Lu Ming

Chapter 183 Forced Trade
With the all-important dual-use saltpeter issue settled, the discussion on phosphate fertilizers is easy: struvite.

Struvite is a high-grade phosphate fertilizer. All countries with struvite resources in later generations have made a fortune—Nauru, a pocket island country in the Pacific Ocean, became the world's largest per capita GDP in the 80s, thanks to struvite.Of course, after the resources were scooped out, these people instantly turned back to dicks.

In the 19th century, there were only a few guano-rich islands around Taiwan, including Mianhuayu, Maoyu, Caoyu, Taiping and Dongsha, which were rich in guano. During the Japanese occupation, all the guano was excavated.

And through the 17th century where everyone is, the guano accumulated by migratory birds for thousands of years is everywhere.Not to mention Penghu, Dongxisha Islands where migratory birds stop, even the pristine lagoons distributed along the north and south coastlines of Dayuan, and there are also many small struvite mines left by water birds in the surrounding area.

So there is no need to say anything, just send people to dig it now.If you are too lazy to look for it in the Xiehu area, you can send a sandboat to the uninhabited island near Penghu, and you can bring back dozens of tons of guano stones.

The problem of phosphate fertilizers has been solved by half.

Why say half?Because the second half involves sulfuric acid.

Natural struvite exists in the form of phosphate. If this kind of fertilizer is applied directly, the fertilizer effect is slow, and it is a slow-release fertilizer.

The correct way is to use substances such as sulfuric acid and nitric acid to react with struvite.The sulfuric acid strips out the calcium salts in the struvite, which turns the struvite into superphosphate—the standard phosphate fertilizer that works very well.

At this point the meeting started to go wrong: first get rid of the sulfuric acid.

The importance of three acids and two alkalis will not be repeated here. Sulfuric acid is the most important chemical raw material, and the kiln area has always had a production plan.

There was no sense of urgency before, because the construction of the kiln area focused on infrastructure, basic metallurgy, and small agricultural machinery; the overall industrial level of the crossing forces was expanding downwards, and they did not have the strength to jump up to the level of chemical industry.

Nowadays, as a certain force is gradually stabilizing its foothold, three acids and two alkalis have become obstacles in terms of industrial upgrading--jumping out from phosphate fertilizer today is an example.

Of course, the solution to sulfuric acid is simple: Datun Mountain.

The Datun Mountain extinct volcano group is located in Taipei, where geothermal resources are abundant and the scenery is pleasant. In later generations, the sulfur hot springs here are very famous.

The most important material that the savages in Taipei have traded with Fujian merchants for thousands of years is sulfur.

The bright yellow volcanic sulfur block is the easiest and purest natural material to prepare sulfuric acid.

"With regard to the Spaniards in Taipei, does the Navy have any plans?"

After realizing the importance of sulfur, a certain Zhongtang with logical thinking quickly turned his attention to the white man in Taipei: the Spaniard.

After hearing Xia Xianze's question, Liu Zhe, the navy commander who was sitting beside him in a daze, quickly sat down and replied: "There is no problem with the strong attack. With the cooperation of the army, San Salvador can be taken in one morning! How much do we have?" A plan to sweep the north of the platform."

"Of course, if you are stationed for a long time, you will need to allocate resources from all aspects." Liu Zhe added after thinking about it.

As a time traveler, Xia Xianze naturally knew the Spaniards entrenched in Taipei during this period of time.After habitually tapping the table with his middle finger a few times, Xia Xianze said slowly, "Even if we don't need to attack, the Philippines will take the initiative to dismantle the two castles in Taipei in the future. It can be seen that the Spanish investment has failed."

"But we can't wait now. In addition, the population and food in the Philippines are also very important." Xia Xianze cleared his mind and began to speak faster: "My opinion is that deterrence and contact should go hand in hand. Refer to the relationship with the Netherlands. , based on trade rights, put the Taipei issue into a package of negotiations with the West. Of course, this process should be dominated by me, and don’t be vague when it’s time to make a move. You come down to Lao Cai and discuss a charter.”

Liu Zhe didn't expect to take such a big job in a daze, so he could only nod his head first, and wait until the meeting was over.

After phosphorus and sulfur were resolved, the meeting was no longer in a crooked manner, and entered the last discussion of today: potassium.

