Chapter 380 - 65: Simple Methods for Manufacturing Explosives
"Besides, some of the materials might not be found on this island, so it’s better to be grounded and practical."
Pouring cold water on himself, Chen Zhou solemnly put away the book, took it to his bedroom, and hid it under the bed.
Although the two members of the Native Tribe couldn’t understand the large blocks of text in the book, let alone decipher what those strange chemical formulas meant, he instinctively placed the book in the safest place.
"This kind of thing shouldn’t be shown to others carelessly; it could harm others or even myself. The lives of the two natives are one thing, but the key is to save my own life."
Fearful that the natives might suddenly get a wild idea, hastily understand a few lines, and secretly muster the courage to try the methods taught in the book.
After much consideration, Chen Zhou still felt uneasy, so he took the book out from under the bed and placed it in a refrigerator converted from a shipping container.
...
Honestly speaking, the effort and the reward are not proportional.
On the night of May 21, Chen Zhou was in a state of daze for a long while, as if he was sleepwalking.
This wasn’t because he was overwhelmed with excitement, but because after reading the book, too many ideas suddenly poured into his mind, causing a temporary system crash.
From the primer of bullets, to more efficient blasting methods, to throwing grenades, laying mines, and even mortars.
Realistic, unrealistic, scientific, sci-fi...
Countless crazy ideas intertwined in Chen Zhou’s mind, turning into a tangled mess.
Helplessly, to suppress his chaotic thoughts, Chen Zhou could only chug a large bottle of rum and then fell into a sleep filled with joy.
...
The "Simple Production Methods for Explosive Materials" only provided methods; there was still a long way to go from methods to practical implementation.
On May 22, waking up sober, Chen Zhou realized this and, according to his plan, prioritized the unfinished tasks, preparing to complete them one by one.
As for this book, worth more than ten thousand taels of gold and capable of changing the fate of a nation in this era, Chen Zhou planned to study it slowly.
His knowledge of chemistry had long been buried in the depths of his memory, and if he wanted to avoid accidents in the subsequent manufacturing process, he had to study the entire book carefully to understand the principles.
Furthermore, during the learning process, he might recall some 21st-century chemical knowledge, leading to some unexpected surprises.
...
He concealed his inner joy with an expressionless poker face.
In the ensuing days, Chen Zhou stayed in the Forging Room during the day, researching how to forge gun parts, cast Mini Bullets using the lost wax method, or even make some more advanced copper bullets.
At night, he studied by candlelight, taking notes while trying to recover the knowledge that had once slipped away from his mind.
...
Of course, he did not delay the construction of watchtowers and beacon towers.
The project should have officially started in mid-April, right at the beginning of the dry season.
However, too many unexpected events occurred in between, and the two natives were not very familiar with carpentry and masonry. Without Chen Zhou overseeing the work, they could not complete the project independently, dragging it out until late May.
The large Native Tribe mentioned by Sunday had not landed on the island to inspect the situation, making Chen Zhou slightly relax his vigilance.
He thought that those natives who couldn’t obtain sufficient food might have fallen into another round of conflict over resources, having no time to care about the mysterious disappearance of a large group of people and two Canoes. Building a watchtower now seemed unnecessary.
But since the plan was made early on and it involved life safety, regardless of its usefulness, Chen Zhou ultimately didn’t abandon it.
He took the time to lead the two natives in transporting building materials, selecting a suitable location, and constructing a tall watchtower and a relatively short and sturdy beacon tower on the mountainside.
The workload of the entire project wasn’t too large but still consumed a lot of time.
Already in late May, by the time the watchtower was completed and the beacon tower was erected, it was nearly mid-June.
And merely completing the construction of the watchtower and beacon tower was not enough; Chen Zhou had to teach the two members of the Native Tribe how to use these facilities.
For example, with the watchtower, simply standing on it wouldn’t help in observing the distance. One must use a telescope to get a bird’s-eye view and observe the anomalies on the distant sandy lands and the sea.
For using the beacon tower, it was necessary to know to ignite a bonfire with high-humidity firewood to produce billowing black smoke to alert distant companions.
...
Chen Zhou’s time was very tight, but fortunately, the methods for using a telescope and the beacon tower weren’t complicated matters.
Moreover, the "merchant ship" that brought him his first pot of gold had numerous telescopes of varying quality, so he didn’t mind giving away a couple.
After casually teaching Saturday and Sunday for a morning, he saw the two of them having a great time using the monocular telescopes, closing one eye and scanning the distance.
With his mind set on gun manufacturing, Chen Zhou swiftly left the mountainside, which had wasted much of his time, and returned to the cave dwelling.
...
He had been studying the design and creation of new firearms for more than just a day or two.
Just the blueprints he personally drew numbered in the dozens, and by now, a complete concept had formed in Chen Zhou’s mind.
The firearm he was going to manufacture this time would no longer be a simple modification of the matchlock gun or a flintlock gun but had a more advanced prototype—
The Hall M1819 breech-loading flintlock gun.
This flintlock gun was the world’s first mass-equipped military breech-loading gun, patented in 1811, and officially served in 1819.