The importance of gunpowder primers.
Fang Er lay in Xiao Qing's bed, doing nothing.
He waited until Xiao Qing fell asleep.
Then he opened his storage space.
And took out the formula.
"Preparation Method for Mercury Fulminate Potassium Chlorate Explosive Powder"
Oh ho ho ho!
Fang Er excitedly pounded the bed board, making thudding sounds!
Xiao Qing was not actually asleep!
It would be a miracle if she could sleep with her young master climbing into her bed!
Xiao Huan, outside the room, heard the thudding sounds from inside, her face as red as an apple!
Young master is so powerful!
She just didn't know if the bed could withstand it!
"Young master, if you really can't hold back, Qing'er can."
Xiao Qing thought Fang Er was struggling to suppress his urges, so she said with a blush.
Fang Er was confused.
He quickly put the formula back into his storage space.
Can what?
Ah! Young master, you!
Xiao Qing was so ashamed that she quickly turned over and gave Fang Er her back.
Fang Er thought for a moment.
What the heck!
What was this girl thinking!
Did she think he was… when he was pounding the bed just now?
Oh! Qing'er, young master understands, you mean you can?
Fang Er said teasingly.
Xiao Qing buried her head in the quilt and remained silent, feeling her face burn.
Alright! Sleep! You are still young, we will talk about it after you turn eighteen, otherwise, it will hurt your body.
After Fang Er finished speaking, he put his arm around Xiao Qing's waist and closed his eyes.
Feeling the warmth from his back and listening to Fang Er's words, Xiao Qing finally understood why her young master had refused her the previous two times.
She was instantly moved.
In a moment of impulse, she flipped over and buried her head in Fang Er's embrace.
The night passed without incident.
Yes, truly without incident.
Because Fang Er had really just fallen asleep.
The next morning.
The heavy snow outside had stopped.
The snow in the courtyard was a foot deep.
Fang Er walked to the manor.
The manor's residents were already clearing the snow from the paths.
The snow was shoveled onto ox carts and then pulled to a pond outside the manor to be dumped.
This pond was large.
It covered about ten mu.
Perhaps it should be called an artificial lake.
This was dug by refugees, and the soil was used to repair the roads.
Fang Er planned to use it to raise fish in the spring.
Stepping on the slightly muddy path, Fang Er made his way to the workshop.
The five thousand new recruits had already begun training on the parade ground.
Because of their poverty, their obedience was exceptionally good, and each person cherished this opportunity immensely.
Even though they were exhausted, they gritted their teeth and persevered.
After all, there were only three thousand spots, which meant that in the future, two out of every five men would be ruthlessly eliminated!
Fang Er was very satisfied with these men.
The craftsmen were also spontaneously clearing the snow from the workshop.
The snow here was directly dumped into the Longshou Canal nearby.
Fang Er called Zhao Gang and the others and entered the workshop.
Get me some glass bottles, I have a use for them.
Fang Er spread a piece of paper on a table.
Then he roughly drew the shapes of various bottles and jars.
The craftsmen took a look and immediately got to work.
They set up crucibles and began to produce them.
The process was already extremely familiar, and they worked quickly.
Balls of fiery red semi-liquid glass were blown into the shapes Fang Er requested.
Although they were nothing compared to the precise laboratory equipment of later generations,
They were sufficient for Fang Er at this time.
Mercury fulminate.
It is the chemical reaction product of mercury fulminate and potassium chlorate mixed in a certain ratio.
Mercury fulminate was the earliest primer.
However, this thing was very unstable and would explode at the slightest disturbance.
It would explode even if it fell to the ground from a table.
Therefore, Fang Er was especially careful.
After the equipment was ready,
He had the craftsmen take it and find an empty room in the farthest corner of the workshop to prepare the primers.
Furthermore, a piece of sheepskin was laid on the workbench.
The ground around the workbench was first covered with a layer of straw, and then a wet sheepskin was placed on top of the straw.
After sending the craftsmen away,
Fang Er sat at the workbench, took out the primer formula,
And began to read it carefully.
Damn it, I didn't look closely yesterday, so I didn't notice.
You son of a bitch!
Using only mercury fulminate made it too sensitive and prone to corroding bullets and gun barrels.
Similarly, potassium chlorate was an extremely sensitive explosive, which could even self-detonate under direct sunlight!
But the mercury fulminate produced by mixing these two substances would be less sensitive.
So, this was the reason the system provided the mercury fulminate formula?
To make mercury fulminate, one must first produce mercury fulminate and potassium chlorate.
To produce mercury fulminate and potassium chlorate, nitric acid, ethanol, mercury, chlorine, and potassium hydroxide are needed!
Ethanol and mercury were not a problem now.
Ethanol could be purified from alcohol.
And mercury was even easier to obtain; it could be bought at pharmacies. Those Taoist priests always liked to use it for alchemy.
Alright, thank you, almighty pharmacy!
But,
Nitric acid, chlorine, and potassium hydroxide still needed to be produced by himself!
Fang Er decided to take them one by one.
First, he had someone fetch saltpeter!
Then he made a hollow sphere out of steel.
It had a vent hole.
A simple dry distillation apparatus was made.
The crushed saltpeter was put in through the vent hole.
Then, a bent glass tube was inserted into the vent hole, and the other end of the glass tube was placed in a glass bottle.
The bottle contained purified distilled water.
By heating and dry-distilling the saltpeter powder, nitrogen dioxide was produced.
And nitrogen dioxide dissolved in water, turning the water into nitric acid!
What was left in the dry distillation furnace was potassium oxide.
Potassium oxide was temporarily useless, so it was collected and stored in a wooden barrel.
Then came the purification of ethanol, which was not difficult at all.
Potassium hydroxide was even simpler.
Adding quicklime to water produced slaked lime, and then adding plant ash to it.
The clear liquid obtained after precipitation was potassium hydroxide.
Mimicking the appearance of the dry distillation apparatus, a glass container was made.
Rock salt, which is sodium chloride, was placed inside.
It was heated on a fire until it reached 800 degrees Celsius, at which point the rock salt melted into a liquid.
Two wires were inserted into the molten sodium chloride solution for electrolysis.
Under electrolysis, sodium chloride was converted into metallic sodium and chlorine gas.
At the same time, on the other side, the potassium hydroxide solution was also being heated.
Chlorine gas was introduced into the potassium hydroxide solution through a glass tube until potassium chlorate crystals appeared!
The moment the potassium chlorate crystals appeared,
Fang Er quickly extinguished the furnace heating the potassium hydroxide solution.
At the same time, he turned off the power.
Then he fled the scene!
He waited nervously about fifty meters away from the house.
Half an hour later.
Fang Er dared to go inside.
Many potassium chlorate crystals had appeared in the potassium hydroxide solution.
The liquid above, which was the aqueous solution of potassium chloride generated after the chemical reaction, was poured into a glass bottle and labeled, then set aside.
Fang Er carefully took out the potassium chlorate.
Throughout the entire process, Fang Er held his breath, afraid that any sudden movement would cause this thing to explode!