang Haiyan's heart warmed up when she heard this. It was great that Qin Fang could think of the problem. She had read novels before and knew that saltpeter could make ice. She also looked it up online out of curiosity.
She had seen information on the Internet that saltpeter is poisonous, although it is a small poison, but if it is taken in excess, it is not good for the human body. Therefore, saltpeter is used to make ice in water, but here, she is a woman who accidentally discovered that saltpeter can make ice when washing her hands. How did she know that saltpeter must be used in water to make ice? Therefore, in today's experiment, she did not make ice by water, nor did she tell Qin Fang.
Yang Haiyan's original plan was to wait until the saltpeter ice-making experiment was successful, and then she would remind Qin Fang implicitly to ask Dr. Li whether the ice made with saltpeter was edible. As a doctor, Dr. Li naturally knew that saltpeter was slightly toxic, so he would tell Qin Fang that saltpeter could not be used directly to make ice, as it was toxic. After that, they would definitely ponder how to make saltpeter ice non-toxic, and while thinking of ways, making ice by water would naturally be thought of.
But she didn't expect that Qin Fang had thought of it himself before she brought it up. Yang Haiyan said: "Then go ahead. My husband is really thoughtful. I didn't notice these things."
Qin Fang was obviously happy to be praised by her. He grinned, and his teeth were exposed. But soon, he pursed his lips again: "Then I'll go."
It was time for dinner, and Qin Fang didn't eat dinner. He went to Beast Mountain immediately. When he arrived at Beast Mountain, it was already dark. The Taoist temple was brightly lit. As long as you can see the Taoist temple, you know there are people there.
As soon as Qin Fang arrived at the Taoist temple, he found Doctor Li: "Doctor Li, I have something to ask you. Can I talk to you for a while?"
Doctor Li saw Qin Fang was so cautious, so he followed Qin Fang to a secret place: "I dare not ask you, I don't know what the general wants to ask? But is it related to medicine?" The only thing that the general can ask him is this medicine.
Qin Fang said, "It is indeed medicine, and it is related to saltpeter. Today, Zhuo Jing asked the old master to make firecrackers with sulfur and saltpeter, hoping that during the New Year and other festivals, the mansion could set off firecrackers to liven up the atmosphere. However, by chance, she discovered another use for saltpeter, which is that saltpeter can be used to make ice."
Doctor Li was shocked: "What?" Because he was so shocked, his voice unconsciously became louder. Ice is a luxury not only for ordinary people, but also for wealthy families. The amount of ice in many families is regulated. It's not that wealthy families can't afford it, but that there is not so much ice for them to sell.
But if saltpeter is used to make ice, the price of ice will probably plummet.
Qin Fang said again: "This matter is very serious. I am going to inform the court, so please keep it secret, Doctor Li." If it is revealed before the court makes it public, it will be bad.
Doctor Li said: "General, don't worry, I know what is going on. General, you want to ask whether the ice made from saltpeter can be used, yes or no?"
Qin Fang said: "Indeed, you said before that saltpeter is a medicine, so I don't know if it can be used
to make ice." Doctor Li asked: "General, can you tell me how to make ice with saltpeter?"
This is not a problem, so Qin Fang told the truth: "Put saltpeter directly into the water, wait for half a day, and the water will freeze. But the saltpeter cannot be too little, and the water cannot be too much, there must be a certain amount. Saltpeter can lower the temperature of water. Over time, the temperature of the water gets lower and lower, and it freezes." That's about it, Qin Fang didn't understand the details.
Doctor Li said without hesitation: "If that's the case, then the saltpeter itself is also in the ice. Saltpeter is poisonous. It came into direct contact with water and then turned into ice, which shows that the toxicity of saltpeter is also in it, so this ice cannot be used. To make ice from so much water, a lot of saltpeter is needed. A little bit of saltpeter can ignore the slight poison, but if there is too much saltpeter, the toxicity will be greater. So with this method of making ice, the ice cannot be used."
Qin Fang thought for a while: "You mean, as long as the ice and saltpeter are not in direct contact, and the toxicity of the saltpeter is not dissolved in the ice, then the ice can be used?"
Doctor Li thought about it and it seemed to make sense: "But we have to check it out to know."
Qin Fang said: "That's simple, you come back with me, I have a way."
Doctor Li: "Yes."
Then the two of them returned to the general's mansion.
It was already evening. As soon as Qin Fang arrived at the mansion, he asked someone to bring a large basin and a bowl. He put water in the large basin and the bowl in the bowl, then put the bowl in the large basin, and then put saltpeter in the large basin.
