Chapter Twelve Explosives

  “115、156、157……”

  Simar paced back and forth on the gravel ground, estimating the size of the warehouse. This was an unavoidable situation since Simar had forgotten to bring a tape measure, so he could only rely on pacing to get a rough estimate of the warehouse's size. Although it wasn't very accurate, at least this way he could grasp a general idea.

  Not only do we need to estimate the area of the warehouse, but also the length and width of the outer wall. Although not an expert in this field, it is still easy to make a rough estimate of the length and width of the warehouse and the surrounding walls.

  "Kā... huá"

  With great effort, he dug out a clod of soil mixed with gravel from the ground with an iron shovel. Although it was just one shovel, Sima felt that digging a foundation in this gravelly land wouldn't be an easy task.

  It took a lot of effort to dig the iron shovel down, only three or four centimeters, and even in 2010, using an excavator to dig this kind of gravel ground is not an easy task.

  "Master, this is no easy task! Just thinking about building a house on this land, let alone digging the foundation, is not going to be simple."

  Gao Chuanliang scooped up a handful of soil from the iron spade, half sand and half gravel the size of beans. After speaking, he casually tossed the gravel and dirt in his hand to one side.

  "The young master wants to build a house as big as you said, I'm afraid the nearby brick factories will have to work day and night to produce so many bricks. Just transporting the bricks alone would require us to prepare several hundred carts."

  Gao Chuanliang roughly calculated the cost in his heart, and when he got the result, he was almost frightened by that number. The number is too big, although Gao Chuanliang knows that this gentleman's money can build it without any problem, but in Gao Chuanliang's opinion, there is always a waste of money.

  "This soil is all right with these crushed stones, but it's a pity that it's a bit small. If not, it would be perfect for making concrete."

  Simma picked up a handful of gravel and muttered to himself, indeed, relying solely on the nearby brick factories, it's unknown when the bricks would be burned, and transporting them from the other end of the passage is also a fantasy. To build such a factory, it seems that another path must be taken.

  "Maybe quarrying is a good choice. Using large stones to build walls must be more solid than using bricks."

  Simma looked at the stone mountain kilometers away and thought of the stone houses on both sides of the road he saw every time he passed through the mountains when he was in college in the provincial capital, feeling that opening a quarry might be the most convenient way.

  The stone mountain in front is just a few kilometers away from here, and the distance is not far. As for cement, it can be transported by truck from modern times.

  It is more realistic and feasible to transport several trucks of cement than to transport dozens of trucks of bricks, not to mention that even if you find the bricks yourself, you will still need a large amount of cement to build the house, which is less convenient than quarrying stone from the mountain.

  "Lao Gao, isn't that hundred-meter stone mountain in front of us within our territory?"

  Simaz pointed at the stone mountain in front and asked Gao Chuanliang beside him, "Is it still some distance away from here?" Sima didn't dare to confirm whether that mountain was within his own territory.

  "Young master, a mountain like this in this place is not managed by anyone and no one wants it. If you say it's within the young master's territory, then so be it. How did the young master think of asking about this?"

  Gao Chuanliang looked in the direction of Sima's pointing finger, but it was just a barren rocky mountain. Why did this guy think of asking about this again?

  "Building a house doesn't necessarily require bricks, using stones is also fine. That mountain belongs to us, and blasting and quarrying stones there is no more expensive than buying bricks."

  Who would have thought that this stone mountain is actually mine? It seems that buying this land was really worth it. Just the stones saved from excavating the mountain are enough to make up for the cost of several hundred dollars.

  "Master..."

  Gao Chuanliang didn't know what to say, so he just kept quiet. Gao Chuanliang had actually heard people talk about it before, probably when they were repairing the railway last year, but since he didn't know anything about it, he could only remain silent.

  "Opening a mountain should require gunpowder! Now foreigners are at war, it's not easy for us to buy gunpowder."

  Gao Chuanliang thought for a moment and said that it seemed that when they were building the railway before, they had discussed how the explosives used to blast mountains were all purchased from foreigners. This newspaper says that foreigners have been using up all their gunpowder in battles, so what explosives would they have left to sell to us for blasting mountains?

  "Ah! This! Let me think about this."

  Just now, Sima was only thinking about opening the mountain, but he forgot the most important thing, that is, opening the mountain and quarrying stones must need explosives. At this time, Europeans are at war, naturally there is no surplus, and domestically used explosives for military use are mostly dependent on imports. It seems that it is not very realistic to get explosives from this space-time.

  In one's own space, explosives are even more strictly controlled, and it is almost impossible for individuals to purchase them privately. If someone rashly seeks to buy explosives, they may be caught by the police before they can even get their hands on any explosives.

  "This is quite troublesome!"

  Simar shook his head and said. But judging from the current situation, apart from using stone materials to build warehouses, Sima might not be able to think of any other good methods for the time being.

