A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 92: Spotted Urination
According to Li Maosen, the grenade has to be large to be powerful. A grenade uses several catties of iron and requires a lot of gunpowder, but the effect of killing the enemy is not very good.Anyway, it is for defending the city. Throwing a grenade is better than throwing a rolling stone. After killing a few enemy soldiers, the rolling stone can be recycled, and the grenade is gone.

The same is true for landmines, not to mention the waste of iron and medicine, especially the ignition device of the steel wheel is difficult to manufacture.In fact, the steel wheel ignition device is similar to the gear spring of a flintlock gun. The structure is very complicated. I am afraid that few craftsmen in Shunxiang Castle can make it. Instead of wasting this manpower and material resources, it is better to use all the materials where they are needed.

As for the gunpowder, there were only more than 120 catties in the original Shunxiang Fort storage, and only over 2000 rounds of gunpowder were made into it. After all this time, the use of Shunxiang Fort craftsmen and the Shunxiang Army will soon be exhausted.Without gunpowder, the workers who made the cartridge ammunition had to stop working.

As for what Li Maosen said before, the production of knives and spears and other equipment was stopped, Wang Dou thought it was possible. Now the number of long spears in the warehouse was enough for use, but it would be difficult if there was no gunpowder.

Mining with gunpowder can save manpower and increase the efficiency of ironworks. Large-scale operations in the future, especially if artillery is fired, will require a lot of gunpowder.

The supply of raw materials for gunpowder and saltpeter has always troubled Wang Dou, so there is no other way except to buy it from outside?Is it possible to find a stable supply of saltpeter nearby like Koujiagou Iron Works?
Coming out of the craftsman's workshop, Wang Dou had been thinking about this issue, and finally he called together a group of military officials from Shun Xiangbao to discuss this issue.

Regarding this problem, everyone was at a loss. In the end, the official Feng Dachang offered a plan and posted a notice in the Shunxiang Fort to see if anyone knew of related minerals near the Shunxiang Fort, or There is no way to accumulate nitrate.

If you can offer a clever plan, you will be rewarded with a stone of rice and ten catties of meat.

After the notice was posted, it aroused great interest from all over Shun Township Castle, and everyone talked about it, thinking hard, what can I do?

The next day, a new military household suddenly asked to see him, saying that he had a way.

Wang Dou was overjoyed and quickly let him in. Soon, a big meatball rolled in. Everyone saw that it was a man in his 40s. Among the refugees, there are very few short and fat people like him. He has so much meat, and it is his blessing that he was not eaten by the refugees.

The meat ball saluted Wang Dou with a strong Shanxi accent. It turned out that his name was Li Zhifen, a very feminine name. According to his own words, he was a small rich man in the village in his hometown. He was a bandit, and he was the only one left in the family, so he came out to wander with the victims.Followed Daliu to Shunxiang Fort, saw that there was food and drink here, so he stayed.Every day he stayed in the men's camp to work with the others, and when he heard that Wang Dou was rewarding him, he came happily.

According to this guy's own introduction, although he tries his best to beautify himself and likes science and chemistry, etc., Lin Daofu and others think that this generation has not done a proper job since he was a child, is good at strange skills and prostitution, and does not practice the righteous way.But this is not what Wang Dou cares about, he only cares about whether Li Zhifen can get out the Nitrogen.

Li Zhifen made a deep bow: "Why bother, my lord? Nitre is everywhere, like in the stables and barns, there are infinite saltpeter, which adults can't dream of!"

Wang Dou waved his hand: "Lead the way!"

A group of officers followed Li Zhifen to the toilets and stables, the pig and cow stables, and the corners of the courtyard inside and outside Shun Township Fort, all of them were disheartened.Li Zhifen's short, fat body is extremely flexible, and he just crawled in and out of the stables and cowsheds. He took a broom and a dustpan, and when he saw white awns, he swept them up. Sure enough, they came out with nitrate soil. He swept away more than ten catties in a short time. .

Sometimes he would stand in the shade of the toilet, meditate, carefully observe the soil on the surface, and even take a small piece to taste the smell, and everyone's faces turned pale, but Li Zhifen didn't change his face, just nodded and said: "It's so spicy, it's so nitrate!"