Yang Haiyan couldn't help asking, "Husband, what are you doing?"
Qin Fang explained, "Doctor Li said that saltpeter is poisonous. If saltpeter is directly placed in water to make ice, the ice will probably also carry the toxicity of saltpeter and cannot be used. So I thought, if saltpeter and water are separated, then the water becomes ice, will it be non-toxic?"
Yang Haiyan was stunned, and looked at Qin Fang with incredible eyes. Speaking of which, because of the relationship between time travel and book travel, her heart is more or less with some modern people's sense of superiority. Especially after she went through the book and learned the plot, she knew which people she could associate with. For example, when she was at the border, she went to the shop of the prince's wife to sell soap recipes. But only at this time did she truly appreciate the wisdom of the ancients. No wonder saltpeter was discovered in ancient times to make ice.
The achievements of modern people are perfected on the basis of ancient people, but there is no data to check for the achievements of ancient people. They all figured it out by themselves. For example, the ancients were precocious and enlightened, but at that age, what are modern people doing? Basically, children are still in the habit of being spoiled. Like Yang Haiyan herself, when her grandmother picked her up, she loved her very much.
But now, she finally understands that she has always looked down on the ancients. There was an uncomfortable feeling in her heart. For the first time, she realized that her mentality and thoughts were wrong.
Seeing Yang Haiyan looking at him with her eyes wide open, Qin Fang was a little scared. He asked cautiously: "Yanyan, what's wrong with you?"
Yang Haiyan walked up to him, looked at him quietly for a while, then opened her arms and hugged Qin Fang: "Husband, you are so smart."
Qin Fang was suffocated. What was going on? Although he was happy to be praised by his wife, he was even happier to be hugged by his wife. However, he was a little uneasy. "Yan... Yanyan, don't scare me."
Yang Haiyan looked at his nervousness and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She stared at Qin Fang's face with her big eyes, held his hands with both hands, and said seriously: "Husband, I really think you are very smart. You see, Doctor Li said that saltpeter is poisonous and cannot be used to make ice directly, and you thought of using saltpeter to make ice. How can you be so smart?"
Qin Fang weighed the meaning of her words. Looking at her expression, it didn't seem like she was deliberately trying to make him happy, but was seriously complimenting him. So, Qin Fang hummed, hiding his inner joy, and said seriously: "Yan Yan is too proud. Yan Yan is so smart. If I am too stupid, how can I be worthy of Yan Yan?"
Yang Haiyan: "..." She didn't know what to say for a moment. This man is poisonous.
It takes half a day, about two hours, to make ice with saltpeter. After waiting for two hours, it was already midnight, and the saltpeter had frozen. Qin Fang asked someone to call Doctor Li who had returned to the mansion to wait for the result. Doctor Li was shocked by the news that saltpeter could make ice, so he had been waiting without sleeping. When Qin Fang sent someone to tell him, he went immediately. Although it was a bit inappropriate to go to the inner courtyard, it was okay with the general being there.
When Doctor Li entered the room and saw the ice in the basin and bowl, he was really shocked again. As General Qin said, saltpeter can really make ice.
Qin Fang said, "Doctor Li, look, I put the saltpeter in the basin, so the ice in the basin is together with the saltpeter, and the ice in the bowl is not touched by the saltpeter because there is a bowl between them. Look, both types of ice are contaminated by the toxicity of saltpeter?"
Doctor Li said, "Okay, let me test it."
Doctor Li took some ice from the basin and the bowl. At present, the ice in the basin and the bowl has just frozen and is not very solid, so it is convenient to take the ice. A quarter of an hour later, Doctor Li told Qin Fang the results of the test: "General, the ice in the bowl is non-toxic and can be eaten, but the ice in the plate is not. The ice in the plate is slightly poisonous."
Qin Fang was delighted: "Yes."
Not only Qin Fang was happy, but Doctor Li was also happy: "It's a pity that saltpeter mines are not available to ordinary people, and there are not many saltpeter mines. Otherwise, if this method of making ice is promoted, ordinary people can also afford ice."
Saltpeter ice making can reduce the cost of ice making, but saltpeter is hard to find. In ancient times, ordinary ores were not easy to find. Or gunpowder would have been flying all over the sky.
Qin Fang said: "Indeed."
Listening to their conversation, Yang Haiyan remembered the matter of boiling salt in sea water. Salt can be boiled out of sea water, so can saltpeter be boiled out of ice water? Saltpeter is the same as salt, both are crystals. If saltpeter can be boiled out of ice water, then saltpeter can be reused. In this way, ordinary people only need to store some saltpeter and they can use ice every year.
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