The director of the Gunpowder Department's face changed really quickly. As soon as Zhong Jinwei asked him about his professional knowledge, he immediately showed a confident look. He introduced to Zhong Jinwei: "The sulfur refining process can be roughly divided into four steps."
"The first step is to crush the sulfur blocks and remove the sand and debris."
"The second step is to boil the crushed sulfur in a pot with fresh water to remove impurities, pour it into an urn and let it settle for a day, then remove the sediment to obtain crude sulfur."
"The third step is to pour two and a half pounds of butter and one pound of sesame oil for ten pounds of sulfur, and cook it so that the oil does not stick to the sulfur. Then add cypress leaves to the pot and cook with the sulfur, and suck out the pot.
Into black scum.”
"The fourth step is to put the crude sulfur that has been removed from the residue into boiling oil and cook it. After yellow foam appears on the oil surface, put it in a basin to cool. Finally, remove the yellow foam and impurities on the surface, take it out without residue, and remove the oil.
of pure sulfur.”
At this point in the introduction, the director of the Gunpowder Department pointed to Zhong Jinwei the pure sulfur that his men had prepared. It was a lemon-colored massive crystal.
Zhong Jinwei nodded after seeing this. He really couldn't underestimate the cleverness of the people of the Ming Dynasty.
He thought that the remaining raw material, charcoal, should be nothing. It was a very simple thing. But he had already asked about two types before, so he asked by the way: "Where is the charcoal?"
Unexpectedly, the answer from the Director of the Gunpowder Department exceeded his expectations: "The best charcoal is to use willow sticks from before and after the Qingming Festival. Remove the straight and even branches of the willow sticks, peel off the joints, and seal them naturally."
It is then baked into charcoal and ground into powder.”
Having said this, he pointed out the charcoal powder to Zhong Jinwei. Zhong Jinwei was really surprised. He didn't expect that charcoal also has so many particularities.
He did not know that charcoal powder is a combustion-supporting substance in gunpowder, and its quality can affect the burning speed of gunpowder.
The wicker leaf buds before and after the Qingming Festival will sprout, and nutrients are concentrated on the wicker. The gunpowder prepared with this charcoal powder is smoke-free due to the peeling of the charcoal, and the knots are removed without resin, thus increasing the burning speed and uniformity in all directions.
Sex, enhancing instant explosive power.
People in the Ming Dynasty found this best charcoal powder long ago after repeated experiments.
The technology of the late Ming Dynasty was far more powerful than that of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, which can be seen from the acquisition of gunpowder raw materials.
After Zhong Jinwei admired it secretly, he naturally asked how their gunpowder department prepared gunpowder.
As soon as the Director of the Gunpowder Department heard Marquis Zhongxing's question, he immediately stretched out his right hand and said, "Please move, Lord Marquis."
Zhong Jinwei knew that he should let him see it live, so he nodded and walked over according to his instructions.
Behind him was Fan Jun, who felt slightly satisfied as he watched his men entertaining Marquis Zhongxing enthusiastically. He had obviously listened to what he had told him in advance.
The director of the Gunpowder Department respectfully invited Zhong Jinwei to some places where stone mortars and wooden troughs were placed, and then said: "The process of preparing gunpowder can be divided into four steps. The first step is to combine the selected and refined nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal.
According to the recipe requirements for preparing gunpowder, weigh the exact amounts and put them into stone mortars or wooden troughs. Pound them repeatedly until they become fine powder."
Zhong Jinwei listened to what he said and observed carefully on the side. Sure enough, he could still faintly see white, lemon-colored and black powder at the bottom of these stone mortars or wooden troughs.
The director of the Gunpowder Department walked to the other side and continued to point to the wooden mortar on the ground and introduced: "The second step is to mix the three powders of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal into the wooden mortar. Then add an appropriate amount of pure water.
Or shochu, the mixture is mixed into a wet mud form and pounded thousands of times with a wooden pestle.”
When the Director of the Gunpowder Department said this, his face showed a solemn look, he looked at Zhong Jinwei, and mentioned the precautions: "During the pounding process, it is strictly forbidden to mix sand and stones into the mortar, so as not to cause a fire after the collision.
