Fifteen minutes later, two constables brought in the items and placed them in the hall.
The three officials glanced at the equipment and turned to look at Xu Qi'an.
Governor Chen said in a deep voice, "Everything you want is here. You must give me a satisfactory answer."
His attitude changed.
Within a quarter of an hour, the fourth-ranked official had racked his brains for a long time. He had to admit that Xu Qi 'an's deduction was reasonable, but there were still many unsolved mysteries. For example, the fact that the tax money had fallen into the river.
He could not understand the mystery behind it.
"If I can help you solve this case, can I write a letter to the saints to exempt my Xu family from punishment?"
Daibun placed great emphasis on father-son inheritance. A son could replace his father's mistakes and make up for his sins.
"Of course." Governor Chen nodded.
Xu Qi'an nodded and squatted down in front of the equipment. There were candles, salt, porcelain cups, and iron wire.
What he needed to do was simple. High school chemistry knowledge: Extract metallic sodium.
In ancient times, it was impossible to extract it. There were two difficulties: electricity and the melting point of sodium chloride.
But in this world, Xu Qi'an knew of a profession that could do it.
Celestial Commissioner, rank 6 warlock: Alchemist!
Alchemists were a household name in Daibun. Their inventions and creations had long been integrated into the lives of ordinary people.
Xu Qi'an was not sure that the explosive tax silver was metallic sodium, but that was not important. What was important was to find a way to explain the phenomenon of the tax silver explosion.
In the process of solving a case, bold assumptions and rigorous reasoning were necessary. The last step was to verify and collect evidence.
In his previous life, he had encountered a murder case that was still fresh in his memory. The police officers worked through the night and based on the clues, they came up with a few hypotheses about the case and used them as a basis to collect evidence.
Then they overthrew them and reanalyzed.
The tax silver might not be metallic sodium, but alchemists could do it.
That was enough.
Finding the right direction for the officials was what he needed to do.
If the direction was right, they could follow the clues and investigate. It would not be difficult to find the mastermind behind the scenes.
If he continued to struggle with the idea that the demons were wreaking havoc, he would never be able to solve the case. Even if the case was solved in the future, he had already told the imperial court to send him away, a thousand miles away!
He melted the coarse salt with water and stirred it. Then, he covered the cup with salt water and slowly poured it in.
After filtering, he placed the porcelain cup holder on top of the candle and stirred it with a bamboo stick.
Not long after, the salt water in the cup evaporated, and the crystals that precipitated out were sodium chloride.
In essence, it was to further purify the salt.
Governor Chen, the middle-aged man, and the beautiful girl in the yellow dress stood at the side and watched attentively.
Xu Qi'an raised his head and grinned at the yellow-dressed girl. "You must be the disciple of the Celestial Commissioner, right?"
He noticed the Fengshui compass on his waist. No one except the disciples of the Celestial Commissioner knew how to use it.
The girl in the yellow dress nodded and said with a smile, "My master is the Supervisor of the Celestial Commissioner."
Her delicate and bright oval face was like a peeled egg, white and flawless.
"The disciple of the Supervisor … I don't care about breasts …" Xu Qi'an said in a gentle tone, "Sister, please melt these crystals for me."
The melting point of sodium chloride was about 800 degrees Celsius.
The girl in the yellow dress pouted. "Controlling fire is an ability that only alchemists have. I'm just a Fengshui master."
"But my master gave me a magic tool." She changed the topic and took off the Fengshui compass on her waist. Her slender fingers fiddled with it a few times, and the word "fire" lit up.
"Step back!"
Xu Qi'an immediately stepped back. The next moment, a dazzling tongue of flame spouted out and drowned the porcelain cup.
"Stop!" Xu Qi'an immediately shouted to stop, and then quickly inserted two iron wires into the porcelain cup. He asked, "Turn on the electricity … No, it's thunder magic! Pay attention to the voltage … Well, this step is very difficult, and you may fail many times. "
She turned the Fengshui compass, and her slender fingers lit up the word "thunder". Several electric arcs flashed in the void and touched the iron wires.
