After Qin Fang came out of the house, he realized that he hadn't had dinner yet. He just drank a bowl of shredded pork soup and was still hungry, so he went to the steamed buns shop. Although it was late, there were still steamed buns shops open because the buns were not sold out, so they were not closed yet. So Qin Fang sold all the buns in one go, which was 35 buns, and he spent 70 coins.
However, General Qin now has a lot of pocket money. When he was a centurion, he had a hundred coins a month for pocket money, and when he was a thousand-man commander, he had one tael of silver a month for pocket money. Now he is General Qin, and he has ten taels of silver a month for pocket money, so he doesn't care about the mere seventy coins at all. In the past, he felt bad when Yang Haiyan bought him meat.
Actually, having a hundred coins as pocket money at that time was enough to make him happy. Now that he has ten taels of silver as pocket money, he can’t feel the same happiness as he did back then.
Qin Fang finished six buns in one go, and there were still twenty-nine left. Yunxiang County was poor, so the buns were made very big. If the buns were not big, few people would buy them.
Then, Qin was sent to the East Suburbs Military Camp.
Except for the soldiers on guard and in the kitchen, all the others in the barracks went to search the mountain. Qin Fang went to the kitchen and asked the logistics soldiers in the kitchen to prepare food for later use, so that the soldiers who searched the mountain would not be hungry when they came back. Especially the 100 soldiers who followed him in the morning, they would be even hungrier later.
After giving instructions to the logistics soldiers in the kitchen, Qin Fang went directly to the Beast Mountain.
The Beast Mountain was huge and high, and it took a lot of time just to climb it. In the morning, Qin Fang led the soldiers and climbed for more than an hour. Later, he was alone, so he hurried up and arrived outside the Taoist temple in less than an hour.
"The general is here."
"General..."
"General, the tiger hasn't woken up yet."
Captain Lu: "Why is the general here?"
Qin Fang handed the buns to Lieutenant Lu and said, "Distribute them to the soldiers present. The quantity is limited."
Captain Lu: “Yes.” Twenty-nine buns were enough to share, but the number of people present was not as many as twenty-nine, because most of them had gone to search the mountain.
Thinking of searching the mountain, Qin Fang asked, "Are there any news about sulfur and saltpeter?"
Captain Lu said, "Not yet. Old Yang is searching from the Taoist temple as the center. According to our speculation combined with yours, if the other party built the Taoist temple here for sulfur and saltpeter, then the sulfur and saltpeter should be not far from here."
"Sulfur may be some distance away, but saltpeter won't be far away." Doctor Li came out of the Taoist temple.
Qin Fang: "Doctor Li, you haven't rested yet?"
Doctor Li said, "Not yet."
Captain Lu gave the buns to Doctor Li.
Doctor Li didn't hesitate. He took a bite of the bun and continued, "If you inhale too much sulfur gas, it will produce toxins, so sulfur won't be around. Of course, if the person who built the Taoist temple doesn't care about the safety of other people's lives, that's another matter."
Qin Fang laughed: "Even if the other party doesn't care about the safety of others, he will care about the safety of the Taoist priest. If something happens to the Taoist priest, who will make longevity pills for him? Don't you see that this is a longevity temple?"
Doctor Li couldn't help but laugh: "General, what you said makes sense."
The tiger hadn't woken up yet, and the man in chains had fallen asleep after drinking the medicine. The Changshou Temple, which had been deserted before, was now brightly lit. It must be said that it was quite special to have such a Taoist temple on the mountain.
Qin Fang and others were waiting for news about sulfur and saltpeter. Similarly, Yang Haiyan was also waiting for the same news. However, she was waiting for saltpeter.
Why did Yang Haiyan wait for saltpeter? Because saltpeter can make ice. In summer, ice can be placed in the house to lower the temperature in the hot summer. You know, there were no fans or air conditioners in ancient times, and it was really hot in the summer.
Yang Haiyan's platform has saltpeter, but saltpeter in this world has not appeared yet, and she can't think of a good reason to use saltpeter to make ice, so she has never used it. But now that saltpeter has appeared, she has a plan.
Yang Haiyan remembered that when she was reading a novel, she saw a time-traveling heroine using saltpeter to make ice in ancient times. She was curious at that time, so she looked up the process of making ice with saltpeter on the Internet. It turned out that the process was very simple.
Not only is it simple to make ice with saltpeter, but she also found some information about saltpeter. In the late Tang Dynasty, a soldier went to wash his clothes after producing gunpowder. At that time, there was saltpeter in his clothes. When he was washing, the saltpeter fell into the water. He was surprised to find that the saltpeter that fell into the water could absorb heat and lower the temperature of the water.
Thus, the idea of making ice from saltpeter came from this.
Of course, Yang Haiyan didn't know whether the story was true or not, as she had seen all the information on the Internet. However, she could use this story as an excuse. Now that sulfur and saltpeter were available, she could ask Qin Fang for some sulfur and saltpeter under the pretext of making firecrackers herself, and then wash them in the process of making firecrackers... The story of making ice with saltpeter could also be done.
If sulfur and saltpeter mines are found, Qin Fang will definitely report it to the court, as the matter of life and death is of great importance. However, if saltpeter ice is discovered, the price of ice will drop, and perhaps ordinary people will be able to afford ice.