  As for the industrial explosives used for mining, Sima only knew that the main component of this explosive was ammonium nitrate, and as for the others, he wasn't quite clear, although ammonium nitrate is a relatively common civilian fertilizer, but to turn ammonium nitrate into an explosive for mining obviously exceeded Sima's knowledge range.

  Although Sima didn't know much about explosives, he still knew a thing or two, thanks to reports from TV, newspapers and the internet about illegal elements who privately made explosives for personal gain and blew themselves up.

  At least from the news, Sima knew that this type of industrial explosive usually consisted of a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, wood shavings and so on. As for the rest, Sima didn't quite understand.

  The biggest feature of modern society is that it benefits from the rapid development of the internet, which has led to an abnormal proliferation of information. A lot of knowledge that was previously only understood by a small number of professionals can now be accessed by many people.

  It's always possible to search online, perhaps the latent violent factors or curiosity about unknown things are at play, and on the internet, there will always be many people posting some relatively dangerous technical information or exchanging such technical information.

  The manufacturing information of explosive materials is even more rampant, to the point where it doesn't require spending money to purchase, many technical documents are detailed to the point where even a primary school student can manufacture explosives by simply purchasing raw materials and following the steps outlined.

  And the lowest-tech one is the industrial ammonium nitrate explosive that has been plaguing Sima. In the words of the person who posted this, even a blind person can successfully mix this explosive themselves.

  "Is it that simple? Is this dynamite?"

  Simma looked at the information about making industrial ammonium nitrate explosives from this relatively authoritative pyrotechnic forum, and he couldn't believe his eyes. If the information on it was true, Simma could be sure that the explosive problem that had been troubling him wasn't a problem at all.

  Simply mixing industrial-grade 98% ammonium nitrate with fuel oil, aluminium powder or sawdust and stirring it in the right proportions can produce a simple paste-like industrial explosive that can be detonated directly by fire or electricity.

  Looking at such an introduction, Sima even doubted whether he had returned to his kindergarten days when he was in handicraft class, and it was actually so simple. Sometimes many things are very simple.

  Although it seems to have solved the problem of explosives, at least according to Sima's understanding through the pyrotechnics forum, although ammonium nitrate explosives are relatively easy to make, they are not easily available in the market.

  At least not like in the past when you could buy it directly from a fertilizer store. Fortunately, industrial ammonium nitrate is not a controlled commodity, although it's not easy to buy at markets, but if you're buying in bulk, you can easily get enough ammonium nitrate from a fertilizer factory for your use.

  After inquiring about the wholesale price of ammonium nitrate over the phone, Sima couldn't believe his ears. This industrial-grade ammonium nitrate that can be used to make explosives was only 2,000 yuan per ton, which wasn't expensive but rather frighteningly cheap.

  At the beginning, Sima made a good preparation of over 10,000 yuan. At least at the price of urea, without considering it, Sima immediately set aside ten tons of 98% industrial ammonium nitrate. Although I don't know how much explosive is needed, having more is always right.

  The problem of explosives has been solved, Sima only needs to sit at home and wait for the goods to be delivered. At present, opening mountains and quarrying stones only need to solve another problem, which is detonators.

  Although Sima had heard people say that someone was blown up by a landmine, in more than 20 years, Sima really hadn't seen what a landmine looked like, it seemed that he only heard people say that unexploded landmines could be found by digging in coal piles.

  As for this rumor, Sima would definitely sneer at it. However, if the rumor is true, Sima wouldn't mind going to dig through the coal heap to see if he can pick up Lei's pipe.

  Only after inquiring with some people did Sima learn that the control of this thing is far stricter than explosives, at least without it, explosives are essentially just a decoration.

  While the thunder tube looks like a large firecracker on the surface, at least in principle, making a thunder tube is absolutely a technical job. In most cases, the thunder tubes used in most mines come from only one source, which is the state-designated store. Homemade thunder tubes are either expensive or of poor quality.

  "It seems that this thunder tube is hopeless, can only turn back and let Lao Gao see if he can get it"

  After confirming that no one would be willing to sell him a gun, Sima finally gave up his desire to buy a gun. Unless he could get a permit, it was very difficult to get enough guns, or he had to buy expensive guns from a second-hand dealer at a high price.

  Buying the pipe at such a high price - obviously wasn't a good thing, at least in Sima's view, someone who is willing to pay ten times the price for an item will absolutely not use it for good things, and Sima himself did not want to attract other people's attention because of this.

  Although in 1915, due to the war, explosives such as dynamite and artillery shells were very tense.

  However, Sima still thinks that buying some industrial explosives shouldn't be a problem. It's not like they wouldn't repair railways or quarry stones just because of the war. The price will definitely be higher, but at least it's safe and won't draw attention to himself. This is probably something that can't be bought with money.