At this time, there were only three people left in the tent, Jiang father and son and Bailiyan (Wei Xian), Zhao Xun stood with his hands in his hands, frowning and pacing back and forth, and the atmosphere was immediately much quieter. Jiang Min looked at the bowl of water on the case, and his heart was full of doubts:

"Wei Xian, what is the mystery of the white water in the bowl, why does the silver stone fall into it and disappear out of thin air?"

Jiang Min asked, Jiang Qian stared stunned, thinking that Bai Liyan couldn't say that he didn't know at this time, otherwise he would be suspected of lying about the calcium carbide.

Bai Liyan didn't intend to hide it, he smiled faintly and said:

"Don't hide it from the lord, the water in the bowl is the acid water refined by saltpeter, called nitric acid [Note 1], and the silver stone will melt into it when it encounters nitric acid, and it will not change out of thin air."

"What about gold?" Jiang Qian asked again.

"If you encounter gold, it will not be melted, so the Black Turban Army can only use this trick to deceive the ignorant and make them fall into the trap."

When Wen Fang mentioned that the silver could disappear out of thin air when he put it in the water, Bai Liyan thought that it was most likely that nitric acid had a chemical reaction with silver.

Modern industrial-scale production of concentrated nitric acid is generally prepared with ammonia, although there is no ammonia reaction conditions, a large amount of nitric acid can also be obtained by dry steaming.

Just put the nitrate into a closed pot, and then dry steam over the fire, the nitrate is heated to produce a gas containing nitrate, and the gas is introduced into the water, and then the diluted nitric acid solution can be obtained.

Silver ions are inactive and extremely difficult to chemically react with acids and bases, so silver ions need to be replaced with more active nitrate particles, or more powerful aqua regia, from which silver nitrate can be obtained.

The gold element is more inert than the silver element, so nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid cannot replace the gold element with acid roots under normal conditions. Or use aqua regia, but the corrosion rate of aqua regia is still very slow, and it cannot achieve the purpose of digesting large particles of gold and silver in a short time.

There is no need to talk about these truths with Jiang's father and son, and if they say it, they are also playing the piano to the cow. At this time, Zhao Xun suddenly stopped, turned around and asked:

"Jiang Gong, Wei Xianfeng, don't you think this matter is strange?"

"Strange?" Jiang Min was puzzled, and hurriedly asked: "Zhao Shuai, please say, I want to hear the details." ”

According to Wen Fang, the Black Turban Army secretly contacted him two years before the incident, and there was fake gold at that time. And the need for fake real gold to be made into standard inch gold is by no means an overnight thing, not to mention a year and a half.

In this way, the Black Turban Army must have risen three years ago. And to plan such a huge act against the sky, can one or two people do it in three or five years? ”

"Zhao Shuai means that the Black Turban Army conspired to start an incident four or five years ago?"

"Exactly, four or five years ago, during the great drought in the Central Plains, the people of Xianxi and Chunan counties rebelled, and Fengyangjun rebelled, is this time too coincidental?"

Zhao Shuai was suspicious that the Xianxi Rebellion had already had the shadow of the Black Turban Army. Hiss ......"

Jiang Min was surprised, Bai Liyan knew something about the rebellion in Xianxi and Qiunan counties five years ago, but the reason for this was that the problem was Gongsun Yue's new policy "Nongsang Order" twelve years ago.

Five years ago, the Central Plains was generally affected by the great drought, but only Xianguo was the only one that had a large-scale civil uprising. It doesn't seem to make sense to say that the Black Turban Army participated in this popular rebellion back then.

If the Black Turban Army had been in trouble at that time, the disaster of the drought in the Central Plains could also ignite the anger of the people, and the Xian State had to fight on two fronts, and it was possible that the country would eventually be destroyed.

The only explanation can only be that the Black Turban Army is not well prepared to plot and raise troops, which is not enough to overturn the existing political interests in the Central Plains, break the balance of forces of all parties, and gain the political and military initiative.

Until last year's locust plague, which had been spreading for several years, it had caused even more widespread public resentment than the drought five years ago, which was the flashpoint that finally prompted the Black Turban Army to rise up.

"Gong Jiang, only you and I know about this matter today, and you must not mention it to others when you return to the court in the future."

"Could it be that Zhao Shuai thinks that someone in the DPRK is secretly colluding with the black gold traitors?"

Jiang Min guessed, at this time, Zhao Xun looked at him with a solemn gaze, glanced at Jiang Qian and Bai Liyan twice, nodded and said meaningfully:

"What happened to Fengyangjun back then, you and I all knew it. There are still many unknown secrets behind Fengyangjun's rebellion, and how much do you and I know. ”

Zhao Xun had a deep meaning in his words, and faintly suspected that Fengyangjun's rebellion back then was by no means as simple as the Jin State being behind his back and taking the opportunity to send troops.

