It seems that I am still too full [travel]

The secret workshop in the outskirts was some distance away from Raozhou City. The group walked for nearly an hour and a half before arriving at the destination. By the time they arrived, it was already late and the golden crow was falling.Everyone got off the carriage at the foot of the mountain, only to hear the lively sound of tired birds returning to their nests.Except for Xie Shi, the others were here for the first time, so Xie Shi should lead the team as a matter of course.

At this time, except for Han Ji who was still calm and not in a hurry, the rest of the people, even Qiu Zhi, were extremely curious. This Mr. Xie had never been so high-profile and mobilized people before, but this time he was uncharacteristically, mysterious, Said to invite them to watch an unprecedented show?How can this not make people curious!According to Mr. Xie's rumors and abilities, what he said was definitely not another lie.

Of course, there are also people who have just joined Han Ji's tent and have not had time to inquire about Xie Shi's reputation. Seeing Xie Shi's beautiful face and intimate behavior with his lord, he naturally believes that Xie Shi is just a pet serving Han Ji's side, and makes a fuss. , At this time, there was quite a resentment in my heart.

All of them sat in a carriage for an hour and a half, and ran all the way to a deep mountain, just to mess around with this little pet who can't stand on the stage?It's like the princes of Fenghuo opera!All of a sudden, these newcomers had deep doubts about whether the lord they were loyal to was Mingjun.

With such a mood of excitement, curiosity or resentment, the group of people went into the mountain under the guidance of Xie Shi. After entering a secret passage, it suddenly became clear to them that there was something strange about this place.

There were stewards waiting at the entrance of the cave, and when they saw Xie Shi, they hurried forward to salute, Xie Shi asked, "Are you ready?"

The steward barely suppressed his excitement, and replied: "It's ready, young master, just waiting for your order."

Seeing that the plan was going smoothly, Xie Shi breathed a sigh of relief, and invited everyone: "My lords, please go to the high platform to watch."

When they walked along the plank road to the high platform, the mountain wind was blowing, the sun had completely set in the west, and the dim blue night covered the sky above their heads.Everyone looked at it from a distance, and they knew that this was an extremely open canyon plain, the lights at the foot of the mountain were like beans, and there were many houses and people in the distance.

Qiu Zhi looked at it for a long time, but couldn't find any other special features except for the peculiar terrain, so he couldn't help but stepped forward and asked, "What is the young master going to show us today?"

Xie Shi smiled at him, "Lord Qiu, don't worry, wait for me to light the signal. But before that, please put on earmuffs first, so as not to make too much noise later and hurt everyone." Although everyone was still puzzled , but most of the people still put on special earmuffs to protect their ears as Xie Shi said, except for the few new colleagues who were resentful, who took the earmuffs given by the attendants with only one hand, but did not Did not follow through.

Xie Shi and Han Ji helped each other put on the earmuffs. Xie Shi took out the signal stick from his sleeve and was about to ignite it when Han Ji beside him took it. Come.After the flame flickered for a few breaths, the signal stick rose into the sky like a firecracker, blooming into a small spark in the sky.This was a clear signal to start, and indeed there was movement at the foot of the mountain.

While everyone's attention was focused on the foot of the mountain at the moment, Xie Shi quietly approached Han Ji and whispered in his ear, "Happy birthday, Brother Ji." If a person's birthday is meaningless to you, then So I used the birthday that two people had together to give it a new meaning.

The starlight contained in the eyes of the person in front of me is more dazzling than the stars in the sky. Han Ji hugged him in his arms, as if he was taking the bright moon in the sky into his arms.

The two of them put their backs on the other's chest, and accompanied by the roar of thousands of sounds, Han Ji leaned over and put his arms around the ear of the person in his arms, and said softly: "Happy birthday, Ah Shi." May every year have today, every year Years old with you.In the starry sky above the two of them, thousands of sparks fell from the sky in an instant.

