December 7, 1927.

As the saying goes, it's cold before frost, and cold after snow.

The so-called cold after snow means that when the snow melts, it also needs to absorb heat, and the temperature will get lower and lower at this time, and Tianjin happens to be in this period.

Even though the bed in the single room of the dormitory building was covered with a thick mattress, and Bao Guowei covered his body with a thick quilt, he still felt a little cold, but fortunately, Mr. Hou took this into account and arranged for the doorman to send an extra layer of quilt that night.

At night, it rained again, and the sound of dripping rain always made people feel reassuring, so Bao Guowei slept very peacefully this night.

When the sun rose and shone on people's faces through the window, Bao Guowei woke up leisurely, he rolled up his sleeves and looked at the delicate watch in his hand: the time had come to eight o'clock in the morning.

Bao Guowei was determined to break away from the warm bed, and when his feet touched his shoes, it was like an ice cube.

After putting on his shoes and socks, Bao Guowei just opened the door and saw three people standing at the door: Zhang Ergou, Wang Dazhui, and Wang Xiaowu.

Although Bao Guowei has not put too many shelves for a long time, the three of them can still put their positions clearly, so they gather together early in the morning to be "gatekeepers" at the door.

Seeing Bao Guowei come out, the three of them felt like they had seen the backbone of the main heart, and their hearts were steady.

Wang Xiaowu also has a breakfast in his hand: a plate of small meat buns and a large bowl of pumpkin and soy milk porridge, which is a very universal Chinese breakfast

"Young Master! This is the breakfast that Mr. Hou asked someone to prepare for you! This was just delivered by the doorman, and we bought you a few eggs......"

Mr. Hou is indeed very thoughtful, and he is quite skilled in the means of human feelings.

But come to think of it, if his mind is full of scientific research, he can be a skilled researcher in the sky, and the position of the director of the soda factory will definitely not be his turn.

Bao Guowei took the porridge from Wang Xiaowu and took a sip:

"Let's put the buns and eggs on the table in the back room first, Xiao Wu, where is Mr. Hou now?"

"Just outside the factory directing the group of workers to work, I guess he has just gotten up and is breathing outside!"

Wang Xiaowu replied.

……

After a brief wash and breakfast, Bao Guowei walked out of the dormitory building accompanied by several subordinates.

It's time for the workers to go to work, and the production hall doesn't seem to stop running at night, and the chimney of the factory keeps emitting gray gases.

The snow on the road in the factory has long been shoveled, and even if it is not shoveled, it will be trampled on - a large group of manpower workers on the wide factory road have already been busy, carrying burdens and pushing carts, and carrying various alkali raw materials from the raw material storage room into the plant.

Most of these workers were young and vigorous young men, and they still wore cloth shirts that were convenient for work in the bitter cold weather.

When they see Bao Guowei's luxurious clothes, they will often take other roads to the factory from a long distance, lest they bump into the nobles.

Under the leadership of Wang Xiaowu, I walked through several buildings and came to the production plant, and soon saw Mr. Hou.

He was standing outside the production workshop with a few people chatting, still holding a brown oiled paper bag in his hand, and from time to time he took out a bun and stuffed it into his mouth to eat.

Bao Guowei said hello after approaching:

"Hello! Mr. Hou! Good morning! ”

Today's weather is colder than yesterday, and the water vapor that Bao Guowei spit out when he spoke condensed into a mist in the air.

Hearing Bao Guowei's voice, Mr. Hou turned around and took a cursory look at the person in front of him: he wore gold-wire glasses, and his whole body revealed an elegant atmosphere, which was worthy of being introduced by the Chu family.

"Bao Guowei, good morning, how was your stay last night?

I don't know what you like to eat, I asked someone to get some Tianjin dog buns for you this morning, and I don't know if southerners can get used to it? ”

As soon as Mr. Hou came up, he showed his high emotional intelligence, in this era full of human relationships, even if he is an academic, his mind must be extremely delicate.

However, for Bao Guowei, it doesn't matter whether he is used to living or not, whether he eats well or not, what matters is that Mr. Hou promised to arrange an experimental place for him today:

"Thank you Mr. Hou for sending someone to send the quilt last night, otherwise I am afraid that I will be frozen tonight, this Tianjin dog ignores the bun and deserves its reputation, and the taste is very delicious.