"Bang bang …" The molten sodium chloride underwent a violent chemical reaction.
"Stop!"
Xu Qi'an held his breath and looked at the mouth of the cup. A lump of silver metal was formed, and the edge was some crystals and impurities that had not yet been converted.
"I succeeded on the first try, and the voltage is just right …" Xu Qi'an was pleasantly surprised.
The voltage of producing metallic sodium by electrolysis was about 6 to 15 volts, and he was mentally prepared for repeated failures.
He didn't expect to be blessed by luck and succeed on the first try.
Governor Chen and the middle-aged man couldn't wait to look at the cup. There was a lump of silver metal in the cup, and at first glance, it was quite similar to silver.
Governor Chen's pupils shrank, and he was extremely shocked.
Li Yuchun clenched his fist tightly, and looked at the silver metal in a daze. It was as if lightning had struck in his mind, splitting all the fog.
"Please take a look, my lords," Xu Qi'an poured out the metallic sodium, 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 used this to pass off silver, would it be possible to pass off the fake as the real thing? My lords, you can also weigh it. "
He handed the metallic sodium to Governor Chen. At this time, the metallic sodium's color gradually darkened, and it was almost the same as silver.
The middle-aged man took it and weighed it. His eyes sparkled, and he said repeatedly, "It is indeed much lighter. If this is what is being transported, then it makes sense. Miss Caiwei, try it. "
The yellow-dressed girl took it, weighed it, and then stared at Xu Qi'an with a strange look, "You, you are an alchemist?"
No, I'm not, I'm just a porter of chemicals.
A scholar's train of thought was more active. After a moment of surprise, Governor Chen suddenly shook his head, and said in a low voice, "No, that's not right. Even if the silver has been replaced like this, what about the explosion? If not for the monster hiding in the river, how could the fake silver explode when it falls into the water? "
Xu Qi'an did not answer. He reached out to take the metallic sodium, walked to the desk, and threw it into the brush washing vat.
A blazing fire lit up, and thick smoke billowed.
"Boom!"
The metallic sodium reacted violently in the water, and fine cracks appeared on the brush washing vat.
"This, this …" Governor Chen was stunned.
"This fake silver will explode when it comes into contact with water. This can explain why the silver would explode so violently when it falls into the water," Xu Qi'an explained.
The middle-aged man murmured, "From the beginning, we were misled. The mastermind behind the scenes used the explosion and the demonic wind to make us think that it was the work of a monster, and focused the investigation on tracking and capturing it.
"No wonder the Imperial Astronomer's Qi Observation Technique could not detect the monster."
Xu Qi'an added, "After the tax silver fell into the water, the soldiers only found about a thousand taels of silver. If I'm not wrong, the silver was placed at the top to deceive people."
All the anomalies matched up perfectly.
"Xu Qi'an!" The middle-aged man's eyes were filled with praise, "Good, you're very good."
Li Yuchun suddenly frowned, and her gaze froze on Xu Qi'an's crooked collar. Li Yuchun then patted his shoulder and helped him to straighten his collar.
Xu Qi'an was flattered, this lord actually appreciated him so much.
Governor Chen frowned, "Since the silver is fake, where did the real silver go?"
The yellow-dressed lady heard this and revealed a serious expression, "The tax silver enters the capital from the treasury, and changes hands at every level. If we want to punish them, a large number of officials will be imprisoned. The difficulty of recovering the silver is no less than finding a needle in a haystack. Moreover, this matter is beyond our jurisdiction, and we have to report it to His Majesty. "
Governor Chen nodded, this was what he meant.
The middle-aged man had a different view, and his voice was deep, "The tax silver was escorted all the way to the capital, and changes hands at every level. If it was fake, it would have been discovered long ago. The only possibility is that it was recently switched. "
Governor Chen's eyes brightened, this greatly reduced the scope of investigation.
"Men, prepare the palanquin, quickly prepare the palanquin, I am going out." Prefectural Magistrate Chen hurriedly ran out of the inner hall.
The middle-aged man followed closely behind.
Xu Qi 'an hurriedly shouted, "Magistrate, don't forget your promise to me."
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