nucmednet Chapter 285 Gunpowder Formula
Chapter 285 Gunpowder Formula
Wu Yanqing got the recipe for milk tea and wanted to make friends with Zhao Sheng. The two talked for a long time about the exchange of tea.
"Manager Wu, actually, tea is now owned by the government. If it is raw tea, the government will not control it too strictly. Look at this..." Zhao Sheng explained in detail the fermentation process of a kind of tea after withering, as well as the packaging and transportation methods.
Wu Yanqing listened with a hint of confusion on his face, but when he learned that Mr. Zhao would buy all the tea, he happily agreed to the deal. He wasn't in a hurry to leave anyway, so he could discuss this matter in detail later.
The Northern Barbarian merchant was in no hurry to leave. After Wu Yanqing finished his conversation, he respectfully touched his chest and saluted, saying, "Respected sir, I am a merchant from the land further north of the Xiongnu. My name is Yili. I also really like your milk tea."
"Oh." Zhao Sheng understood. This person obviously also wanted to learn how to make milk tea.
"Iliyun, what kind of merchandise do you trade in?"
"Sir, I mainly deal in furs, and then I exchange them for some salt, ironware, and copperware."
"Oh, I'll give you a suggestion, but we'll talk about it later." Zhao Sheng knew very well that he couldn't discuss such matters in front of two merchants from the north and the south. He had to leave some private space for this northern barbarian merchant.
Sun Jiadao was somewhat unhappy because Zhao Sheng had cut the profit of sugar in half, but even so, he could still make a hundred coins from selling one or two ounces of sugar, which was acceptable.
A sold-out sign was hung in front of the store, and it will be closed today.
Mr. Zhao had no plans to continue selling sugar. After all, it was one of the materials he used to make gunpowder.
He continued to make sugar, but what he was most worried about was that gunpowder would be imitated by others.
He had to keep the best formula to curb possible changes in the situation in the future.
Two days later, Mr. Zhao asked Zhao Yongqiang to find Yili Lin and bring him to the security room on Huipin Street.
"It seems that the young master is from an official family."
"Yeah!" Zhao Sheng nodded in response to Yili's question.
"Last time, I was going to give you a suggestion, but before that, I wanted to know what position your Yili family holds in the Xiongnu?"
After that day, Zhao Sheng sent people to investigate the background of the Yili family.
"Although our Yili family lives in the far north of the Xiongnu, we are a noble family. Over the years, we have been doing business on the grasslands and have accumulated considerable wealth."
"In Xiongnu, we have cooperation with both the Nalan family and the Huyan family. One is a wine merchant, and the other is a fur merchant. This shows that the competition in your industry is quite fierce."
"Sir, you are absolutely right. The fur business is really not doing well right now."
"Then has the Yili family ever thought about finding another sales channel?" Seeing that the other party agreed with his statement, Zhao Sheng led the topic to the sales model.
"Sir, what good ideas do you have?" Yili asked cautiously with a thoughtful look on his face.
"You see, milk tea is a drink that will definitely be popular in the south in the future. However, this drink has a shortcoming, and that is the insufficient supply of fresh milk.
Therefore, the northern grasslands have great potential in this regard, but tea is strictly controlled, so if you want to operate it, you need a smooth channel."
Zhao Sheng's analysis was recognized by Yili Yan, who nodded and said, "Sir, do you have any solution to this problem?"
"Do you think this is feasible? You'll be in charge of transporting milk-producing sheep and cattle to important areas in the south to establish ranches. I'll then help some wealthy families cooperate with you, and we'll share the profits proportionally."
Mr. Zhao observed Yili's facial expression and, seeing that he had understood, continued, "As time goes by, we can recycle wool, sheepskin, and other things, and also provide fresh dairy products. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
When Yili heard this, the corners of his mouth rose inadvertently, and his heart was filled with joy.
"If it is as you say, then I will leave the affairs here to you. I will focus on the supply in the north."
"No, I will provide you with all the goods you need in the south, including some salt."
"Salt?" Yili was overjoyed. Their need for salt was extremely urgent.
“However, we will not be dealing in just salt, but two different spices that contain more than just salt.”
Yili was familiar with spices, but they were often controlled by wealthy families like the Cui family, making them difficult to acquire. He had heard that Yi Yu might be able to trade with them in the future, but the price was quite high.
With three Xiongnu families already cooperating with him, Zhao Sheng effectively controlled this commercial route. He felt relieved, as trading with these people was far more reassuring than with the six major families.
The trade fair was still going on, and the Zheng family was also participating. They had no particular purpose for coming this time, but were simply interested in the wool and cotton textiles that appeared in Luancheng.
At this trade fair, some products became futures, and people started to place orders when they saw the products they liked.
Of course, these all require a small deposit.
……
After Shi Li took the position of chief, he often had nightmares in which his brother wanted to kill him, so his original plan to attack Luancheng was shelved.
"You got the formula for their explosives?"
Shi Li was so shocked by the report from the person in front of him that he sat up suddenly. Shi Ge's defeat was largely due to Luancheng's advanced weapons.
"Yes, we wiped out the entire family of a craftsman, and only then forced him to hand over the recipe."
"So simple? Come on, let's verify whether it works."
Shi Li swept away the gloom of the past and couldn't wait to make gunpowder.
The person who came was Xia Shao, Shi Li's confidant. He took out the recipe from his pocket and saw some crooked words written on a piece of paper.
"Uh? Why didn't you bring the person back?"
Shi Li asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"Don't mention it. We originally planned to bring it back, but we encountered their patrol on the way. The man was killed on the way, and we also lost several brothers."
"Forget it, let's just leave it at that. Have you ever verified it?"
"It has been verified. We tested it at his home at that time." Xia Shao said proudly.
"However, there is a recipe here that is quite tricky to obtain." Xia Shao thought for a while and continued.
"What is it?" Shi Li asked.
"He called this thing the Human Emperor."
"Human Emperor?" Shi Li asked curiously, not understanding what was going on.
"Yes, he extracted it from human urine at that time." Xia Shao explained.
At that time, when Xia Shao caught this man, he actually only knew a few formulas. In order to save his life, he reluctantly told him the formula of gunpowder.
However, in fact, saltpeter was made by Zhao Sheng using sugar. In order to prevent people from stealing it, he lied that this thing was extracted from human urine.
As a result, the person who was arrested actually extracted saltpeter from his urine.
In this way, Xia Shao followed the recipe given by that person at that time, and after experiments, he actually made a batch of gunpowder with a not very standard ratio, but at least it reached the level of explosion.