Chapter 210: Finally Meeting

Mercury elixir is useless, but gunpowder is of great use.

Kong Ming felt that the Taoist priests' inference was correct.

After all, those later generations did use this "Elixir of Great Destruction" to fly through the objects created by the craftsman, and they were able to see the sky and the earth and know the sun and the moon.

But I should give a warning to the Taoist priests next.

In case they haven't seen the magical effect of gunpowder, they will be blown up by the big breaking pill first.

Giving some space to the Taoist priests who were arguing fiercely, Kong Ming stepped aside and saw the last prescription of the Taoist priests:

"Three pieces of saltpeter, three pieces of brown sugar, and one piece of realgar. Crush and grind them one by one. Mix them evenly to make a pill."

The Taoist priests are really...advancing with the times.

Kong Ming admired it in his heart. It had only been half a year since the sucrose was produced in Shu, but the Taoist priests had already used it to make elixirs without any concern.

Sugar production requires a large amount of sugar cane, which was previously grown in Shuzhong and was sufficient for consumption, but sugar production was a drop in the bucket, so the price of sucrose remained high at this time.

Although Kong Ming has arranged to expand planting, the first crop of sugar cane will not be harvested until autumn this year.

However, thinking from another direction also made Kong Ming sigh:

So you don’t have a reliable prescription at all, right?

In this case, it is better to write down the recipe for "Yan Dan" first, and then slowly develop it when there is no shortage of sugar.

After writing down his opinions, Kong Ming thoughtfully closed the door for the Taoist priests when he left.

Today's Chengdu government offices have changed a lot compared to Liu Zhang's time.

Even if Liu Bei now brings his two wives to Chengdu, they can only live in three to five rooms.

The vacant palaces were naturally requisitioned for various purposes, such as Taoist priests refining elixirs, craftsmen developing glass, and Zhang Song's "Little Imperial Academy" that he was so obsessed with now.

Kong Ming has not brought his family to Chengdu for the time being.

According to Gong Li, his wife has set up several engineering workshops in Gong'an County, and her craftsmanship is skillful, and her engineering studies are already booming.

Privately speaking, Kong Ming also wanted to see his wife do something good, especially after learning about "Chen Baoguang's wife".

Kong Ming now also has a heavily guarded workshop in the government office. The room is filled with various miniature models, craftsman's drawings, and some images from the "Mengxi Bi Tan" that were obtained during the last light curtain.

The most eye-catching thing is of course the huge ball image hanging in the center, with the word "Earth" written by Kong Ming himself with great awe.

Now Kong Ming is staring at the earth and meditating on the principles of chemistry.

The method of making alkali from plant ash, which has been described as "crazy" by Light Curtain, is indeed not complicated.

Boil the burned plant ash with water, filter it with silk and let it sit overnight. Finally, the clear and transparent water above is the alkali-containing water.

Although it seems to be no different from river water, it is more viscous when used to cook porridge, and it can soften Geyi when used for washing clothes.

If this alkaline water is used in papermaking, the pulp will usually be whiter, which is quite magical.

But what is the truth behind it?

Kong Ming, who was deep in thought, returned to the table and wrote the words "vegetation ash" on the paper.

Then under the three words "vegetation ash", the word "fertile field" was written.

Plant ash has been used to fertilize fields since the pre-Qin Dynasty, but due to regional differences, the amount of plant ash used to fertilize fields also varies.

After thinking for a while, Kong Ming wrote down what he learned:

In Hedong County, no plant ash is applied to the fields.

In Pingyuan County, nine acres of grass and trees are gray.

In Nanyang County, one bushel of vegetation ash per mu of land.

In Wuling County, every acre of land has half a bush of dendrobium ash.

Half a dendrobium is equivalent to five buckets, one is fifty liters, and one is five lilies.

From this, Kong Ming wrote about the observed phenomenon: from north to south, the effect of plant ash on fertilizing the fields becomes more and more obvious.

After a pause, Kong Ming continued to write: According to the method of making alkali from plant ash, it can be seen that plant ash is rich in alkali.

