A quarter of an hour later, two yamen runners brought the things in and placed them in the hall.
The three adults glanced at the utensils, then turned to look at Xu Qiyan.
Chen Fuyin said in a deep voice: "Everything you want is here, and you must give me a satisfactory answer."
His attitude changed.
In a quarter of an hour, this official of the fourth rank racked his brains for a long time, and had to admit that Xu Qiyan's inference made sense, but there were still many mysteries that had not been solved, such as the fact that the tax silver fell into the river.
He couldn't figure out what the mystery was.
Xu Qiyan nodded and squatted in front of the utensils. The props in front of him were candles, salt, porcelain cups, and iron wires.
What he had to do was very simple, high school chemistry knowledge: extracting metallic sodium.
In ancient times, this thing was impossible to extract, two difficulties: electricity and the melting point of sodium chloride.
But in this world, Xu Qiyan knew that there was a profession that could do this.
Si Tianjian Warlock Sixth Grade: Alchemist!
Alchemists are a household name in Dafeng, and their inventions and creations have long been integrated into the lives of ordinary people.
Xu Qian'an is not sure that the exploding tax silver must be metallic sodium. This is not important. What is important is to open up a way of thinking to explain the phenomenon of the tax silver explosion.
In the process of solving a case, bold assumptions and rigorous reasoning are necessary work in the early stage. Finally, it is to verify and collect evidence.
In his previous life, he had encountered a murder case that he remembered vividly. The criminal police stayed up all night, opened their minds based on clues, and made several speculations on the case process. Based on this, they collected evidence.
Then they overturned all of them and reasoned again.
Tax silver may not be metallic sodium. In short, alchemists can do this.
That's enough.
Find the right direction for the adults, this is what he has to do.
If the direction is right, you can follow the clues to investigate, and it is not difficult to find the mastermind behind the scenes.
If he still struggles with the idea that the monster is causing chaos, the case will never be solved. Even if the case is solved in the future, he has already sent you away from the court: Send you away, thousands of miles away!
He melted the coarse salt with water, stirred it, covered the rim of the cup with rice paper, and slowly poured the salt water in.
After filtering, he placed the porcelain cup on a candle and roasted it, stirring it with a bamboo stick.
After a while, the salt water in the cup evaporated, and the crystals precipitated from it were sodium chloride.
The essence is to further purify the salt.
Chen Fuyin, the middle-aged man, and the girl in the yellow skirt with super high appearance, the three stood on the side and watched attentively.
Xu Qian'an raised his head and grinned at the girl in the yellow skirt: "You are a disciple of the Si Tianjian, right?"
He noticed the Feng Shui plate on his waist. This thing, except for the disciples of the Si Tianjian, no one would use it.
The girl in the yellow skirt said "hmm" and smiled, "My master is the director of the Si Tian Jian."
Her delicate and bright oval face was as white and flawless as a peeled egg.
For the director's disciple... breasts don't matter... Xu Qi'an said gently, "Please, sister, melt these crystals for me."
The temperature of sodium chloride is about 800 degrees Celsius.
The girl in the yellow skirt pursed her lips, "Controlling fire is the ability of alchemists, I'm just a Feng Shui master."
"But my master gave me a magic weapon." She changed the subject, took off the Feng Shui plate on her waist, fiddled with it with her green jade fingers, and the word "fire" lit up.
"Back off!"
Xu Qi'an immediately backed off, and the next moment, bright and dazzling flames spewed out, drowning the porcelain cup.
"Stop!" Xu Qi'an immediately called for a stop, then quickly inserted two iron wires into the porcelain cup and asked, "Turn on the electricity... No, it's thunder! Pay attention to controlling the voltage... Well, this step is difficult, and you may fail many times."
She turned the Feng Shui plate, and her green jade fingers lit up the word "thunder". Several arcs flashed in the void and touched the iron wire.
"Zizi..." The molten sodium chloride underwent a violent chemical reaction.
"Stop!"
