Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 895

After answering Yang Chao's question, Wei Wu waved his hand to let him leave, then turned to look at Song Zhong, the leader of the carpenter team.

"Song Zhong, this is my idea for the new firearm. Look carefully, this is the bolt, and this is where the bullets are stored..."

Then General Wei asked him to tell him everything, including the function of the bolt, the way the bullets were loaded into the chamber, etc.

The firearms team did not dare to hesitate and immediately wrote down every word Wei Wu said in detail.

After Song Zhong nodded and confirmed that everything was correct, Wei Wu turned to look at Yang Chao.

"Now, let me tell you how to ignite the gunpowder inside the bullet. This requires something called a percussion cap. This is it."

As he spoke, Wei Wu pointed his finger at the tail of the bullet again.

"Use copper sheet to stamp out a cap-like shape. The diameter is about five millimeters, depending on the bullet, and the depth is three millimeters."

"After it's made, this little cap is filled with something called mercury fulminate, which is the key to igniting gunpowder."

"The so-called mercury fulminate is a substance extracted through chemical extraction. This is what I will teach Xu Miao next."

Hearing Wei Wu's words, the craftsmen once again focused their attention on Xu Miao, and at this time Wei Wu also called him.

"Xu Miao!"

"Yes, teacher, I'm here!"

Looking at Xu Miao stepping out, Wei Wu took a deep breath and said with an extremely serious expression:

"Next, I will teach you how to prepare mercury fulminate, so you can experience the feeling of conducting a chemical experiment yourself."

"But you have to remember that mercury fulminate is an extremely dangerous substance. Even the slightest friction or impact can cause it to explode!"

"During the preparation process, you need to wear leather gloves and use only wooden tools to avoid sparks that could cause explosions."

In fact, the extraction of mercury fulminate is not very difficult. The only materials needed are mercury, nitric acid and ethanol.

Mercury, also known as quicksilver, can be extracted by heating cinnabar. This thing is not unfamiliar to alchemists.

The second is nitric acid, which is more difficult to produce. It requires saltpeter and green vitriol, and is also produced by heating and distillation.

The difficulty lies in the preparation method. The materials are very simple. Not to mention saltpeter, green vitriol was also a common material in ancient times.

The last one is ethanol, also known as alcohol. This is the simplest and can be easily made by fermenting and distilling grains.

After preparing these three materials, dissolve mercury in nitric acid in a ratio of one to two and heat it to a slight boil.

Then slowly add ethanol, and the solution will produce white mercury fulminate precipitate after a violent chemical reaction.

All you have to do now is filter the sediment, rinse it with cold water, and then dry it in the shade. (Simple, right? (*^▽^*))

Xu Miao didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to practice before he even started learning.

He couldn't help but get excited and quickly responded to Wei Wu.

"Teacher, don't worry. I will be very careful and conduct the experiment strictly according to your requirements."

"Well, next you will study chemistry while conducting experiments. Once you become proficient in it, try to find a method for large-scale preparation."

After arranging Xu Miao, Wei Wu looked at the craftsmen again and said:

"With fulminate of mercury, in addition to being able to manufacture metal fixed ammunition, we can also create a powerful, lightweight cannon."

"I named this weapon—Mortar!"

Exclusion gun?

When the craftsmen present heard the name of the weapon from Wei Wu, they were all confused and couldn't understand what this displacement cannon was.

Normally, when a weapon is born, it will be given a more eye-catching name, or named according to its characteristics.

For example, the original name of the Hongwu Cannon was the Hongwu Tenth Year Cannon because it was manufactured in the tenth year of Hongwu.

Or the creator of the weapon may have named it himself, such as the rifled flintlock rifle, which was the name given by Wei Wu.