Because it has reached the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, it is time for the New Year in a few days, so in the stay of Yuxuzi, the traversers decided not to move for the time being, and will talk about it after the New Year. Therefore, after the New Year, he traveled through the crowd and other Taoist priests in the Yuxu Palace to decorate the Taoist temple, buy all kinds of New Year's goods, and began to work hard for the New Year.

During the period, the people of the business group took the opportunity to go into the city to purchase, and reached an agreement with Boss Chen of Tianfulou on all the details of the cooperation between the two sides, and agreed to sign a contract and start formal cooperation after Wang Feng's wedding. The text of the contract was provided by the people of the business team, which was far more detailed and standardized than the cooperation contract of this era that Boss Chen had seen before, and the rights and obligations of both parties were clearly written, and no loopholes could be found. This not only surprised Boss Chen, but also made him dispel a little worry about Zuihou, and no longer worried that his hard work would be taken away by this group of Taoist priests.

The problem of Tianfu Building has been solved, and the development of Jihua in the short term has been successfully completed. Especially with this unexpected gain of Feilong Village, it can be said that the task has been overfulfilled. In this regard, all the people who crossed the crowd were very happy, and the spirit of preparing for the New Year was also high. In order to add some atmosphere to the New Year, Wang Feng, who loves to play, went to Yuxuzi and asked if there were any firecrackers sold in the county.

Yu Xuozi didn't quite understand what he wanted at first, but after some explanation, he asked with some uncertainty: "What Senior Brother Wang said, is it something called a war?" ”

Although Wang Feng didn't know much about the name of firecrackers in ancient times, after Yu Xuzi described this kind of thing called explosive war, he was still able to confirm that this was what he wanted, so he asked, "Not bad, not bad." This is what the younger brother wants, does the senior brother know that this thing can be sold in Liangxiang City? ”

Yu Xuzi replied: "Although it is a custom of our Han people to celebrate the New Year, there are more such things as fireworks, and there are basically no workshops in Youzhou. According to the foolish brother in Liangxiang City, there is really no store for sale. If the junior brother wants to set off the fireworks, I'm afraid it's really a little difficult. ”

Hearing that firecrackers were not sold here, Wang Feng was inevitably a little disappointed. However, he did not give up there. Although he did not study chemistry, he still knew that the composition of black powder was saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, but he did not know the proportions. So, he didn't give up, and he took Yu Xuzi to find Liu Wendong, a chemical expert in the team, to ask him about the specific ratio, and then asked Yu Xuzi to send someone into the city to buy it.

Liu Wendong's inquiries about Wang Feng are naturally answered, after all, setting off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year is also quite attractive to him. After explaining the ratio of the three raw materials to Wang Feng, he asked Yuxuzi if he sold these three things in Liangxiang City.

Yu Xuzi was a little strange that Liu Wendong knew so well about this thing called gunpowder. Because as far as he knew, this kind of thing seemed to have been refined by some Taoist cultivators who cultivated Wai Dan in the process of alchemy. And this Senior Brother Liu was definitely not a Taoist priest before, and he didn't look like a craftsman, how could he be so familiar with this kind of thing. Therefore, he inadvertently asked Liu Wendong: "Has the junior brother ever refined Dan before, or made this kind of thing in the workshop?" ”。

Liu Wendong naturally couldn't tell him that he was an engineer in a chemical company before, and he was familiar with the production process and performance of many kinds of gunpowder and explosives. So he made up an excuse and said: "Senior brother misunderstood, the junior brother was not a Taoist priest before, let alone refining Dan." It's just that when the younger brother was overseas, he became acquainted with a craftsman in a gunpowder workshop, and because he thought it was fun, he went to his workshop to see him make this thing. Sometimes I see it and I have prepared it myself, so I know a little about this thing. ”

After hearing this, Yu Xuzi nodded clearly and said, "I see, no wonder." To say, these three ingredients are not valuable, especially charcoal, there are many of them. It's just that this saltpeter and sulfur are generally used as medicinal materials, and if you want to buy them, I'm afraid you have to go to the medicinal herb shops in the city to have a look. ”

