He was enthusiastic about the construction of the caravan because he hoped that after the caravan was established, he could sell "salicylylated dan" and buy back nitrate as gunpowder as soon as possible. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The amount of gunpowder nitrate used is the largest, and there are all the sulfur and lead in the barracks, but there is no nitrate, and the three-eyed gun cannot be used. The day before yesterday, when Ma San was rounded up, the bottom was leaked, and the sun fell and I was worried that once the news spread, the Tiemu camp would not have a peaceful life.

Now that the caravan shopkeeper and the account room are all right, the sun fell and he told Sun Yi his worries and urged the caravan to set off as soon as possible.

Sun Yi felt a little strange, "Didn't the flower head cabinet say that gunpowder can't be obtained?" ”

The sun fell and replied: "I don't know." The Ming court controlled gunpowder, and the strictest control was sulfur. Sulfur is only available in the south, and it is not produced outside the border at all, that is, a firecracker, as long as there is sulfur on the twist, the border army will not release it. But nitrate is different, there are many saline-alkali lands inside and outside the side wall, and many people boil nitrate privately. ”

Sun Yiyi: "In this case, there are also a lot of saline-alkali land in Langshan River, we might as well boil nitrate by ourselves, wouldn't it be faster?" ”

Jia Daoshi said: "Lidel Ye is in a hurry, and the nitrate will not appear on the ground until the cold winter wax moon, at least after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and then it can be refined." ”

Ha Laocai also said: "When I was young, my family was indeed boiling nitrate in winter. ”

Sun Yi motioned to Ha Laocai to continue.

Ha Laocai said: "When I was young, my family was poor, and the old man was thrifty, so I had to boil nitrate for some household use every winter." As soon as it dawned in winter, I had to go out and scrape the nitrate. In the sheepfold, the thatched latrine, the roots of the old walls, and the alkaline fields where the crops do not grow well, a white layer of nitrate is like mold from eating in summer. I carried a basket covered with cloth and a dirt scraper, and my hands were full of holes in the cold of winter. When the old people in the family have saved enough nitrate, they boil out nitrate, salt, and brine. The brine is sold to those who make tofu, the salt is eaten by themselves, and the nitrate is secretly sold to those who make artillery battles. My family boils good nitrate, and those who do artillery are willing to buy it, and they give me a few hemp thunder seeds every time they come back. ”

Sun Yi asked, "Do you remember how to boil nitrate?" ”

Ha Laocai replied: "Put the scraped nitrate into the tank, soak it overnight, skim off the debris floating on the surface, and then add water to the pot and boil." When the water is boiled, the salt is precipitated first, and the remaining brine is left overnight, and then the precipitated is crude nitrate. Add crude nitrate to water, add a little bran skin, refine it again, and put it overnight to precipitate pure nitrate. ”

Sun Yi understood, turned to the sun, and announced: "You can also boil nitrate in summer." ”

The sun fell and wondered: "Is this true?" ”

Sun Yi replied affirmatively: "Seriously." ”

Sun Yi explained to everyone, "Do any of you know why nitrate is called nitrate? ”

Jia Daoist replied, "Where nitrate is dissipated when it enters the water, it is called elimination." ”

During the Ming Dynasty, nitrate was sometimes written as the elimination of three points of water, and sometimes as the nitrate of stones. When writing about the elimination of water at three points, it mostly refers to sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is easily soluble in water and disappears when it is added to water. Writing about the nitrate of stone, it mostly refers to saltpeter, which is calcium nitrate. When used as gunpowder, the two have the same effect.

Sun nodded in agreement, adding:

"In addition to the fact that nitrate disappears when it comes to water, it also has a characteristic, that is, it disappears when it is heated. In summer, when the weather is hot and the nitrate is gone, it is invisible, and in the winter, when the weather is cold, the nitrate naturally precipitates out, forming a white layer, which is what Mr. Ha scraped when he was a child. ”

Seeing that several people had followed their own train of thought, Sun Yi continued:

"Actually, the nitrate is still there in the summer, it's just not visible. When you go to a place where there is nitrate, you just need to dig up all the nitrate and soil. The nitrate content of nitrate soil is lower than that of hoarfrost in winter, but as long as there is enough nitrate, it can still boil out nitrate. ”

The reason is clear at one point, and the sun is falling and I can't wait to ask: "Dare to ask how to find the nitrate?" ”

Sun Yiyi: "It's very simple, where there is nitrate in winter, there will be it in summer." ”

Ha Laocai woke up: "That is to say, in the sheepfold, thatched toilets, old wall roots, and alkaline fields where crops do not grow well, you can dig nitrate soil and come back to boil nitrate in summer!" ”

I couldn't wait for the sun to fall, "The camp just decided to build a new latrine, so I'll send someone to dig some soil in the old thatched pit and try it back!" ”

Sun Yiyi: "Tell you a way to measure the nitrate, sprinkle the soil on the red-hot carbon, if the soil contains nitrate, it will explode sparks." ”

Sun Yi added: "I remember that there is a salt lake near here. Some salt lakes have also dissolved the nitrate, so you can send someone there to boil some brine to try. ”

The sun fell and hurriedly asked: "When I crossed the salt lake this winter, I sent soldiers to dig up a lot of salt and bring it back, if there is nitrate in the water, will there be nitrate in the salt?" ”

Sun Yi thought for a while, "If it is salt dug in winter, if it contains nitrate, the content will be higher, you can try it." ”