C131 Misunderstandings and business opportunities

Due to the cover of the little girl's head, Xiao Wen didn't see what Mother Zhang took out from her bag.

However, when he heard his mother's description — "I've never seen such a pure product" — Xiao Wen felt a sense of foresight.

"This thing wasn't smuggled in from the Yunnan border right?" Xiao Wen's first reaction was to treat it as the extract of a poppy.

Xiao Wen was no stranger to the application of poppy flower extract in war.

After all, during the Opium War, British lobster soldiers were in the habit of smoking opium on the battlefield to boost their morale.

And during the Gulf War, U.S. and NATO troops used stimulants on the battlefield.

Even in the imperial court, if soldiers on the battlefield were dying, doctors would use morphine as appropriate to prolong their lives.

Although the side effects of these things are obvious, neither the addiction nor the physical harm can be ignored. However, it was undeniable that using this on the battlefield would indeed increase the combat strength of the soldiers, increasing their chances of winning.

In this strange world, if some countries were to use poppies as a primordial stimulant, or in countries like Wei and Jin, it would not be strange if soldiers could boost their morale by taking the Five Stones Powder.

However, Xiao Wen's imagination was destined to be a misunderstanding.

When Mama Zhang brought the goods to Xiao Wen's side, what Xiao Wen saw was not the black paste described in the science books, but a kind of black and grey powder.

The powder was gray in color, but there was a trace of white crystal inside.

Xiao Wen moved his nose closer to smell the smell, he only felt a smell of sulfur and charcoal coming from his nose.

He was surprised: "It's gunpowder!"

"Yo!" The little girl said with a proud expression: "I didn't think that a country bumpkin like you would know what gunpowder is."

"I not only know, but I also know how to improve the formula of black gunpowder. I can even make more powerful gunpowder." Xiao Wen silently ridiculed him.

However, he was still curious about her reaction just now.

He asked, "I once learned how to make gunpowder from my master. I don't think there's any difficulty with this sort of thing. Is this thing really that rare? "

In fact, Xiao Wen was already preparing to make gunpowder. However, because he did a series of coquettish operations later, the external pressure suddenly decreased, so the gunpowder wasn't of much use.

Thus, Xiao Wen didn't choose this technology tree.

But now, looking at Zhang's mother's strange expression towards this type of gunpowder, he felt that it was a bit strange.

"As the heir to the previous Qin Dynasty, naturally this sort of thing is nothing strange. "It's just that we don't know the difference, but this sort of thing is extremely important to us!"

"Are the formulas for gunpowder still not widespread in this world?" Xiao Wen asked curiously.

He knew that in the black market of the Central Cloud City, there were bird-selling bludgeon--although the accuracy of this kind of thing was very touching, to the point that Xiao Wen, who treasured his own life, would dare to take a bow and shoot against a person with a bird-wielding bludgeon.

Xiao Wen was even confident that he could wield a large blade and attack a gunner with a birdshot.

Without a rifling gun or a Mini Bullet, the accuracy of a gun was always a joke.

Hearing Xiao Wen's question, Mama Zhang shook her head and said, "Although the power of the gunpowder sold in the market is passable, at the very least, it can let the bullet out of the birdgun, but its power is very low. "Only some guns that use top-grade gunpowder can be compared with a military crossbow."

"Then why is there someone using a birdrod in the Central Cloud City?" Xiao Wen asked.

Mama Zhang forced a smile and explained, "I was just comparing the top gunpowder birdrod and the military crossbow." But if it's a bow made by a commoner, it would have its own effects as well as a birdshot made from inferior gunpowder. "

When Zhang Ma talked about her past, she looked a little embarrassed.

After all, each of them had their own strengths and weaknesses.

Hearing this, Xiao Wen nodded his head.

Indeed, civilian weapons and equipment were never as good as military weapons. After all, behind military weapons was the development of a country's productive forces. It was simply incomparable to a small civilian workshop.

Understanding this question, Xiao Wen then asked, "From what you said, pure black gunpowder is very expensive?"

"Go back and build. Pure gunpowder is not only expensive, but also priceless. " Mother Zhang patiently explained to Xiao Wen, "Nowadays, gunpowder is sold on the market, the formula contains a lot of unnecessary impurities. This would reduce the power of gunpowder. And the purest gunpowder was only produced in the court workshops of the Ming Empire's Zhu Family. Only a very small percentage of it can be resold to Korea every year. And in the clouds, it was even rarer. "That's why this servant said just now that the amount of black gunpowder here was very little."

After hearing this explanation, Xiao Wen nodded.

He didn't expect that gunpowder was so scarce in this world.

Although he knew that the real limiting factor in the spread of firearms was probably the power of the bird-or, to put it another way, the power and accuracy of the arquebus gun.

But the formula of gunpowder had also been monopolized to this extent, which was something he would never have thought of.

"This should be because the philosophy has not developed, and people cannot deduce the best formula for gunpowder through the logic of science. After all, China's Krypton Golden Eye was not something that had existed since ancient times. "Without Sir Newton's《 Mathematics Principles of Natural Science》 to guide science, China's imitation ability is still very touching."

After understanding all of this, Xiao Wen no longer bothered with this matter.

Although she was able to take out pure black gunpowder, it proved that this little girl's background was not simple.

However, there was no evidence that the other party was a member of the royal family.

As long as he wasn't a member of the royal family, with the support of Uncle Lee and the honor of maintaining the safety of Cloud City, Xiao Wen would definitely dare to offend any of the nobles in this country.

"Did you finish her search?" Not long after, Xiao Wen saw that Zhang Ye's mother finally stopped plundering. Under the stunned expressions of the crowd, the little girl's feet were filled with all kinds of strange weapons.

Without even waiting for Mama Zhang to answer him, Xiao Wen asked impatiently — there was nothing he could do. Although he was holding a cute little loli in his hand, this loli wasn't the quiet type like Shangguan Wan'er.

Imagine a loli shaking her body when you lift her up high. In order to maintain your balance, you would have to use more physical strength.

As a result, after her mother had taken care of her, not only did the little girl not have enough weapons, even Xiao Wen's physical strength had been depleted.

"Reporting to Lord Young Lord, we've already plundered it." Mama Zhang replied to Xiao Wen.

"That's good." Xiao Wen nodded and placed the little girl beside Guan Yu, allowing him to continue monitoring her.

Then, he turned to the soldiers beside him and said, "We will guard the manor. I will interrogate this girl myself later."