Pick up the hoe and dig up the big piece of soil.

For the uncertain nitrate, he fetched some charcoal and burned it red, and then put the nitrate on top. Seeing some sparks burst out, he nodded and said, "Not bad."

Seeing that he was busy, he quickly dug up a large pile of nitrate soil, probably weighing dozens of kilograms. Wang Dou and others looked at those toilets in disbelief. It was hard to imagine that these toilets would be connected with gunpowder. Together.Although Wang Dou had read some information before, collecting some human and animal urine and feces can make nitrate, but he didn't understand how to make it, and he didn't know that these toilet areas could collect so much nitrate.

He looked at Li Zhifen in disbelief, and said, "That's all right?"

Li Zhifen said: "We still need to deal with it a little bit."

He asked Wang Dou to arrange manpower for him, took some plant ash, crushed the nitrate soil and wood ash, sieved them separately, put the mixture into a large pot, and began to wash it with hot water.After the liquid is slowly filtered and refined, the concentration gradually decreases from reddish brown, and after cooling and crystallization, pure nitrate becomes.

Afterwards, these nitrates only need to be mixed with sulfur, charcoal and other substances in proportion, and then put into a stone mill to grind them finely, and black gunpowder powder is born.This is what any craftsman in Shun Township can make.

Seeing Li Zhifen's achievements, Wang Dou and others were overjoyed. The gunpowder problem was finally solved, and they could be self-sufficient in the future and would not be controlled by others.

Li Zhifen was also intoxicated, and he said to Wang Dou: "My lord follows the small method. One hundred catties of nitrate in a month is just a mere thing. The villain has another method, which can produce a large amount of nitrate, but it requires a lot of manpower and materials."

Wang Dou raised his hand and said, "Okay, from now on you will be the nitrate collector of Shunbao, specializing in making nitrate soil."

Wang Dou appointed Li Zhifen as the Nitrate Collector, and selected dozens of women and old and weak men for him to use. He was rewarded with a stone of rice and ten catties of meat for his contribution, which made Li Zhifen's fat face smile flower.

Soon, Li Zhifen took office, took dozens of his subordinates, and specially found a cool place, mixed human and animal excrement with sand grains and furnace ashes, and piled up several high dung piles. Fixed-point irrigation.

This stinking saltwater gathering place attracted many onlookers and military households, and it also carried the hopes of Wang Dou and others.

Soon, living up to expectations, a lot of white natural nitrate appeared in these manure piles. According to Li Zhifen, this nitrate collection place can easily get [-] to [-] catties of pure nitrate in a month, which is more expensive than from toilets and stables. The salt mud dug from other places is much better.

Two hundred catties of pure nitrate can be made into at least three hundred catties of black gunpowder a month. With this much gunpowder, Wang Dou can carry out a series of plans. One hundred miners can meet the ore demand of [-] jin of iron ore a month, or even more.

Wang Dou once read a related historical material. It is recorded in the annals of Gaoqing County, Linzi, Shandong Province that in 1000, in a certain place in Gaoyuan in Gaoqing County, more than 150 people used the local method to boil nitrate, and the annual output of fire nitrate reached [-] tons. The nitrate is enough to configure two hundred tons of black powder!
Two hundred tons of black gunpowder for a thousand people, how many kilograms is that, Wang Dou couldn't figure it out for a while, but with this simple method, at least during his military career in Ming Dynasty, he would not have to worry about the raw materials for making gunpowder.It's just that this requires a lot of human and animal manure and so on.

In the past, human and livestock urine and feces in Shunxiangbao were used to fertilize the fields, but now it has an additional function, collecting nitrate soil, which can be used for killing on the battlefield and defending the country. It is really precious.

Wang Dou specially issued an order for this. From now on, the military households in Shun Township Fort are not allowed to defecate anywhere, but must go to the designated huts. It is a major event related to the life and death of the soldiers and civilians of Shunxiangbao, and it cannot be sloppy.

……

On May [-]th in the ninth year of Chongzhen.

The sky was fine, and Li Zhifen directed the dozens of male and female subordinates to pick urine and excrement to irrigate his precious nitrate collecting ground.

