Xu Qing, a graduate student in chemistry, unexpectedly transmigrated to Chang’an in the ninth year of Wude. With nothing to his name, he scraped by making ice with saltpeter and soap with soda ash, but a piece of electrolytic aluminum caught the attention of Cheng Yaojin.
He thought presenting a steelmaking method would be enough to secure his place in the world. Instead, a secret summons from Li Shimin thrust him into the spotlight. On the southern bank of the Wei River lay three thousand mu of wasteland, and beside it flew a black flag bearing the words “Great Tang Industrial Works.” There, on seventh-century soil, he was to build a chemical industrial city from scratch.
Coke-fired blast furnaces, sulfuric acid towers, cement kilns, gunpowder workshops... As the iron hooves of steppe cavalry met minefields, and petitions from aristocratic clans collided with empirical data, the beakers and test tubes in Xu Qing’s hands were prying at the foundations of an entire age.
But the faster technology advanced, the deeper the whirlpool grew. The struggle over the crown prince, the aristocratic clans’ counterattack, infiltrators, sabotage by rivals, and the slaughter and greed born of technological change: time and again, he was forced to ask himself, was bringing the future into the past saving people, or committing a sin?
This is the story of a transmigrator rewriting the fate of the Great Tang with chemical equations, and a long struggle over technology, power, and human nature.
Xu Qing used a bamboo tube as the shell, mixed gunpowder as the charge, and wooden strips as the fuse to trial-produce the first landmine prototype. After two explosion tests, the power and direction were basically verified. He immediately replied to Cheng Yaojin and scheduled a formal demonstration for Li Shimin fifteen days later. At the same time, he improved the reliability of the triggering device overnight and replaced the easy-breaking wooden strips with a "breaking wire trigger spring and rubbing flint" structure.
Xu Qing successfully purified nitric acid and produced activated nitrocellulose, and then mixed it with black powder base material to complete the first violent gunpowder verification. The flying stones confirmed that the power was far beyond ordinary gunpowder; Cheng Yaojin's daughter Cheng Xiaowan unexpectedly visited and keenly observed the layout and lockers of the workshop, Xu Qing dealt with it cautiously; Xu Qing planned to put gunpowder into bamboo tubes that night to develop landmines, making the final sprint for weapons-grade results within three months.
A lead tank corrosion and leakage accident occurred in the sulfuric acid shed. Xu Qing urgently improved the equipment and successfully purified concentrated sulfuric acid, which was then reacted with saltpeter powder to produce crude nitric acid. When the eunuch of the Prince's Palace made a surprise visit, Xu Qing declined the invitation due to the construction period and gave him a glass as a gift. Xu Qing trial-produced nitrocellulose on the river bank. The first version failed due to insufficient nitric acid concentration, but the direction was initially verified, which kicked off the finalization of the gunpowder process.
Orders for cement and glass were officially placed, and the workshop achieved financial independence with a monthly income of 2,400 taels. Xu Qing successfully trial-produced the first batch of dilute sulfuric acid using the lead chamber method, and sealed and preserved the sulfur, nitrate, and carbon black powder, which initially hinted to Qin Huaidao about the existence of gunpowder. The mass production of sulfuric acid was put on the agenda, and the workshop began to advance simultaneously in the three lines of civil engineering, commercial sales, and military technology.
The first firing of the cement kiln successfully produced qualified cement, which was much stronger than lime mortar after solidification; the small glass furnace also produced the first piece of transparent flat glass, which was valued at a high price of eighty taels in a jewelry store in Xishi City. The Ministry of Industry's Maintenance Department also had a strong interest in cement bricks; Xu Qing set a cement sales strategy with a price of thirty cents a piece, and the workshop officially realized its self-production ability.
After receiving the official establishment, Xu Qing quickly expanded the workshop to thirty people, started the construction of cement rotary kiln and mixing tank, and planned to use glass production to support the workshop. Master Zhao found high-quality limestone sources in the mountains to the north, and the raw materials for cement trial production were ready. The workshop entered a new stage of large-scale expansion and technological diversification.
Xu Qing followed Cheng Yaojin into the Tai Chi Palace to meet Li Shimin. The three coke steel horizontal knives were tested and the emperor was greatly satisfied. Li Shimin awarded the seventh grade title, two hundred pieces of monthly silver and thirty craftsmen's quotas on the spot, and designated an exclusive area for the workshop on the south bank of the Weishui River. World, and gave a three-month deadline to launch new achievements beyond the sword; Xu Qing was ordered to leave the palace and return to the Weishui construction site with his official position, resources and deadlines. The first volume ended here, kicking off the industrial expansion of the second volume.
Qin Huaidao repeatedly explored the quenching and forging process, and finally succeeded in making the first qualified coke steel horizontal knife after five useless knives; Cheng Yaojin came to inspect the knife in the evening. After the old knife and the new knife collided, the old edge fell apart but the new edge was intact. Overjoyed, he decided to take Xu Qing to the palace the next day; Xu Qing wrote down the three goals of cement, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid on the drawing that night, laying the groundwork for the research and development of gunpowder.
