Four hundred and eighty-ninth chapter arrived in Zhangye
That morning, a large-scale caravan appeared on the official road outside Zhangye City. The caravan consisted of more than 1,300 camels, loaded with boxes and sacks, and nearly a hundred men riding on horses.
There were also two thousand cavalry guards, and the owner of this caravan was none other than Zhang Lei.
Zhang Lei traveled from Chang'an, and their ships waited for two days in Tianshui. General Zhang Cheng arrived with 2,000 cavalry and more than 1,000 camels.
There are a hundred large boxes in total, but after the outer boxes are removed, they become four hundred medium-sized boxes. Two hundred camels are enough, but there are still 20,000 kilograms of saltpeter ore in the Tianshui warehouse, which must also be transported back to Hexi.
Guarded by two thousand cavalry, the journey went smoothly and we finally arrived at Zhangye City.
"Boss Zhang, we're here!" Yang Jun shouted.
Zhang Lei's heart that was hanging high in the air suddenly relaxed. Although they came through without any danger under the careful care of the Dugu family, Zhang Lei was still very nervous, especially when leaving Chang'an and Guanzhong.
Along the way, I was afraid of being discovered and detained by Zangjian Pavilion.
Fortunately, they often transported wine and rented several large warehouses in Tianshui in advance. More than a hundred soldiers were responsible for transporting the whole process. They also spent one thousand taels of silver to bribe the on-duty captain of Fengxiang Army at the Weihe checkpoint, using the cover of night.
, they finally left Guanzhong by water.
Zhang Lei grinned and turned around and said, "We have worked hard these past few months. I will treat you all to a drink later."
Guo Song's soldiers were already very familiar with him. One of the soldiers asked loudly: "Dr. Zhang, is there Meishou wine in Zhangye?"
"Yes! I have hidden a few jars with your envoy, and I will steal them out for you to drink from when the time comes."
The soldiers burst into laughter. The camel team did not enter the city, but directly entered the camp outside the east city. Guo Song had been waiting here for a long time.
The soldiers dismounted one after another and knelt down to salute. Zhang Lei quickly said: "Thanks to them this time. Without them, I would not have been able to transport it this time."
Guo Song smiled and nodded, "Everyone will work hard one last time, move the wooden box into the tent, and then have a good meal and sleep."
The soldiers took the order and led the two hundred camels to the tent. Guo Song smiled and asked Zhang Lei, "Didn't you say we would set out at the end of February? Why did we set out a month early?"
"Don't mention it!"
Zhang Lei said bitterly: "I was almost discovered by that bitch Li Man. Fortunately, Fatty, I was smart and reacted quickly. I escaped from Chang'an that night. Otherwise, half of our life's hard work would be over. This time next year will be my anniversary."
"
"It seems that I still owe a big favor to the Dugu family this time?"
Zhang Lei nodded, "They kept sending us out of Guanzhong and passed four checkpoints in total, especially in Tianshui. We waited for two whole days. The army came to check several times. If they hadn't greeted the local garrison, we would have
It's really over. I originally planned to use money to buy through various levels, but later I found out that except for Fengxiang level, other levels didn't accept this trick at all. But I heard that it was the Dugu family's fleet, so I didn't check it at all and just let it go.
."
"Please repay me if you have the opportunity in the future!"
The two entered the tent. Guo Song asked Zhang Lei to sit down and rest, and served tea. Guo Song said to Zhang Lei: "You don't want to go back for the time being. The current situation is very chaotic. Three days ago, Longyou Jiedu envoy
Zhang Yi was assassinated by a concubine beside him, but the concubine actually escaped. This assassination style reminded me of the Hidden Sword Pavilion, and the supervisor Tian Wenxiu impeached me for rebellion. I thought the emperor was going to send someone to arrest me.
I returned to Beijing, but in the end there was no movement."
Zhang Lei said after a while: "I guess the emperor is afraid of forcing you to rebel! If anyone dares to arrest me, I will rebel even if I don't want to."
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "You are right. It is probably because he was afraid of this that the emperor held back."
Zhang Lei hesitated and asked in a low voice: "You transferred your wealth to Ganzhou. Are you really planning to rebel?"
Guo Song shook his head, "I can tell you frankly, unless I am forced into desperation, I will never rebel. I promised my master back then that I would protect the Tang Dynasty. If I rebelled, I would be sorry for my master's spirit in heaven."
