Come to another world and become a lord

Chapter 139 Gunpowder and a New Crisis

Carl sat in front of a solid oak table, surrounded by various books and notes. On top were various drafts he had drawn in the past few days, all of which were designs for thermal weapons.

This world is somewhat different from the Middle Ages on Earth. Perhaps because of the existence of magic, gunpowder has never been invented, which gives him a good opportunity.

Using modern knowledge, he planned to mix black powder. This should have been done long ago, if he hadn't been wasting his energy on the feud with Morton...

However, the core difficulty is not the production of gunpowder, but the collection of its raw materials. Although saltpeter and sulfur are common minerals, they are by no means common commodities. In this era of cold weapons, the fields where they can be used are very limited. It is said that the church occasionally uses sulfur in some religious ceremonies.

So even if we contacted the four major chambers of commerce, we wouldn't be able to buy much in the end.

It seems necessary to conduct a large-scale terrain survey in the entire Morgan Territory. This kind of thing is naturally meaningless when he is still the lord of Rick Territory. Now that he owns the entire Earldom of Morgan, his territory has reached a certain scale. A large-scale exploration may really yield surprises. As long as one or two corresponding veins can be found and mined by themselves, it will be much more convenient.

Of course, the first thing to do right now is to make practical black powder. Although he does know the theoretical method, the actual mixing process still requires a lot of attempts and adjustments.

The first is to make saltpeter. There is actually another method for this, which is to use saltpeter soil to refine it. In fact, it can be found in toilets, pig and cattle pens, houses, and old corners. Before large-scale mineral veins are found, this may be the most stable source.

The principle of refining is also very simple, that is, mix saltpeter soil and grass ash into a large barrel. Form a filter pool, add cold water and hot water in a cycle, stir repeatedly, and form saltpeter water after several times. Finally, filter out impurities, and form crystals after the water evaporates, thus obtaining pure saltpeter.

Obtaining charcoal was relatively simple. He ordered people to prepare some high-quality wood and burn it under well-controlled conditions. By slow cooking, he obtained charcoal powder with high purity.

After everything is ready, follow the familiar jingle of most modern people: one nitre, two sulfur, three charcoal. Of course, this jingle only mixes the lowest-power gunpowder. If a more complex and terrifying explosion is needed, other chemical substances need to be tried, but these are also things for the future.

And with the sound of an explosion in Carl's room one day, the birth of black powder was announced. This explosion also alarmed Alia, Selena, Jim and others. They rushed into Carl's bedroom almost immediately, and then saw the latter lying on the ground covered in dust, with broken bottles and jars on the table.

Of course, although black powder was invented, how to use it specifically is still a problem. Generally speaking, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely the musket, but in fact the craftsmanship of the musket is not simple, especially if it is to be powerful, it needs to be assembled on a large scale. Let alone whether Morgan can support such productivity, he even began to doubt whether this process can be produced. First of all, the hollow barrel, in this era of hand-forging, how many blacksmiths can master such technology? At least not in the short term.

So, excluding the musket for the time being, he had already thought of the weapon that was easiest to make in the short term and powerful enough, which was the grenade! A layer of iron sheet, a fuse, and then filled with gunpowder and sharp debris, the simplest earth grenade was born.

For this purpose, he also conducted a power test in the backyard of Candlelight Castle and invited Alia and others to watch. He placed various types of armor in the venue for testing. Carl stood on a dirt slope, lit the fuse at the tail of the grenade, and threw it out with a standard throwing action. The grenade fell into a pile of armor. A few seconds later, the explosion sounded through the sky, dust flew, and stones scattered. Several people were shocked and opened their mouths wide. Jim even sat down on the ground.

Afterwards, the power of different armors was evaluated based on the degree of damage. The cotton armor was penetrated by fragments, while the knight's full-body heavy armor blocked almost all the fragments. However, such lethality already satisfied Carl. After all, most soldiers could not afford to wear heavy armor.

"Imagine, two armies are facing each other, and we throw this thing into the enemy's formation~" Carl proudly boasted to Alia.

Alia immediately understood its function and said with a smile:

“They’re going to collapse for sure.”

The power of this grenade was not as strong as expected. It might not kill a few people, but it was enough to collapse the enemy's army. Faced with this kind of explosive, everyone's first reaction would definitely be to disperse. Then their troops would take advantage of the situation and press forward, and the battle would soon become a one-sided crushing.

"I plan to form a special grenadier regiment as an elite force. As for your Fire Rose Guards, this will also become their standard equipment. In a battle, each person must carry at least three grenades, and the number of bows and arrows can be reduced accordingly." Carl said to Alia.

"I have no objection." Alia nodded in agreement. She could even imagine the scene of her cavalry rushing towards the enemy's phalanx and suddenly throwing this thing out.

"The question is do we have enough raw materials for production?" Selena expressed her concern.

"It will be no problem if we can find a mine within the country," Carl replied.

However, it is not a big problem to simply find a chamber of commerce to purchase. These raw materials are difficult to obtain not because they are scarce, but because no one wanted them before. Once there is a demand in the market, naturally there will be people willing to get them.

After the successful design of the grenade, Carl was in a very good mood. The next step was to mass-produce it. As long as the troops could be equipped with it, he no longer had to worry about being attacked by the two earls. Just as he was humming a little tune and preparing to go back to his room to rest, Aisha suddenly walked into the backyard.

"Sir~" She knelt on one knee and said respectfully, "Bishop Eleanor has sent a letter, requiring you to return to Rickburg immediately."

"Eleanor?" Carl was stunned for a moment. After killing Gregory, the little nun had become much more honest. Apart from still being in charge of the daily judicial affairs of Rickburg, she no longer interfered with Carl's behavior. She didn't even say a word about the abuse of the Tribunal by Carl. Now it has been more than a month. What is she going to do again?

Thinking of this, Carl asked:

"Did she say what it was?"

"Yes... but... the reason is a bit ridiculous..." Aisha hesitated when she said this.

"What's the reason? Feel free to tell me." Carl asked.

"She said the dead in Rickburg are rising again!"