The next day, the sky was shining.

Shouzhang County is already full of people inside and outside the city. Outside the city, Lin Chong and Gao Shun took over the Yellow Turban Battalion with his officer training camp early, carrying out the selection, classification, and registration work. In the city, Xiao Rang also posted an announcement early to recruit the people. All field battalions need to expand their troops and horses, all garrison battalions, including those damaged by the naval army, also need to be replenished, and each logistics department and each craftsman battalion also needs a large number of manpower.

Song Shijiang also had no intention of sleeping, he got up early, but he changed into a wide Confucian robe, and took Hua Rong, Lu Fang, and Guo Sheng out of Shouzhang County and went to a military camp in the city. The barracks are isolated from the dwellings, hidden in the wilderness, and are truly secluded. The barracks are simple, without flags and flags, and the fence is old, but the wooden stakes are high and dense, and it is difficult to peek inside.

The gate of the barracks was made of more than a dozen thick logs tied together and closed tightly. Seeing this, Hua Rong was about to push the door, when four military men poked out from the lookout above the gate of the village, two of them held guns and held two arrows and bows to pull the full moon, and shouted in unison: "Who is it? ”

Hua Rong shouted: "Quickly open the door, and the commander of the escort army will send Song Jiang to come and inspect." ”

The four soldiers were startled, looked at each other left and right, but refused to open the gate of the village, and said respectfully at the top: "General Ling Zhen's strict order: The first military order of the firearms blasting battalion, the military important place of the camp, and the door must not be opened unless General Ling Zhen's order." Please report to General Ling Zhen. ”

Hua Rong was furious, his sword eyebrows were upside down, his jade face was frosty, and he scolded coldly: "Is General Song big or General Ling Zhen bigger?" I can't call you anymore? ”

Those guards shivered and looked at each other, but they still gritted their teeth and said, "General, please report to General Ling Zhen." The small ones can't afford it. ”

Hua Rong was even more angry, and wanted to scold again. Song Shijiang waved his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Hua Rongxian, such a strict military discipline and strict garrison, isn't it exactly what we are looking forward to?" I can't see that Ling Zhen is also a great talent for governing the army. You guys, go and report to Ling Zhen. So-and-so waited outside the camp. ”

"General Xie Song." The guard at the camp gate hurriedly jumped off the lookout and ran into the camp.

Before long, several soldiers and men worked together to push open the heavy gate, thundered Ling Zhen out of the camp in three steps and two steps, and hurriedly ran towards Song Shijiang, shouting happily as he ran: "Lord, how can you get my firearms blasting camp, it's really rare......" Looking at Ling Zhen, who was not wearing armor, only wearing a coarse cloth placket, his face was full of fireworks, and his hands were also pitch black, and he looked like he was working hard.

Hua Rong interrupted Ling Zhen's shouting and scolded coldly: "Ling Zhen, the good soldiers you lead, can you have a lord in your eyes?" Keeping the lord out too? ”

Ling Zhen's expression of joy froze for a moment, his face was full of embarrassment, he stopped, bowed down and said: "Lord, this order was given by me Ling Zhen, the blame lies with me, please don't blame the guards." ”

Song Shijiang hurriedly got off the green horse, stretched out his hand to support Ling Zhen, and said with a smile: "How can you blame, your firearms blasting battalion is so well guarded, it's too late for a certain joy." ”

Ling Zhen explained again: "The lord, the lord knows, the heavy weapon of my firearms blasting battalion is unique in the world, and the lord entrusts this heavy burden to Yu Zhen. ”

"Understood, understood." Song Shijiang patted Ling Zhen's shoulder, his face was full of relief, and he laughed: "Don't explain, you can do it if you know, the stricter you are, the happier you are." I came to patrol today, and let me know your loyalty. has both professional and powerful artillery, and both are talented in governing the army, Ling Zhen, Ling Zhen, which makes people impressed. ”

"The lord praised it." Ling Zhen was relieved, bent his arm towards the camp, and said, "My lord, please come in." ”

Then several people entered the camp and talked as they went.

Song Shijiang saw that Ling Zhen's face was dark, and said with a smile: "Brother Ling Zhen, early in the morning, what are you busy doing?" Yesterday, there were many brothers in the county office, and they didn't have time to talk to you. Shouzhang City was able to be defended, and your firearm blasting battalion made great contributions. How, what do you want to say? ”

Ling Zhen arched his hand sideways and replied, "Don't hide it from the lord, Zhen is worried about gunpowder." In the middle of nowhere, he saw his black and dirty hands, and he was a little embarrassed, so he wiped the placket of the coarse cloth hard, and continued: "In the first battle of Shouzhang Guard, my firearms blasting battalion tried its skills for the first time, and killed many enemies. But it also exposed many problems, which made Zhen extremely distressed. ”

"Oh? Tell me about it? Song Shijiang then asked. While speaking, everyone has arrived in front of a stone house, which stands in the middle of the barracks, all made of stones, covered with stone tiles, about three meters high, but dozens of zhang wide, and the inside is extremely cool.

Entering the stone house, dozens of soldiers in the house were busy, and when they saw Ling Zhen coming in, they didn't stop, only respectfully said the word "general", and continued to concentrate on the work in their hands, cautiously, and tiptoeing with their own hands.

Ling Zhen gestured to these busy military men, and returned to Song Shijiang and said, "The gunpowder problem." He smiled wryly, "The gunpowder reserves are insufficient." Relying on these dozens of soldiers under his command to make gunpowder, it is not enough to support the continuous firing of dozens of artillery pieces, and it is not enough to support tens of millions of people in a battle. ”

Song Shijiang nodded, curiously touched the stone grinding mortar operated by the soldiers of the firearm blasting battalion, and watched them gently grind some black and yellow items into powder, stir them into one place in the same place, and gently sift them with a fine sieve. If you look closely, you are amazed, there are more than a dozen kinds of items they mix in one place. Is it so complicated to make gunpowder alone? Song Shijiang used to be a liberal arts student, and his knowledge of these military chemistry was too scarce, and he had never seen gunpowder at all, and he had only seen firecrackers at most. He didn't know that gunpowder could be so complicated, and with his memory and understanding, wasn't it just one nitrate, two sulfur and three charcoal?