Yesterday, nearly a hundred catties of nitrate had been collected from this place. I heard that Master Defender made gunpowder and transported it to the Koujiagou Iron Works.In order to collect new nitrate soil, the water and urine must not be relaxed.

This place is not very far from the protective wall of Baoxin Castle in Shun Township. It is just under a slope, where the sun does not reach. There are rows of abandoned houses over there. It was the ancient site of Hanpan County, and it is the most shady place. It is best used to collect nitrate.

Urinating every day, the place where the nitrate is collected can be said to have a stench, sometimes a gust of wind blows, and the stench even floats far to the labor site where everyone is building the fort wall, making people scold.Entering that place, many people couldn't stand it, but Li Zhifen's expression remained unchanged, as if he could find endless fun in this stinky place.

When Li Zhifen directed a group of men and women to urinate through the construction site, many people greeted him from a distance: "Li Daji Nitrate Officer, are you going to see your precious place again?"

Everyone laughed out loud, as if they found joy in the boring and hard work.

These days, Li Zhifen's reputation can be said to be well-known in the castle, and many people can't help laughing when they talk about Li Daji's official.Many people also rumored that in order to accumulate nitrate, Li Zhifen always carried a broom and dustpan with him. He spent all day wandering around the toilets and stables. Whenever he saw white objects, he would instinctively sweep them up.

Behind their backs, everyone gave Li Zhifen a nickname: "Li Da Toilet Official."

After hearing everyone's teasing, Li Zhifen was not angry, and said with a smile: "Yes, yes."

While taking his own short and sturdy steps, he directed a group of subordinates to pass by.

Everyone laughed even more.

In the crowd, Xu Yue'e also smiled in the same way. She was carrying a load of soil, which attracted many men on the opposite side to secretly look at her.

This Xu Yue'e has always been as cold as ice in front of people, and she is even more honest with men. I didn't expect her to laugh, and she looks so pretty when she smiles.

But no one dared to come forward to talk to her, not to mention that this girl is ruthless. A few days ago, a few single military households came up to joke with her, and she stabbed her in the stomach and heart with a shoulder pole, and the pain did not last for a few days After recovering, all the men kept her at arm's length.

Furthermore, there are regulations in Shun Township Fort that male military households are strictly prohibited from harassing female military households, they are allowed to talk and chat normally, if they touch their hands or speak frivolously, the military stick will not show mercy.

Now the nickname of "Chi Papier" has spread far and wide among the new military households who have been the governor of Chi Dacheng.Those single military households were beaten by Xu Yue'e, and Chi Dacheng beat them severely afterward. With new injuries and old injuries, they lay in bed for ten days.

As a result of this, no man dared to approach Xu Yue'e's side, and Xu Yue'e's past incidents were spread for some reason, and everyone looked at her even more strangely.

Xu Yue'e picked up the soil to the side of the fort wall, and several children ran towards her, calling repeatedly: "Auntie, auntie."

Xu Yuee said softly, "Good boy."

He took out a steamed bun from his bosom, divided it into several portions, handed them to the children respectively, and stroked the hair of one of them.

Those children went bouncing around, shouting as they jumped, "Oh, oh, there's something to eat, there's something to eat."

These children are children of children who rammed the city wall in ancient times. In order to save manpower, some children were often run on it, which can also achieve the effect of ramming wood.These children can eat two more steamed buns than usual when they are tamping.

Looking at the backs of these children, Xu Yue'e smiled beautifully and peacefully.

For some reason, Xu Yue'e likes children very much. She usually sits alone, and when she looks at those children who are playing, she will always smile. Only at this time, she is not as indifferent as usual, just like an ordinary girl.

However, as things about Xu Yue'e's past spread quietly in the castle, more and more military households prohibited their children from interacting with Xu Yue'e. Only those orphans in the women's camp liked Xu Yue'e very much, because she would often save some food for them On weekdays, these children also affectionately call her aunt.

Xu Yue'e rested for a while, and was about to turn around to pick up soil, when suddenly she heard the sound of a gong, and someone from a distance said: "My lord has an order, the whole castle is assembled, the whole castle is assembled..."

All of a sudden, everyone was commotion and said: "What happened? My lord will call the whole castle to gather..."

(End of this chapter)