Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 210 See you at the end

Mercury elixir is useless, but gunpowder is of great use.

Kong Ming felt that the Taoist priests' inference was correct.

After all, those later generations did use this "Elixir of Great Destruction" to fly through the objects created by the craftsman, and they were able to see the sky and the earth and know the sun and the moon.

But I should give a warning to the Taoist priests next.

In case they haven't seen the magical effect of gunpowder, they will be blown up by the big breaking pill first.

Giving some space to the Taoist priests who were arguing fiercely, Kong Ming stepped aside and saw the last prescription of the Taoist priests:
"Three pieces of saltpeter, three pieces of brown sugar, and one piece of realgar. Crush and grind them one by one. Mix them evenly to make a pill."

The Taoist priests are really...advancing with the times.

Kong Ming admired it in his heart. It had only been half a year since the sucrose was produced in Sichuan, but the Taoist priests had already used it to make elixirs without any concern.

Sugar production requires a large amount of sugar cane, which was previously grown in Shuzhong and was sufficient for consumption, but sugar production was a drop in the bucket, so the price of sucrose remained high at this time.

Although Kong Ming has arranged to expand planting, the first crop of sugar cane will not be harvested until autumn this year.

However, thinking from another direction also made Kong Ming sigh:

So you don’t have a reliable prescription at all, right?

In this case, it is better to write down the recipe for "Yan Dan" first, and then slowly develop it when there is no shortage of sugar.

After writing down his opinions, Kong Ming thoughtfully closed the door for the Taoist priests when he left.

Today's Chengdu government offices have changed a lot compared to Liu Zhang's time.

Even if Liu Bei now brings his two wives to Chengdu, they can only live in three to five rooms.

The vacant palaces were naturally requisitioned for various purposes, such as Taoist priests refining elixirs, craftsmen developing glass, and Zhang Song's "Little Imperial Academy" that he was so obsessed with now.

Kong Ming has not brought his family to Chengdu for the time being.

According to Gong Li, his wife has set up several engineering workshops in Gong'an County, and her craftsmanship is skillful, and her engineering studies are already booming.

Privately speaking, Kong Ming also wanted to see his wife do something good, especially after learning about "Chen Baoguang's wife".

Kong Ming now also has a heavily guarded workshop in the government office. The room is filled with various miniature models, craftsman's drawings, and some images from the "Mengxi Bi Tan" that were obtained during the last light curtain.

The most eye-catching thing is of course the huge ball image hanging in the center, with the word "Earth" written by Kong Ming himself with great awe.

Now Kong Ming is staring at the earth and meditating on chemistry.

The method of making alkali from plant ash, which has been called "crazy" by Light Curtain, is indeed not complicated.

Boil the burned plant ash with water, filter it with silk and let it sit overnight. Finally, the clear and transparent water above is the alkali-containing water.

Although it seems to be no different from river water, it is more viscous when used to cook porridge, and it can soften Geyi when used for washing clothes.

If this alkaline water is used in papermaking, the pulp will usually be whiter, which is quite magical.

But what is the truth behind it?
Kong Ming, who was deep in thought, returned to the table and wrote the words "vegetation ash" on the paper.

Then under the three words "vegetation ash", the word "fertile field" was written.

Plant ash has been used to fertilize fields since the pre-Qin Dynasty, but due to regional differences, the amount of plant ash used to fertilize fields also varies.

After thinking for a while, Kong Ming wrote down what he learned:

In Hedong County, no plant ash is applied to the fields.

In Pingyuan County, nine acres of grass and trees are gray.

In Nanyang County, one bushel of vegetation ash per mu of land.

In Wuling County, every acre of land has half a bush of dendrobium ash.

Half a dendrobium is equivalent to five buckets, one is fifty liters, and one is five lilies.

From this, Kong Ming wrote about the observed phenomenon: from north to south, the effect of plant ash on fertilizing the fields becomes more and more obvious.

After a pause, Kong Ming continued to write: From the method of making alkali from plant ash, it can be seen that plant ash is rich in alkali.