After writing again and trying to recall whether he had missed anything, Kong Ming carefully wrote down the conclusion: the north may be rich in alkali, and the south may be lacking in alkali.

By the way, I wrote down my guess:

Oranges grown in Huainan and Huaibei are different because of the amount of alkali?

There are fewer bamboos in the north and less leeks in the south. Is this also related to this?

Taking a breath, Kong Ming looked back at the page he had written, and suddenly felt a bit of the fun of what later generations would call "science."

The distinction between these lands does not change due to the will of the Supreme Being, nor does it change due to the heavenly constitution being spoken.

It is inferred by oneself based on what he has learned.

Observe and summarize their commonalities and explore and analyze their differences.

In the end, maybe like later generations, we can conclude that future generations can continue to use the regulations for thousands of years.

The evening breeze in April was still a little cool, but Kong Ming now felt a little hot.

Finally, I went for a walk in the yard, and then went back to get dressed and go to bed.

The next day Kong Ming was pulled out of bed by Liu Bei who was full of excitement.

"Kong Ming, Yuan Zhi's boat has arrived in Jianwei County!"

Qianwei County is only 140 miles south of Chengdu.

Because he stayed up late last night, Kong Ming's thinking was a little sluggish, so he figured it out after thinking about it for a while.

It seems that Yuan Zhi took a boat upstream, took Jiangzhou, crossed Jiangyang and Wuyang, and came to Chengdu by water.

Yizhou has strong southeasterly winds in spring and summer, so traveling from Jingzhou to Chengdu can be considered a favorable wind, and boating is indeed a good choice.

When Kong Ming came to his senses, he was already standing in the south of Chengdu with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei couldn't stand at all and kept wandering anxiously. From time to time he would stop on tiptoe and look south, wishing he could see the boats right away.

Kong Ming called Chen Dao's personal entourage over and gave him a jar of water to wash his face. After cheering up, he proposed:

"Since my lord is so worried, why don't you go out of the city to greet me?"

However, soon, Kong Ming, who wanted to take a short break, regretted his proposal.

Liu Bei, who was eager to take a rest, agreed to Kong Ming's proposal, and then pulled Kong Ming to go ten miles south of the city.

After ten miles, he still felt that it was not enough, and walked another twenty miles. Liu Bei stopped only when the road by the water became difficult to pass.

Fortunately, after this bumpy ride, Kong Ming was much more sober, and looked at Liu Bei and joked:

"My lord, why don't you remove the hill in front? After all, it prevents you from seeing Yuan Zhi's face."

Liu Bei's face was not embarrassed, and he laughed:

"I have been tossing and turning every night since I heard the news of Yuan Zhi's return."

"I have been waiting for months, why worry about a moment!"

Kong Ming laughed and didn't believe it at all.

If you are really not in a hurry, why go out of the city for thirty miles and walk to the end of the road?

Fortunately, soon, a small boat turned out from behind a small hill in the distance.

Kong Ming rode on his horse and looked far away. He could see a thin scholar at the bow, with fluttering sleeves, bowing his head to the north.

Liu Bei beside him could no longer hold back:

"Yuan Zhi!"

"I'm here, Yuan Zhi!"

Perhaps because the trees on the shore were dense, the boat had no intention of slowing down or pulling over. Liu Bei was very anxious and even drove his horse to wade through the water and stood at the shallows of the river to call.

Liu Bei scared Kong Ming and his guards.

Immediately, a guard rushed forward without hesitation, snatched the reins from Liu Bei's hand and pulled the mount back to the shore.

The horse turned its head, and Liu Bei also turned around and continued to shout loudly: "Yuan Zhi~"

Fortunately, it was conspicuous enough at this time, and the boat finally noticed this place.

Kong Ming saw that the thin figure was also anxiously turning and shouting at the bow.

The boat began to slow down and approached the shore.

When it approached the shallows, Xu Shu did not hesitate and jumped off the boat with a sprint.

