In order to solve the shortage of nitrate, Sun Yi repeatedly considered a plan in the past two days to establish a nitrate field. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Because in Europe in the five years of Chongzhen, Britain, France, Sweden and other countries are using the method of nitrate to deal with the contradiction of insufficient supply of nitrate after the emergence of breech guns.

The general procedure for establishing a nitrate field in Europe at this time was to dig a trench and then coat the surface of the trench with clay, and accumulate manure, rotting leaves, plants and urine in the ditch, and the dung heap was mixed with lime and plant ash, as well as large and small branches and straw to breathe. Every week, workers add urine and fecal water to keep the ditch moist. Flip once a month.

When the nitrate is ripe, workers use pure rainwater to leach the salt solution from the ditch, and then use the wood to boil and extract the nitrate from it. If it works well, the field produces about 2-4.5 kg of nitrate per cubic meter of raw material every two years.

Nitrate technology reached its peak in 1862 during the American Civil War. The Southern Army's manual for cultivating nitrate clearly pointed out that if the manure is directly used as raw material, the nitrate will mature in six to eight months.

Sun Yi's concern about the technology of the nitrate field is mainly about the raw materials.

Salt fields need manure, and grain fields need manure.

You can't have it both ways.

In later generations, there was a scolding saying called "manure machine", if there was such a machine, Sun Yi would like to order a few immediately.

Now that Hu Donkey suddenly mentioned this matter, Sun Yi immediately asked, "Could it be that you have any ideas?" ”

Hu Donkey said: "This is a secret recipe, which has been circulated in the mountains for many years. ”

"The lord saved my life and gave us the field. The purpose of boiling nitrate is also to protect us, so I will dedicate this secret recipe to see if I can help everyone. ”

Sun Yi felt a burst of gratitude in his heart, "You speak slowly." ”

Hu Donkey calmed his breath, "In fact, you can grow nitrate like a mushroom: set up a thick bamboo bowl in the thatched pit, drill holes in the bamboo, as long as a year later, the bamboo is planed, and the inside is full of fine nitrate, and it can be used as firecrackers directly into the sulfur." ”

Sun Yi immediately paid attention, "Have you ever planted it yourself?" ”

Hu Donkey nodded, "This method was passed on to me by my grandfather, and I passed it on to me again, when we were in the mountains, we planted it every year." ”

Hu Donkey's secret recipe for nitrate is basically to simulate the natural growth environment of nitrate, and it is valuable to realize the separation of nitrate and manure, without delay.

Sun Yi immediately turned his head and shouted sullenly, "Go quickly, Wang Erniu and Ha Laocai are invited!" ”

Wang Erniu has been busy building public toilets these days, and it seems that part of his public toilet pit is going to be rebuilt.

According to Sun Yi's understanding, the chemical composition of nitrate is sodium nitrate. Then there are two necessary conditions for the formation of nitrate, one is sodium ion and the other is nitrate ion.

The urine of humans and animals contains sodium ions, and there are many saline-alkali areas near the camp in the woods, so sodium ions are not a problem.

Nitrate is mainly formed by the decay of organic matter under the action of nitrifying bacteria.

The "organic matter" here can be completely put in another way, that is, manure.

The environment suitable for the survival of nitrifying bacteria requires humidity, aerobic, and protection from light.

Hu Donkey's method is to insert bamboo vertically in the manure pit, using bamboo joints to seal the manure and rainwater into the bamboo, but drill out horizontal through holes to allow air circulation and a small amount of manure water to enter, and at the same time meet the requirements of moisture, aerobic, and light.

Sun Yi sincerely admired the wisdom in this method, so he praised Hu Donkey fiercely,

"Captain Hu, your mushrooms, fungus, soft land, and nitrate are amazing!"

Hu Donkey was a little embarrassed to be praised, "People in the mountains have no land, so they have to use these things as crops, in fact, many people can." ”

Sun Yiyi paused, "That's good! In fact, these things can be eaten and used, and they are crops. It seems that growing crops is not only about planting the land, but also about planting these fine ...... Fine crops. ”

Sun Yiyi wanted to talk about bacteria and fungi, but the people of the Ming Dynasty definitely did not understand these later words, so they temporarily changed their words. "Captain Hu, although you are not good at farming, you can definitely be regarded as a well-known crop! Specialized fine crop handle type! ”

As the saying goes, if you learn to be a craftsman in three years, you can't learn to be a farmer in a lifetime. Sun Yi's comment made Hu Donkey suddenly feel that the hard work of the past few days was worth it.