After writing again and trying to recall whether he had missed anything, Kong Ming carefully wrote down the conclusion: the north may be rich in alkali, and the south may be lacking in alkali.

By the way, I wrote down my guess:
Oranges grown in Huainan and Huaibei are different because of the amount of alkali?

There are fewer bamboos in the north and less leeks in the south. Is this also related to this?
Taking a breath of air, Kong Ming looked back at the page he had written, and suddenly felt a little bit of the fun of what later generations would call "science."

The distinction between these lands does not change due to the will of God, nor does it change due to the heavenly constitution being spoken.

It is inferred by oneself based on what he has learned.

Observe and summarize their commonalities and explore and analyze their differences.

In the end, maybe like later generations, we can conclude that future generations can continue to use the regulations for thousands of years.

The evening breeze in April was still a little cool, but Kong Ming now felt a little hot.

Finally, I went for a walk in the yard, and then went back to get dressed and go to bed.

The next day Kong Ming was pulled out of bed by Liu Bei who was full of excitement.

"Kong Ming, Yuan Zhi's boat has arrived in Jianwei County!"

Qianwei County is only 140 miles south of Chengdu.

Because he stayed up late last night, Kong Ming's thinking was a little sluggish, so he figured it out after thinking about it for a while.

It seems that Yuan Zhi took a boat upstream, took Jiangzhou, crossed Jiangyang and Wuyang, and came to Chengdu by water.

Yizhou has strong southeasterly winds in spring and summer, so traveling from Jingzhou to Chengdu can be considered a favorable wind, and boating is indeed a good choice.

When Kong Ming came to his senses, he was already standing in the south of Chengdu with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei couldn't stand at all and kept wandering anxiously. From time to time he would stop on tiptoe and look south, wishing he could see the boats right away.

Kong Ming called Chen Dao's personal attendant to give him a jar of water to wash his face. After cheering up, he proposed:

"Since my lord is so worried, why don't you go out of the city to greet me?"

But soon, Kong Ming, who wanted to take the opportunity to take a nap, regretted his suggestion.

Liu Bei, who was itchy and unbearable, agreed to Kong Ming's proposal, and then took Kong Ming with him ten miles south out of the city.After ten miles, he still felt it was not enough, so he continued walking for another twenty miles. It was not until the waterside path became difficult to walk that Liu Bei stopped.

Fortunately, after this turbulence, Kong Ming sobered up a lot, looked at Liu Bei and joked:
"My lord, why don't you shovel the hill ahead? After all, it prevents my lord from seeing Yuan Zhi's face."

Liu Bei didn't look embarrassed and laughed and said:

"Hearing the news about Yuan Zhi's return, I have been tossing and turning every night."

"Ten months have been waiting, why worry for even a moment!"

Kong Ming laughed, not believing it at all.

If you are really not in a hurry right now, why go out of the city for thirty miles and walk to the end of the road?

Fortunately, soon, a small boat came out from behind the hill in the distance.

Kong Ming rode on his horse and looked far into the distance. He could see a thin scribe with fluttering clothes on the bow of the ship, nodding his head frequently towards the north.

Liu Bei next to him could no longer hold himself back:

"Yuanzhi!"

"I'm here, Moto Nao!"

Perhaps it was because the trees on the shore were thick and the ship had no intention of slowing down or pulling over. Liu Bei was so anxious that he even drove his horse to wade into the river and stood in the shallows of the river to call.

Liu Bei shocked Kong Ming and his soldiers.

Immediately, some soldiers rushed forward regardless of their own safety, grabbed the reins from Liu Bei's hands and tried to pull the mount back to the shore.

The horse's head turned, and Liu Bei also turned around and continued to shout: "Yuan Zhi~"

Fortunately, it was conspicuous enough at this time, and the ship finally noticed it.

Kong Ming saw the thin figure spinning anxiously at the bow of the ship and shouting.

The ship began to slow down and move closer to the shore.

When he got close to the shoal, Xu Shu jumped out of the boat without hesitation.