As he spoke, he pinched his fingers and calculated, and said, "Today is the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month, if Senior Brother Wang wants to buy these ingredients, he must hurry." In two days, I am afraid that the pharmacy in the city may close for the New Year, and there will be nowhere to buy things. ”

When Wang Feng heard this, he hurriedly thanked Yu Xuzi and Liu Wendong, and went to find his cousin. He planned to ask Wang Kunjun to talk to the people from the business group who had gone into the city to purchase New Year's goods in the past few days, and by the way, he would bring back some saltpeter and sulfur, so that Liu Wendong could make gunpowder into firecrackers.

Although Wang Kunjun was very dissatisfied with Wang Feng's behavior of remembering one play at a time, he did not refuse Wang Feng's request considering that setting off firecrackers during the New Year could make the atmosphere more enthusiastic. He found Fan Wucheng, You Yuan and others who were in charge of procurement, and told them about Wang Feng's needs. Fan, You and others were also very interested in firing the artillery, so they naturally agreed. And soon began to act, and bought these two ingredients back that afternoon. Of course, the number is not very large. After all, these two things are sold as medicines in pharmacies, and the stock is limited.

Then, with the help of everyone, Liu Wendong used this limited ingredient to mix the charcoal stored in Shangguan to make black powder. Then I carefully rolled it with paper and inserted cotton paper stained with black powder as a lead, and only made a total of about 300 cannonballs the size of my thumb. Although these 300 firecrackers can be set off in less than a minute if they are really set off in a row, it is better than nothing. Of course, you can still put them one by one for a while.

However, after the artillery battle was completed, the question of the ownership of this thing became the focus of everyone's debate. Although it was Wang Feng's first request, but when the finished product was really there, the others in the crowd also moved their minds. Everyone wants to let a few have a good time, so naturally they don't want to let Wang Feng enjoy it alone. After some debate without reaching a result, the issue of the ownership of the firecrackers was brought to the committee for discussion.

Although Wang Kunjun was very opinionated by his cousin to find something for him, considering everyone's mood for the New Year, he still patiently discussed it with the other three committee members. In the end, it was decided that the three hundred artillery battles would be owned by the team, and now they would be handed over to You Yuan's material storage team for safekeeping, and then they would be taken out on Chinese New Year's Eve and distributed evenly among all team members who were willing to set off fireworks. In addition, in order to take care of Wang Feng's children's shoes, half of them, that is, one hundred and fifty, were reserved for him to be put on the occasion of his marriage, and the rest were set off on New Year's Day. Although this resolution made Wang Feng, the initiator, a little dissatisfied, he didn't dare to argue after being glared at by his cousin. I could only watch You Yuan take away the artillery and lock it in a temporary warehouse. ,

Although the firecracker incident was not a small incident, it aroused the Commission's interest in the development of firearms. They recruited several senior engineers from the science and technology group, especially Liu Wendong, an expert in chemistry, to inquire about the possibility of developing firearms that could be equipped in large quantities at this stage.

Regarding the consultation of other members of the committee, Li Junwu, a member of the committee and head of the science and technology group, said with some embarrassment after discussing with other key members: "The science and technology group has no problems in the theory of firearms research and development. At present, the biggest difficulty is in the production equipment and raw materials, without the corresponding equipment and raw materials, we are 'a good woman can not cook without rice'. On the basis of the various means of production and means of production available at this stage, we estimate that in a short period of time - about three months - a firearm of the type of front-loading flintlock pistol can be manufactured. It's hard to predict when more advanced weapons than this will be available. We have written these things very clearly in the previous work jihua book, and the committee should know about it. ”

