Zhao Yan wanted to inquire about the situation of gunpowder from Cao Chong, and the two chatted very speculatively at the beginning, but whenever Zhao Yan asked about the specific affairs of gunpowder, Cao Chong would inadvertently divert the topic, at first Zhao Yan thought that Cao Chong was unintentional, but slowly he realized that Cao Chong actually deliberately did not want to mention the gunpowder work.

If it was something else, Zhao Yan would not ask about it very interestingly, but he was now anxious to know the level of gunpowder in the Great Song Dynasty, so in the end, after thinking about it again, he simply asked directly: "Fifth brother, you must be very clear about what you are doing in gunpowder**, I don't know if you can sue me?" ”

"This ......" Cao Chong didn't expect Zhao Yan to ask himself directly, only to see him hesitate for a moment and say, "Third brother, although gunpowder is only a small work in the bow and crossbow courtyard, the weapons produced in it are also important weapons of the country, according to the regulations of the office, I must not disclose the things in the work to outsiders, as for **, it is absolutely not allowed to be passed on!" ”

Although Zhao Yan is the king of the county, he is only a noble status, which does not mean that he has the right to know some secrets, especially the things in the crossbow courtyard are all secrets of the Great Song Dynasty, and they must not be leaked to outsiders without the consent of the imperial court, even Zhao Yan, the king of the county.

However, Zhao Yan was not reconciled when he heard this, and after thinking about it, he explained: "Fifth brother, the reason why I asked you about gunpowder is not because I want to know any secrets, but I just got a ** here, which is said to be infinitely powerful, so I just want to confirm it with the formula in gunpowder." ”

Hearing Zhao Yan's explanation, Cao Chong breathed a sigh of relief, but after thinking about it for a while, he still shook his head and said: "Third brother, ** is too important, without the permission of the superiors, I must not leak it to anyone, and there are now three gunpowder formulas in the work, each formula requires more than a dozen or even twenty materials, and finally it is made into gunpowder weapons through a complex process......"

"Wait!" Before Cao Chong's words were finished, he was interrupted by Zhao Yan with a frown, "Fifth brother, you said that your gunpowder recipe actually has three gunpowder recipes, and each one uses more than a dozen materials?" ”

If he hadn't heard it with his own ears, Zhao Yan would have suspected that his ears were the same problem, and even elementary school students who could only play with firecrackers in later generations would know that there were only three kinds of materials used in gunpowder, one sulfur, two nitrate and three charcoal, but now Cao Chong, who is a staff member of the highest research institute of gunpowder in the Great Song Dynasty, told him that he had to use more than a dozen materials, and God knows what they added to gunpowder?

"What, what's wrong with that?" Seeing Zhao Yan's incredible expression on his face, Cao Chong also asked strangely.

"Of course, there are only three kinds of materials used in gunpowder, which are saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, and other than that, adding other things to it will only reduce the power of gunpowder!" Zhao Yan said with great certainty. As a later generation, no one knows the best ratio of ** better than him, the Great Song Dynasty was still in the exploration stage for gunpowder during this period, and gunpowder was developed from alchemy, so there were many strange materials in it.

However, Cao Chong frowned when he heard Zhao Yan's words and said: "Saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal are indeed necessary for the three gunpowder formulas, but just relying on these three materials, the gunpowder made is not very powerful, so we add some other ingredients to the gunpowder, such as **, fire oil, etc., to make weapons with different powers." ”

"Wrong, very wrong!" As soon as Cao Chong's words fell, Zhao Yan immediately retorted, "The gunpowder you use three materials to make zuò is not powerful enough, that is because you have not figured out the best ratio of gunpowder, so this situation will occur, if you can make zuò according to the best ratio of these three materials, then the gunpowder will show the power of opening mountains and cracking stones, and there is no need to add any ** and fire oil to improve the lethality!" ”

Hearing Zhao Yan's words, Cao Chong looked directly at Zhao Yan and said without backing down: "Your Royal Highness, the formula made of gunpowder is often improved by countless craftsmen, and the addition or deletion of any material will affect the power of the weapon, so please don't make any assertions!" ”

Although what Zhao Yan said was the truth, Cao Chong was limited by the times, and did not believe that the gunpowder formula left by his ancestors was wrong, and he did not believe that the wisdom of hundreds of craftsmen in gunpowder was not comparable to Zhao Yan alone, you must know that the gunpowder work is concentrated in the best gunpowder craftsmen in the entire Great Song Dynasty.

In addition, Cao Chong has been in the gunpowder for a few years, and has long had a deep interest in gunpowder, and even studied and studied it himself**, in the words of later generations, he himself is a gunpowder technology researcher, and he also has a kind of researcher's stupidity, before seeing the effect with his own eyes, he will never admit that his gunpowder is worse than Zhao Yan's, even if Zhao Yan is the king of the county, he dares to contradict.

