My Imperial Advisor is ChatGPT

Chapter 111 The Puzzle of Chemistry: Mendeleev's Vacancy

The side hall of the Qilin Hall in Xianyang Palace has now been transformed into a huge "combat command center".

But this was not aimed at the military command center of the Huns or Rome, but at "nature".

Hanging on the wall was a huge chart carved from a single piece of white marble. Most of the cells were empty, with only a few filled with words: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, mercury, carbon, sulfur...

This is the Qin Dynasty version of the Periodic Table, which Wang Jianguo reproduced from memory based on Xiao G's database.

Ying Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the jade disc with a furrowed brow.

"My dear Wang," Ying Zheng pointed to the large expanse of blank squares, "you mean, there are still so many things in my Qin Dynasty that we haven't found?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that we haven't found it, it's just that we haven't 'purified' and 'named' it yet." Wang Jianguo held a pointer in his hand and pushed up his reading glasses (he really was getting presbyopia from long hours of desk work). "It's like a jigsaw puzzle. Everything in the world, whether it's my dragon robe, Zhao Gao's wig, or Xiang Yu's Overlord Spear, is pieced together from the things in these squares."

"Right now, we have too few building blocks," Wang Jianguo sighed. "Although the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences can already produce sulfuric acid and nitric acid, our understanding of the elements themselves is still at the 'Five Elements' stage. If we want to develop fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), if we want to develop stronger alloys, and if we want to develop advanced versions of explosives, we must fill in these gaps."

Ying Zheng turned around, his eyes blazing: "Then let's find them! All land under heaven belongs to the king; I refuse to believe that we can't find these few characters even if we dig three feet into the ground!"

"Digging alone won't do; we need to 'refine' it." Wang Jianguo smiled wryly. "Your Majesty, this requires a lot of experiments, a lot of trial and error, and... a lot of crazy people who are not afraid of death and know a bit about technology."

Ying Zheng's lips curled up slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.

"A madman who is not afraid of death and has technical skills? My Great Qin has no shortage of such people."

He turned to look at Zhao Gao, who was filling a fountain pen with ink in the corner.

"Zhao Gao."

"This servant is here!" Zhao Gao shuddered, nearly stabbing his thigh with the pen in his hand.

"Issue my decree: issue a 'Recruitment Order.' No, to be precise, a 'Recall Order for Alchemists.'" Ying Zheng's voice was full of allure. "Tell those alchemists hiding in the deep mountains and forests, refining elixirs of immortality, that I will not kill them. I will provide them with the best alchemical furnaces (reactors), the fiercest fires (coke blast furnaces), and the most complete range of ores. As long as they can extract a new element from rocks, water, or even excrement..."

Ying Zheng held up one finger: "If you discover one, I will reward you with a thousand gold pieces, bestow upon you the title of 'Marquis of Investigation of Things,' grant you an apartment in the Epang Palace school district, and a brand-new 'Flying Pigeon' bicycle."

Zhao Gao's eyes lit up instantly: "Your Majesty is wise! These charlatans... no, these talented people, they'll definitely rush to Xianyang like madmen!"

The news spread like wildfire throughout the land.

For the alchemists of the Qin Dynasty, these past few years have been quite frustrating. Ever since the First Emperor embraced science and cracked down on superstition, these people who made a living by "refining elixirs with mercury" and "curing diseases with talismanic water" either had to switch to making cement or building railways, or the worst off could only perform "lotus flower spitting out of the mouth" in the circus.

Now, here's your chance!

"Have you heard? His Majesty no longer seeks immortality, but rather the 'elements'!"

"What are elements? Are they another form of elixir?"

"Who cares! As long as we can produce something new, we'll give them a house, a car, and even a noble title!"

In just half a month, the entrance to the Chemistry Institute of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Great Qin Dynasty was blocked by more than two thousand alchemists dressed in rags and carrying dilapidated alchemical furnaces.

In order to manage this group of "scattered soldiers", Wang Jianguo had no choice but to establish the "Elemental Hunter Guild".

