At nightfall, in a certain official palace in Tancheng.

At this moment, Lu Ren was standing quietly in front of the window, looking at the slightly closed eyes, as if he was thinking about something. And in the courtyard of the pavilion where he was, except for a few maids left in the hall on the first floor, there was no one else in the entire courtyard, and there were soldiers in front of the courtyard who were strictly guarded.

As for Lu Ren standing in front of the window on the second floor, blowing the cold wind of the midwinter season, anyone would think that Lu Ren was thinking about something, but in fact......

"Master, according to the results of the analysis and calculation I have just made, what you envisaged is somewhat unrealistic, master."

"Really? No way? You've seen some of those old movies, right? Just a few brick-sized explosive packets, I think it's very powerful! ”

"Master, although I don't know much about art, I can see that it belongs to artistic processing. In fact, according to the existing conditions you said by the master, the production can only be made of home, and the power is very limited. In general, you have to figure out the difference between home-made ** and standard explosives. The latter can only be obtained by fine chemical processing, but in the era in which the master is now living, there are no conditions for fine chemical processing. ”

“…… Shirley, I can understand what you're saying. But I'm thinking, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the early People's Liberation Army did not have the ability to chemically refine, but the explosives they made were not the same as those that could blow up pillboxes and city walls? At that time, the bunkers and city walls were already mature masonry structures, and I only had rammed earth structures here, not to mention that I just wanted to blast open the wooden city gates, so even if I almost got the gunpowder, there should be no problem, right? ”

"Master, you made a logical mistake in your thinking, you ignored that in that era, although the logistics supply of the Eighth Route Army was backward, they still had their own military facilities, and the raw materials of gunpowder could be refined to a certain extent, becoming a product between the home-made ** and the standard explosives, and by that era, there had been more than a thousand years since the invention of gunpowder, and many of the changes and developments had to be taken into account."

"What does Shirley mean by you, what is the gunpowder I can make?"

"You're welcome, master, you can get it, I think it can only be regarded as something with a more intense burning nature, and it may be a bit reluctant to make ordinary fireworks and firecrackers. Another point is that you don't have experience in chemical processing and gunpowder making, and it is easy to cause accidents in the production process, so I don't recommend you to make it. ”

"Fireworks? Firecrackers? If that thing were bigger, it would be powerful, right? ”

"Master, are you so desperate to make lethal gunpowder?"

"Nonsense!"

“…… All right. I have collected several materials here that may be able to further purify saltpeter and sulfur under the conditions at your disposal, and probably reach the level of gunpowder of the explosive packs made during the Anti-Japanese War. However, according to the calculations I have just made, it will take at least 30 kilograms of medicine to blow open the wooden gate that you have described. To be on the safe side, I recommend 50 kilograms. At the same time, in order to achieve the impact force of the explosion, the compression process outside the drug must also meet the requirements. ”

"Fifty kilograms?" Although Lu Ren was blowing a cold wind with his eyes closed, he still felt sweat on his forehead: "This is still the weight after purification and processing, right?" It's a bit of nonsense, saltpeter and sulfur in this era are not so easy to get. Is there any other way? ”

"It's a pity, master, that you brought up the matter so suddenly this time, and that's all I could collect in two hours, and that's all you might be able to use. You must know that the productivity and chemical processing capacity of modern times are not comparable to the era in which you live now. It's unlikely that you'll be able to blow up such a heavy city gate with just a few explosive packs, and the only way to achieve your goal is to pile them up. But master, if you have to blow up, I suggest that you might as well switch to the breech gun, so that even if it is not finished, its kinetic energy is enough, and with the casting technology of the Han Dynasty, it can be cast into a qualified breech gun. ”

“…… You don't know how expensive iron and copper were in this era, a breech gun weighs thousands of pounds of copper or iron at every turn, and it takes a lot of time to cast it. I guess I haven't cast the cannon here yet, and Lao Guo has already released water to flood Xiapi, so it's better to make explosives bags quickly. Forget it, you send me the information, and I'll let Mi Zhu get as many raw materials as possible......"

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The sky was just beginning to dawn, but it was a little gray and gloomy because of the light rain in the sky. At this moment, Lu Ren's face and mood are as dark and gloomy as the sky is now.

More than thirty Lu clan disciples stood in a group in Lu Ren's courtyard, and they all looked at Lu Ren with a little nervousness. Thinking about it, these Lu family disciples have followed Lu Ren for some time since they moved to Xuchang until now. And the Lu Ren they saw on weekdays was a Lu Ren who was giggling all day long, always without a serious appearance, but they had never seen Lu Ren so gray and gloomy. Seeing Lu Ren become like this suddenly, these Lu family disciples were afraid that they could think of something big here with their toes, and they naturally became nervous for a while.

