The next morning, after surveying the area around the salt lake and obtaining several different samples, Wang Yuan decided to return immediately. It is not beneficial to stay here for a long time, and the Tubo patrol soldiers and horses in Bison City may find out the whereabouts of the three of them at any time, and it will not be a joke at that time. is targeted in the desert, and I am afraid that I will end up with Wang Ji and Luo Xizao.

Seven days later, Wang Yuan returned to Yazhou smoothly, rested for one night in the village where the old guide lived, and returned to Chengdu the next afternoon. Along the way, Wang Yuan fed the yellow horse a lot of boiled salt, the purpose of which was to determine whether the salt was really safe. Wang Yuan worries that a small amount of intake may not be unusual, but if it is consumed for a long time, it may bring serious consequences. But the yellow hused horse was full of energy along the way, and he couldn't see the slightest abnormality, and Wang Yuan finally put his mind at ease.

After returning to Chengdu, the first thing Wang Yuan did was to send several unknown things obtained to Zhang Zhengyi and Jiang Zhenren for identification, and these things could only be consulted by these two scholars. Soon, in the afternoon of the next day, Zhang Zhengyi and Jiang Zhenren came to Wang Yuan's mansion under the leadership of Liu Xunzhi to ask for a meeting, and Wang Yuan placed tea in the shade of the atrium and received the two alchemists.

"Gentlemen, is there any good news? Is my fire recipe practiced? Wang Yuan sat on a chair drinking tea and looked at the two excited squares in front of him.

Zhang Zhengyi and Jiang Zhenren's faces were suddenly full of shame, and they were speechless. Wang Yuan laughed and said, "Just kidding, I know you're still working hard." I guess I recognized what I gave you. ”

Zhang Zhengyi hurriedly said: "Yes, fortunately, I didn't disgrace my life, Lao Yu and Jiang Zhenren stayed awake all night, and figured out what the handsome gave us to identify." The yellow grains of salt in this bag were a mixture of coarse salt and a lot of strange impurities. The decay was separated by washing it with water, and salt and miscanthus and other unidentified debris were obtained. The amount of miscanthus accounts for the vast majority. ”

Wang Yuan was surprised: "Manganese? It turned out that it was mixed with miscanthus salt, but I didn't expect that there was miscanthus in the salt lake. ”

Jiang Zhenren: "It turns out that Dashuai obtained this kind of thing from the salt lake, so it is not surprising. ”

Wang Yuan was shocked to tell the truth, he had planned not to mention this matter, so as not to cause trouble. After coming back, he and the old guide told him not to mention the matter, but he didn't expect that he had leaked his mouth. But it doesn't matter, the alchemists shouldn't suspect anything.

"It's true that it was obtained from the salt lake, but I didn't know that the salt lake actually produced manganese, and I thought it was all salt." Wang Yuan said with a smile.

"Dashuai doesn't know that salt and nitrate are one thing, and where there is salt, there must be miscanthus salt. Lao Yu once heard that there was a salt lake in the territory of the Turkic country in the north of the Tang Dynasty. The local people fish for salt in summer and nitrate in winter, and salt and nitrate are dissolved in the lake water at the same time, which can be seen. "Jiang Zhenren is humane.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "I see." But I don't know why it's salt in summer and nitrate in winter. What makes sense of this? ”

"This ...... Lao Yu has done this investigation, and specially verified it with salt and nitrate mixture. The so-called summer is nothing more than the high temperature, the water temperature is also high, and the water vapor is transpiration, which will make the dissolved salt in the water analyzed, similar to the method of drying salt or boiling salt. But this miscanthus is different from salt, a bucket of water or dissolved salt is one liter, but this miscanthus nitrate can be dissolved as much as two liters. And even if the salt is completely precipitated, this miscanthus is still in the water and does not precipitate. But how much this miscanthus dissolves in water depends on the temperature of the water. When the water temperature is so low that it is cold, it is difficult for a bucket of water to dissolve even half a liter of miscanthus salt, but salt does not have this property. Everything in the world has its own characteristics, which is the strange difference in its characteristics, which can be described as magical. "Jiang Zhenren is humane.

Wang Yuan understood, to put it bluntly, it was a matter of solubility. The solubility of miscanthus fluctuates greatly with the change of water temperature, while the salt remains basically unchanged. In summer, the salt crystallizes when the water evaporates, and in the winter, when the temperature drops, the salts in the water crystallize. Although it is a simple knowledge of junior high school chemistry in later generations, it is not easy to figure it out in this year. Jiang Zhenren is also a qualified alchemist, and if he can deliberately go to an experiment to test it, he can be regarded as an ancient person with a strong desire for knowledge.

"The old decay and others use the method of steaming, and the cold water cannot be obtained in the summer. We dissolved all the poisonous salt that Dashuai brought in clean water, boiled it in a kettle, and poured boiling water when the water was halfway dry. What is precipitated under the copper kettle is table salt. Take out the salt, continue to boil the soup, and when the soup is almost dry, pour out the wastewater, and what is precipitated in the kettle is miscanthus salt. Sixty percent of a pound of poisonous salt is miscanthus salt, thirty percent is salt, and the rest of the ten percent is not known to us, so we can only dump it with the wastewater. "Zhang Zhengyi.