The blast furnace masonry encountered cracks and the rework was delayed for one day. After ignition, the first furnace failed to discharge iron smoothly due to insufficient air blast. Xu Qing urgently modified Chengfu's abandoned waterwheel drive bellows, and finally successfully discharged the first furnace of 100 kilograms of high-quality steel billet. The morale of the team was greatly boosted, and the horizontal knife forging process was immediately launched.
The coke kiln was successfully opened and the first batch of more than 400 kilograms of high-quality coke was produced; Qin Huaidao used the new method to make the first coke steel dagger. In the test with Zhang Laotie's old method, both hardness and toughness were better than the old blacksmith.
Xu Qing used a bamboo tube as the shell, mixed gunpowder as the charge, and wooden strips as the fuse to trial-produce the first landmine prototype. After two explosion tests, the power and direction were basically verified. He immediately replied to Cheng Yaojin and scheduled a formal demonstration for Li Shimin fifteen days later. At the same time, he improved the reliability of the triggering device overnight and replaced the easy-breaking wooden strips with a "breaking wire trigger spring and rubbing flint" structure.
Xu Qing successfully purified nitric acid and produced activated nitrocellulose, and then mixed it with black powder base material to complete the first violent gunpowder verification. The flying stones confirmed that the power was far beyond ordinary gunpowder; Cheng Yaojin's daughter Cheng Xiaowan unexpectedly visited and keenly observed the layout and lockers of the workshop, Xu Qing dealt with it cautiously; Xu Qing planned to put gunpowder into bamboo tubes that night to develop landmines, making the final sprint for weapons-grade results within three months.
A lead tank corrosion and leakage accident occurred in the sulfuric acid shed. Xu Qing urgently improved the equipment and successfully purified concentrated sulfuric acid, which was then reacted with saltpeter powder to produce crude nitric acid. When the eunuch of the Prince's Palace made a surprise visit, Xu Qing declined the invitation due to the construction period and gave him a glass as a gift. Xu Qing trial-produced nitrocellulose on the river bank. The first version failed due to insufficient nitric acid concentration, but the direction was initially verified, which kicked off the finalization of the gunpowder process.
Orders for cement and glass were officially placed, and the workshop achieved financial independence with a monthly income of 2,400 taels. Xu Qing successfully trial-produced the first batch of dilute sulfuric acid using the lead chamber method, and sealed and preserved the sulfur, nitrate, and carbon black powder, which initially hinted to Qin Huaidao about the existence of gunpowder. The mass production of sulfuric acid was put on the agenda, and the workshop began to advance simultaneously in the three lines of civil engineering, commercial sales, and military technology.
The first firing of the cement kiln successfully produced qualified cement, which was much stronger than lime mortar after solidification; the small glass furnace also produced the first piece of transparent flat glass, which was valued at a high price of eighty taels in a jewelry store in Xishi City. The Ministry of Industry's Maintenance Department also had a strong interest in cement bricks; Xu Qing set a cement sales strategy with a price of thirty cents a piece, and the workshop officially realized its self-production ability.
After receiving the official establishment, Xu Qing quickly expanded the workshop to thirty people, started the construction of cement rotary kiln and mixing tank, and planned to use glass production to support the workshop. Master Zhao found high-quality limestone sources in the mountains to the north, and the raw materials for cement trial production were ready. The workshop entered a new stage of large-scale expansion and technological diversification.
Xu Qing followed Cheng Yaojin into the Tai Chi Palace to meet Li Shimin. The three coke steel horizontal knives were tested and the emperor was greatly satisfied. Li Shimin awarded the seventh grade title, two hundred pieces of monthly silver and thirty craftsmen's quotas on the spot, and designated an exclusive area for the workshop on the south bank of the Weishui River. World, and gave a three-month deadline to launch new achievements beyond the sword; Xu Qing was ordered to leave the palace and return to the Weishui construction site with his official position, resources and deadlines. The first volume ended here, kicking off the industrial expansion of the second volume.
Qin Huaidao repeatedly explored the quenching and forging process, and finally succeeded in making the first qualified coke steel horizontal knife after five useless knives; Cheng Yaojin came to inspect the knife in the evening. After the old knife and the new knife collided, the old edge fell apart but the new edge was intact. Overjoyed, he decided to take Xu Qing to the palace the next day; Xu Qing wrote down the three goals of cement, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid on the drawing that night, laying the groundwork for the research and development of gunpowder.
The blast furnace masonry encountered cracks and the rework was delayed for one day. After ignition, the first furnace failed to discharge iron smoothly due to insufficient air blast. Xu Qing urgently modified Chengfu's abandoned waterwheel drive bellows, and finally successfully discharged the first furnace of 100 kilograms of high-quality steel billet. The morale of the team was greatly boosted, and the horizontal knife forging process was immediately launched.
The coke kiln was successfully opened and the first batch of more than 400 kilograms of high-quality coke was produced; Qin Huaidao used the new method to make the first coke steel dagger. In the test with Zhang Laotie's old method, both hardness and toughness were better than the old blacksmith.