If the Jin Kingdom knew that Jiang Hai, the king of Xian, was a wild species, he would definitely not be able to acquiesce to Jiang Hai killing Jiang He. And such urgent news, why did the King of Jin not know when he decided to attack Jiangdong.

Whether there are people in the Jin country who are obstructing, or whether there are people in the Xian country who can call for wind and rain to buy the traitors of the Jin and Xian countries, and do such a shocking situation, all signs show that there is an unknown force behind the hinterland of the Central Plains, and the Black Turban Army is just a minion of their ambitions.

Leaving the big tent and walking on the way back to the Guangxin barracks, Jiang Qian and Jiang Min said:

"Father, is Zhao Shuai too worried, how can anyone in the court secretly communicate with the black scarf demon."

Jiang Min grimaced, suddenly stopped, and said in a deep voice:

"The Black Turban Army can sweep the Central Plains in a short period of time, and if no one is behind the scenes, it will be difficult to become a climate.

When the Black Turban Army first started, Mr. Luo once told his father that there must be people with wealth and prosperity behind the Black Turban Army.

At first, my father didn't believe it, but now it seems that behind the Black Turban Army must have been secretly communicating with some scum in the DPRK and China, which is hateful. ”

Luo Songting had talked about this matter with Bai Liyan in private, and at that time it was only speculation, there was no empirical evidence, and now only the intelligence of Wen Fang's confession shows that there must be a lot of power and financial support behind the Black Turban Army.

Otherwise, how can the logistics and supply of the 1.1 million army last for four or five months, even if it is a modern logistical support, the eating, drinking, and lazaring of one million people is not an easy matter to solve, and it requires long-term reserves and careful planning, and it is by no means a trickster that can be solved by three or five reckless and bloody alliances.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhao Xun ordered all armies and battalions to go to the baggage battalion to receive a pound of water and coal, so as to enhance the understanding of the officers and men of each battalion of calcium carbide and avoid panic and damage to the morale of the Xian army.

The fake gold matter was finally resolved by Zhao Xun digging out the gold himself, explaining the stakes, and redeeming the fake gold that filled his own pockets, for which he lost one hundred and twenty inches of gold in vain.

On the third day after the capture of Ruitian Village, Zhao Xun increased the infantry army and 10,000 strong archers each into Ruitian.

The Guangxin army was divided into two, one was led by Jiang Qian to garrison Ruitian, Jiang Min continued to lead the remaining men and horses and Zhong Heng to garrison the south bank of Wuping, Ruitian's Xian army increased to 60,000 at this time, and the cavalry accounted for more than half, which could be attacked and defended freely.

The Black Turban Army was silent for many days after borrowing snow from the sky, and the expected revenge did not come as expected.

Later, after the defeat of Ruitian, the Black Turban Army lost more than 70,000 or 80,000 people who were captured and missing.

It is worth mentioning that the fire of Miaotian Mountain did cause heavy snow to fall in most areas of the county, but due to the interference of hot air on the ground, the heavy snow did not fall along the Yongxing River.

However, half of the entire capital county has fallen heavy snow that has not been seen for a thousand years, and the capital city of Qiling is even more snow-capped, and the heavy snow has fallen for three days and three nights in a row, crushing many buildings in the Xianwang Palace.

Many people had never seen snow in their lives, and they were so excited that by the night that the cold wind outside was biting and dripping into ice, thousands of unprepared people froze to death and suffered frostbite, and the next day hundreds of hungry people froze in the streets.

Zhao Xun's good news is to conquer Ruitian, two days after the results of the inventory were issued, the four hundred miles of flying report only took half a day, blocked by the wind and snow, and arrived in the afternoon of the second day after the good news was issued.

King Xian was overjoyed to learn of the victory in the first battle, and with a stroke of his pen, he approved the merit request submitted by Zhao Xun.

"Hehaha...... Zhao Qing lived up to the expectations of the widows, won the first battle, and raised the prestige of the widows, which is really the luck of the country and the world......"

"The king is wise, the black turban army is a rabble, there is no need to worry, General Zhao's victory is expected, if there is no king in person, change to someone else, and you will be able to succeed." Great Sima Jiang Yan said that the battle between the words seemed to be expected, and even if he personally led the troops to fight, the results would be greater than Zhao Xun's.

At this time, the Marquis of Ding Yang also echoed and said:

"What Da Sima said is that most of the Black Turban Army are poor people in the mountains and villages, and they are really not afraid, and General Zhao's victory is expected. In the next step, the king should immediately urge Zhao Xun to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the rebels, expel the black turban traitors from the territory of our Xianguo as soon as possible, and return peace to the people. ”

But Zhao Xunjie mentioned in the report that according to Wen Fang, the rebel general of Zhao State of the Black Turban Army, among the millions of soldiers in the Black Turban Army, there were 300,000 fierce elites, 300,000 capable soldiers, and 500,000 miscellaneous soldiers. This time, there were 500,000 soldiers and horses of the Black Turban Army, which was more than half of the elite of the Black Turban Army. Relying only on the strength of Xianguo, there is no hope for a decisive battle in the short term, Ding Yang Hou thinks, what did Zhao Xun say? ”