The affectionate embrace did not attract the attention of anyone else, because at this moment, everyone's attention was firmly captured by the scene in front of them, and there was no time for others.At the foot of the mountain, it looks like a star river is pouring down, and the bath is raging. This is a display of fireworks placed on the surface, almost covering the entire canyon plain, and the surrounding night is completely illuminated. The effect is shocking. , just from the exclamation of the people around you can see it again and again.

The use of gunpowder in this era is still immature, so the fireworks and firecrackers set off on festivals are still just some pediatric things.At this time, the really beautiful "fireworks" on the Shangyuan Festival are actually a traditional folk art - making flowers with molten iron, which is erupted in the air by hitting molten iron with a temperature of more than 700 degrees or high-temperature molten water containing other metals. The firework shooting is a highly dangerous technique, but it is spectacular. It was a performance that the former emperors often watched in person during the Shangyuan Festival.

However, even if it is the gorgeous molten iron sparkle, it can't compare with the smoke and flames covering the sky, covering the clouds and avoiding the moon, and this is just an appetizer.

Suddenly, a sharp flute sounded, and a flame shot up into the sky, and exploded suddenly at a height of several hundred meters. In an instant, tens of thousands of fireflies scattered in the valley——

"Look! What is that!" Soon someone noticed something strange.

Everyone raised their heads high, for fear of missing any scene in front of them, but someone murmured: "Being ordered by heaven, you will live forever!" It turned out that above the sky, fireworks like celestial maidens scattered flowers gradually appeared. Out of eight Chinese characters.

As soon as these words came out, everyone was boiling. I don't know when, everyone shouted these eight words loudly, as if they wanted to use these proverb-like eight words to express the agitation and shock in their hearts at the moment. Feelings.What a miracle!

Before this, who has ever seen such a shocking fireworks show, and who can make the fireworks appear in the air? They firmly believe that this must be an instruction from the heavens, to show that the master they are loyal to is the real one in this world. The wise emperor is the man of destiny in this dynasty!

Han Ji was also a little surprised, the fireworks were still blooming, but he looked at the person in his arms, "Why did Ah Shi think of doing this?" These eight characters are the legends they fished out from the belly of the big fish when they were fishing together at sea. The motto engraved on the national seal, Han Ji did not expect that Xie Shi would find ways to display this sentence with fireworks.

Xie Shi was a little embarrassed. He originally wanted to engrave birthday wishes like "Happy Birthday" very vulgarly, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that this was too shameful. What is the difference between this and a public confession? !

So Xie Shi, who was consciously low-key, immediately changed his mind. Influenced by Cen Yu's promotion of "feudal superstition" everywhere, he replaced the gunpowder craftsmen in the workshop with these eight for the purpose of creating a wave of publicity for Han Ji. Words, judging by the fanatical performance of the adults and guards present, the effect of this wave is quite good.

As for the firework technology that can display fonts, it is indeed a bit ahead of schedule, but it was not developed by Xie Shi. Xie Shi was only responsible for the gunpowder formula. The real research on these firework technology was actually found by Han Ji and Cen Yu for him. of those craftsmen.It can only be said that the masters are in the folk, and many later generations think that modern technology can only make things. In fact, the ancients have already mastered the secrets, but because no one passed them on, they were gradually lost in the long history.

There were several roaring roars in succession, but to everyone's regret, the firework that could display the characters only bloomed once at the first time, and then disappeared, followed by all kinds of gorgeous fireworks, as if The original fireworks were really unrepeatable proverbs descended from the sky—in fact, the real reason was that the production process of the fireworks was extremely difficult and could not be replicated in a short period of time. Even today’s cluster of fireworks was successful by accident. , only two successful samples were produced, and the other one was used up during trial release.

The fireworks lasted for about a quarter of an hour, and the eyes and ears of the audience were taken away. Even Qiu Zhi had to keep his hands in his crimson sleeves in order to restrain his ecstasy. The coolness of the face.

Although the fireworks are gorgeous, they are fleeting. Soon, the fireworks in the canyon, plains and above the sky gradually subsided. The adults on the high platform can finally relax their excited and jumping moods, calm down, and suddenly their writing is full of enthusiasm. The gorgeous rhetoric is good to praise the magnificent sparks that you have seen tonight that you will never forget.