He pointed to the gunpowder stirred together and asked, "Is the gunpowder so complicated?" Tell me about the recipe?"

Ling Zhen heard Song Shijiang's inquiry, and replied skillfully: "A piece of gunpowder requires 14 taels of sulfur, 7 taels of wohuang, 2 and a half catties of flame nitrate, 1 tael of maru, 1 tael of dry lacquer, 1 tael of starch, 1 tael of bamboo basket, 1 tael of yellow dan, 1/2 tael of yellow candle, 1 point of clear oil, half a tael of tung oil, 14 taels of pine resin, and 1 point of concentrated oil." ”

"So complicated?" Song Shijiang was confused.

"It's so complicated, so it's not enough to be equipped and not stocked up. It is difficult to support a large-scale war. Ling Zhen replied honestly.

"What is the effect of such gunpowder?" Even if Song Shijiang didn't understand, he was too skeptical of the effect of this gunpowder.

"Lord, are you asking about explosions or fireworks?" Ling Zhen asked.

"Of course, it's the explosive force, and I made it clear to you last time that gunpowder is focused on the explosion, not the sound of fireworks." Song Shijiang said.

"With such a formula, the fireworks are huge, and the explosive power is enough. It is a summary of Ling Zhen's many years of experience, and both points are available. It seems that Ling Zhen is still satisfied with this recipe, "It's a pity that this gunpowder is too much residue." After each shot, there was too much gunpowder residue and dirt left in the chamber of the gun, which was difficult to clean. But if you don't brush it clearly, the artillery will be inaccurate, and the second will explode. A few days ago, because of this, several artillery pieces were blown up, killing and injuring dozens of my brothers. While he is satisfied, he also sums up his experience.

"I think this recipe can be improved." Song Shijiang thought for a moment and said.

Ling Zhen was stunned for a moment, this was something he couldn't imagine, and he hurriedly asked, "Lord, why do you say this?" This recipe has been my summary for many years. ”

"Brother Ling Zhen, you listen to so-and-so. I think that too much gunpowder residue is the reason for too many raw materials? Song Shijiang was not sure, so he could only ask in a questioning tone.

"Too many ingredients?" Ling Zhen was stunned again, and he said: "I am currently making gunpowder, and the materials are all pure, just to reduce the residue, but it is still unavoidable. Less raw materials? He slapped his thigh and shouted, "Why didn't I think of that?" The lord is wise. ”

His shouting startled the soldiers in the room who were tiptoeing to make gunpowder, and they all fell down. Ling Zhen himself also reacted, with a guilty face, and arched his hand to the four soldiers: "I, Ling Zhen, made a noise for no reason, and knowingly committed a crime, and received ten military whips." I'll pick it up in a moment, and everyone will continue. He said to Song Shijiang: "Lord, I'll wait to go out to talk, the pharmacy is dangerous." ”

Song Shijiang also bowed his hand to the soldiers of the firearm blasting battalion and said: "Listening to your general's words like this, it shows that you and others have the military discipline to not make noise, and those who violate discipline should be punished." It's just that your general violated discipline, and it was only because he was thinking about the gunpowder formula and finding a way for us that he couldn't help himself, I don't know if the brothers can understand it, and I don't know if the brothers can open General Ling Zhen once? ”

The generals laughed lightly and replied in a low voice: "How dare we teach General Ling to be punished." General Ling, we all understand. Understood, no, no. Go out. ”

"No way!" Ling Zhen shook his head, still wanting to speak.

Song Shijiang grabbed Ling Zhen's hand, pulled out the stone house, and said, "Now is not the time to entangle this military discipline. Whoever is exempt from the whip is exempt from the whip. Back to the topic. Gunpowder recipe, can you streamline it a bit. ”

"Streamlined." Ling Zhen came back to his senses.

"Yes, streamlined. Those with residue are gone, and those who help the fireworks are gone, but the only way to expand the explosive power is to expand the explosive power, and the greater the explosive power, the better. Song Shijiang said, "You go to the test." ”

"Okay, I'll go test it." Ling Zhen had already come back to his senses, and he immediately wanted to enter the house again, just do what he said.

Song Shijiang shook his head, still grabbed Ling Zhen's hand, and scolded with a smile: "Don't be in such a hurry, listen to what so-and-so says." You're stunned. "This Ling Zhen is really a typical scholar-type research figure, who can do everything, but only people can't do it. People are eager to stay with the lord more, he is good, get along with the lord, and there is no time for accommodation from the beginning of the camp.

"Oh." Ling Zhen had no choice but to stop.

"I heard that the gunpowder formula is one nitrate, two sulfur and three charcoal. In fact, these three are fine, and they don't require a lot of materials. However, whether this is true or not, I don't know. It's up to you to experiment. ”

"Okay, I'll go and configure, don't worry, lord." When Ling Zhen heard Song Shijiang say this, he was even more impatient.

"Also, your firearms blasting battalion is understaffed, so I decided to allocate another 2,000 men and horses to you, for a total of 2,400 people." Song Shijiang said the purpose of coming today. "At the same time, Li Ying allocated you 10,000 gold to quickly expand the artillery casting. Did you know? ”

Ling Zhen was overjoyed, his dark face bloomed into a brilliant flower, and he shouted, "Thank you, lord." ”