On the avenue, several mule carts pulling huge wooden boxes came head-on, Wang Yuan stepped forward to stop one, jumped on the cart and flipped in the straw of the wooden box, and pulled out a round black thunderbolt. It turned out that these were all newly made thunderbolts, and they were about to be pulled to the warehouse for storage.

"How many thunderbolts can be produced per day now?" Wang Yuan asked, looking at the black and heavy cannonballs.

Liu Xun hurriedly said: "The daily output is about one hundred and eighty. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "Why is it so little?" Didn't it be two or three hundred before? ”

Liu Xun hurriedly said: "This matter is about to be reported to the marshal, and there is a reason for the small amount." Do you know that the salt lake in Bison City has been almost mined? The raw materials used for saltpeter refining are also decreasing. In the past, more than a dozen truckloads arrived a day, but now half of the production is missing. In this way, the amount of configuration of ** has been affected, and the production of thunderbolt bombs has been reduced accordingly. ”

Wang Yuan nodded slightly, the salt lake mining in Bison City was nearing completion, and he knew this. It's been three and a half years, almost four years, and it's been going on for the salt lake. Because Wang Yuan has continued to account for a large amount of money and used it for various expenses. Therefore, the salt lake, which could only be mined in five years, has increased dramatically with the continuous investment of manpower. In just over three years, a huge salt lake has been almost mined. This has always been a problem that Wang Yuan is worried about. The salt lake is not only a source of salt for huge amounts of wealth, but also a source of saltpeter. Without the salt lake, the saltpeter will be cut off, and the ** will not be able to be fully configured, which is a big problem. Wang Yuan's generals who had already been stationed in Bison City continued to search in the desert for hundreds of miles to see if there were any other salt lakes, but there was no news so far.

didn't hear the good news, but heard a bad news first, Wang Yuan felt a little unhappy in his heart. He jumped out of the cart, waved the mule cart away, and strode towards Zhang Zhengyi's dispensing room. Liu Xunzhi and Li Mi looked at each other speechlessly, and they all followed silently behind, knowing that the handsome man was in a bad mood.

Near the west head, under the green trees, a very large courtyard is Zhang Zhengyi's residence. Since the explosion a few years ago blew Zhang Zhengyi's original courtyard into ruins, Wang Yuan allocated another fund to build this small courtyard for Zhang Zhengyi. This time, the residence and the alchemy room were built separately, dozens of steps apart, and the middle was connected by a long corridor. Planting flowers and trees around the courtyard is not only for beautification, but also to eliminate the choking smell caused by some refining. However, Zhang Zhengyi didn't think so, he only wanted to be convenient, and didn't care about anything else. It wasn't long before the dwelling and the alchemy room were mixed up and became a mess.

When Wang Yuan pushed the wooden door of the small courtyard, he saw Zhang Zhengyi with his back to him, directing two children in the open space in front of the house to spread out a bunch of red, white, white, yellow, yellow, black and black things in the sun. Zhang Zhengyi only had one arm left, and the explosion broke his left arm, and then cut it off. So now he only has one arm left, and the other arm is only an empty sleeve dangling.

"Stupid, lighter in your hands, what do you do everywhere? Cover with gauze to avoid dust and prevent wind from blowing. Stupid, really stupid. How did I, Zhang Zhengyi, accept you two stupid apprentices. If it weren't for the two children in front of me who were killed by the **, how could the old man have killed you? Ay! ”

Zhang Zhengyi raised his arm and scolded at the two children who were working on the ground with their buttocks pouting. Unexpectedly, Wang Yuan and the others had already entered the courtyard. His ears were also hearing impaired from the explosion, and the subtle sounds were no longer audible. Fortunately, the ears of the two little boys who were crawling on the ground were very good, and they heard the footsteps of Wang Yuan and others, so they turned their heads and looked at them in surprise.

"What are you looking at? Sneaky, don't hurry up and dry the medicine. Zhang Zhengyi scolded.

"Master, someone is coming." A child pointed to the doorway.

Zhang Zheng looked back in surprise, and when he saw Wang Yuan and his entourage coming in stride, Zhang Zheng was overjoyed, and hurriedly greeted him with half of his empty sleeves.

