The research and development of new gunpowder has actually been going on for many years on the East Coast. The biggest achievement at present is something called "fire cotton".

The research and development of fire cotton was actually quite old in the East Coast. At first, researchers at the Northern Chemical Factory received a puzzling instruction, which was to use cotton and nitric acid to prepare a powerful gunpowder. You can imagine that the members of the project team at that time were shocked. They believed that the factory leaders who issued this order either drank too much, talked nonsense, or the intelligence departments running around the world stole a technical secret from somewhere. They tended to be the latter, so they started research and development seriously.

The process of gunpowder development is full of hardships. They have no reference or prompts, and are only told that cotton and nitric acid are "maybe useful", which has led them to take many detours. Fortunately, the fire cotton was finally made out because they mastered technical difficulties through countless experiments. For example, the acid solution they initially immersed in cotton was only nitric acid and no sulfuric acid was added; for example, they initially did not master the optimal ratio of cotton and acid; for example, they initially did not know what temperature the reaction should be carried out, etc. These difficulties took a lot of time and money, and took a lot of detours, but fortunately they were overcome one by one in the end.

If the above difficulties are just to waste more lives by researchers, then how to maintain the stability of fire cotton has swallowed up the lives of many researchers. Because of factors such as incomplete purification of raw cotton and insufficient acid washing, many accidents occurred in the fire cotton research room of the Northern Chemical Factory, three of which were very serious, and many researchers were killed and injured. This forced the large-scale research of fire cotton to be interrupted for many years, leaving only a group to follow up.

What really accelerated the research on fire cotton was the military system that once hindered fire cotton. Yes, you read that right, the Army and the Navy had an accident because of the unqualified fire cotton trial, and then became furious and refused to accept this dangerous thing again. However, when new muskets and cannons trials of traditional gunpowder caused more and more problems, they had to turn around again and ask the Northern Chemical Factory for any possible improvements.

Because the old leaders who ordered the development of this product had long passed away, the Northern Chemical Factory had invested heavily in the research and development of fire cotton for many years. There was only one team who followed and studied this kind of thing. They slowly carried out research and development, and from time to time they took out one or two finished products and handed them over to various units for trial. The effect seemed to be acceptable.

Later, the Northern Arsenal also joined in, which greatly accelerated the research and development progress. At this time, they had initially solved the defect of unstable fire cotton explosives and greatly enhanced the practicality of the products. At this time, the military department sent personnel to inquire, and it was really a pillow that encountered a pillow, and the large-scale production of fire cotton explosives, a new type of explosives, became possible.

Of course, it may just be possible. The ability to make relatively good fire cotton in the laboratory does not mean that you can achieve this level under the industrialized large-scale production model. There is actually a huge gap between the two. But when things reach this point, people on the east coast can no longer give up fire cotton. Neither the Northern Chemical Factory, the Northern Arsenal or the Military Department will agree.

So, the hard work of research and development began again, this time it was the research and development of production lines and related production equipment. Because it was the first time for the East Coast people to create such things, how to design production lines, what processing equipment is needed, what testing equipment is needed, how to ensure safety, etc. It took a lot of time. It was not until the previous year (1692), when the relevant technology was almost perfected, and the large-scale industrial production of fire cotton began to enter a substantial stage.

The first factory was located in Ping'an County, an important industrial town in the north. It was organized and produced by the Northern Arsenal, and the Northern Chemical Factory shared patents with it. However, considering the sensitivity of the military industry, the East Coast government did not dare to put all the eggs in one basket. Therefore, under the leadership of relevant departments, another domestic military giant, Dayuhe Arsenal, invested 100,000 yuan to obtain a patent for fire cotton production from the two factories for 30 years. The factory you are visiting today is the fire cotton production factory newly opened by Dayuhe Factory in Xincao County.

By the way, after the Dayuhe Naval Shipyard moved away, the Dayuhe Arsenal was gradually relocating. Some of its businesses went to Qingdao County, some of its businesses went to Guide County on the banks of Wujiang (specifically in Shipu Township), and the rest moved to Xincao County. As for its headquarters, it is temporarily located in Dongfang County, the capital, but it is rumored that it will soon move to Shanghai County or Xincao County. No matter where the Dayuhe Arsenal moved, it can be confirmed that Dongfang County will lose a large number of tax and high-paying jobs, which is a huge negative for the future development of the city. But what can I do? All government ministries and commissions are moving to Luoyang Prefecture, which is in the inland. Dongfang County has been losing jobs for many years, and everyone has long been accustomed to being numb.

The biggest use of fire cotton on the east coast is artillery launching medicine, which is popular because of its smokeless and low residue. Of course, the power of fire cotton explosion is much greater than that of black gunpowder, about five times more. Using this kind of thing as fire powder can imagine the power of the cannon.