I just don't know how the court will reward Qin Fang if the sulfur and saltpeter mines are discovered and reported to the court? If the saltpeter ice making matter is reported again, how will the court reward Qin Fang
Beast Mountain
In the second half of the night, news about the saltpeter mine finally came.
With the Taoist temple as the center of the search, it is indeed not difficult for a thousand soldiers to find sulfur and saltpeter mines. Because the Taoist temple was built here, it means that the sulfur and saltpeter mines must be large.
Soon after the saltpeter mine was discovered, news of the sulfur mine also came.
Qin was overjoyed.
Captain Yang: "General, what should we do with these sulfur and ore?"
Deal with it? Qin Fang thought about it and remembered what Yang Haiyan said. If the firecrackers were made into big firecrackers, then used on the battlefield, who would dare to come to Fan Qiguo? He was a son of Qiguo, so he naturally hoped that Qiguo would be strong. "I will report this matter to the court, and we will send people to guard the sulfur mine and saltpeter mine."
Captain Yang: “Yes.”
Qin Fang: "Come on, take me to see it."
So Captain Yang took Qin Fang to the saltpeter mine first. Looking at the white crystals in the mine, Qin Fang was so surprised that his mouth could fit an egg.
Captain Yang said: "The soldiers were also shocked when they first found it. The mine is really huge."
Qin Fang's idea is that if there are a lot of saltpeter mines, and if there are also a lot of sulfur mines, how many big firecrackers can be made? "Is there a lot of sulfur over there?"
Captain Yang: "Not as big as the saltpeter mine, but it's still a big mine."
Next, they went to see the sulfur mine. As Captain Yang said, although the sulfur mine was not as big as the saltpeter mine, it was indeed a large mine.
After returning to the Taoist temple, Doctor Li approached Qin Fang and said, "General, can you bring more of the sulfur and saltpeter grass to the general's mansion?"
Qin Fang said: "Okay, take away everything from the Taoist temple, and don't touch anything in the mine."
There were several baskets of things from the Taoist temple alone, filling up many rooms. There were enough for Doctor Li to use for several years, so he was very happy: "Thank you, General."
Qin Fang: "Except for those who stay here, everyone else should go back. Remember to bring food to the soldiers who stay behind after you go back."
"yes."
Doctor Li: "I won't go to the grass field. I can't stand climbing up and down the mountain."
Qin Fang thought that Doctor Li would have to treat the chained man here, and it would be tiring to climb up and down the mountain, so he nodded and said, "Then you stay here for a while."
Doctor Li: "Thank you, General. I would also like to trouble you to tell my daughter to pack some luggage for me and send someone to bring it over."
Qin Fang: "Okay, I'll let Tao Shan do it."
When Qin Fang returned to the general's residence, it was already noon, and there were several baskets of sulfur and saltpeter, so there was quite a lot of noise.
Yang Haiyan got up in a daze, and without getting dressed properly, she just put on a cloak. Then she walked to the door and saw Nanny Lian coming in, so she asked, "Nanny, is it late?"
Aunt Lian said, "It's the middle of the hour of Chou."
Yang Haiyan thought for a moment. Isn't that two o'clock in the morning? "What are you doing outside?"
Nanny Lian said, "The general has returned, and he has brought back several baskets of sulfur and saltpeter, which he has sent to Doctor Li's courtyard."
When Yang Haiyan heard about sulfur and saltpeter, she hurriedly said, "Quick, bring the baskets over here."
Aunt Lian was stunned: "Oh, Madam, sulfur is said to be poisonous. What are you going to do? Be careful of poisoning."
Yang Haiyan said: "Don't worry, Ma'am, I just want to make some firecrackers to liven up the mansion during the New Year and other festivals."
Nanny Lian thought that the Madam was just bored and wanted to do this. If she wanted firecrackers, she could just go buy them. Even if there weren't many firecrackers, she could still buy some to play with. "How about I go buy you some firecrackers tomorrow?"
Yang Haiyan said: "What's the point of buying it? You have to make it yourself."
Wait... Aunt Lian realized that she had overlooked something: "Sulfur and saltpeter are used to make firecrackers? But aren't these medicines?" Even if someone in the world makes firecrackers and sells them, they won't tell the formula, so few people know that sulfur and saltpeter are one of the materials for making firecrackers. In the eyes of people who know a little about medicine, sulfur and saltpeter are indeed medicines.
Nanny Lian didn't dare to say that she knew medicine, but after staying in the inner house for a long time, she knew some medicines, such as sulfur and saltpeter.
Yang Haiyan said: "I have also seen it in books. I don't know yet. When I have sulfur and saltpeter, I will ask a master to make it and then I will know." Even if she had sulfur and saltpeter, she would not be able to make firecrackers.
Nanny Lian didn't think much about it and said, "Then the old slave asked someone to bring the sulfur and saltpeter over here?"
Yang Haiyan said, "Okay." She didn't want the sulfur one, but it would be inappropriate to have either one, so she wanted both.
As soon as Nanny Lian went out, she met Qin Fang again and said, "Greetings, General. General, the Madam wants sulfur and saltpeter to make firecrackers. She wants to share some from the market and carry them to the Madam's yard."