Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The Empire's Capital was brimming with activity as the carriages entered the Royal Palace. Viswa inspected the materials with a cloth covering his nose from the smell of sulfur. It was the materials that Harsha had ordered for an experiment.

Viswa found the materials almost instantly; it was easier to find than he thought. The pungent smell of sulfur in the river valleys was strong enough for them to notice.

'Is this all the materials required?' He double-checked the carriage. Once everything was in place.

"Go to the training grounds." Viswa ordered. "You may leave the materials there and leave."

"Yes, Lord." They said and went towards the training grounds.

Viswa quickly set out to inform Harsha about this. It's been a few days after the meeting with Arnav.

Entering the study room of the Emperor, Viswa greeted him, taking off the cloth over his nose. The pungent smell was still lingering.

"Your Majesty, we have gathered all the materials according to your orders."

Harsha smiled and got up with a bright expression. He put his papers aside and got ready.

"Yes, let's go right now."

"Hmm." Viswa nodded.

As they walked towards the training. Curious Viswa asked. "What are these ingredients for?"

He had a faint idea but wasn't that sure about it.

"Gunpowder..." Harsha replied.

"Huh? Gunpowder….We are going to make that."

"Of course. That's the reason I told you to ramp up production." Harsha smiled. "This is going to change the military."

Viswa was unsure about this question. "Should we call some servants to help?"

"Hm," Harsha thought for a while.

"Call only the trustworthy ones and closely monitor the area."

"Well…I can inform the Yamadut unit in the palace to monitor and use them." Viswa scratched his chin.

"Do that. Seal the area off for now."

"Alright , Your Majesty."

Viswa went the other way as Harsha headed to the training grounds to inspect the materials. He reached to see cart loads of materials. He chuckled as he forgot to mention the amount needed. So it seems like Viswa brought him the same amount for all materials. He didn't mind it because he could test it properly for a while now.

"Gunpowder... is just the start." Harsha inspected the soil.

He remembered a formula for gunpowder from his previous life. The formula could be source and made local so he went with it.

Viswa hurried back. He arranged all the security and a couple of people to do the work.

"Your Majesty, the area has been sealed off. We can proceed." Viswa said, then gesturing towards the servants. "They will help us."

Harsha nodded and ordered. "Ok, Viswa, document the method for now."

Viswa took out a paper and pad to write it down. "Yes,"

"Filter the soil first." He ordered.

The servant took the soil from the carts. The soil was in containers and left for several hours to dissolve the nitrates in the soil.

"Use the thin cloth for it."

The servants took out a cloth and began to filter the water from the soil. This water was rich in nitrates used for the gunpowder-making process.

The first ingredient needed for the gunpowder was potassium nitrate. For the nitrates, Harsha had the nitrate-rich soil harvested near the fields and the soil was filtered to leave them with a nitrate-rich solution.

To form the potassium nitrate. He needed one more thing.

"Mix the wood ash into that solution." He commanded.

Viswa meticulously noted the process down word for word. This documentation would be used later for mass production in a controlled environment.

Adding wood ash to the nitrate-rich solution forms potassium nitrates. A chemical reaction takes place.

"Filter it out again." He said, taking a look at the solution.

They began to filter all the undissolved ash and other particles that would be impurities.

Now for the first ingredient. It was the final stage.

They had to make potassium nitrate crystals to use them in the gunpowder. To achieve this task, they had to remove all the water and remaining impurities through boiling to leave behind the crystallized form of potassium nitrate.

"Take this to the enclosure and boil the water out and let it cool off to form crystals." Harsha ordered as he took a seat.

He knew the process would take some time. He waited as the servants did the rest.

"Your Majesty, how long would it take?" Viswa asked out of curiosity.

"The nitrate process is the longest one. The rest are pretty standard." He replied.

"Nitrate?"

"The one we did right now. It takes a component of the soil and ash to make a different material." He explained with a smile.

Viswa slowly understood and nodded his head. "I see."

Harsha read some books and completed some of his paperwork during the waiting period of the crystallization process. Within a few hours of time. The crystallization of the potassium nitrate was completed.

He wanted to make different batches to test out the most optimum combination for the gunpowder. Since they had a lot of the materials. He thought it would be fine.

At the enclosure, the servants gathered the materials and looked at him expectantly.

Harsha inspected the crystals. It didn't have any impurities. Usually it would be recrystallized, but right now he was using it for testing. He decided not to recrystallize it.

"Get a mortar and pestle." Harsha ordered to one.

"And you go and gather those other two materials with some water and a container to measure."

Harsha patiently waited for them to complete the things. They brought everything as he ordered.

"Crush those crystals into fine powder first."

They crushed the crystals into fine powder.

Harsha had written down the measures for each batch. He showed them to Viswa and told him to handle it.

Viswa ordered the servants. They began to use the measurement containers and fill the powders in proportion. The ideal ratio of the gunpowder was 75% potassium, 10% sulfur and the rest straw charcoal. But he wanted to test out ratios so he included more ratios.

They added the powders according to the ratio and used a bit of water to mix them to grind them into a damp paste. This would reduce the risk of it igniting during the mixing process.

Kneading each mixture into a paste. They spread it out to let it dry in a well ventilated room.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

In total, they made a total of 7 batches of different ratios for the testing purposes. Viswa noted each ratio and marked the batches meticulously to avoid confusion during the test face. He was also curious about the result. He knew the power of the gunpowder. If they succeeded, it would leapfrog their progress by a huge amount.

Harsha inspected it closely to see the results. He was quite satisfied and turned to Viswa.

"It seems to have gone well." He smiled.

"The next time is to break this into fine granules." Harsha said. "Pass it through the sieve to maintain uniform-sized granules."

"And?" Viswa asked.

"Storage, you know the process." He shrugged.

"Yes, what about the test?" Viswa asked.

Harsha scratched his chin and thought for a while.

"Testing phase….eh…"

"Use it on cannons. It should be okay, I guess." Harsha considered for a moment.

"Report me all the results before you produce mass productions."

"Yes, Your Majesty."