."
When it comes to the promise he made to Master, Zhang Lei also fell silent. He made many promises to Master back then, but none of them were fulfilled. How should he face Master's spirit in heaven?"
Guo Song patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go and rest! Let's have a good chat when we have time."
.........
There is a Taoist temple in the south of Zhangye City called Laojun Temple. The Taoist temple is not big, covering an area of only five acres. However, it has been empty and abandoned for more than ten years. Last winter, the government bought the Taoist temple and rebuilt it.
After repairs, a new batch of Taoist priests were welcomed a few days ago, Beifeng Zhenren from the Yunxiao Palace in Kongtong Mountain, and his ten disciples.
Beifeng Zhenren was an old Taoist priest who made alchemy. He was obsessed with alchemy. During his decades of alchemy career, he invented the sulfonate method in order to distinguish between sodium salt and fire saltpeter. He mixed sulfur powder and nitrate powder together, which can burn violently.
It is fire saltpetre, and vice versa, it is thenardite, which is actually gunpowder.
In order to purify the saltpeter powder from the saltpeter mine, Beifeng Zhenren tried various methods, and finally used the boiling and filtration method. After many times of boiling and filtration, he extracted the fire saltpeter powder with a very high purity. Many alchemy and Taoist priests were attracted by it.
Come learn his craft from him.
It was the alchemy Taoist priests of the Tang Dynasty who continued to promote the sulfonate method. At this time, gunpowder had appeared in the lives of ordinary people. Sulfonate powder could be purchased in drug stores and was used to treat sores, ringworm, insecticides, remove moisture, and eliminate plague.
, was eventually repurposed by the army in the process of eradicating the plague, and gunpowder appeared on the battlefield in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.
Guo Song quickly came to Laojun Temple and walked into the gate. He saw a Taoist priest in his thirties who was hammering medicine hard in a stone mortar. His name was Qingxuzi. He was the great disciple of Beifeng Zhenren. He was tall and round, but he was very honest and honest.
Honest, I have followed the master for more than 20 years, and I have learned the master’s true teachings on alchemy.
"What is Senior Brother Qingxu doing?" Guo Song walked forward with a smile.
Qing Xuzi turned around and saw Guo Song. He was startled and said respectfully: "I dried Aristolochia in the sun and pounded them into powder. I want to try it instead of saponin powder."
His fear of Guo Song was not entirely because of Guo Song's identity, but because he saw Guo Song burning the Heavenly Palace with his own eyes. Fortunately, he ran fast, otherwise he would have been burned to death. Their alchemy Taoist priests did not know martial arts, so they were
I was so frightened that the scene of the tens of feet high heavenly palace suddenly falling down is still fresh in my memory.
Guo Song knew that Beifeng Taoist priests were old and rarely did anything themselves. The purification of saltpeter powder was done by his apprentices. This Qingxuzi was the leader among them. He had rich experience and he was the one who purified the best saltpeter powder.
, even surpassing Master.
Guo Song looked at the powder in the stone mortar and asked with a smile: "How did you come up with the idea of using Aristolochia?"
Qingxuzi scratched his head and said: "Originally I used saponin powder, but I feel that saponin powder is not enough to detoxify. Aristolochia has a very good detoxification effect. I plan to use two liang of sulfur, two liang of nitrate, and three and a half qian of Aristolochia
, then remove the alum and subdue the fire, and the poison of lead will not be so severe."
Only then did Guo Song remember that the purpose of making gunpowder was to remove the poison of arsenic, which was completely different from what he wanted.
"Where is your master?"
"Master is taking a nap, I'll call him."
Guo Song quickly stopped him and said, "There is no need to wake up your master. I will tell you that the saltpeter has been transported and you can start making saltpeter."
Guo Song spent a lot of money to invite them here just to learn their saltpeter refining skills, and he specially arranged a group of close soldiers.
Qing Xuzi nodded, "Master has already told me that as soon as the saltpeter is delivered, my two junior brothers and I will go to the military camp to teach saltpeter refining. How about we go now?"
"There's no need to be in such a hurry. You prepare it first today, and then you come to the military camp early tomorrow morning. I've prepared the list of saltpeter refining you issued last time. Can you see what's missing?"
"I'll go take a look tomorrow. There should be no shortage."
"Then it's agreed, I'll arrange for my own soldiers to pick you up early tomorrow morning."