General Qin

"Your Majesty, we have produced the first batch of gunpowder according to the proportions. Please check it."

Zhang Han, the Shaofu Gongcheng, walked into Zhao Tuo's official office with a slightly excited expression and reported to Zhao Tuo the results of the latest project called "Gunpowder".

"Hey, you got it done so quickly, Shaorong is really capable."

Zhao Tuo was slightly surprised and praised Zhang Han.

It only took a few days, so it was completed too quickly.

Zhang Han said with a smile: "The Lord gave a specific gunpowder formula. We only need to find the three materials and then mix them according to this formula, so we can complete it quickly."

The gunpowder project was the first order issued by Marquis Wugong after he took office as the Shaofu. It was completed very quickly because Marquis Wugong had given the gunpowder formula proportions recorded on the remains of the public transportation from the beginning.

Mononitrate, disulfonate, and charcoal.

Prescribing medicine according to the prescription does not require too much fumbling. Just find the three materials and mix them into powder according to this ratio, and you are done.

So soon after the project was launched, Zhang Han quickly completed it and presented the results to Wugong Hou.

"Well, let's go and have a look."

Zhao Tuo had expectation on his face.

He and Zhang Han went to a testing ground belonging to Shaofu.

Less than half an hour later.

boom.

Hearing the crackling sound that reached his ears, he watched the paper tube filled with black powder burn in front of him, explode, and flash out with a flash of light.

Zhao Tuo was expressionless.

Zhang Han next to him was full of surprise.

Marquis Wu Gong had ordered him not to touch fire when handling this thing, so until now, Zhang Han didn't know that those black powders had such an effect. It was really amazing.

"Your Majesty, this thing can emit bright light and make an explosion sound. I wonder what its use is?"

Upon hearing Zhang Han's question, the corner of Zhao Tuo's mouth twitched slightly.

usefulness?

It can probably be used to make firecrackers for the emperor to hear.

Maybe after the First Emperor read it, he would frown and say to Zhao Tuo, "You, Zhao Tuo, took my money and made this thing?"

What a gunpowder.

What a large firecracker.

This is what Zhao Tuo has been waiting for for a long time, and it turned out to be like this.

Facing Zhang Han's inquiry, Zhao Tuo easily blamed the ancestor.

"The fragments of the public transport only say that if this thing can be made, it will have great effects. It may be a powerful weapon, far more powerful than a giant cannon. Unfortunately, the fragments are broken, and only the formula of the raw materials, how to use it and the improved technology are left. But there is no record, maybe it was lost, or maybe Gongshuzi didn't have time to study it thoroughly."

Zhao Tuo sighed quietly.

Zhang Han felt full of regret when he heard this, and said: "Gongshuzi is a wise man in ancient times. Since he said that this thing is stronger than a giant cannon, it is natural that he is not false. It is a pity that the fragment is lost. It is really a loss to our Qin country." "

It was a pity to hear Zhang Han sighing.

Zhao Tuo secretly smiled bitterly. When he thought about it carefully, he found that the situation in front of him was actually normal.

It seems that gunpowder was only used for juggling and setting off fireworks at first, and was not used in the military. Because the original black powder was too weak to hurt anyone.

In the Song Dynasty, under the threat of powerful nomads in the north, the Song people attached great importance to the testing and production of gunpowder and gunpowder weapons. After a series of technological innovations, they could be used as weapons and developed firearms such as muskets.

Zhao Tuo knew the local recipe for black gunpowder, so he could easily make it.

But Zhao Tuo was not clear about the technical issues in between.

He estimated that the power of black powder was also related to the purity of its raw materials, preparation process, compression and sealing and other supporting technologies.

These things cannot be solved in a short time. They require a lot of experiments. I am afraid we can only explore slowly.

"Looking at it this way, I am impatient. High-power gunpowder cannot be produced in an instant. It is not enough to have the formula. Other supporting technologies must also keep up. So those who made it once they traveled to ancient times A novel about gunpowder killing everyone, isn’t it nonsense?”

Zhao Tuo muttered.

In fact, the current Qin State is prosperous in military virtue and is the top power in the world. It does not need the blessing of gunpowder.

Zhao Tuo studied this thing and did not expect it to be effective in war.

Because gunpowder is not only used for fighting, but also has great potential for civilian use.

For example, it can be used for mining, road construction, water conservancy construction, engineering blasting, metal processing, etc. It can save manpower and material resources to a large extent and is of great benefit to improving national strength.

To put it bluntly, gunpowder is a must-have for building a strong country.