When Wang Erniu and Ha Laocai arrived, both of them were amazed by this method.

Ha Laocai suggested, "In fact, there is no need to wait until the New Year to harvest bamboo nitrate, according to the experience of boiling nitrate soil in these days, although the nitrate can not be seen in summer, but the output of boiling nitrate is actually not less than that in winter, you can stuff grass clippings and mud in the bamboo, and boil it directly when the time comes." ”

Hu Donkey immediately agreed, and he also knew in the past few days that the nitrate melts in the soil in the summer.

In fact, nitrifying bacteria grow and reproduce the fastest when the temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius, and nitrification cannot be carried out when the temperature is lower than 5 °C or higher than 42 °C. So in the summer, the production of nitrate is actually the highest. The people of the Ming Dynasty did not understand the truth here, and waited until winter to hang nitrate, but wasted a lot of nitrate and was washed away by the rain.

Sun Yi also made a suggestion.

"Captain Hu", Sun Yiyi, "Did you find that your method of planting nitrate is one step less than planting fungus, mushrooms, and planting land." ”

The three of them all looked at Sun Yi curiously, when will Lord Lidel also grow crops?

Sun Yi said, "You are missing seeds. ”

"Whether it's planting fungus, mushrooms, or ground softness, you will plant one or two mature ones first...... This one...... Small crops are used as seeds, but only nitrate, but you don't have this step. It's like planting the land without sowing seeds, but growing up on your own. ”

Hu Donkey was a little puzzled, "But what is this nitrate seed?" No one has ever seen it. ”

Sun Yi pondered for a moment and gave him an analogy: "Growing nitrate is like making wine, and nitrate seeds are actually similar to fermentation." It is possible to make sake without fermentation, but it will take much longer. ”

Ha Laocai seemed to understand a little, "Does the master mean that the yeast of nitrate is brine?" ”

Sun nodded, "Yes!" That's what I mean. ”

According to Sun Yichayue's information, nitrifying bacteria have a very unfavorable weakness, that is, they reproduce very slowly, and can only reproduce one generation in a few days, so it takes quite a long time to cultivate a sufficient number of nitrifying bacteria.

Hu Donkey's secret recipe relies on natural methods to build up nitrifying bacteria, and Sun Yi hopes to inject enough nitrifying bacteria at the beginning to skip the long initial growth phase, just like winemaking.

Wang Erniu didn't seem to understand very well and hesitated.

Hu Donkey said: "This is easy to do, let's just try it!" ”

Sun Yi nodded secretly, although the ancients did not have any theoretical guidance, but they had accumulated rich experience in the experiment. As a large agricultural country for thousands of years, a simple bamboo nitrate technology has thrown a few streets away from the nitrate field technology of the same period in Europe. It seems that in the future, if you can't think about it yourself, you have to consult these Ming Dynasty people more.

Sun Yi then said to a few of them: "In this way, tonight, take this topic to your forum for discussion, and see what other ideas come up, we can all give it a try." ”

As Sun Yiyi expected, in the evening, other formulas put forward many suggestions for improvement.

In the end, Hu Donkey's bamboo nitrate scheme became: use a basket or basket, coat the inner wall with brine and straw and thin mud, fill it with dead branches and grass and wood chips, sprinkle it on alkaline surface, and place it in a thatched pit.

It was also suggested that alkaline earth should be used to build an earthen wall in a thatched pit, with manure on one side and nitrate scraping on the other.

The Crop Handle King Stuffy Egg solemnly suggested that a special alkaline earth wall be built in the latrine, and the big guy would pee on the wall.

Wang Erniu, who was in charge of building the public toilets, adopted these suggestions one by one.