"Zhang Zhenren, don't come unharmed." Wang Yuan laughed.

Zhang Zhengyi smiled all over his face and laughed loudly: "Oh, it turned out that the handsome man came." It's already noon, and the big guy won't come. The old man only has one arm, so he can't salute the handsome. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "No need to be polite. ”

……

After the greetings were over, Zhang Zhengyi led Wang Yuan and the others to the house. When he came to the open space at the door, Wang Yuan pointed to the drying thing on the ground and said, "What is Zhang Zhenren doing?" ”

Zhang Zhengyi smiled and said, "What about the medicine." Taking advantage of the good weather, the old man should prepare some medicine for backup. Otherwise, it will not be easy for the snow to fall soon after, and the weather will be cloudy and wet. These drugs are all selected concentrates, and they are the kind of drugs that are used to configure the handsome explanation. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and smiled: "I see." ”

Zhang Zhengyi: "Didn't the marshal ask the old man, the progress of the ** production?" ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "Could it be that Zhang Zhenren has found the match of ****?" ”

Zhang Zhengyi smiled mysteriously and said: "If it weren't for that, how would the old man dare to ask Mr. Liu to invite the handsome man to meet in his busy schedule." Indeed, the ratio of the fire formula used in this **, the old decay has already touched some doorways. Today, I invite the marshal to take a look. ”

Wang Yuan was overjoyed and said, "That's great." Take me to see it. ”

When everyone entered the house, Zhang Zheng ordered two children to carefully hold a wooden box on the wooden frame in the corner of the house. Zhang Zhengyi personally stepped forward and opened the lid of the wooden box, but saw that the wooden box was covered with fine soft grass, and in the middle were two egg-sized black oval things. Zhang Zhengyi carefully took out one and held it in front of Wang Yuan's eyes.

Wang Yuan stared at the object and looked closely, and he could see that it was a small iron ball, which opened a small opening at one end and tightly plugged it with a wooden stopper, and there was a small round hole in the middle of the wooden stopper, and the small hole was also plugged with a red cloth ball.

"Dashuai, this is the iron sheet made by the old decay." Zhang Zhengyi.

Wang Yuan gently picked it up and looked at it carefully, the small iron container exuded a spicy smell of medicine, and it was heavy in his hand. As it turns, it seems that you can hear the rustling of the powder inside.

"Can this thing explode when it's thrown?" Wang Yuan felt that this thing didn't seem to be reliable.

"Of course you can, otherwise the old man would dare to invite the marshal to come." Zhang Zhengyi said in a deep voice.

Zhao Qing on the side rushed forward, snatched the iron egg in Wang Yuan's hand, put it in the wooden box and ran away with a flying step, carefully placed it on the stone steps at the back door, and did not forget to shout: "Be careful, the big handsome can explode, the big handsome can't hold this thing." Zhang Zhengyi, do you want to kill someone? ”

Tan Ping and several guards also stopped in front of Wang Yuan in an instant, forming a human wall to protect Wang Yuan.

Zhang Zhengyi was stunned and said, "This ...... It won't explode if you hold it in your hand, otherwise how dare you put this thing in the house? It takes some means to make it explode. Dashuai, old decay doesn't hurt you. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Zhao Qing Tan Ping, you are too sensitive. If this thing really exploded in his hand, wouldn't it have blown up the house a long time ago. ”

Zhao Qing shook his head and said: "Regardless of whether it will explode or not, these are explosive things, and the marshal cannot touch them personally." The duty of the lowly people is to protect the commander, and the commander is asked to understand the duties of the lowly people. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "That's it, I won't touch it." But when I came, I wanted to see Zhang Zhenren's research results, so I couldn't even look at it. ”

"It's okay to see, please show it by yourself, the handsome can only be watched, not approached." Tan Ping said.