The backyard of the Institute of Chemistry is now a magnificent sight.

Hundreds of crucibles burned day and night, sending colorful plumes of smoke into the air. The air was thick with the smells of sulfur, acid, and various indescribable burnt odors.

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, Laozi, hasten your command! Double the sulfuric acid, boundless power!"

An old Taoist priest with a white beard chanted incantations while pouring a spoonful of green powder (malachite) into the boiling acid.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the crucible exploded, and the old Taoist priest was blasted into a black charcoal, his hair standing on end like an afro.

The recorder (a part-time student from the College of Agriculture) calmly crossed out a form: "Experiment No. 38, failed. Cause of death: improper operation, acid was poured too quickly. Take it away, next one."

Although the scene was initially very chaotic and mystical, with such a large number of participants, results began to emerge.

The person in charge here is Lu Sheng, the former leader of the alchemists (yes, the one who was almost killed but later redeemed himself). His current title is "Head of the Inorganic Chemistry Project Team".

Lu Sheng was wearing a gas mask (made of pigskin and filled with activated charcoal) and staring at a black stone in front of him.

"This stuff is called 'pyrolusite,' that's what Chief Minister Wang said," Lu Sheng said to his assistant in a deep voice. "He said there's a kind of devil hidden inside that can harden steel."

The assistant, a young disciple of the Mohist school, held a notebook in his hand: "Team leader, we've been burning it for forty-nine days, and nothing has come out except black smoke."

"That's because the heat isn't right!" Lu Sheng's alchemy spirit burned within him. "Chancellor Wang taught me that a reducing agent is needed. Add carbon powder! Add plenty!"

They mixed the black ore powder with charcoal powder, threw it into a specially made sealed crucible, and then sent it into a high-temperature furnace.

Several hours later, the fire in the stove went out.

With trembling hands, Lu Sheng knocked open the cooled crucible.

Among a pile of black slag lay several silvery-white, metallic-lustered hard lumps. They resembled iron, but were more brittle; they resembled silver, but were harder.

Lu Sheng picked up a piece and scratched it with a knife. The knife chipped, but the metal piece remained undamaged.

"It's done...it's done!" Lu Sheng removed his mask, tears streaming down his face. "This isn't the devil, it's 'Black Gold'! Quick, send it to General Xiang Yu for testing!"

Testing revealed that this was high-purity manganese (Mn). When added to steel, the hardness and wear resistance of Qin Dynasty steel were significantly improved. Xiang Yu's "Overlord Spear" no longer needed its spearhead replaced every few days.

Lu Sheng thus received his first "Chemistry Medal" and was bestowed the title "Lord Meng". Although he felt that this title sounded like a dream, the heavy gold in his hand told him that it was much more reliable than making elixirs of immortality.

However, not all discoveries are as "hardcore" as Lu Sheng's. Some discoveries are... well, they have a certain flavor.

An abandoned Taoist temple in the western suburbs of Xianyang

A strange man named Wei Boyang (a pseudonym, not the historical figure) lived here. He neither refined gold nor silver; he collected urine.

Yes, urine.

Wei Boyang firmly believes that the human body is a microcosm, and urine is the essence excreted by the human body. Its golden color must contain the secret of gold.

He spent all his savings on this belief and was almost beaten to death by his neighbors (because it smelled so bad).

"Crazy Wei is boiling his own urine again!"

"Ugh... This smell is even stronger than the rubber Xu Fu brought back!"

"Report to the authorities! We must report to the authorities! This constitutes a biological weapons attack!"

Wei Boyang paid no heed. He was in a state of frenzy at that moment.

His laboratory was filled with hundreds of vats of urine collected from military camps and schools. After months of natural decomposition (to concentrate the urine), the smell was enough to kill flies within a five-mile radius.

"Boil it! Boil it until it's completely dry!"

Wei Boyang mixed the concentrated paste with sand and charcoal, put it into a curved-neck still, and began distilling it over a high flame.

He sealed all the windows to prevent the "spiritual energy" from leaking out.