Although the front-loading flintlock pistol was not ideal in terms of rate of fire and conditions of use, it was necessary to do things step by step, and it was impossible to expect to eat a fat man in one bite. Therefore, Wang Kunjun and other three members of the committee who are not in this profession also expressed their understanding of the difficulties of the science and technology group, and Wang Kunjun even apologized to Li Junwu and said: "Li Gong is right, these things are very clear in the work of the science and technology group, and we laymen are too anxious. The main reason is that when everyone sees those artillery battles, they naturally think about it in this regard. Moreover, when counterattacking the sneak attack of Wuhuzhai before, the consumption of modern weapons and ammunition was relatively large, and everyone was somewhat worried. Therefore, this mood of being able to own our own firearms as soon as possible is a bit urgent, and I hope that the comrades of the science and technology group can understand. At the same time, I also hope that the comrades will not have any ideological baggage and will not have the mentality of rushing for success. It is still necessary to proceed step by step according to the original jihua, so as not to make mistakes in the busy. After all, firearms are dangerous goods and should not be hastily acted upon. ”

Li Junwu and the others nodded again and again, saying that they could fully understand everyone's mood and fully agree with Wang Kunjun's suggestion. The science and technology group will definitely act in accordance with the laws of science and come up with samples of flintlock pistols as soon as possible. And I will do my best to strive for a higher level on Jishu as soon as possible.

For the determination of the science and technology group, Wang Kunjun and other committee members have given encouragement, especially Xu Shaoan, who is in charge of security, and expressed his gratitude. He also said that judging from the team's current security environment, as long as the minions of Feilong Village complete the training and are appropriately supplemented to the security team, even if they are not equipped with firearms, they can ensure the safety of the team, and the science and technology team does not have to worry about security.

Although a little episode before the Chinese New Year passed so calmly, the members of the science and technology group did not relax themselves because of the comfort of Wang Kunjun, Xu Shaoan and others. Li Junwu, Liu Wendong and others immediately found Fan Wucheng, You Yuan and others who were in charge of procurement, and asked them about the price and possible maximum supply of saltpeter and sulfur, as well as the number and scale of blacksmith shops in Liangxiang City.

In this regard, Fan and You were really difficult to answer for a while. This time, they bought all these two "medicinal materials" in other people's pharmacies, and even if the seller went to buy them again, I was afraid that there would not be much. However, Pham said he could try to get in touch with his suppliers through the pharmacy to see if he could buy in large quantities directly from him. As for the blacksmith shop, because there has been no need for this, neither the trade team nor the material management team have dealt with it, so they can only learn about it slowly in the future. If necessary, you can also inquire through the bell staff.

Although no definite response was received, the members of the technical group were not disappointed. In their view, saltpeter and sulfur are both raw material products, as long as they are willing to pay, the source should not be a problem. As for whether there was an adequate supply of iron products in Liangxiang City or other nearby areas, they actually did not have much hope. Because of what we learned from Zhang Weixin, Yu Xuzi and others, it can be determined that in this era, the supply of iron tools in this area was very tight. This is mainly due to the fact that the raw materials for iron products mainly come from the Southern Dynasties, and it is impossible to obtain sufficient supplies when the two sides are still in a state of hostility. Fortunately, at present, it is only preliminary research and development, and the demand is not large, and it can be met even through smuggling for a little more money.

Of course, in the long run, the foothold of the science and technology group will still be on self-reliance. There are many Beijingers in the past life, and they still have some understanding of the distribution of minerals around Beijing, and know that there is a certain amount of iron and coal around Beijing. For example, there are iron mines in Miyun County, which is now Danzhou, and where they live now and a little further north, in the previous life, they belonged to Fangshan District and Mentougou District, and there were coal mines. Although the production of these mines is not large in terms of the whole country, for the traversal, these deposits can still fully meet the demand. Of course, specific mining and smelting still require a certain process. During this period, it is indispensable to use the shili of the local government, and these also need other functional groups, especially the foreign exchange team, to carry out communication activities.

But it's a bit early to talk about this, and now that the New Year is coming, the people of this era value this festival far more than the people who travel through it. At this time, if you go to someone to talk about business, it will definitely not lead to good results. Therefore, the crossing crowd is only in passing, and the specific work will have to wait for the New Year.