Liu Bei was so anxious that he immediately jumped from his horse to the river. Then he stretched out his arms and pulled Xu Shu ashore.

The two pairs of palms were tightly clasped together. Liu Bei looked at Xu Shu's chin that was wet with water and his shoes that were stained with mud, and scolded softly:
"Why should Yuanzhi risk his life? It's only thirty miles from here to Chengdu. It can be reached in a moment. You should cherish your life!"

Xu Shu looked at Liu Bei carefully, his eyes seemed to contain a thousand words, but in the end he bowed slightly:

"Lord, I'm back!"

"Good! Good!"

Liu Bei agreed, took out a hand and patted Xu Shu's shoulder:

"It'll be nice to come back."

Liu Bei took two steps back and looked carefully, and finally took Xu Shu's hand and sighed happily:
"When Yuan Zhi returns, he can focus on restoring the Han Dynasty and have no regrets!"

The two were holding hands, and the hems of their clothes were completely wet, and their feet were stained with smelly mud, but this did not affect the pleasant conversation between the two.

With a happy face, Liu Bei listed Xu Shu's recent achievements one by one, and Xu Shu listened quietly with a smile.

In the meantime, Xu Shu would also talk about Xu Du's experiences going south in a generous tone.

It was not until the end that Xu Shu was helped onto the horse by Liu Bei. At this time, the former Yingchuan Ranger had time to say hello from a distance:
"If I had known the name of Zhuge Wuhou, I would have invited Kong Ming to go out with me!"

Watching Liu Bei help Xu Shu onto the horse, he also got on the horse. The two rode together, and Kong Ming held his fan and held his hand:
“It’s not too late to pursue the cause of Han Dynasty.”

After saying that, the old friends looked at each other and smiled.

The journey back to Chengdu was much more relaxed, and the three of them walked slowly and chatted.

"Shi Yuan is in Chengdu?"

"The military situation in Hanzhong is under control, Yongliang is in danger, Guanzhong is ready to move, don't leave easily."

"If Cao's thieves capture Yongliang, they can reach Guanzhong, but it will be difficult to get out of Hanzhong; if we join forces with Yongliang, Cao's thieves will find it difficult to defend Chang'an, and they can only retreat to Tongguan. Hanzhong really has to be a scholar."

"That's not the case... My lord has found a new military talent in Chengdu called Fazheng. He has the style of a knight, and he is also capable of supervising Hanzhong."

"Oh? We must see you someday!"

"Cough cough!"

So Kong Ming asked about news about old friends.

"I heard from my lord that Guangyuan wants to settle down in Jiangling temporarily?"

Xu Shu sighed:
"Guangyuan is not a minister of Cao Cao, and he is not willing to surrender to the lord. He is righteous to me and cannot force it."

"When he sent me to Yizhou, Guangyuan said he wanted to find a job in Jiangling and look forward to the future."

Let's look at the future... Kong Ming nodded, everyone has their own ambitions, so there is really no need to force it.

Xu Shu remembered the other person and said with a smile:
"My doctor Zhang, who was on the same ship, complained a lot about Kong Ming."

"Kong Ming, you are obviously very knowledgeable in medical skills, but you are always vague. It is quite rude to ask Divine Doctor Zhang to study medical theory by himself."

Kong Ming was startled, then laughed:
"It's good to come here. There are few people in this mountain and there are abundant medicinal materials. It is a blessed place for Divine Doctor Zhang!"

While talking and laughing, Chengdu is already in sight.

Kong Ming saw Wu's daughter standing quietly by the roadside at a glance, and couldn't help but smile:

"Whether to accept or reject, the Lord will make a decision early on."

Xu Shu also caught sight of the tall woman and asked curiously:
"This is……?"

Kong Ming looked at Liu Bei's slightly embarrassed face, held his fan and smiled:
"This is the daughter of the Wu family in Chengdu. Her prime minister once said she was a noble woman."

Xu Shu understood immediately and laughed and said:

"When it comes to greatness, the only choice is the Lord!"

(End of this chapter)