However, Zhao Yan saw Cao Chong's stubborn temper, but he was even more relieved, although such a person was stubborn, he was the best researcher, and his mouth was also strict, and he was even more relieved that his gunpowder formula was in the hands of such a person.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yan smiled and said: "Fifth brother, it seems that you don't believe in my words, so you see if this is good, I will give you the best formula of gunpowder, and then you take back the gunpowder to make gunpowder, and then you will know which gunpowder is better!" ”

"Good! Since the king of the county is willing to take out his gunpowder formula, then Cao is also willing to give it a try, but I still believe that the gunpowder formula in the gunpowder is the best in the entire Great Song Dynasty! Cao Chong agreed, in fact, his words were not wrong, the gunpowder formula in the gunpowder was indeed the best in the Great Song Dynasty, but compared to later generations, this gunpowder formula was very primitive.

At the moment, Zhao Yan wrote out the best gunpowder formula for later generations, in which the ratio of saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur was 7.5:1.5:1, and he repeatedly told Cao Chong that the purer and sulfur the better, if it contains too many impurities, it is likely to affect the power of gunpowder.

In addition, in order to better demonstrate the power of gunpowder, Zhao Yan helped Cao Chong design a weapon, which is actually a grenade in later generations, but this grenade is very primitive, twice as large as an adult's fist, and can only be ignited with a fire twist, but the pineapple-like protrusion outside the iron shell of the grenade was designed by him, so that it can be divided into more shrapnel when the grenade explodes, so as to increase the lethality of the grenade.

Cao Chong** and the schematic diagram of the grenade looked at it carefully for a while, and finally shook his head very skeptically, he didn't believe that this gunpowder formula that only used three materials would be very powerful, and he didn't believe that Zhao Yan designed the gunpowder weapon casually, but since he had promised Zhao Yan, he would keep his promise to make this new gunpowder and new weapon, and then use the facts to prove that the gunpowder formula in the gunpowder is the best.

After sending Cao Chong away, more than half of the afternoon has passed, Cao Ying also made the people of the palace ready to go back, it is said that they returned to the door yesterday, and they will go back on the same day, but because Zhao Yan was drunk, they only stayed for one night, but Cao Ying did not plan to go back to the other courtyard outside the city, but to go to the county king's mansion for one night, after all, the water in the mansion has receded, and they also have to go to see how the situation in the mansion is.

When Zhao Yan and Cao Ying left, Cao Lu and Cao Ping once again led the whole family to send them out, and finally Cao Ying and her mother said goodbye in tears, and they were still crying in the carriage, until the carriage crossed the Xingguo Temple Bridge and was about to arrive at the palace, she stopped her tears. In contrast, although Xiao Bean Sprouts and Mi Xue also shed tears when they left, they had already regained their lively nature, giggling and teasing Xiao Rouding, Cao Ying has a deep affection for these two personal maids, and treats them like sisters, usually Xiao Bean Sprouts and Mi Xue are also very free, as long as they don't do too much, Cao Ying won't care about them, but these two girls are more afraid of Cao Ying's nurse, and they are usually scolded by the nurse.

Both sides of the Bianhe River are the hardest hit places in Kaifeng City, before the flood was the deepest, almost all the houses were submerged, now although the flood has receded, but there are still many houses on both sides of the street that have been collapsed by the flood, and the walls of the houses that have not collapsed are also full of dry yellow mud, but even so, most of the businesses have resumed business, and the people on the street seem to be very lively.

The front of the county king's mansion has already been cleaned up, and even the gate has been repainted by the subordinates, so when Zhao Yan and they arrived, the county king's mansion they saw did not seem to have changed much, but this is just the outside, and when Zhao Yan entered the palace, there were many traces left by the flood, the mud in front of the palace has not been cleaned up, the big trees and walls are still stained with a lot of mud, and even the east wing room has been soaked down two houses, and there is still a lot of water in some low-lying places, which is temporarily impassable.

Compared with the front yard, the backyard of the palace is higher, the houses are relatively solid, and the damage is relatively light, especially the bedrooms of Zhao Yan and Cao Ying, which have been cleaned and cleaned, and after a few days of drying, although there is still a trace of moisture in the room, it can already be occupied. Zhao Yan and Cao Ying took a general look at the situation in the palace, because it was getting late now, so they had to stay in the palace for one night, and then go back to the courtyard outside the city tomorrow.

However, when Zhao Yan and Cao Ying in the mansion were about to have dinner, a gorgeous carriage came to the street outside the gate of the county king's mansion, and dozens of knights protected the carriage, and when the carriage came to the front of the county king's mansion, the coachman "hoo~" sounded, and the four high-headed horses stopped in training, and then a knight stepped forward to report: "Princess, the Guangyang County Palace" has arrived!" ”

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