The lab was dark, stuffy, and reeked of a foul odor. If Little G were here, its processor would probably overheat and crash.

late at night.

Wei Boyang hadn't slept for three days. He stared at the glass tube connected to the end of the curved-neck steamer and extending into the water.

Suddenly, a drop of white, waxy solid slowly dripped into the water.

Then, a bizarre scene unfolded.

Although it was in water, this white droplet emitted a faint green light!

Wei Boyang rubbed his eyes.

"Will-o'-the-wisp...it's will-o'-the-wisp!" he exclaimed, both terrified and excited.

He carefully scooped out the white object (using pliers; Wang Jianguo had emphasized the safety rules).

The instant this thing comes into contact with the air.

"puff!"

It spontaneously combusted!

Without a spark or ignition, it produced white smoke, burst into a dazzling flame, and emitted a pungent, garlic-like odor.

"Ah! My eyebrows!" Wei Boyang screamed, but instead of extinguishing the fire, he laughed wildly, "Hahahaha! I've caught the light! I've extracted light from my own urine!"

This is the first time phosphorus has been discovered in human history.

The next day, Wei Boyang rushed into the palace with a sealed water jug.

"Your Majesty! An auspicious omen! An extremely auspicious omen!"

Inside the Qilin Hall, Ying Zheng and his ministers were all wearing thick masks.

"This...this is the auspicious omen you were talking about?" Ying Zheng looked at the green-glowing object in the jar, then smelled the lingering odor of urine in the air. "Minister Wei, isn't this auspicious omen a bit too much?"

"Your Majesty, this thing is called 'Cold Light Gold' (a name Wei Boyang gave himself)." Wei Boyang was so excited that he danced with joy. "It hides in water and people, ignites when it comes into contact with air, and glows in the dark! This is heavenly fire!"

Wang Jianguo stepped forward, glanced at it, and adjusted his glasses: "Your Majesty, this is phosphorus. White phosphorus. Highly toxic and flammable. But it's a key ingredient in making matches, fertilizer, and... incendiary bombs."

Upon hearing the words "incendiary bomb," Ying Zheng's expression changed.

"What a fine 'Cold Light Gold'!" Ying Zheng praised. "Although its origin... well, it's unconventional, but it's useful. Minister Wei, I hereby bestow upon you the title of 'Marquis of Phosphorescence'. However, from now on, when conducting experiments, go downwind, not in the city. Li Si's complaints about you disturbing the peace are piling up like mountains."

With the discovery of elements such as phosphorus, manganese, zinc (extracted from calamine), and arsenic (extracted from realgar), a new problem arose—naming.

On this day, a fierce argument broke out in the conference room of the Qin Royal Academy of Sciences.

On the left side of the conference table was the "modern scientific school" led by Wang Jianguo; on the right side was the "traditional alchemy school" led by Lu Sheng and Wei Boyang.

In the middle sat Ying Zheng, who had a look of schadenfreude on his face.

"I object to calling it 'phosphorus'!" Wei Boyang slammed his fist on the table. "This stuff I refined from my own urine, and it glows! It should be called 'Drowning Light Gold' or 'Human Fire Elixir'! What kind of character is 'phosphorus'? It sounds like 'scales,' and people who don't know might think it's something on a fish!"

"I also object to calling it 'Manganese'!" Lu Sheng stood up as well. "That stuff is all black; it should be called 'Black Iron' or 'Steelite'! That sounds much more imposing!"

Wang Jianguo rubbed his temples, feeling more tired than building a steam engine.

"Everyone, we need to be systematic," Wang Jianguo earnestly advised. "Chemical elements should have unified radicals. Metals should use the 'metal' radical, nonmetals should use the 'stone' radical, and gases should use the 'gas' radical. This way, future generations will find it easier to learn!"

"What descendants!" an alchemist shouted. "Whatever we discover, we have the right to name it! That green gas (chlorine) I refined almost poisoned me to death; I request that it be named 'Deadly Emerald Smoke'!"