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References (not related to the plot, skip for uninterested readers)

Instructions of the Central Working Committee on the Production and Purchase of Raw Weapons (original)

(13 January 1948)

Handan, Shandong, Jinchaji, Jinsui, and all central bureaus reported to the Central Military Commission (forwarded to the Northwest Bureau, Central Plains Bureau, Chen Xie):

Now there is a huge amount of explosives needed ahead. Each district can also be manufactured in large quantities, and the effect is also very large. But now the production quantity is not large, and it cannot supply the needs of the front. In addition to financial difficulties, the main reason for the inability to produce large quantities is the lack of supply of raw materials such as nitroglycerin. But these raw materials can be produced in large quantities in our area. As long as the masses are mobilized, production can be increased several times or even tenfold. If the production of explosives can be expanded to the amount we need, it will have a decisive effect on the victory of siege warfare. To this end, the Central Bureaux is required to:

(1) Immediately launch a large-scale mass campaign to boil the nitrate. All localities that can boil nitrate, especially in central Hebei, Yinan, Hebei, Henan, Bohai, and many places in the northwest, must be organized. It is necessary to complete the nitrate required for this year by May this year. Because it's hard to survive in the summer. It is hoped that in addition to fulfilling the original plans of the various regions, the whole region will produce tens of millions of catties of nitrate to meet the needs of the war. At the same time, the use of slack time to boil nitrate can increase peasants' incomes, which is beneficial to both public and private interests.

(2) Sulfur-producing places, such as Jinsui, should be arranged to produce a large amount of sulfur, which should be able to cooperate with the production of nitrate.

(3) It is necessary to massively increase glycerin production (no public announcement is allowed). For this reason, in order to control the manufacture of all public and private soaps, glycerin must be extracted before soap is made. This spring, a variety of hemp seeds (castor beans) are arranged to make glycerin.

(4) A lot of copper is used to make shells and bullets. All districts should pay attention to the purchase of copper dollars and money (hemp money) as much as possible in the process of land reform.

(5) The above items should be produced and purchased as much as possible. The price shall be reasonably set by each district. Other savings should be made to ensure the purchase of these vital arms raw materials or to offset a portion of the public food funds. In the newly liberated areas, explosives must be manufactured in all areas where nitrate and sulfur are produced. Technicians can be transferred from the old district.

All districts should inform the Central Working Committee of the arrangement and progress of the above work. In order to plan to expand the production of explosives this year according to the signal of raw material production in each district.

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"September 37 of the Republic of China, Announcement No. 2 of the Office of the Taihang Administrative Inspector" (original)

In view of the fact that there is a lot of nitrate in various parts of Taihang District, it is required to speed up the transformation of finished nitrate soil and improve the productive income of farmers' sideline business. Much-needed raw materials were provided for the arms industry. It stipulates the content of the measures to help farmers boil nitrate and manage:

A: Give all kinds of convenience to the people who boil nitrate in production and marketing.

1. The Authority buys out the nitrate;

2. Ensure a certain production profit;

3. For those who are willing to learn to boil nitrate, the Sulfur Bureau may be responsible for ensuring the church;

4. If there are capital and technical difficulties, the Nitrate Bureau is responsible for solving them.

B: The regulations on the problem of scraping the soil by the people who boil the nitrate are: all the nitrate on the open land, the nitrate workers can scrape it at will, and no one shall obstruct and interfere with it without reason, and the nitrate soil in the people's homes should also start from the development of industry, and the workers can be called to scrape the soil. As for the boiling workers, the person who should be consulted agreed to scrape the soil again, but he should have a good attitude towards the masses and not be allowed to undermine any discipline. If the masses ask for a price, they should give a certain amount of compensation, but the masses must not deliberately raise prices and hinder the development of production. Anything like the soil on the wall of the house is forbidden to scrape the nitrate, so as not to damage the house, and the offender will be punished.

C: In order to ensure the supply of industrial raw materials, it is forbidden to smuggle fire-fired gunpowder to the enemy, and it is not allowed to buy and sell fire-fired gunpowder privately internally. If there is a speculative private dealer who is specifically for the purpose of making money, he will be confiscated and punished, and the person who is found will be given an appropriate bonus to encourage him.

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"Taihang District Nitrate Management Bureau Lucheng Planting Nitrate Soil, Cultivating Nitrate Source Experience" (original excerpt)

First, with water and brine with some wheat bran and into thin mud, wipe into the toilet, temple, house and other walls with alkaline soil, seven to ten days to become alkaline soil, can produce three catties of nitrate, each worker can plant fifteen loads of soil.

Second, splash the brine on the nitrate land, and it will become faster.

Both of the above are more than one-third of the general soil.