That's right, what Li Mu wants to do is gunpowder.

As one of the four great inventions of ancient China, gunpowder has no need to mention its status and importance. However, few people know the exact time of its birth. Historical records record that things like "gunpowder" were not produced in alchemy until the late Tang Dynasty, and it was the case of the Song Dynasty that gunpowder was truly used in actual combat.

Therefore, it is absolutely unprecedented for Li Mu to ‘invent’ gunpowder now.

The formula of gunpowder was no longer a secret when Li Mu went to school. It was a formula for chemistry classes in junior high schools. There were three main ingredients: charcoal, saltpeter and sulfur, with a ratio of fifteen parts of saltpeter, three parts of charcoal and two parts of sulfur, so that the most powerful black gunpowder can be obtained. However, this ratio was gradually concluded after thousands of years of evolution and gradual experiments. The formula of black gunpowder in history was not unified, with a ratio of six, two, and four, two, which is related to the purity of the material and the climate.

These three materials for making black gunpowder are not difficult to obtain. Needless to say, charcoal can be found where there is wood. And there are also many other materials, saltpeter and sulfur, in nature, but it is just a little troublesome.

The use of saltpeter in China was very early, and was used as medicine as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The initial collection of saltpeter was very troublesome. The saltpeter in nature exists in the soil containing nitrogen organic substances. After decomposition under the action of bacteria, it is oxidized into nitric acid and combined with potassium in the soil. In the clear and refreshing autumn season, it will precipitate in the shape of salt flowers, covering the ground and walls, which people call ground frost. Especially in pigpens, stables, and toilets, there are many corners.

People who understand this will sweep this kind of soil containing nitrate, place it in a barrel, soak it in water. After filtering, boil the filtrate or dry it to obtain saltpeter crystals. The earliest method of making saltpeter was created by doctors, with the purpose of making medicine. Later, alchemy became popular, and it was mostly used to refine alchemy.

After the great alchemy, alchemists attached great importance to saltpeter and constantly explored its properties, saying that it was "generated from the qi of the sea, and it was the most god of heaven and earth,... It can transform seventy-two petrols into water, soften the hardware, and refine eight stones. Even the great elixir is unwilling to leave this."

In the early Chinese alchemy "Thirty-Six Water Method" published in the Eastern Han Dynasty, saltpeter was the protagonist. Because of its characteristic of "burning it with fire and purple and blue smoke rises", saltpeter was considered an immortal by alchemy, so it was cherished and valued. After the Southern and Southern Dynasties, all alchemy masters used saltpeter to enter the furnace, which consumed even more. The saltpeter collected by the people was not enough, so they could only think of other methods.

Nothing can stop the enthusiasm of alchemy to refine alchemy. Finally, they found a source of saltpeter that is almost endless in nature. This source is the salt lake. A large amount of saltpeter precipitates around the salt lake. As a good medicine for real heat accumulation, abdominal distension and pain, dry stools, and intestinal abscesses, it is also a very popular commodity on the Silk Road. Among the caravans traveling to and from Camel Valley, many of them sell medicinal materials, and it is not difficult to get it.

Sulfur is even simpler. Sulfurite is mainly produced near the crater or where it was once a volcano. Li Mu observed the surrounding area of ​​Camel Valley. Tens of millions of years ago, this was an active volcano. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the abrupt ridges around it. There must be a sulfur stone mine here. If you find the location of the mine, you will not be able to use it to dig it casually.

Charcoal is even better. Every night, bonfires are raised in Camel Valley. This is not only for the caravan, but also a Zoroastrian ritual. It only takes charcoal to burn at the same time when raising the bonfire. It is not difficult.

In order not to leak the formula of black gunpowder, Li Mu specially made a huge long list. He wrote all kinds of messy things in it. Just looking at this list, it is impossible to know the formula of gunpowder.

It is worthy of being the most profound Jin family among the four surnames of the Hidden Clan. What Li Mu needs is soon prepared. Li Mu drove everyone away, locked himself in the room, prepared food to replenish his physical strength at any time, bought a formula for gunpowder from the system, and an intermediate mechanism formula [Mine].

Landmines, in most people's consciousness, are products of modern times. However, there were mines as early as the Ming Dynasty, but they were not that powerful and not so safe. When it was cloudy and rainy, they would return, and mines would be useless. When landmines were first invented, they only needed to sprinkle water to deal with landmines, and there was no big effect on the battlefield.

But in the current situation, it is perfect.

Li Mu planned to build hundreds of mines on the only way for the Turkic army to advance eastward, so that when the Turkic army passed, they could blow them up and overturn them. At the same time, they buried gunpowder on the top of the mountain, blew the mountain down, and sealed the pass, forcing these Western Turkic troops to take a long way to achieve the goal of buying time for the Tang Dynasty.

The Jin clan members happened to be the helper who could help him bury explosives.

After half a day of busyness, Li Mu had already prepared more than 20 landmines, and he carefully put them in the box. In another half a day, there would be fifty ones. These fifty ones were buried in the pass while the night was dark, and they could be buried in half a night.

Dongdong,

There was a knock on the door, Li Mu stopped, came to the door, and asked sideways, "Who?"

"It's me."

Li Mu opened the door and saw Jin Chen bringing a pot of tea over. Li Mu glanced at it and smiled and said, "I didn't expect that I could drink Chang'an tea here. I thought you were drinking tea soup here."

"Chang'an's tea has long been popular in the Western Regions. Before I went to Chang'an, the merchants who came and brought it here, but it was expensive, and a car of tea was one or two gold."

"So I'm selling it cheaply in Chang'an." Seeing that Jin Chen was about to put down the tea, Li Mu reached out and blocked it, saying, "Don't put it down, I won't drink it."

Jin Chen looked at Li Mu, his eyes full of tears: "You still don't believe me."

"I'm sorry, I can't believe you. I'll learn from my mistakes. I can't help but remember." Li Mu said coldly: "I'm still here now. One is for the sake of faith and righteousness. I have to do what I said and don't want to owe you favors. And it's for the sake of my Tang Dynasty and the Western Turks invasion. As the Marquis of the Tang Dynasty, I have to do something, and there is nothing else. I hope you don't misunderstand, don't look at me with this kind of gaze anymore - have you found the bird I asked you to find?"

"No pigeon was found, a harrier hawk was found, in the cage outside."

The harrier eagle is what the people call "bird eagle". Compared with the eagle, it is not enough to see, but compared with the bird, it is also considered a predator. Its distribution range is very wide and is everywhere in the north.
Chapter completed!