On 21 February, news came from the capital: Luo Zhending was found to have been corrupt and perverted the law, and was guilty of embezzling 56,700 taels of military salaries during his three-year tenure in the Zhenhai camp of Tian0jin, and was even guilty of annexing the property of good people, and the crime of privately transferring the soldiers and horses of the general barracks to pursue personal gains. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoAt the same time, Luo's house was raided, and all the stolen property was confiscated to supplement Luo Zhending's embezzled military salary.

Luo Zhending's family members were all driven out of the General Military Mansion, and those who had relatives and friends defected to relatives and friends, and those who did not have relatives and friends went to live on the streets.

Fortunately, Luo Zhending was strict and did not confess to bribing officials from all walks of life in Tianjin, otherwise the counterattack of these officials would make Luo Zhending's abandonment of the city and turn into a Zhu clan.

When the news came, Tian0jin's officialdom was shocked. When all the officials saw the fate of the Luo family, they all secretly said that Li Zhi was favored by the Son of Heaven and could not be bullied. Those who had coveted Li Zhi's industry before were so frightened that they hurriedly stopped at this time, and Li Zhi's position in Tian0jin officialdom was a little more stable in a short period of time.

Li Zhi saw the reactions of these people in his eyes and was secretly happy. Being able to deter these small debris greatly improved the safety of Li Zhi's property.

On the night when the news came, Li Zhi wore the imperial flying fish suit and feasted his subordinates in the official hall of Fanjiazhuang. Hundreds of managers and officers from various lines had a lively and sumptuous dinner party. At the banquet, Li Zhi was very happy and toasted table by table. Everyone was also very excited, and drank heartily one by one.

The lively banquet announced to the outside world that Li Zhi had won a great victory in this struggle.

Hearing that the general soldier who coveted the general's industry was abandoned by the Son of Heaven, the people of Fanjiazhuang were also very happy. The general's property was preserved, and the good life of the people of Fanjiazhuang was preserved. Many wealthy families set off firecrackers, and children chased and frolicked around the firecrackers, and the city was full of joy.

After a night of trouble, Fanjiazhuang gradually quieted down when he arrived.

Li Zhi drank a lot of wine, and the next day when the sun was high, he got up and saw Cui He grooming in front of the bronze mirror with a big belly.

Li Zhi still had some alcohol on his body, and said to Cui He: "Lady, your mirror is too cold, I'll make you a mirror that can see your eyelashes clearly!" ”

Cui He turned around happily and said hurriedly: "That's what you said!" Don't go back on it! ”

Li Zhi Cui He's childishness amused him, and said with a smile: "Hang yourself with a hook, it will not change for a hundred years!" ”

Cui He knew that Li Zhi was laughing at her for being naïve again, so he turned his head back as soon as he pouted.

Li Zhi got up from the bed, but really decided to make a glass mirror. The effect of the bronze mirror in this era is so poor that you can only vaguely look at your eyes and nose. It is said that in this era, Taoist priests would use tin amalgamation to grind copper mirrors to make a mirror surface that could be seen with hairs, but the coating of such copper mirrors would soon fall off without protection, and it was not economically feasible. Li Zhi traveled through three years, and he didn't see any household that used tin amalgamation and copper mirrors.

Li Zhi wants to make tin amalgam glass mirrors. These mirrors reflect light with tin amalgam and protect the tin amalgam plating with glass and tree lacquer, which not only clearly illuminates the face, but is also durable.

But to make such a mirror, you must first make a tin amalgam alloy. Tin is easy to do, and there are merchants operating on the Tian0jin Acropolis. Li Zhi sat on the bed, wondering where to get mercury on a large scale. After thinking about it, Li Zhi didn't have a clue and decided to ask.

Li Zhi recruited Xue Yuanwai, who was engaged in alkaline noodles. Xue Yuan traveled from south to north and knew many people. Now that Li Zhigui is commanding Tongzhi from the second grade, of course he doesn't need to come to the door in person when he sees a businessman, just send someone to summon him.

Xue Yuanwai heard the call of the guerrilla general and rushed over from Tian0jin City. After entering the official hall and seeing Li Zhi, Xue Yuan knelt down and took a seat.

Hearing Li Zhi's inquiry, Xue Yuanwai arched his hand and said, "Guerrilla Lord, as far as I know, there are no merchants in Tian0jin City who operate mercury!" ”

Li Zhi was a little disappointed and asked, "Then what if I want a large amount of mercury?" ”

Xue Yuanwai thought for a while and said, "Adults can buy cinnabar from the medicinal herb shop, and then find someone to refine mercury." ”

"Looking for someone to refine mercury? Who to look for? ”

Xue Yuanwai said: "I know a true Taoist priest below, he has a pomegranate jar for refining mercury, and I will introduce him to adults!" ”

Li Zhi replied: "Thanks to Xue Yuanwai's introduction!" ”

Xue Yuanwai said: "This Taoist priest is called Cao Shoudao, and he lives in the Tian0jin Acropolis. If you want to see the Taoist priest's live demonstration, why don't you go to the Taoist priest's house with me to find him! ”

"Then let's go together!"

Li Zhi took a few family members to hold flags and waving flags, and rode horses with Xue Yuanwai to the Tian0jin Acropolis. Li Zhi entered Tian0jin City and found that the Taoist priest's house was located in the west of the city, which was a small courtyard with two entrances, which was quite elegantly furnished. When Li Zhi saw the courtyard, he felt that this was a true Taoist.

Xue Yuanwai patted the courtyard door, and a child with a head and a horn opened the courtyard door. Xue Yuanwai explained his intentions, and the child ran into the courtyard to report the news, and after a while, a Taoist priest wearing a scarf and a French uniform came and welcomed the two into the courtyard.

There is a Dan furnace in the courtyard, and the side room is full of large and small clay pots, it seems that this is a Taoist priest who can make gold.

The Taoist priest was tall and thin, with a long beard and a whisk in his clothes. He didn't put on a show, and when he saw Li Zhi's outfit, he knelt down and saluted, and then stood up and spoke.

"In the Lower Heavenly Master Sect Path, the Taoist name is Cao Shoudao, and the Taoist name is Void and Scattered. I've seen adults. ”

Li Zhi asked kindly: "Will Daoist Cao extract mercury?" ”

"In the next meeting, it is extracted from pomegranate jars! If you want to see it, you can demonstrate it live! ”

"Then the official will take a look!"

Cao Shoudao took the two into the house, took out a pottery jar, and said, "This is a pomegranate jar!" ”

Li Zhi nodded.

Cao Shoudao took out a paper bag from a clay pot in the wing room, opened it and saw that it was a bag of cinnabar ground into powder.

He filled the jar of cinnabar powder into the pomegranate jar until it was nine points full. Then stuff the inside of the neck with rice ash. Fabricate a tile cover that is the same size as the mouth of the can, with a hole in the middle, and tie a cross line on the tile cover with a filament to tie it firmly to the mouth of the can.

Cao Shoudao reversed the pomegranate jar and inserted it on top of a "water jug" with the same aperture, a certain depth, and filled with water. The interface between the two is sealed, and then the two connected cans are hung in the "Danzao", and the bottom and all sides of the jug are filled with soil, and only the pomegranate cans are exposed to the soil surface.

The next step is to place a charcoal fire on the soil surface and bake the pomegranate pot around and on the top surface. The main component of cinnabar is mercury sulfide, which decomposes into sulfur and mercury vapor when heated. The mercury vapor is highly toxic, but Cao Shoudao's device is sealed, and all the mercury vapor flows into a tank of cold water below to cool down.

Sure enough, not long after heating, liquid mercury was seen in the jar below.