Wang Yuan was speechless, so he had to nod to Zhang Zhengyi: "Zhang Zhenren, it seems that I can only bother you." ”

Zhang Zhengyi hurriedly said: "That's natural, what the two generals said is very true. It's a ** here, and it's really dangerous. It's old decay and negligence. In this way, let's go to the backyard and show it to the marshal and the generals. ”

Wang Yuan nodded yes, Zhang Zheng ordered two children to carry the wooden box to the backyard, and came to the corner of the backyard under the sun, Zhang Zhengyi said to Wang Yuan and the others: "Dashuai look, I'll let the servants throw a piece and let the generals see the power of this thing." ”

Wang Yuan nodded and smiled, waiting expectantly to see the effect. But I saw Zhang Zhengyi shouting to a servant: "Give medicine." ”

A servant took out the **, reached out and pulled out a red cloth with a wooden plug plugging the round hole, revealing a small hole as thick as a finger. Another servant took out a thin bamboo tube and inserted it into the hole, then scooped out a spoonful of yellowish particles from a small cloth bag in the wooden box and injected it into the hole.

"Put in the iron sheets. Be careful. Zhang Zheng shouted repeatedly.

The servant once again scooped out a spoonful of something shiny black from another small cloth bag in the wooden box, and then carefully poured it into the small hole, and then tightly plugged the hole with a strip of cloth.

"Commander, everything is ready, can you allow the old man to give the order to throw?" Zhang Zhengyi whispered to Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Of course you can." ”

Zhang Zhengyi promised in a deep voice, turned to the little servant holding the ** and shouted: "Eight times, no more than once, no less than once." ”

The little servant responded crisply, and held ** in his hand nervously, and began to shake ** at the same time. Although they were twenty or thirty steps away, Wang Yuan and the others could still clearly hear the rustling and clanging sound of collision and friction coming from inside when the ** was shaking. The little servant shook as he began to count. When he counted to eight, he saw that he raised his hand and threw the ** far away.

** Drew an arc in the air and landed on the ground thirty paces away. The moment it touched the hard ground, but a violent crackling sound sounded, smoke and dust rose into the air, and a violent explosion occurred on the ground. For a while, black smoke billowed within a radius of more than ten steps, and unknown things flew everywhere, shaking the fallen leaves of several trees in the range, as if it were raining.

More than a dozen people standing in the distance were also buzzing in their ears by the sound. When the smoke and dust cleared, Wang Yuan couldn't wait to rush over. Zhao Qing and Tan Ping couldn't stop it, and they hurriedly ran behind them. The crowd rushed to the place of the explosion, but saw that a half-foot deep mud pit had been blown out of the ground, and white smoke was still emitting from the dirt pit. Looking at the surrounding ground, the spots are full of small holes. Eye. The trunks of several large trees within a radius of more than ten steps were also hit by flying iron filings, mottled and rolled, with large holes and small eyes.

"Oh my God, such a powerful thing. Congratulations to the handsome, this thing is done. If this is used in a war, will the other side still have a way to live? Li Mi shouted.

Wang Yuan was also overjoyed, but he quickly calmed down and turned to Zhang Zhengyi, who was standing aside: "Zhang Zhenren, you really didn't disappoint me. But I have some questions, and I hope you can answer them. ”

Zhang Zheng nodded and said, "Boss, excuse me." ”

Wang Yuan said: "Why did you add the medicine twice before throwing it just now, and you have to shake it eight times?" Why is that? ”

Zhang Zhengyi hurriedly said: "I was about to explain this matter to the marshal." The configuration of this ** drug has taken a lot of twists and turns. According to the previous research, the thunderbolt equipped with the fire party can also explode under a violent collision, but the strength of the manpower throw is obviously too small to make the ** explode, which has always been an insurmountable difficulty for the old decay. For more than a year, the old man devoted himself to research and finally found the reason. In fact, in order to make it easier to explode, there is no need to do more to the fire party, but to add a new drug to the drug, which can speed up its deflagration. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "Could it be that the yellow thing you added for the first time just now is this new medicine?" ”

Zhang Zheng nodded and said, "Exactly." Coincidentally, the old man practiced a few furnaces of pills a few months ago, and the little servant inadvertently mixed ** into it and put it in a clay pot to dry, but he didn't think about it and suddenly burst into flames for some reason. It was unknown at first, but when I thought about it later, it must have been mixed with this thing. Therefore, I took advantage of this incident to conduct an experiment, but I did not expect it to succeed in one fell swoop. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Such a coincidence? But I don't know what you're refining? ”