But I heard Mr. Xie Qingyue's voice sounded again, "My lords, the front is just a small performance of derivative products, and the next 'performance' is a bit loud, which may make some people feel uncomfortable. May I ask everyone here to be worried? sick people?"

Everyone present: ...the shocking fireworks ahead are not the real thing? !I thought it was just to watch the fireworks, but it turned out that it was not just that?Mr. Xie, what other great powers do you have? !

After inquiring that everyone present had no heart disease and their hearts were healthy, and that they would be able to bear no matter how loud the commotion happened later, Xie Shi gave the second order for tonight.

To celebrate Han Ji's birthday is just to set off a firework as a birthday gift?Thinking about it, this gift didn't fit Xie Shi's character, he wouldn't give such a flashy thing to his brother Ji.In fact, the derivatives he said just now were indeed right. The fireworks in front of him were really just accidental derivatives of the bombs he and the craftsmen were researching.

Gunpowder can be said to be one of the golden fingers necessary for travelers, not only because of its high lethality, but also because it is simple and easy to operate. As long as you keep in mind the extraction methods and ratios of potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal, ordinary people can actually easily Craft gunpowder.Naturally, Xie Shi would not let go of these essential home recipes that could save his life in ancient times.

However, he was lucky by accident. As soon as he crossed over, even though he was in troubled times, the surrounding environment was always very peaceful. Especially after meeting Han Ji, he was sheltered by Han Ji and had no chance of encountering other dangers. Fang Zi has been left in the corner of his memory by him and ignored.

It wasn't until last year's Laba Festival, the assassination in Fuzhou, the moment when the firecrackers rang around him, that Xie Shi really realized that this is an ancient society full of dangers and lives are like grass. If you want to live well and protect your relatives at the same time Safety must not be taken lightly, and the extra "kindness" must be discarded. It was also from that time that Xie Shi became firm in his idea of ​​using guns to make bombs or landmines.

The reason why Xie Shi ruled out firearms such as guns and blunderbuss without even thinking about it was because the steel, seamless steel pipes, and rifling techniques needed to make the barrels were not easily mastered by today's technology and craftsmanship. Yes, before the development of mature technology, the barely produced firearms are just a show, with a high probability of bombing. Using this kind of weapon on the battlefield is completely a suicide weapon.

And bombs or landmines have existed since ancient times, and that is firecrackers.The ancient firecrackers borrowed the principle of firecrackers, filled bamboo tubes with nitrate powder and other special ingredients, and ignited to produce an explosion effect.Because this kind of ratio is an untold secret, and there are certain thresholds for refining potassium nitrate and other technologies, even though it has appeared in the hands of alchemists as early as the end of the Tang Dynasty, it is rarely used on the battlefield. But there is another more important reason, and that is that its lethality is really not great.

To say that it is not very lethal is not to slander it, but even if a sufficient dose is used, it can only be used to injure people in close combat. If you ignite the firecracker and throw it out, the enemy will naturally be injured when it comes into close contact with the exploding firecracker. Last time In the battle between Raozhou and Xu Shouzhen's subordinate Xiang Jia, Han Ji was injured for this reason, and when Xie Shi was assassinated in Fuzhou City last year, the firecrackers thrown by the assassins could only act as a disturbance at best. Sightlines and crowd confusion.

However, there is a fatal flaw in the use of firecrackers, that is, this thing does not distinguish between the enemy and the enemy. It hurts the enemy a thousand and hurts itself eight hundred. If it is used on the battlefield, it will not be worth the loss.

The bomb Xie Shi wanted to make was naturally different from the current homemade firecrackers. In terms of formula, he used the gunpowder ratio in "Ji Xiao Xin Shu" written by Qi Jiguang, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later. The proportion that we think is the closest to modern gunpowder is to make granular gunpowder according to its gunpowder formula to reduce the risk of blasting the chamber, and then fill it with iron shell to increase the lethality, and then use flint and lead as the delay setting. In this way, An ancient version of the bomb is complete.