At the same time, it is also a necessary technology for the development of human civilization.

"We can retain a project team first, carry out long-term projects, and let people slowly conduct research. It's a pity that those alchemists who made alchemy were tricked by me, and they didn't even leave any seeds. Otherwise, with their participation, we would get twice the result with half the effort."

Zhao Tuo shook his head.

After he became the young master, he first thought of getting gunpowder out. In fact, it had something to do with the fact that those alchemists were tricked to death by him.

Zhao Tuo remembered that gunpowder originated from alchemy. It was a product of alchemists who used fire to alchemy.

But the problem is that in this time and space, the art of alchemy was killed by Zhao Tuo as soon as it sprouted.

The elixir is poisonous.

The first emperor of the country was so furious that he poisoned Marquis Lun of a country and killed all the alchemists who stayed in Xianyang.

When the alchemists in Shandong heard about this, they were so frightened that they scattered their souls and changed their profession overnight.

Now in the entire Qin Dynasty, no one dares to publicly promote the art of refining medicine for immortality.

This incident had a huge impact on alchemy. With the First Emperor and Zhao Tuo as examples, subsequent emperors would probably no longer believe in this kind of thing.

And with Zhao Tuo's intervention, Lu Sheng, Xu Shi and other alchemists developed a mature system of cultivating immortals, which dealt a huge blow to other factions seeking immortality, such as the Overseas Immortal Seeking Sect, which was directly killed.

Judging from the current situation, maybe in the future, the Chinese system of cultivating immortals will only have the cultivation of inner alchemy, and alchemy will have no ground for its existence.

Without alchemy, the invention of gunpowder would naturally be lost.

Zhao Tuo considered this, so he simply pointed out this technology and passed the invention of gunpowder to Gongshuzi.

Regardless of whether he could produce powerful gunpowder, at least he made future generations aware of the existence of such a thing. Unless Zhao Tuo died and the art of alchemy disappeared at the same time, gunpowder, one of the four great inventions, would have taken an unknown amount of time to come out.

The power of the gunpowder presented by Zhang Han was somewhat beyond Zhao Tuo's imagination. After some encouragement, he asked Zhang Han to retain part of his manpower to continue researching this project, while other resources were transferred to other more useful projects.

For example, improving metal smelting technology, modifying looms, etc.

These are all good things that can promote social development and increase productivity. They are more important than gunpowder in strengthening a country.

However, Zhao Tuo's new project had just begun, and the First Emperor personally visited the Shaofu official office.

Zhao Tuo thought that the First Emperor was here to inspect his achievements during this period, and was thinking about how to deal with it. Unexpectedly, the First Emperor came for another purpose.

He was not interested in Zhao Tuo's half-finished projects. The emperor was interested in something else.

"The general reported to the Young Master that my imperial mausoleum has begun to take shape. I went to see it the day before yesterday. It's not bad. If it takes another ten years to build it, it will have the domineering power of the largest mausoleum in the world and can barely meet my standards. identity of."

The First Emperor stood in front of Zhao Tuo and rarely talked about the Emperor's Mausoleum at Lishan Mountain, which surprised Zhao Tuo.

You must know that the First Emperor has been praying for immortality, imagining that he can become the sun that never sets and rule the world forever.

Therefore, although the imperial mausoleum has been under construction, the First Emperor basically did not mention this thing in front of others, as if he wanted to stay away from death, and this matter has almost become a taboo.

This topic is related to the life and death of the emperor. It is too sensitive. The emperor can bring it up, but Zhao Tuo dare not talk nonsense. He can only bite the bullet and say: "Your Majesty, if you cultivate immortality, you may be able to live forever."

The First Emperor smiled and shook his head and said: "Although I am cultivating immortality and longing for immortality, I also know that the road to immortality is elusive, and birth, old age, illness and death are normal in the world, and it is difficult for mortals to resist, so I have long been prepared to go to the underground world."

"Your Majesty is wise."

Zhao Tuo cupped his hand, but he didn't expect that the First Emperor was still open to it.

But the next moment, the First Emperor's words shocked Zhao Tuo.

"I went to Lishan Mountain to take a look around and saw that the imperial mausoleum is majestic and quite magnificent. The Six Kingdoms City surrounds my imperial mausoleum, and the survivors of the six kingdoms in the city guard the mausoleum for me. It looks good."

"But I always feel a little uncomfortable in my heart, so I want to deploy thousands of troops and horses around the imperial mausoleum as my protection in the underground world."

"In this case, we need a general to lead us."

When the First Emperor said this, his eyes were fixed on Zhao Tuo.