Xu Qi'an held his breath and leaned over the mouth of the cup to look. A silver-colored metal block was formed, and the edge was part of the crystals and impurities that had not yet been transformed.
It succeeded in one go, and the voltage was just right... Xu Qi'an was surprised.
The electrolytic method to produce metallic sodium has a voltage of about 6-15 volts, and he was mentally prepared for repeated failures.
Unexpectedly, the European Emperor possessed him and succeeded in one go.
Chen Fuyin and the middle-aged man could not wait to look over. In the cup, there was a silver metal block, which looked very similar to silver.
Chen Fuyin's pupils shrank, and he was extremely shocked.
Li Yuchun clenched his fists tightly and stared at the silver metal block. It seemed that lightning struck his mind and split all the fog.
"Please look, my lords," Xu Qian'an poured out the sodium metal, wrapped it in rice paper, and weighed it in his hand:
"This thing is much lighter than silver, but the appearance is extremely similar. If someone uses this thing to pretend to be silver, can it be mistaken for the real thing? You can also weigh it."
He handed the sodium metal to Chen Fuyin. At this time, the color of the sodium metal gradually turned dim, almost exactly the same as silver.
The middle-aged man took it, weighed it, his eyes sparkled, and he said repeatedly: "It is indeed much lighter. If this is what is being transported, it is reasonable. Miss Caiwei, try it."
The girl in the yellow skirt took it, weighed it, and then stared at Xu Qian'an with a strange look: "You, are you an alchemist?"
No, I'm not, I'm just a chemical carrier.
The scholars' thoughts are more active. After being surprised, Chen Fuyin suddenly shook his head and said in a deep voice: "No, that's not right. Even if the silver is replaced like this. How can the explosion happen? If there is no monster hidden in the river, how can the fake silver explode in the water."
Xu Qian'an did not answer, reached out to take the metallic sodium, walked to the desk, and threw it into the pen washing tank.
The blazing fire lit up and thick smoke billowed.
"Boom!"
The metallic sodium reacted violently in the water, and the pen washing tank cracked with fine cracks.
"This, this..." Chen Fuyin was stunned.
"This fake silver will explode when it encounters water. This can explain why such a violent explosion will occur after the silver falls into the water." Xu Qiyan explained.
The middle-aged man murmured: "From the beginning, we were misled. The mastermind behind the scenes used explosions and evil winds to make us think that it was a demon, and focused on tracking and hunting down the case."
"No wonder the Imperial Observatory's qi-watching technique could not detect the demon."
Xu Qiyan added: "After the tax silver fell into the water, the soldiers only found more than a thousand taels of silver. If I guessed correctly, these silvers were all laid on the top layer to cover up the truth."
It fits perfectly, and all the abnormalities are matched.
"Xu Qiyan!" The middle-aged man's eyes were full of praise: "Good, you are good."
His eyebrows suddenly frowned, and solidified at Xu Qiyan's crooked collar. Li Yuchun then patted his shoulders and helped him pull his collar straight.
Xu Qian'an was flattered that this lord appreciated him so much.
Chen Fuyin frowned and said, "Since the silver is fake, where is the real silver?"
The girl in the yellow skirt also showed a solemn look when she heard this: "The tax silver was taken out of the warehouse and brought into the capital, and it changed hands at many levels. If we want to punish them, a large number of officials will be imprisoned. It is as difficult to recover the silver as finding a needle in a haystack. Moreover, this matter has exceeded our authority and we must report it to His Majesty."
Chen Fuyin nodded, that's what he meant.
The middle-aged man had a different opinion, and his voice was low: "The tax silver was escorted all the way to the capital and changed hands at many levels. If it was fake, it should have been discovered long ago. The only possibility is that it was replaced recently."
Chen Fuyin's eyes lit up, which greatly narrowed the scope of the investigation.
"Come on, prepare the sedan chair, prepare the sedan chair quickly, I want to go out." Chen Fuyin rushed out of the inner hall anxiously.
The middle-aged man followed closely behind.
Xu Qian'an hurriedly shouted, "Sir, please don't forget your promise to me."