"
These were learned through hard lessons. Just in case, they had decided not to demonstrate it in front of Zhong Jinwei, but only explained the specific process.
When he saw Zhong Jinwei nodding in understanding, he continued to introduce: "When the mixture is almost dry, add water and pound again to make the mixture fully even and fine, then take it out to dry in the sun."
After saying this, he respectfully invited Marquis Zhongxing to return to the long table, pointed to the gunpowder on it and said: "The third step is to conduct quality inspection of the finished product. Select a part of the dried gunpowder sample and put it on the paper to burn.
If it burns out quickly and the paper is intact, it is a qualified product. Or if the sample is burned in the palm of your hand and the gunpowder is burned but the palm of your hand does not feel hot, it means that the finished product burns quickly and is a qualified product. On the contrary, if the gunpowder is burned after the gunpowder is burned, the product is qualified.
If there are black and white centers left on the paper, or if the palm of the hand feels burned, it is an unqualified product. It needs to be reworked and crushed again until it is qualified."
Having said this, he directed one of his men to take a small amount of gunpowder and demonstrate it to Marquis Zhongxing.
When Zhong Jinwei saw this, he felt that it was enough. But the director of the Gunpowder Department said before that there were four steps. Is there another step?
Sure enough, the Director of the Gunpowder Department said again: "The fourth step is to select qualified powder particles. Different firearms must have different particle sizes. For example, for the propellant of a gun, thick ones are not used, and thin ones are not used. Only small ones are used.
Take gunpowder grains the size of corn."
Zhong Jinwei didn't know about such a detailed thing before. He asked with great interest: "Tell me the details."
Naturally, the Director of the Gunpowder Department did not dare to disagree. He invited Zhong Jinwei to a large room with good lighting, pointed to different types of sieves hanging in the air and said: "Crush the tested powder blocks into granules, and use these sieves of different thicknesses.
Use a sieve to sift out various large, medium and small gunpowder grains used in cannons, folang machines and blunderbuss. The non-granular ones can be used as ignition powder for fire gates, and all the remaining fine powders are removed."
After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and his men immediately brought several different granular gunpowders to show to Marquis Zhongxing.
Zhong Jinwei picked up several types of gunpowder and brought them to his eyes, looking at them and nodding.
This method of selecting the corresponding grade of granular gunpowder according to the caliber of the gun and the size of the chamber is not only to improve the firing power, but also to ensure the safety during firing.
After Zhong Jinwei watched the entire process of making gunpowder, he sighed in his heart, what a pity!
If standard procedures had been strictly implemented in the late Ming Dynasty, and everything from gunpowder to firearms had been so strict, it’s hard to say what the history of later generations would have been like.
Thinking of this, he ordered the director of the Gunpowder Department: "I don't care about anything else. The gunpowder provided to the new army in the future must be this kind of gunpowder that has been prepared under strict specifications."
Unexpectedly, the Director of the Gunpowder Department looked troubled. He did not dare to give a direct reply to Marquis Zhongxing, so he had to look at his immediate superior, Fan Jun, the eunuch in charge of the Military and War Bureau.
Fan Jun understood what the Director of the Gunpowder Department meant. He chuckled, attracting Zhong Jinwei's attention, and then explained to him: "Master Marquis, you want too much gunpowder and you don't have enough funds!"
After he finished speaking, he spread his hands, indicating that he really had no money or was powerless.
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he waved his hand and said: "Problems that can be solved by money are not problems. If you are short of money, go to the Ministry of Household Affairs and ask for it. Just say it is the military expenditure of the New Army, and they will give it to you. But if the money is misappropriated to other
Place, you will regret doing this."
Fan Jun's face lit up and he said quickly: "No, no, even if we borrow ten thousand courages from our family, we don't dare to misappropriate the expenses of the Marquis's new army!"
What he said was indeed sincere, because Emperor Chongzhen was the most concerned about the New Army. If he wanted to meddle with it, he would obviously be mentally retarded.
Zhong Jinwei nodded with satisfaction and said: "Let's go and see how firearms are made."