Chapter 905: Metal

"Yes, Your Highness."

Qin Shan and Guan Tong performed a military salute, then turned and left.

From this point on, they would independently command a military region.

After the two left, Zhao Xu looked toward Chang Wei, "Are any of the other generals feeling disgruntled?"

"No. In the army, military merit is paramount; to be disgruntled, one must have the ability to back it up," Chang Wei said.

Zhao Xu nodded and returned to the main topic. He said, "I have already ordered Xu Ke to send people to infiltrate the Southeast Five Nations of Jiaozhi, Nanzhang, Funan, Piaoman, and Siam to obtain intelligence on the five nations and simultaneously survey the terrain and topography."

Clearing his throat, he added: "Although I can provide you with rough maps of the five nations, I cannot make them exhaustive. The actual situation must be grasped personally. After you return, have the garrison commanders of Jiaozhou and Yunzhou coordinate with the Four Courts. If they encounter difficulties, provide support when necessary."

Just as the saying goes, "the seas change into mulberry fields."

With the passage of time, many terrains will change.

It is possible that a place was once a swamp but has now turned into a desert.

Therefore, before every war, he requires the army to survey the terrain in advance; they cannot rely entirely on the Sand Table and maps he provides.

Mountains and rivers may not change, but small paths, lakes, and forests will.

When pacifying the internal unrest in Da Song, because Chang Wei and the others had been in the military for a long time and were relatively familiar with the terrain throughout Da Song, they did not suffer because of terrain issues.

But heading south to the Southeast Five Nations, the situation is different.

It is mountainous here, and everywhere is primitive jungle.

Miasma, swamps, and venomous insects and wild beasts are everywhere.

Entering rashly will result in significant non-combat attrition.

It must be figured out in advance.

After all, according to his calculations, the Western Lands Allied Forces will arrive in Tianzhu soon, or have already arrived.

They have traveled far to wage war and expended a great deal; they will not stop until they achieve their strategic goals.

Therefore, there will surely be war in the south!

And the Southeast Five Nations, controlled by the Westerners, are like a sword pressed against the belly of Da Song, making one restless and unable to eat in peace.

Regardless of whether the Westerners attack from the direction of Jiaozhi and Piaoman, he must drive the Westerners out of the five nations.

Restore Da Song's influence over the five nations.

"This general understands," Chang Wei said solemnly.

The two spoke more about matters in the army, then Chang Wei returned.

Zhao Xu also left the study and headed toward the Research Institute.

Ever since formulating the two-step strategy, he has been focusing on military affairs to deal with the upcoming foreign war, while simultaneously participating personally in the wave of the Second Industrial Revolution.

When handling government affairs daily, he is the Yan Wang.

The rest of the time, he becomes a researcher at the Research Institute.

Whether it is Physics or Chemistry, or materials, he actively participates in every experiment.

In addition to the Research Institute led by Wang Chong and Qu Sheng, he also visits the subordinate Research Institute of the Armament Department and the Warship Manufacturing Research Institute every few days.

Together with them, he overcomes the technical difficulties currently faced.

Although the blueprints are mature, manufacturing the actual objects still requires a great deal of effort.

"Your Highness, the large electrolytic cell has been prepared."

As soon as Zhao Xu arrived at the Research Institute, Qu Sheng immediately came to greet him, looking excited.

After the thermal power generation test succeeded, Qu Sheng was even more excited than Wang Chong and the others.

Previously constrained by rudimentary conditions,

many chemical substances could not be prepared.

But now, the preparation of chemical substances has entered an explosive period.

Because after the thermal power test, this experimental Generator set was left at the Research Institute.

Wang Chong even specially laid out Electric Wire for the Chemical Laboratory.

Just after the power lines were laid, Qu Sheng began the water electrolysis experiment, producing hydrogen and oxygen for the first time.

Not satisfied with the laboratory electrolysis experiment, he and the researchers prepared a large electrolytic cell together.

"Is that so? Let me take a look." Zhao Xu smiled.

The two went to the back of the Research Institute, where there was a row of courtyards.

The east side was managed by Wang Chong, and the west side was managed by Qu Sheng.

Entering the eighth courtyard, Zhao Xu saw a square electrolytic cell, similar in size to a water tank.

There was a partition in the middle of the electrolytic cell, with both ends connected to Electric Wire.

Generally speaking, the principle of the electrolytic cell is similar to a battery.

One side is the positive electrode, and the other is the negative electrode.

The only difference is the partition in the middle, which separates the positive electrode area and the negative electrode area, making it easier to electrolyze the required substances from the side of different electrodes.

"With this, we can conduct experiments on the electrolysis of magnesium and aluminum, right?" Zhao Xu asked.

The electrolytic cell has no technical content; what he is concerned about is naturally not the electrolytic cell.

It is that after building a large electrolytic cell, it can prepare small amounts of special metals.

For example, magnesium powder and aluminum powder are essential items for manufacturing Illumination Flare.

With them, one Illumination Flare can light up an area with a radius of one kilometer, leaving night-raiding enemies with nowhere to hide.

In the upcoming war with the Westerners, the Westerners' muskets and Artillery do not have the advantage.

If he were the opposing general, he would certainly make good use of night warfare, utilizing the darkness to offset their advantage in muskets and Artillery.

At this time, the Illumination Flare would be able to play a role.

Throughout history, any technological upgrade is often first applied to the military.

He could not escape this convention either.

The logic is obvious: if one cannot protect oneself militarily, one cannot conduct scientific research with peace of mind.

"It is possible; the materials have already been prepared and we can proceed at any time," said Qu Sheng.

Zhao Xu nodded, "The magnesium and aluminum produced must be stored properly and delivered to the Armory Department when the time comes."

Extracting magnesium requires magnesite, and extracting aluminum requires bauxite.

While he was fighting, the Mineral Prospecting Department had been searching for mineral deposits according to the mineral map he provided.

These two types of mineral deposits have already been discovered.

After discussing this matter, Qu Sheng called over the researcher in charge of the electrolysis experiment and conducted the electrolysis in front of Zhao Xu.

Before long, a quantity of silvery magnesium metal appeared in the electrolytic cell.

After taking out the magnesium, they proceeded to electrolyze and extract some aluminum.

The two metals obtained were both the size of a fist.

"If we then distill them at high temperatures and collect them through cooling, we can obtain magnesium powder and aluminum powder," Qu Sheng said, holding the magnesium granules in one hand and the aluminum granules in the other, his face full of smiles.

Zhao Xu took them and nodded slightly.

He was very attentive to the production of magnesium and aluminum, and this was not just because they could be used to manufacture Illumination Flare.

In fact, the industrial value of these two metals is even greater.

Magnesium and aluminum can displace many rare metals, such as titanium, zirconium, uranium, beryllium, and so on.

With them, it will be a matter of course for the Research Institute to obtain other metals in the future.

And these rare metals will promote the development of alloy steel.

Furthermore, magnesium and aluminum alloys are lightweight and have high hardness; these two alone are of great value.

In the future, whether it is automobiles, airplanes, ships, or various types of Weapon, they will all use them.

After excitedly discussing the electrolyzed magnesium and aluminum for a while, Zhao Xu further requested that Qu Sheng hurry to research the extraction of rare metals such as lithium, beryllium, titanium, vanadium, germanium, niobium, molybdenum, cesium, and lanthanum.

Industrial progress requires walking on multiple legs; relying solely on Chemistry or solely on Physics will not work.