Liu Bei was in a hurry, and immediately jumped off his horse to the riverside, then stretched out his arms and pulled Xu Shu to the shore.

The two pairs of palms were tightly clasped together. Liu Bei looked at Xu Shu's kneeling and muddy shoes, and gently rebuked him:

"Why does Yuanzhi take risks? It's only thirty miles from here to Chengdu, and you can get there in a moment. You should cherish your life!"

Xu Shu looked at Liu Bei carefully, and there seemed to be thousands of words in his eyes, but in the end he bowed slightly:

"My lord, I'm back!"

"Good! Good!"

Liu Bei agreed, took out a hand and patted Xu Shu's shoulder:

"It's good to be back."

Liu Bei stepped back two steps to look carefully, and finally took Xu Shu's hand and sighed with joy:

"Yuanzhi is back, and he can concentrate on restoring Han in the future, and I have no regrets!"

The two held hands, and the hems of their clothes were all wet, and their feet were covered with stinky mud, but it did not affect their pleasant conversation.

Liu Bei recounted the recent achievements to Xu Shu with a happy face, and Xu Shu listened quietly with a smile.

In the middle, Xu Shu would also talk about his experience in the south of Xudu with a generous tone.

Until Xu Shu was helped to mount the horse by Liu Bei at the end, the former Yingchuan Ranger finally had time to greet him from a distance:

"If I had known the name of Zhuge Wuhou, I would have invited Kong Ming to go out with me!"

After Liu Bei helped Xu Shu to mount the horse, he also climbed on it, and the two rode together. Kong Ming held the fan and bowed:

"If you want to plan for the Han Dynasty, it is not too late now."

After that, the old friends smiled at each other.

The way back to Chengdu was much easier, and the three of them walked slowly and chatted along the way.

"Can Shi Yuan be in Chengdu?"

"He is in charge of the military situation in Hanzhong. Yongliang is in a precarious situation, and Guanzhong is ready to move. We can't leave easily."

"If Cao's bandits get Yongliang, they can connect to Guanzhong, and Hanzhong will be difficult to leave; if we connect with Yongliang, Cao's bandits will find it difficult to defend Chang'an, and the only way is to retreat to Tongguan. Hanzhong really needs Shi Yuan."

"Not really... The lord has a new military strategist in Chengdu named Fa Zheng, who has a knight-errant style and is also capable of supervising Hanzhong."

"Oh? I must meet him someday!"

"Ahem!"

So Kong Ming asked about the news of his old friend.

"I heard from the lord that Guangyuan wants to settle down in Jiangling temporarily?"

Xu Shu sighed:

"Guangyuan is not a minister of Cao, and he is unwilling to surrender to the lord. He has a loyalty to me and cannot be forced."

"When he sent me to Yizhou, Guangyuan said that he wanted to find a job in Jiangling to settle down. Let's see what happens in the future."

Let's see what happens in the future... Kong Ming nodded. Everyone has their own ambitions, so there is really no need to force it.

Xu Shu thought of another person and laughed:

"Dr. Zhang, who was on the same ship, complained a lot about Kong Ming."

"Kong Ming, you are obviously quite insightful in medical skills, but you are always vague and ask Dr. Zhang to study medical theory by himself, which is quite rude."

Kong Ming was startled, then laughed:

"It's good to be here. There are many mountains and few people here, and there are abundant medicinal materials. It is a blessed land for Dr. Zhang!"

While talking and laughing, Chengdu was already in sight.

Kong Ming saw the Wu girl standing quietly by the road at a glance, and couldn't help laughing:

"Whether to accept or reject, the lord should make a decision early."

Xu Shu also saw the tall woman at a glance, and asked curiously:

"Who is...?"

Kong Ming looked at Liu Bei's slightly embarrassed face, holding a fan and laughing:

"This is the daughter of the Wu family, a big family in Chengdu, and was once predicted by a fortune teller to be a great noble."

Xu Shu immediately understood and laughed:

"If we talk about great nobility, only the lord!"