When Park Se-tang and his group visited the factory today, they happened to witness the factory's professional and technical personnel testing the power of explosive packs made of dry and compressed by fire cotton. When the new explosives loaded in the wooden barrel were detonated, a temporary wall built next to them collapsed, and bricks and stones scattered, Park Se-tang was really shocked and couldn't stop talking for a long time.

He is not a person without knowledge. He knows very well that if there are more explosives of this powerful one, it can easily blow up the walls of Hanyang City. If this kind of gunpowder is used as a launching medicine to fire shells, it can also easily knock down the walls. This can be said to be revolutionary in the change of the form of war.

"I'm afraid there will be no more solid city in the world!" Pu Shitang sighed repeatedly.

After visiting the fire cotton production workshop, Pu Shitang and his group visited the workshop where the factory produced other chemicals, but they were all quick-witted and did not stay too much. After tasting the sweetness on nitroscopic cotton, the people of the East Coast are now very interested in nitrification of other things, such as glycerin, mercury, etc. Glycerin is extracted from the booming waste liquid of the soap-making industry, and the cost is not high. Because of the numerous bisons in the Pampa Plain, the production of animal fat is very large every year, so the soap-making industry has also developed rapidly. Under the government's planning, these factories began to slowly concentrate in Xincao County, where they produced soap and sold them while processing the waste liquid to recycle glycerin, and then sold them to the Dayuhe Arsenal for further treatment.

It can be said that the intention of the locally planned chemical production base in Xincao County has been initially realized. The next step depends on how leading enterprises (such as Dayuhe Arsenal) do a good job in technological research and development and continuously develop new things. In this regard, they have also received help from the Institute of Chemistry of the Academy of Natural Sciences and the Northern Chemical Factory, and their future prospects are still relatively optimistic.

According to another unconfirmed rumor, after many arguments, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has planned to divest part of the business of the Northern Chemical Factory and then set up a brand new Southern Fine Chemical Factory on the south bank of Songhe River. The factory's headquarters, finished product production and marketing department, is planned to be located in Shanghai County, and the production of intermediate products is located in Xincao County. The products are temporarily planned to start with simple products, such as alcohol, refrigerants, anesthetics, essential oils, etc.

It should be said that with the deepening development of East Coast industry and the increasing improvement of people's living standards, the chemical industry has broken through the traditional production framework of three acids and two alkalis, and has begun to develop into fine chemical fields including industrial solvents (alcohol, etc.), scientific reagents, refrigerants, preservatives, dyes, cosmetics, chemicals and other fine chemicals. The Southern Fine Chemical Factory was established under such a background to better adapt to market demand and promote the overall development of the chemical industry.

Of course, it is not just state-owned enterprises that are taking action. In fact, many visionary private investors are also entering this industry. For example, in Xinbian County next door, Mass Food Company has set up a fermentation production workshop. By fermenting crops such as barley, corn, potato, beet, etc., it produces ethanol on a large scale, and then mixes its own brand of wine to enter a large industry such as alcoholic beverages. The production efficiency is much higher than that of traditional workshops.

In addition, in the far upper reaches of the Bian River and even in Brazil, there are many factories that extract acetic acid, methanol and acetone by dry distillation of wood. The establishment of these factories depends on the investment in the field of basic scientific research on the East Coast. People first made breakthroughs in theory through the study of various chemical phenomena. The breakthroughs in theory have brought dividends from applied technology. Many people have made considerable profits based on these theories to study practical applications and have made considerable profits. These factories that spring up like mushrooms after a rain to propose chemicals from wood.

Many people in the East Coast say that the decades before the founding of the People's Republic of China were the world of physicists. Under the guidance of physicists, the machinery, construction, textile, transportation, mining and other industries have achieved rapid development and laid the foundation for the strong East Coast Republic. Now, the East Coast is about to usher in a golden age for chemists. The food, pharmaceutical, household chemical, dyes and military industries will achieve explosive growth based on the rise of the chemical industry. It is the next hot investment area and a significant sign that the living standards of the East Coast people have entered a new stage.

Although Park Se-tang and others knew nothing about chemistry and were stunned along the way, this did not prevent them from feeling the vigorous power. Thinking that North Korea still has only relatively primary mining, metal smelting, shipbuilding, wood processing and pharmaceutical industries, Park Se-tang and others couldn't help but sigh that the gap with Tianmo Country is not very large! I was originally excited about the economic growth over the years, but now it seems that it is nothing, which makes people feel sad. At the same time,

At that time, they also realized more clearly that Tianma Guo’s strength is so powerful that it is suffocating. In the face of such a comparison of strength, the Kingdom of Korea really has no choice but to stick to the green mountains and not relax, hold on to Tianma Guo’s thighs, hoping that one day the men of Shangguo can reward North Korea with some technology, so that they will not benefit from it. Really, it is worth it even if most of the shares of the trading company with technology are controlled by the men of Shangguo. After all, if the men eat meat, North Korea can drink some soup, right?
Chapter completed!