Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 305 Boiling Urine
There are more than a dozen islands of different sizes scattered on Xuanwu Lake, with superb scenery. They are known as the "Fairy Islands" and are naturally occupied by princes and nobles.

Crown Prince Xiao Tong, Prince of Linchuan Xiao Hong, as well as Prince of Poyang, Prince of Jin'an and others, all built villas on the island. In spring, they would go boating to enjoy the flowers, and in summer, they would go to the island to cool off. Their lives were like those of gods.

However, it was already deep winter, the wind was chilly and the scenery was bleak on the lake. Naturally, the princes' villas were empty, and the islands were pitch black without a single person in sight.

But "Xiaoyingzhou" in the center of the lake was an exception. Not only were lights visible in the palace, but torches were also flickering on the dock.

Ren Yuan asked Su Xiaoxiao to stop the boat far away, and then he and A Yao each held one arm, picked up Chen Baxian, who could not fly yet, and quietly went ashore on the other side of Xiaoyingzhou.

Using a smudge to hide their figures, the three of them finally reached the dock, where they saw about twenty workers unloading the boat, and then carrying the ground frost on their shoulders and pushing it into the palace.

"Xiaoyingzhou was originally Xiao Zhengde's villa. Can't this guy rest in peace after his death?" Chen Baxian said softly.

"Maybe someone else is using his place." Ren Yuan saw with his own eyes that Xiao Zhengde was completely destroyed, not even a trace was left.

"Let's go in and take a look." Chen Baxian took the lead and reached the edge of the palace. He put his ear to the wall and listened carefully to the footsteps of the patrol guards until they faded away. Then he jumped up and landed in the courtyard as silently as a big bird.

But Ren Yuan took A Yao's hand and walked through the wall...

Chen Baxian shook his head helplessly. It's really true that comparing yourself with others will make you feel pissed off.

The three of them avoided several waves of guards and followed the pungent smell to the brightly lit inner courtyard.

In the yard, hundreds of workers were busy working. They first mixed the ground frost brought in with plant ash, mixed it well, and poured it into a large urn.

Then add water and filter repeatedly to remove the soil and impurities inside, then pour the brine into a large iron pot and boil it into soy sauce color.

At this time, a master took a drop of brine from the pot and dropped it on the reed leaves. Seeing that they rolled around without breaking, he said, "It's done."

The workers scooped the brine into several large earthenware basins. As the temperature gradually dropped, a layer of milky yellow crystals formed on the bottom and walls of the basins.

Ren Yuan and the other two saw the workers scrape off a batch of crystals that had been condensed earlier with a spatula, wrap them in cloth, and place them on wood ash to drain out the remaining brine.

"What's this for?" Chen Baxian asked in confusion, "Are you boiling water to pee?"

"This is called boiling saltpeter." Ren Yuan knew what he was talking about, and whispered, "It's to extract saltpeter from saltpeter soil."

Of course, high-purity saltpeter is crystal clear white, but if it is not purified enough it will turn into milky yellow.

"What is saltpeter used for?" Chen Baxian asked puzzledly.

"It has many uses. It can cure diseases, fertilize the soil, and also... bang!" Ren Yuan made a light explosion sound.

Although gunpowder had not been invented at that time, Ren Yuan could not think of any other possibility for producing saltpeter on such a large scale except for creating explosions.

Why would you need thousands of pounds of saltpeter to make an elixir? And how could saltpeter be used to make an elixir? Wouldn't that just blow up the furnace?
As for medicinal purposes or fertilizer, the former will not require so much, and the latter will be a huge loss.

~~
At this time, the three saw the workers gently grinding the prepared saltpeter into powder, and adding a large amount of orange-yellow powder to stir it together.

Chen Baxian sniffed and smelled the faint peculiar odor, and concluded at once: "It's realgar, they added realgar!"

Ren Yuan now had no other idea at all - saltpeter and realgar mixed together would explode when exposed to high temperature or impact, isn't that gunpowder!
He estimated that this must be a primitive version of gunpowder that was accidentally created by an alchemist. However, due to various reasons, this secret recipe was not spread and was replaced by black gunpowder later.

The three finally saw the workers adding rosin to the basin, turning the powder into a sticky paste, and then pouring it into square molds and carrying it into the warehouse to dry. When the workers went out to continue their work, the three tiptoed in and saw the huge warehouse, with rectangular blocks neatly hung on the ground.

Some are still covered with molds, while others have been removed from the molds and are drying in the shade.

A Yao was on guard at the door, and Ren Yuan and Chen Baxian went in to check. They saw rows of wooden boxes in the inner storehouse. Chen Baxian opened one at random and saw that it was full of ready-made yellow rectangles, each of which was wrapped in straw, probably to prevent collisions during transportation.

"Why does this thing look so much like a brick?" Chen Baxian picked up a piece and examined it carefully. "It's just much bigger than an ordinary brick."

"It looks like a city wall brick." Ren Yuan took the piece from his hand, examined it carefully, and put it into his sleeve, saying, "Take it back and study it."

"What on earth do they want to do with all this effort?" asked Chen Baxian.

"Create a big explosion." Ren Yuan took out a few tracking symbols and randomly stuck them on the bottom of several boxes.

"Where to bomb?" Chen Baxian smacked his lips.

"I don't know." Ren Yuan said softly, "Don't alert them tonight. Wait and see where they will transport these 'bricks'."

~~
The next day, I sat in Yin Garden.

Chen Qingzhi looked at the two bricks of the same size in front of him.

The green one is the wall brick of Jiankang City, and the yellow one is not known what it is used for.

He raised his head and looked at the fifth dimension with an inquiring look.

The fifth dimension looked at Ren Yuan. It was he who came to him in a hurry early in the morning and said that he had made an important discovery.

Ren Yuanze looked at Chen Baxian, wanting to give him a chance to show his face.

"This is what I found last night with the owner of the building and Team Ayao." Chen Baxian suppressed his excitement and said, "Those people collected ground frost all over the world and used it to make this thing."

"Are you going to build a house?" Chen Qingzhi pinched off a corner of a yellow brick. "This isn't solid."

"General Chen, be careful!" Ren Yuan and Chen Baxian became nervous.

"What? Will this thing explode?" Chen Qianzhi looked at a piece of broken brick in his hand.

"It's true." Ren Yuan nodded quickly and told Chen Baxian, "Demonstrate it."

Chen Baxian responded, picked up the big yellow brick, came to the yard and put it far away.

Then he retreated to the corridor, flicked his finger, and a ball of fire flew towards the big yellow brick, instantly covering it. Then there was a loud bang, and everyone saw a flash of white light before their eyes, and the whole square brick exploded.

Although the fifth dimension blocked the explosion, everyone's ears were still buzzing. The violent shock wave destroyed Chen Qingzhi's elegant courtyard, leaving a big hole on the ground.

"Who did this?!" Mr. Gongsun shouted angrily outside the Zuoyin Garden. "It almost deafened my ears!"

(End of this chapter)