Zhang Zhengyi smiled and said: "The handsome man should know that the old man has been eating the self-refining Xiaoyaosan Golden Pill in order to maintain his spirits. This flavor of medicine is a must for the preparation of Xiaoyaosan Jindan. The Fang family calls it 'belly fire', and the folk call it ghost phosphorus fire. ”

As he spoke, Zhang Zheng ordered the little boy to carry the wooden box over, opened a small cloth bag, and exposed the dark yellow crystal particles inside. Wang Yuan only glanced at it a few times, and Zhang Zhengyi immediately tied the cloth bag tightly and wrapped it in a layer of sheepskin.

"Dashuai, if this thing is exposed, it will catch fire after a long time, so it cannot be exposed. Wrap tightly and store in a cool place. The burn was so fierce that it was too hard to extinguish. ”

Wang Yuan instantly understood that what Zhang Zheng said in his mouth was actually white phosphorus containing a lot of impurities. White phosphorus has a very low ignition point and burns when exposed to air due to the accumulation of temperature. It's just that this thing is not very common, and there are no phosphorus-producing mines. At this time, the level of science and technology is simply not possible to mine such an unstable thing. On the other hand, in the mass graves on summer nights, phosphorus spilling from private bodies spontaneously combusts, which is called ghost fire.

Like Zhang Zhengfang, he is obsessed with studying the art of alchemy, and often exhausts himself to refine all kinds of rare things in the world, distinguish their nature, and investigate their efficacy. So there will be all kinds of discoveries that outsiders don't know. But I don't know how he used to refine this kind of thing.

"The second time I joined something. Is it also a drug? Listen to you, it's a piece of iron. Is it really a piece of iron? Wang Yuan asked.

Zhang Zhengyi smiled and said: "It is indeed an iron piece, and the handsome man originally asked to add sharp things to increase the killing power of the explosion." Adding some pieces of broken iron is based on the request of the marshal. It's just that this iron piece added to it has a different effect, and it has to be said that it is the will of God. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and thought for a moment, then stretched his brows and laughed.

"I see, no wonder you have to shake the ** count. I suspect that it must be a piece of iron** rubbing against this flammable yellow phosphorus to create a temperature that is about to catch fire. Then throw the **, and the final impact will be enough to make the yellow phosphorus ignite and burn, thereby igniting the powder and exploding, right? ”

"Dashuai is really smart, that's exactly what happened. Unexpectedly, Dashuai suddenly understood the truth. Zhang Zhengyi praised.

The surrounding people were dumbfounded, it turned out that this ** explosion had to be designed like this, which was unheard of. This Zhang Zhengyi is really a strange person, and he can actually devote himself to studying the truth and use it one by one, so as to achieve the final desired effect.

"Zhang Zhenren, you really make the prime minister admire. These are interlocking to achieve the ultimate goal, and it is really hard to feel the way around. If it weren't for you Zhang Zhenren, I'm afraid no one in the world would have thought of this solution. Wang Yuan exclaimed.

Zhang Zhengyi hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Dashuai praises, we and other Fang Shi don't have any other skills, but we have some ability to concentrate on meditation and research." Apart from these things, the old decay doesn't know anything. ”

Wang Yuan said: "Zhang Zhenren, can I ask how you refined this yellow phosphorus." Since I need this thing, I don't know if it is difficult to refine it, and whether it is difficult to obtain the raw materials needed. Or where do you need to go to buy in large quantities? ”

Zhang Zhengyi shook his head and smiled: "Actually, it's not difficult at all, but I'm afraid that saying it will make the handsome feel uncomfortable." The ingredients used are actually quite common. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "Can you elaborate?" ”

Zhang Zhengyi: "It's very simple, the raw material only needs the urine of people or livestock, and then sand, white lime and charcoal powder. ”

Everyone was stunned, it was unbelievable that urine was needed.

"Mixing sand, charcoal and lime into the urine, cooking and distilling to remove the residue, you can get a belly fire. It's just that the output is very small. Don't hide it from the handsome, a few small spoons in this cloth bag were steamed with more than a dozen pots of urine. When the old decay was alchemy, in fact, there were very few things in it