"No way! This is too cringeworthy!" Wang Jianguo exclaimed in despair.

Just as a full-blown brawl was about to break out (the alchemists had already started taking out talismans, and the Mohist disciples had also started taking out wrenches), Ying Zheng gently tapped the table.

"Thump."

The sound wasn't loud, but the entire room fell silent instantly.

"I have something to say."

Ying Zheng stood up and walked to the periodic table, which had already been filled with many of its squares.

"I standardized weights and measures so that there would be no obstacles for people to do business; I standardized writing so that there would be no barriers for people to communicate."

Ying Zheng's voice echoed in the hall.

"Now, I will unify the names of all things."

He pointed to the character "phosphorus": "Minister Wei, you said it's called 'Drowning Light Gold.' What if it's also refined from bones in the future? Should it be called 'Bone Light Gold'? The names are too confusing. How can they be written into textbooks? How can they be passed down for generations?"

"I find Wang Jianguo's method excellent. A single character uses its radical to indicate its nature and its pronunciation to indicate its meaning. It is concise and clear."

Ying Zheng picked up the vermilion brush and wrote several words heavily on the form.

"That green gas is called 'chlorine.' Green gas makes perfect sense."

"The light that comes out of urine is called 'phosphorus.' If you replace the 'rice' radical with the 'fire' radical (in Qin Dynasty small seal script, the character 'neighbor' contained the rice radical), then the will-o'-the-wisp is like phosphorus, which is very apt."

"As for the substance that makes iron hard, it's called 'manganese.' Meng means long and strong."

The emperor made the final decision.

Although the alchemists still secretly wanted to call it "Deadly Emerald Smoke," who dared to say no in the face of the First Emperor's oppressive aura?

"Your Majesty is wise!" the crowd exclaimed in unison.

Little G muttered to himself, "Brother Zheng, it's a real shame you're not compiling dictionaries with your language skills."

After the meeting, everyone dispersed.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the stained glass window onto the white marble periodic table.

The top grid is already one-third full. It glitters with gold, exudes a sinister aura, and the character "气" (qi) seems to float in the air.

Ying Zheng stood alone in front of the clock, his fingers gently stroking the empty squares.

"Little G".

[Yes, Brother Zheng.]

"Wang Jianguo said that there are still many blank spaces on this table, and some elements are even rarer than those found in the Qin Dynasty, or even on Earth?"

Yes. Some are radioactive elements, such as uranium and plutonium, which are the keys to opening the next gate to hell (nuclear energy); others are rare earth elements, hidden deep in the mountains, and are the vitamins of the future electronics industry.

Ying Zheng nodded, his eyes filled with no regret, only boundless longing.

"When I built the Great Wall, I wanted to enclose the Qin Dynasty, thinking that the whole world was inside the walls."

"Later, with maps, I realized the world was vast. Now, with this table, I know that there is an unseen world deeper within all things."

He pointed to the empty seats.

"These empty spaces are not regrets, but 'homework' I have left for future generations."

Ying Zheng turned around and strode out of the palace. The setting sun cast his shadow long and thin, as if connecting the past and the future.

"Pass down the order: increase the Chemistry Institute's funding by another 30%. Tell those alchemists not to just focus on stones and urine. I've heard that lightning produces a strange smell when it strikes the air (ozone/nitrogen oxides), have them study it! I want the banners of Great Qin to fill every single cell on this form!"

[Brother Zheng, that's called ozone... Never mind, whatever makes you happy.]

Outside the gate, young Hu Hai was riding a brand-new "manganese steel bicycle," speeding around the square and shouting loudly.

"Father! Look at me! This carriage frame is so sturdy! It didn't even deform when it crashed into a wall!"

"Bang!"

Hu Hai crashed into the white marble railing, along with his carriage. The carriage was unharmed, but the railing broke.

Ying Zheng's lips twitched, and he resisted the urge to stuff this good-for-nothing son into the alchemy furnace.

"It seems," Ying Zheng muttered to himself, "that we need to discover some more elements that can make the railings harder than his son's head."