klisemfg Chapter 714 Explosives
Chapter 714 Explosives
There is also corn, which has tall stalks and is drought-resistant. The cobs can be cooked and eaten, or ground into flour.
As for vegetables, eggplant, peppers, beans, etc. are all fine.
Eggplants can be planted on the slope without much worry, peppers are not afraid of the sun and produce a lot, and beans can climb along the racks and don't take up much space.
There are large areas of sweet potatoes and corn planted on the slope, and eggplants and peppers are planted in scattered areas nearby.
Beans and cucumbers are planted near the water source at the foot of the mountain, and then dozens of peach trees are planted on a sunny piece of land.
There is enough water in the mountains now. We can dig a few shallow ditches along the slope to store some water when it rains, which makes it convenient to water the vegetables.
Li Hu sighed and said, "The construction of the reservoir is too slow. It will take years to complete."
Bai Wanwan also found that even if more and more people came, they could only open a small river. If they really wanted to dig it into a very large reservoir, the manpower and material resources consumed would be too huge.
What's more, in winter, there is no way to dig.
Bai Wanwan fell into deep thought. The next day, she saw them delivering the saltpeter mine, and she became interested.
To dig a large reservoir, it would take a lot of effort to dig it bit by bit by manpower alone. Not only would it require many people to work for a long time, but it would also cost a lot of money for food and fodder.
But it would be different if you used explosives you made yourself.
Stuff some into the cracks between the rocks, light a fire, and even the hardest clods of earth and rocks can be blown to pieces.
In this way, the speed of digging the pond can be several times faster, and the manpower saved can be used for other work.
No one else has seen the power of this explosive, but Bai Wanwan knows it very well.
Not to mention digging a pond, if it were really used on the battlefield, it would be extremely powerful.
No matter how solid the camp or how dense the troops are, once the explosives explode, they will tear a big hole in it, and nothing can stop it.
Bai Wanwan found a few people who specialized in weapons, and the farm tools used in daily life were all produced by them.
One of them asked, "Master, are you trying to make explosives? How do you make them?"
Bai Wanwan thought for a moment and said:
“I don’t really understand it, I just have a general idea.
This explosive must be made of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal in a certain proportion."
She explained the names of these ingredients and their approximate proportions:
"So, can we give it a try? Now we have saltpeter, and we need to find sulfur and charcoal.
The sulfur must be clean, and the charcoal should preferably be made from hardwood, free of impurities."
Bai Wanwan turned around and gave orders. Soon, the sulfur and hardwood charcoal were all ready, and even the stone mortar for grinding the ore and the fine cloth for sifting the powder were all prepared.
Several people gathered around the things at hand, rubbing their hands and saying, "Now we can try it out."
Bai Wanwan repeatedly warned, "This explosive is very powerful. Remember to use cotton thread. This will give you time to escape."
The men asked, "You mean we need to connect a wire outside?"
Bai Wanwan nodded and said, "Yes, in fact, the so-called explosives and firecrackers are similar in nature, but the latter is more powerful."
There was an old master who knew how firecrackers were made and nodded quickly:
"Then this is simple. Just increase the amount of firecrackers and add some other things. Let's give it a try.
When the time comes, the fuse outside will be made of the same wire as the firecrackers, and I will make it a little longer."
These people thought very quickly and soon found a remote place to specialize in researching explosives.
Bai Wanwan was dealing with trivial matters in the government office. Qingshui County was really poor now.
The government office was empty, there was no property at all, and there wasn't even a decent shop on the street.
There is no exact number for how much tax a county has to pay every year. It depends on the size of the county and how much grain the land can produce.
In a place like Qingshui County, which is not very big and has average harvests, the county had to pay several thousand dan of grain in good years.
In addition to food, they also had to pay some cloth and hemp rope, and sometimes they had to levy some silver. All in all, it would take the whole government office half a year to collect the money.
But this year, we are lucky enough to have enough harvest from the fields to feed our family, so how can we have any extra to hand over?
Not to mention thousands of stones of grain, I'm afraid we can't even get a few hundred stones.
But the provincial government above didn't care about this. The officer sent by the prefect unfolded a roll of yellow paper and read in a sharp voice:
"In compliance with the prefectural governor's order, Qingshui County's autumn grain of 8,000 dan, 5,000 taels of silver, and 600 taels of silver for miscellaneous taxes must be delivered to the treasury before the end of October.
If the deadline is exceeded by one day, the offender will be flogged twenty times; if the deadline is exceeded by a month, the officials will investigate and the offender will be dismissed from his service!"
Bai Wanwan was listening at the side and couldn't help but roll her eyes. She reached out and picked up the document and took a quick look at it.
Qingshui County is now just like Qingshui. All the family assets have been drained out. Not to mention 8,000 shi of grain, even a fraction of it cannot be collected.
She sneered in her heart. If they were really forced to hand it over, would they have to take away the last bit of food rations from the people?
She put the document on the desk and said in a clear voice:
"Let me tell you guys, Qingshui County suffered a disaster this year, and the autumn harvest was not even 10% of what it was in previous years.
The crops in the fields have all rotted away, and the people are lucky enough to be able to keep their lives. Where will they get the surplus food and silver?
Look outside with your eyes open. Most of the shops on the street are closed, and there are even more beggars than usual. How are we going to pay the taxes?"
The leading officer said calmly:
"We can't control these things. The prefect has ordered that all counties must pay the full amount, not a penny less, not a grain of rice less.
Not to mention disasters, even if the sky falls, this rule cannot be changed."
Another officer snorted coldly, "Let me be frank. If you can't pay it by October, the prefect will have his way. Don't complain then!"
Bai Wanwan looked at their stubborn attitude and felt furious.
This is clearly forcing people into a desperate situation, where they either have to plunder the people or the county magistrate himself takes the blame.
She gritted her teeth and said nothing more.
It's useless to say anything, these prefects won't care about their life or death.
The officers left quickly and Bai Wanwan fell silent again.
The prefect doesn't care how difficult your situation is, he just exploits the employees below him. This little money is nothing to Bai Wanwan.
But what made her most uncomfortable was that such a big disaster had occurred, but as the prefect, she was completely out of the matter, which made it difficult for her to comment.
She was still thinking when she saw Liang Tieshan striding in.
Liang Tieshan looked at her and said, "Miss, this prefect is Su Daji's man, so he will definitely target us deliberately."
Bai Wanwan nodded and said, "Su Daji is really powerful. Her people are everywhere."
"I heard that the county managed by the Sixth Prince did not suffer any disaster this time, so there is no comparison between him and the Eighteenth Prince this time." Liang Tieshan said helplessly.
Bai Wanwan sighed and said:
"So that's how it is. The Sixth Prince is just here to gild himself, but Gu Sinian is different.
It's impossible to govern Qingshui County well. It's a losing proposition no matter what."