Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2261 Pampa (35)

The research and development of new gunpowder has actually been going on for many years, and the biggest achievement so far is something called "gun cotton".

The research and development of gun cotton has actually been relatively long in the east coast.At the beginning, the researchers of the Northern Chemical Plant received a puzzling instruction to prepare a powerful gunpowder from cotton and nitric acid.As you can imagine, the members of the project team were stunned at that time. They thought that the factory leader who issued this order was either drunk and talking nonsense, or that the intelligence agencies running around the world stole a technology from somewhere. confidential.They tended to be the latter, so they started research and development in earnest.

The process of developing gunpowder is full of hardships.Without any references or hints, they were told that cotton and nitric acid "may work", which led them to many detours.Fortunately, gun cotton was eventually produced, because they mastered each technical difficulty through countless experiments.For example, the acid solution used to impregnate cotton was only nitric acid, and no sulfuric acid was added; for example, they did not grasp the optimal ratio of cotton and acid solution at first; for example, they did not know at what temperature the reaction should be carried out at first, etc. wait wait wait.These difficulties took a lot of time and money, and took a lot of detours, but fortunately, they were all overcome one by one in the end.

If the above-mentioned difficulties just cause researchers to waste some more lives, then the research on how to maintain the stability of gun cotton has swallowed up the lives of many researchers.Due to factors such as incomplete purification of raw cotton and insufficient acid washing, many accidents occurred in the gun cotton research room of the Northern Chemical Plant, three of which were very serious, killing and injuring many researchers. This once made the large-scale research of gun cotton It was forced to stop for many years, and only one group was left to follow up.

What really accelerated gun cotton research came from the military system that once hindered gun cotton research.Yes, you read that right, the Army and the Navy once had an accident because they tried unqualified gun cotton, and then became furious and refused to accept this dangerous thing again.However, when more and more problems were caused by the trial of traditional gunpowder in new muskets and cannons, they had to turn around again and ask the Northern Chemical Factory whether there was any possibility of improving the gun cotton.

Because the old leader who ordered the research and development of this thing had passed away long ago, the funds invested by the northern chemical plant in the research and development of gun cotton for many years were seriously insufficient.There is only one team that is tracking and researching this kind of thing. They carry out research and development slowly, and produce one or two finished products from time to time, and hand them over to various units for trial. The effect seems to be acceptable.

Later, the northern arsenal also joined in, which greatly accelerated the research and development progress, and at this time they had initially solved the instability defect of gun cotton explosives, and the practicability of the product was greatly enhanced.At this time, the military department sent personnel to inquire. It was really dozing off and met the pillow, and the mass production of gun cotton, a new type of explosive, became possible.

Of course, it might just be possible.The ability to produce relatively good gun cotton in the laboratory does not mean that you can also do it in the mode of industrialized mass production. In fact, there is still a huge gap between the two.But when things got to this point, it was no longer possible for people on the east coast to give up gun cotton. Neither the Northern Chemical Factory, the Northern Arsenal, nor the military would agree.

Thus, the arduous research and development work began again, this time the development of the production line and related production equipment.Because the production of this kind of thing is the first time for people in the East Coast, how to design the production line, what processing equipment is needed, what testing equipment is needed, how to ensure safety, etc., took a lot of time.It was not until the year before the Great Era (1692) that the related technologies were almost perfected, and the large-scale industrial production of gun cotton began to enter a substantive stage.

The first factory was located in Ping'an County, an important industrial town in the north. The production was organized by the Northern Arsenal, and the Northern Chemical Factory shared patents with it.However, considering the sensitivity of the military industry, the East Coast government dare not put all eggs in one basket.Therefore, under the leadership of relevant departments, Dayuhe Arsenal, another domestic military giant, invested 10 yuan and obtained a 30-year patent authorization for gun cotton production from the two factories.The factory you are visiting today is the new gun cotton production factory opened by Dayuhe Factory in Xincao County.

By the way, following the relocation of the Dayuhe Naval Shipyard, the Dayuhe Arsenal is also gradually relocating. Some of its business has gone to Qingdao County, and some of its business has gone to Guide County (specifically in Shipu Township) on the bank of the Wujiang River. The next one moved to Xincao County.As for its headquarters, it is temporarily located in Dongfang County, the capital, but it is rumored that it will move to Shanghai County or Xincao County soon.No matter where Dayuhe Armory moves, it is certain that Dongfang County will lose a lot of tax revenue and high-paying jobs, which will be a huge negative for the future development of the city.But what can I do?All government ministries and commissions are about to move to the inland Luoyang Prefecture. Dongfang County has been losing jobs for many years, and everyone has long been used to it.

The largest use of gun cotton on the East Coast today is artillery propellant, which is popular because of its smokeless and low residue characteristics.Of course, the power of gun cotton explosion is far greater than that of black powder, which is about five times that. Using this kind of thing as propellant, the power of artillery can be imagined.