But...... Mr. Hou, can you arrange for me to come into the laboratory now? Of course, if there are no vacancies, it doesn't matter if I wait a few more days......"

As an old scientific researcher, Mr. Hou naturally knows what Bao Guowei's mood is now, and he doesn't say more, and says with a smile:

"Okay, I know you're in a hurry, I arranged it for you yesterday, Laboratory No. 3 happens to be short of a team, and the position has been vacated for you, go and tinker! I'm very optimistic about the direction you proposed, come on! ”

After saying this, Mr. Hou patted the shoulder of a middle-aged man next to him:

"Bao Guowei, this is the workshop production supervisor of our soda factory, Dadong.

Dadong, you call the people from the No. 3 laboratory to give him a hand, this kid has a good chemistry foundation, and it is estimated that there will be no problem when he starts experiments, so Lao Li can relax. ”

Mr. Hou read the document given by Bao Guowei yesterday and already has a preliminary understanding of his chemical level, otherwise I am afraid that "Lao Li" will have to be strictly guarded to prevent the experimental equipment from being damaged.

……

The main body of the laboratory building of the Academy of Sciences is made of bricks and stones, which is roughly more than ten meters high, and is divided into three floors, each with only two or three large rooms.

The walls of the hallway were painted with white putty, neatly clean, and a group of researchers in white coats walked up and down the aisle in the morning.

Dadong walked straight to the third floor with Bao Guowei, and finally stood in front of the door with the door sign that said "Laboratory No. 3":

"Bao Guowei, this is it."

After opening the door, there was a large laboratory in front of Bao Guowei.

The laboratory is large, hundreds of square meters, with many light bulbs installed on the ceiling, which are still lit at the moment, and marble bricks pasted around the walls, shining in the light.

Inside, there are six large iron tables with various experimental devices that have been assembled:

Iron stands, gas cylinders, measuring cylinders, beakers, catheters, crucible pliers, and the like are all available.

In this era of backward productivity, it is very difficult to assemble a complete set of systematic experimental equipment, which shows that this laboratory has indeed made a lot of money.

In addition to the experimental equipment, there are also various experimental materials placed on the cabinets around the walls, and their chemical formulas, properties, and precautions are pasted on them.

At this time, many experimenters in white coats were doing experiments, and when they saw the door of the laboratory being opened, most of them just looked up and continued to concentrate on their research.

Dadong patted Bao Guowei on the shoulder, motioned for him to stand at the door and wait, and then walked over to a man in a white coat who was about thirty years old and wore glasses and whispered a few words.

After a whisper, the man in the white coat looked at Bao Guowei, he walked straight over, with a smile on his face, and stretched out his right hand:

"Bao Guowei, hello, my name is Li Hongwei.

Since Director Hou has already said hello, if you need anything, you can tell me that the equipment in the laboratory is more precious, so you should be careful when doing experiments. ”

Bao Guowei also shook hands and responded:

"Okay, Mr. Li, can you please assign me a separate test bench?"

This sentence made Li Hongwei stunned - one person occupies an experimental table?

……

In the end, Bao Guowei occupied an idle experimental bench alone.

This caught the attention of other researchers: they wanted to see what the young student-like man could do.

"Where did this young man come from? One person occupies a group's bench? ”

"Looking at this temperament and wearing glasses, it is estimated that which young and promising talent is it? Or is it a rich boy who comes to the lab to play? ”

"Leave it alone, concentrate on the experiment, how long has it been since it came to fruition?"

Some people have already begun to whisper and become a little interested in Bao Guowei.

Bao Guowei's estimated plan is to successfully complete the laboratory preparation of Hou's alkali production method within three days.

Mr. Hou spent three years "improving" Solvay's alkali production method, and Bao Guowei only used three days to create a better alkali production method "out of thin air", which is enough to shock the world.

Under Bao Guowei's "deliberate" operation, the first test did not produce any effect and ended in failure.

Seeing this, the surrounding researchers lost interest, withdrew their gaze, and continued to concentrate on their own experiments.

The principle of the alkali method is simple:

The first step is the reaction of ammonia with water and carbon dioxide to form a molecule of ammonium bicarbonate.

The second step is the reaction of ammonium bicarbonate with sodium chloride to form a molecule of ammonium chloride and sodium bicarbonate precipitation.

To put it bluntly, the experimental procedure is to introduce ammonia and carbon dioxide gas into the saturated brine to precipitate sodium bicarbonate with relatively low solubility, which is unstable and easy to decompose when heated to produce soda ash.