Lu Ren, who had a gloomy face, frowned, glanced coldly at these nervous Lu disciples, and said in a deep voice: "Don't be so nervous, what I want you to do is not a fatal errand, but the time is very tight." So I'm going to ask you to work hard these days and help me get it done as quickly as possible. ”

"The head of the family has a need, and I will wait to go to the soup and the fire!"

Lu Ren shook his head and waved his hand again: "I said don't be so nervous, I just want you to buy some things for me here in Tancheng separately." ”

"No!"

Lu Ren nodded lightly, took out six notes from his sleeve and shook them to the Lu family's disciples, "You are divided into six teams, go and buy back the things I wrote on the paper without missing anything." There are only a lot of catties, not a lot of them. There is one more thing you have memorized for me, this paper hides a secret recipe that I can't know, so you six teams must disperse and buy them separately in several markets in Tancheng. ”

Speaking of this, Lu Ren paused slightly, and then added: "There may be a few things that you can't buy in the market, at this time, you can go to the Mi family to help, and I have already said hello to Mi Beijia, he will give it to you." But you remember, although the things I want are not valuable, and the last time I was making sugar in Mi's Grange, I saw Mi's warehouse, and they have almost all the things I want, but I repeat again, these pieces of paper can hide secret recipes that I can't know, so you must not go to Mi's to help buy goods unless you have to, in case others peek out of the secret from the things you purchased, understand? ”

At that time, everyone knew the importance of a family secret recipe, especially the secret recipe belonging to a clan, which may be related to the prosperity and decline of the clan, so all the Lu clan's disciples responded in unison, and then the thirty or so people quickly divided into six teams according to Lu Ren's request, and received a note from Lu Ren's hand.

At this time, Lu Ren issued the last order: "Remember, get it done as soon as possible, don't leak it!" ”

Lu Ren's words were a bit fierce, and the children of the Lu family naturally did not dare to slack off: "Please rest assured, the head of the family!" ”

Just ten minutes later, the Lu family members all left the compound, and Lu Ren stood at the gate of the courtyard with his brows furrowed, and his figure in this drizzly and cloudy day looked a little gloomy......

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A few days later, Cao Yingzhong's army made a big tent.

Cao Cao stood against the railing, slowly put down the telescope in his hand, and frowned tightly. Just now, Lu Ren led his Lu disciples back to the Xiapi military camp from Tancheng. And when Lu Ren came back, he came back with a few more carriages carrying goods.

However, Cao Cao did not pay attention to the carriages, but Lu Ren's demeanor. After frowning his brows and thinking for a moment, Cao Cao said to Guo Jia behind him: "I think Gu and Yihao have known each other for several years, but in my memory, I have never seen Yihao so gloomy. Bonghyo, what did you say to Yihao that day? ”

Guo Jia shook his head lightly: "Actually, it's nothing, it's just that I told him some powerful relationships." ”

Cao Cao smiled weirdly: "Fengxiao, you hurt people a lot!" ”

Guo Jia also smiled back: "I just tested him, but I didn't expect this kid to be so serious." ”

"......" Cao Cao was speechless for a while before pointing at Guo Jia and shaking his head: "Fengxiao, your knife really stabbed him in the underbelly." Seeing Yihao's gloomy state, Gu Du felt bad and immediately went to ask him, or wait for him to calm down. But Feng Xiao, Yi Hao really has a way to directly break the Xiapi City Gate? ”

Guo Jia thought back to Lu Ren's expression and demeanor that day, then nodded lightly and said, "He also made it clear that he was not absolutely sure. But my lord, we have been unsuccessful in attacking Xiapi for several days, and if we continue like this, we will only increase the casualties, so what's the harm in letting Yihao try? Even if the matter of Yihao is not completed, there is no damage to the matter of the lord's siege of the city, just let my soldiers rest for a while. It's really not good, and there is only one way to use it. ”

said so, in fact, it is not a last resort, and Guo Jia doesn't really want to play with such a thing as flooding. Because this kind of water meter can easily cause a large-scale plague, it is better not to use it if it can be used, otherwise it will be troublesome for a plague to break out on Cao Cao's territory. Besides, how long will it take to get Xiapi after the water meter, Guo Jia doesn't know the bottom in his heart.

Cao Cao looked at Picheng again, and muttered: "Fengxiao, you go and tell Yihao, whatever he wants, Gu will make it convenient for him." ”