When Pu Shitang and his team came to visit the factory today, they happened to witness the professional technicians of the factory testing the power of the explosive package made of gunwool drying and compression.When the new type of explosives in the wooden barrel was detonated, a temporary wall next to it collapsed, and bricks and stones were scattered in all directions, Park Shitang was really shocked, and he couldn't close his mouth for a long time.

He is not uninformed.He knew very well that if there were more explosives of this power, the walls of Hanyang City could be easily blown down.And if this kind of gunpowder is used as propellant to launch shells, the city walls can also be easily knocked down. This can be said to be revolutionary in changing the form of warfare.

"I'm afraid there will be no strong city in the world anymore!" Pu Shitang sighed again and again.

After visiting the collodion production workshop, Park Shitang and his team visited the workshops of other chemicals in the factory, but they all just walked around and didn't stay too long.After tasting the sweetness of nitrocellulose, people on the east coast are now also very interested in nitrating other things, such as glycerin, mercury and so on.Glycerin is extracted inexpensively from the effluent of the booming soap industry.Because of the large number of bison in the Pampa Plain, the production of tallow is very large every year, so the soap making industry is also developing rapidly.Under the government's plan, these factories began to gradually concentrate in Xincao County, producing soap for sale, processing waste liquid to recover glycerin, and then selling it to Dayuhe Armory Factory for further processing.

It can be said that the intention of the locally planned Xincao County chemical production base has been initially realized.The next step depends on how leading enterprises (such as Dayuhe Arsenal) do a good job in technology research and development, and continuously develop new things.In this regard, they have also received help from the Institute of Chemistry of the Academy of Natural Sciences and the North Chemical Plant, and the future prospects are relatively optimistic.

According to another unconfirmed gossip, after many discussions, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has planned to spin off part of the business of the northern chemical plant, and then set up a brand new southern fine chemical plant on the south bank of the Song River.The factory's headquarters, finished product production and marketing departments are planned to be located in Shanghai County, and the production of intermediate products will be located in Xincao County. The products are temporarily planned to start with simple products, such as alcohol, refrigerants, anesthetics, and essential oils.

It should be said that with the in-depth development of industries on the east coast and the improvement of people's living standards, the chemical industry has broken through the traditional three-acid and two-alkali production framework, and has begun to include industrial solvents (alcohol, etc.), scientific reagents, refrigerants, anti-corrosion, etc. The development of fine chemicals such as agents, dyes, cosmetics, and chemicals.The South Fine Chemical Plant was established under such a background in order to better adapt to market demand and promote the overall development of the chemical industry.

Of course, state-owned enterprises are not the only ones taking action. In fact, many far-sighted private investors are also entering this industry.Like Xinbian County next door, Mashi Food Company has specially set up a fermentation production workshop to produce ethanol on a large scale through the fermentation of barley, corn, potato, sugar beet and other crops, and then prepare its own brand wine, which is similar to alcoholic beverages. Entering a large industry, the production efficiency is much higher than that of traditional workshops.

In addition, in the distant upper reaches of the Bian River and even Brazil, there are many factories that extract acetic acid, methanol, and acetone through dry distillation of wood.The establishment of these factories depends on the investment of the East Bank in the field of basic scientific research.Through the study of various chemical phenomena, people first made breakthroughs in theory.And the breakthrough of the theory has brought dividends of applied technology. Many people have studied the practical application based on these theories and made a lot of money. These are the factories that extract chemicals from wood that have sprung up like mushrooms.

Many people in the East Coast say that physicists dominated the decades before the founding of the People's Republic of China.Under the guidance of physicists, industries such as machinery, construction, textiles, transportation, and mining have developed rapidly, laying the foundation for a powerful East Coast Republic.And now, the east coast is about to usher in the golden age of chemists. The food, pharmaceutical, domestic chemical, dyestuff and military industries will achieve explosive growth relying on the rise of the chemical industry. It is a remarkable sign that the standard of living has entered a new stage.

Although Pu Shitang and the others knew nothing about chemistry, they were stunned to see it along the way, but this did not prevent them from feeling the vigorous power in it.Thinking that North Korea still only has a relatively rudimentary mining industry, metal smelting industry, shipbuilding industry, wood processing industry and pharmaceutical industry, Park Shitang and others can't help but lament that the gap between China and the Heavenly Motherland is not so big!I was originally excited about the economic growth in these years, but now it seems that it is nothing, which makes people feel sad.At the same time, they also realized more clearly the suffocating power of the Heavenly Motherland. In the face of such a comparison of strengths, the Joseon Kingdom really had no choice but to hold on to the Qingshan Mountains and hold on to the Heavenly Motherland. Thighs, I hope that one day the masters of Shangguo can reward North Korea with some technology, so that they can benefit from it endlessly-really, it is worthwhile even if most of the shares of the trading company that owns the technology are controlled by the masters of Shangguo, after all, the masters eat Meat, North Korea can also drink some soup, right?

After visiting the chemical production base in Xincao County, Pu Shitang and his team boarded the small steamer and continued on their way. This time their destination was Hening Port, a planned production base for machinery and transportation equipment parts. .

(End of this chapter)