King Xian pushed the good news in front of Ding Yanghou, Ding Yang Hou looked at the ten lines and then handed it to the big Sima Jiang Yan, Xiangguo Gongsun Yue looked at it, and after brewing in his belly, he said:

"King, Zhao Xun's words are clearly suspicious. What's more, the words of the thieves and rebels can not be counted. The minister thought that Zhao Xun must have fallen into the thief's trick, and he must not believe it all. ”

"What Marquis Ding Yang said is reasonable." Gongsun Yue said, put the good news back on the case, and said: "Where there are many exaggerations in the rebellion of the people, 10,000 lie about 100,000, 50,000 falsely claim 200,000 horses, and 100,000 horses can be said to be 500,000 horses.

In the eyes of the ministers, the Black Turban Army falsely claimed to be a million people, which must be an empty act of intimidation. The minister even doubted whether there were 500,000 Black Turban Army on the Yongxing River, otherwise Zhao Xun could easily defeat the 80,000 Black Turban Army with 400,000 people, and he only lost more than 10,000 soldiers, which shows that the 500,000 people are still to be discussed. ”

"But Zhao Xun came to report that the Black Turban Army used witchcraft to snow and wanted to freeze our army to death, and now a big snow has fallen to the capital, and hundreds of homeless people in the mausoleum city freeze to death on the streets every day.

The widow regretted not listening to Zhao Qing's words to requisition thick clothes, and almost killed the widow Xianguo. Now it seems that the momentum of the black scarf is true, and the widow thinks that the enemy must not be underestimated. ”

At this time, Gongsun Yue gave Ding Yang Hou all kinds of looks, Ding Yang Hou comprehended, stepped forward and said:

"King, Zhao Xun came to report that the Black Turban Army borrowed snow from the sky to fall on the banks of the Yongxing River with witchcraft, but now it has landed in Chenling, which is inconsistent with what he said, it can be seen that the black turban demon art is nothing more than that, and the will of heaven is not all on the side of the black turban traitors, but God has eyes."

As soon as Ding Yanghou's voice fell, Sima Jiang Yan said again:

"King, at present, Zhao Xun's army consumes more than 200,000 stones of grain and grass per month, and this is the only expense, and the two warehouses of Qilong and Jiekang are only enough to support May and June.

"Da Sima, a good uncle of the widow!" King Xian looked at Jiang Yan in a deep voice: "Zhao Xun came to report a few days ago, Muyang Cang should have two million stones of grain and grass, which can be used by the Zhennan Army for two years, and there is even surplus grain for disaster relief.

After being occupied by the Black Turban Army, there were 4 million stones of grain and grass, why were the two warehouses of grain and grass in Qilong and Jiekang only enough for half a year. Who will tell the widow that the extra two million stones of grain and grass are in someone's pocket, how did the widow's grain and grass get to other people's pockets, if it weren't for the Black Turban Army occupying Muyang, wouldn't the widow be kept in the dark at this time. ”

King Xian was furious, Jiang Yan was speechless for a while, and Gongsun Yue stepped forward to relieve the siege and said:

"King, half of the grain and grass in Muyang Warehouse are privately owned by the king and his relatives, not anyone's private property, please Mingjian."

"Why, there is still a widow!" King Xian slapped his palm on the case, stood up and glared at everyone angrily: "It's ridiculous, there is still a widow for the extra two million stones of grain and grass." Xiangguo told the widow that the entire Xianguo is a widow, why is there still two million stones of grain and grass under the widow's unknown, why! ”

"Great, king, the great drought was a painful lesson back then, so these grains and grasses were collected by the Queen Mother at the behest of the Queen Mother to be needed from time to time."

Gongsun Yue said truthfully, King Xian's face was gloomy, and he said:

"The queen mother's reserve is in case of emergency, it turns out that there is still a share of the widow's mother, okay, yes, is there still a share of the widow's father and the prince!"

"King Mingjian, the ministers are also for the fortune of the country and the people's livelihood, and they have to do it as a last resort."

"As a last resort!" King Xian was furious: "The widow has it, right?" Last year, the victims were waiting to be fed, you told the widow that the food and grass were not enough, and Zhao Xun came to urge the grain last month, and you said that the grain and grass were still in Muyang. Now it's good, four million stones, grains and grass are given away, is your Gongsun Yue going to trap the widow in unkindness and injustice! ”

"Don't dare!"

Gongsun Yue, Marquis Ding Yang, and Jiang Yan bowed in unison, looking as humble as King Xian.

"Enough!" King Xian shouted: "Immediately summon Zhao Qing back to the court, and the widow will ask him for advice in person." ”

……

[Note 1] The earliest written record of the artificial refining of nitric acid came from the Arab alchemists in B.C., who obtained the gas through the dry distillation of nitrate and passed it into water to obtain nitric acid.