In the early Ming Dynasty, the period when firearms officially entered a large-scale use. Although pure firearm troops like Shenji Camp were not established until Zhu Di was in power, firearms have now begun to be equipped on a large scale in the army. Almost every time the Ming Dynasty went on a war, a large number of firearms were used.

Gunpowder is the foundation of firearms, but the preparation of gunpowder by Ming craftsmen was too primitive. When Li Jie visited before, he saw with his own eyes that the craftsmen grind saltpeter and sulfur without any treatment and used it directly. You should know that both materials are minerals and must carry various impurities. If they are not purified, it will definitely affect the power of gunpowder.

Li Jie personally demonstrated the purification method. The purification of saltpeter is very simple. It is nothing more than soluble saltpeter in water and filtering impurities, then heating and evaporating and crystallization to obtain pure potassium nitrate. Of course, if the purity is required, this process can be done several times.

In contrast, the purification of sulfur is a little more troublesome. It requires heating and melting, filtering out some impurities, and then heating until boiling to vaporize. Only after condensation can pure sulfur be obtained.

Sulfur needs to be used as a condenser. If someone builds it, it will take at least a few days. However, Li Jie asked someone to find a distilled still for distilling wine. The principle of distillation of wine and the purification of sulfur is the same, so the equipment can also be generalized. Of course, the efficiency is not too high, and it will definitely need to be redesigned in the future. Now it can only be done.

As the sulfur heats and boils, a strong smell of sulfur spreads out, and the smoked people are a little untenable. However, people like Li Jiangtou and others have been dealing with sulfur all year round and don’t care about this smell.

The melting point of sulfur is as high as more than 100 degrees, so it will immediately turn into crystallization after being cooled after vaporization. By the end of distillation, a thick layer of sulfur has formed on the upper layer of the distiller. After someone scrapes it off, it will become very pure sulfur.

After purifying saltpeter and sulfur, charcoal does not need to be purified. This thing was originally made of wood, and the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty have figured out that the charcoal used for gunpowder is best for willow charcoal.

"Okay, because time is limited, wet gunpowder will not be used. I hope Li Jiangtou will mix these three materials in the best proportion and test the power of this gunpowder!" Li Jie bowed to Li Jiangtou at this time. He didn't know many tools for gunpowder, such as pole scales, so the final preparation is better for experienced people like Li Jiangtou to do it.

Li Jiangtou was not polite. They had been staring at Li Jie's purification process just now. At this time, they also wanted to try the power of the gunpowder obtained after purification, so he immediately stepped forward and mixed the three materials in the best proportion. He then took a hollow iron ball, poured the gunpowder into the iron ball and compacted it. After inserting the lead, the hole was blocked. This is the simplest firearm, called Pilizi, which is actually a big firecracker.

"Go to the test site!" Li Zhu immediately instructed that if the firearm is ready, of course, we must test the power, so there is also a special test site for the firearm, which is located at the outermost periphery of the firearm bureau.

After the group arrived at the test site, Li Zhu and Li Jie and others hid behind a low wall. Two pilizi were placed in the field. One of them was made of purified gunpowder, and the other was the original old gunpowder. The two pilizi were ignited at the same time.

There were only two loud "boom~boom~" sounds, and two smoke and dust also blew up in the venue. However, it was obvious that the purified thunderbolt explosion caused greater smoke and dust, and even the sound was louder than the other one.

Li Zhu and the others hurried forward and saw that two pits had been blown out on the ground. Among them, the pits that were blown out by the purified Pilizi were more than two feet long, while the old Pilizi only exploded with a pit of more than one foot long, which was obviously very different in power.

"It's so amazing! It's so amazing! The power of gunpowder after purification has increased by nearly twice!" Li Jiangtou's face turned red with excitement.

"Mr. Li is really a magical person. He can actually double the power of gunpowder. If this matter is reported, it will definitely be a great achievement!" The other craftsmen also reacted and immediately praised Li Jie. Although their craftsmen have a low status, they are still very confident in their craftsmanship. However, they did not expect that a young man like Li Jie was more proficient in gunpowder than they did.

"Congratulations to the commander, you have given birth to a good son!" At this time, a smart person immediately congratulated Li Zhu. After all, Li Zhu was their immediate boss, and the others also congratulated Li Zhu one after another.

If others flatter themselves, Li Zhu may not care, but when he heard so many people praise his son, he suddenly said it to Li Zhu's heart, and he was so happy that he couldn't stop talking.

After seeing the power of purifying gunpowder with his own eyes, these craftsmen had no doubts anymore and immediately asked Li Jie for the purification method. Although they had seen it with their own eyes, they still needed to ask Li Jie for some details. Li Jie did not hide any jokes about this, and explained the purification method in detail and some points that need to be paid attention to.

Finally, Li Jie asked the craftsmen to operate on their own. He also pointed out on the spot that this made Li Jiangtou and others even more admire Li Jie. After all, a talented and approachable young man, especially the other party was the son of their boss, which was too rare for them.

Li Jie was busy with the firearm for most of the day and ate lunch with Li Jiangtou and the others. It was not until the afternoon that Li Jiangtou and the others could fully master the techniques of purification and wet gunpowder.

After doing the above things, Li Jie said goodbye and left, accompanied Li Zhu to his office room. After entering the room, Li Jie immediately spoke: "Father, it should be a great contribution to improving the preparation of gunpowder?"

"Of course, although firearms are limited in use in the army, they have developed very quickly. Many generals attach great importance to firearms, especially in the Battle of Dingbian last year, the Marquis of Xiping defeated the 300,000 rebels in Yunnan with firearms, which shocked the world. I heard that the court even wanted to build a unit equipped with firearms!" Li Zhu also seemed very excited when talking about firearms. The Military Weapon Bureau not only made firearms, but he attached great importance to firearms.

Li Jie knew that the so-called Xiping Hou was the famous Mu Ying, the founder of the Mu Prince Mansion in Yunnan. Mu Ying was Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son and was good at using troops. After Yunnan was pacified, other generals were not relieved to guard Yunnan Zhu Yuanzhang, so he left Mu Ying behind.
Chapter completed!