As for why the firework show just now is just an accessory on the way to the bomb, it is because even though the craftsmen in the workshop have the gunpowder formula provided by Xie Shi, they still need to go through practice and trial and error, so they make one with a lower risk factor. Fireworks have become a good way to practice and experiment with the ratio of gunpowder.

After all, the gunpowder used in fireworks is similar to bomb gunpowder. You only need to reduce the proportion of sulfur on the basis of bomb gunpowder, replace the charcoal of Abutilon stalks in bomb gunpowder with willow charcoal, and then add different metal powders to burn and release Different fireworks.

The thought was only for a moment, and the scene had already been arranged according to Xie Shi's instructions.In the dark night, Xie Shi smiled slyly, and quietly missed the question to his brother Ji, "I'm going to blow up the mountain later, brother Ji, you have to see clearly, this is the real birthday gift I give you."

As soon as the words fell, a burst of flames shot up into the sky, followed by a burst of earth-shattering loud noises that exploded in the sky. The earth seemed to have sneezed for a long time, and there was a low and terrifying muffled sound. People standing on the high platform only felt that the ground under their feet was shaking, while below, a mushroom cloud visible to the human eye rose up. Suddenly, people were shocked to find that the mountain was cracked? !

After the shock, people fell into panic, "Did the earth dragon turn around just now?!"

"No, it's thunder! There was thunder in the sky just now!"

"It seems that the earthquake has stopped again? Let's protect the Lord and go up and down the mountain first! It's not suitable to stay here for a long time!"

Although the shock was only felt for a while, everyone here still dare not take it lightly, and gathered around their lord and Xie Shi, trying to escort them down the mountain. From this point of view, Han Ji's subordinates are still extremely loyal, at least " Catastrophe is imminent", still remembering the Lord Protector.

Han Ji and Xie Shi looked at each other. The former suppressed the turmoil in his heart, squeezed his brows first, and gave a low laugh, planning to clean up the aftermath for his naughty Ah Shi, while the latter pursed his lips in embarrassment. Dao seems to have taken a big joke, isn't this the same reaction as he imagined?

Han Ji said in a loud voice: "Be safe and don't be impatient, everyone, don't worry, this is not an earthquake." His voice was calm and his posture was unhurried, and he quickly calmed everyone present like a sea needle.

Qiu Zhi had worn earmuffs according to Xie Shi's instructions before. In fact, the impact on the ears was far less than the visual and mental impact caused by the shaking of the feet, so when he found that the earthquake had disappeared and slowed down, he was the first to notice the strangeness. , Suddenly he seemed to think of something, opened his eyes suddenly, and asked in disbelief: "Could it be this! This is the performance that Mr. Xie wants to show us?"

Xie Shi smiled, bowed to Han Ji, and said reverently: "This thing is called a bomb, and it is a birthday gift from me to my lord. May this thing bless my lord's soldiers, from now on Invincible in the future!"

When Han Ji pushed him away to salute him just now when he thanked him, he stared at him non-stop. At this moment, the man's eyes were darker than the darkest night sky. He tried to use his sight as a prison to block the person in front of him forever. .At this moment, he needs to take a deep breath, clenched his fists, clenched his teeth, and has no expression on his face, so that he can restrain the desire to immediately embrace the person in front of him and kiss him.

Why is his Ah Shi so dazzling?Like a fairy above the nine heavens, he is willing to descend to the mortal world, gently caress his top with his hands, and share this life with him.

The author has something to say:

Notes:

1. Regarding the history of the development of fireworks in ancient times, the academic circles have not yet come up with results, so the contents related to fireworks and gunpowder mentioned in this chapter are all rumors of the same family, and they are basically made up, so everyone should just take a look.

2. The last paragraph is inspired by Li Bai's "A fairy caresses my head, and my hair is tied for longevity". The meaning is different, but I just think this image is beautiful, so I adapted it a bit.