Of course, if you know the process, it's very simple, but if you don't know the process, you have to do a thousand experiments to discover the method.

In the following time, Bao Guowei lived in a single room in the research dormitory, and three meals a day were brought by his subordinates, and almost all of his time was spent on experimental research.

The researchers in the No. 3 laboratory are also gradually getting used to the existence of this person, but it is unknown whether someone secretly arranged Bao Guowei's waste of materials.

……

On December 10, 1927, in the No. 3 laboratory of the Academy of Sciences of Yongli Soda Factory, the scientific researchers were conducting boring experiments as usual.

Today, Bao Guowei, as usual, still occupies an experimental table alone.

On the sticker table in front of him was a set of production equipment, which had been inspected several times before, and the whole set was fine.

Li Hongwei had already been asked to prepare the raw materials for alkali production -- several sealed bottles containing high concentrations of ammonia and carbon dioxide, a bottle of sodium chloride solution, and water......

In later generations, the alkali production method only needed these simple devices in front of us, and only needed to use such simple raw materials, but in history, it required an amazing person to spend countless energy to test it.

Bao Guowei poured the saturated sodium chloride solution into a beaker and heated it, and the mercury thermometer showed that the current temperature was 30 degrees Celsius, which met the experimental conditions.

After some manipulation, he introduced carbon dioxide into a saturated solution of sodium chloride in ammonia, and the less soluble sodium bicarbonate was quickly precipitated from the solution.

After filtration and washing operations, sodium bicarbonate crystals are obtained, the thermal stability of sodium bicarbonate is very poor, it is easy to decompose when heated, and soda ash, carbon dioxide and water will be generated after some heating.

When the mother liquor is allowed to stand at 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, salt powder is added to crystallize and precipitate the ammonium chloride in the solution separately, which can be used as nitrogen fertilizer.

……

When Bao Guowei burned the white powdery soda ash with platinum wire, it was found that the flame color reaction was yellow, considering the elements contained in the experimental raw materials, it was confirmed to be soda ash!

Purple litmus test paper rubbed ammonium chloride crystals and appeared blue! Also taking into account the elements contained in the experimental raw materials, it was confirmed to be ammonium chloride!

This represents the laboratory preparation process of the combined alkali production method, which appeared in the world more than ten years ahead of schedule!

The next thing to consider is how to ensure the practicability of large-scale production and the establishment of various alkali production raw material pre-plants, but this is not what Bao Guowei should consider.

Even though he had known that this method would almost definitely work, Bao Guowei's mood was still very excited, and the speed of his heartbeat was a little faster.

"All eyes are on me! I'm announcing something! ”

He wanted to shout this sentence and show it off to the people around him, but in the end he still held back his thoughts.

This matter must be kept secret, after all, just the simple Solvay alkali production method that has been eliminated needs to be purchased by Wynn Soda Factory at a great cost, not to mention the value of the combined alkali production method, far beyond it, so the fewer people who know, the better.

Bao Guowei collected the soda ash and ammonium chloride into clear glass, and quietly left the laboratory, preparing to go to Mr. Hou's office.

……

Hou Debang is now in his office calculating how to reduce the loss of raw materials in the production process of using the Sowell alkali production process.

Just when he felt a great headache, he suddenly heard a sound of footsteps outside the door, and the sound was getting louder and louder.

"Boom!"

The office door was almost slammed open by Bao Guowei.

"Mr. Hou, I would like to ...... I've come up with a new method of making alkali!

The utilization efficiency of sodium chloride is almost complete, and ammonium chloride crystals are also produced during the production process! The production of calcium chloride is also much less than that of Solvay's alkali method! ”

Bao Guowei's mood was still a little excited, and as he spoke, he walked over and put the two bottles on Mr. Hou's table.

Although Bao Guowei spoke quickly, Mr. Hou could still hear what he meant.

After Bao Guowei finished speaking, Mr. Hou looked at the two bottles on the table and asked in a calm tone:

"Are you sure? Has it been tested? ”

"I'm sure! Burn the soda ash with platinum wire, and the smoke color reaction is yellow! Purple litmus paper turns purple after rubbing with ammonium chloride solution! ”

After hearing Bao Guowei's answer, Mr. Hou's originally small squinting eyes suddenly widened, and a monstrous wave was set off in his heart.

(End of chapter)