Wang Yuan nodded, miscanthus nitrate is toxic, but what is even more toxic is the unknown substance in the dumped wastewater. There must be a variety of compounds there, and there is no need for many highly toxic things, and some can kill people with just a little bit, so there is no need to dwell on this.

"The two of you are very powerful, and there is such a way to separate salt from miscanthus salt, but it doesn't need to be winter or summer. Ay...... It's a pity that these cancanthus salts are not what I hope for, except for your alchemy and medicinal uses. It's a pity that it can't be used for ambush fires. Wang Yuan said with regret.

Zhang Zhengyi: "Yes, it's a pity, the miscanthus is not very effective in the use of the fire side, it is indeed a pity." However, miscanthus can be used for medicinal purposes, and it can be used for alchemy, and it is also very useful. ”

Wang Yuan sighed and said: "Come on, I'm not interested in alchemy, this thing is worthless in my opinion, if it is fire and salt, how good it would be, we won't let Mr. Liu mobilize the people to sweep the pigs, sheepfolds, and livestock sheds in the whole territory of Jiannan Province." ”

Zhang Zhengyi smiled and said: "Don't worry, you have good news to tell you." ”

Wang Yuan was stunned and said, "What? ”

Zhang Zheng smiled and took out a cloth bag and spread it out, which was a large piece of colorful crystalline things collected by Wang Yuan.

"We recognize this thing that the big marshal brought. This kind of thing must have been obtained by Dashuai in the salt lake. ”

"yes, what is it?" Wang Yuan asked hurriedly.

"Congratulations, congratulations. This thing is called treasure saltpeter in the mouth of our Fangshi, not only because of its colorful shape like a gemstone, but also because this saltpeter is very rare. The old decay has been refining medicine for decades, and the obtained thing is only a few jars. That's a good thing. Zhang Zhengyi said with a smile.

Wang Yuan said: "Treasure saltpeter? Can it be used as a fire ambush? ”

Zhang Zhengyi rolled his eyes, the only thing the marshal cared about was whether it could be used as a fire party, but he didn't ask what the value of this thing was.

"Treasure saltpeter is also not to be used for fire salt." Zhang Zhengyi said honestly.

Wang Yuan was greatly disappointed and sighed: "What kind of good news is that? It's not a gemstone, and it can only be alchemy, what's the use? ”

Zhang Zhengyi smiled and said, "Don't worry. If you look at it from the perspective of decay, the treasure saltpeter is quite valuable, although it can not be directly used for the ingredients of the fire party, but it can be slightly converted to get the fire nitrate. ”

Wang Yuan exclaimed: "Can this thing be transformed into fire nitrate? That's great. ”

Zhang Zhengyi: "Of course, the treasure saltpeter and the plant ash are blended in the water and boiled at high temperature, and the things obtained after the water is dried are fire nitrate. It's just that...... It's just that it's tyrannical. According to the ancient Dan book, alchemy with treasure saltpeter has a chance to get the pill of gods and ghosts, and the body of the suit is as light as a swallow and floats like a fairy, which is the best raw material for the refining of the elixir. Didn't the marshal consider using these precious saltpeters to refine the elixir? ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said, "What elixir to practice? I don't want to become an immortal, I just need to become a fire and practice the fire. It's okay now, the success of the fire side is expected, you have to work harder, there is no progress day by day, I'm very anxious. ”

Zhang Zhengyi and Jiang Zhenren glanced at each other, and they were secretly deflated in their hearts, they came to see Wang Yuan today, originally to persuade Wang Yuan to use these treasures and saltpeters to practice the elixir, but obviously Wang Jiedu was not interested, and wasted these precious raw materials in vain.

"However, I promise you, as long as you complete the refining of the Fuhuo Fang for me, I can give you some precious saltpeter for you to practice the elixir. After practice, you go to become immortals, but I also know two immortals, hahaha. Wang Yuan said with a smile.

Zhang Zhengyi and Jiang Zhenren were overjoyed, and finally had some hope. However, he still asked uneasily: "Dashuai, is there a lot of this treasure saltpeter in Dashuai's hands?" It's not easy to see. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "There is everything, there are too many, you put one hundred and twenty-four hearts." Enough for you to refine the elixir. ”

Wang Yuan didn't say a big deal, on the salt lake beach, there were a lot of this colorful so-called treasure saltpeter, and the clusters looked like flowers growing on the poisonous salt. The lumps are raised like cones and can be seen almost every few steps. Given the size of the salt lake, the content is staggering. To say that there is everything, it is not to brag.

Seeing off the two alchemists, Wang Yuan was in a very happy mood. The harvest of this trip to Salt Lake was so huge that Wang Yuan did not expect. Picking grass and beating rabbits by the way, not only has salt, but also has raw materials for fire and nitrate, which can really be described as God's favor. Now there is only one thing left, to negotiate cooperation with Yang Guozhong in reselling illicit salt and to get Yang Guozhong's approval to mobilize troops and horses to take Bison City. These two things are not clear in the letter, Wang Yuan decided to go to the capital and personally handle these two things.