Potassium salt is something like saltpeter.Is there a mine?have!
So where is the mine?The answer is: Qaidam Basin, Ordos Basin, the depths of Lop Nur, and northern Tibet. These are places where only those who have reached the standard of piety can go.

In short, some people should not count on those plateau salt marshes rich in potassium salts.The nearest ones to Dayuan are one or two potash mines in the interior of Shandong and in the depths of Yunnan and Guizhou, all of which are beyond reach.

The only thing that can be manipulated is that the fleet can go to Thailand in the future and bring back a little potash—Thailand has a lot of potash reserves.

The poor people who traveled through the world looked at the saltpeter mines in the Chilean desert with one eye, and the salt marshes in the plateau basin with the other. Potassium salt.

The easiest way to get potassium fertilizer is plant ash.

On the basis of plant ash, saltworks can also provide part of potassium: use the brine left after salt production to produce potassium salt by evaporation and crystallization.Those seawater potassium production plants in later generations used advanced technologies such as ion-exchange membranes, which is not the case among the time-travelers.

Bittern and plant ash are basically all that the kiln area obtains potassium salt.This output is not only enough to meet the fertilization of farmland, but also to meet the ever-expanding arms industry, which is definitely far from enough.So at the end of the meeting, Professor Luo proposed a new idea: alum.

The chemical name of alum is potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate, which is called potassium alum.

The potassium element in potassium alum is often replaced by sodium, which is called sodium alum.

If potassium alum is obtained through the public, two important industrial raw materials, alumina and potassium sulfate, can be prepared.

And alum, a mineral, has many uses in itself: paint, tanning agent, clarifier, papermaking
Alunite ore is one of the important advantageous minerals in Zhejiang Province. Its reserves account for 53% of the national total, ranking first in the country. It is mainly distributed in Cangnan, Pingyang and Ruian.In later generations, Fanshan Town, Cangnan County, Zhejiang Province was known as the "Fan Capital" and the only potash alum mine in the mainland.

In the 17th century, the so-called Fanshan Town in Cangnan County was placed under the jurisdiction of Pingyang County, Wenzhou Prefecture.

The plan proposed by Professor Luo here is: the crossing forces can build roads on the spot near Fanshan Town, dredge streams and rivers, and purchase a large amount of alum.If the conditions are ripe, the alum can even be pre-processed before being transported back to Dayuan.

The proposal immediately aroused the interest of the participants.

After a simple search of information, someone immediately pointed out that Fanshan Town is only 10 kilometers away from the nearest seaport: Chixi Port, which is fully qualified for the establishment of a water and land joint wharf and acquisition base.

And a person from the Intelligence Bureau who has been unknown and inconspicuous at the venue provided a piece of information to everyone at this time: a certain person who hates dogs and has reached an indescribable degree is the father-in-law of the Lord Juren, and he is a local rich man in Pingyang County. , there are seven sons in the family, and they are the local tyrants.

The fertilizer seminar, which lasted for half a day, finally came to an end.

The results of the meeting were quite outstanding: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfuric acid, aluminum, Spaniards, Pingyang County, and cadres were quite a few key words, and there were also many tasks assigned after the meeting.

But Hu Huyouyou picked up Liu Zhe and Commander Liu who had a big job. As soon as the meeting was over, he hurried out of the dilapidated Dayuan business building and went straight to a row of bungalows outside the business building.

It is now May of 1628, and more than four months have passed since the Japanese Shuyin ship returned home with a full load of raw silk.Therefore, the Zhuyin boat carrying the silver and copper bars of the Japanese had already returned to the senior officials, and the senior managers of the book had been living outside the business hall for more than a month.

As a large number of cross-travelers moved to the high-end residential area on the other side of the Taijiang River to live, the dilapidated commercial building on Dayuan Island was completely reduced to a barracks and a temporary office building.The previous accommodation, warehousing, and reception functions for foreign businessmen have all been cancelled—according to the construction period, the imperial city will be fully completed in two months, and the commercial hall will be demolished at that time.

Considering that foreign businessmen, including Ming people, Japanese, Dutch, etc., will soon come to Dayuan in a steady stream, so two months ago, the crossing people built a few temporary shops next to the Dayuan shop. villa.

The so-called villa is actually an American-style cabin built with standard boards.This kind of hut is a purely temporary structure—it doesn't even have foundation piles, and it will become a flying house when a storm comes.Now everyone is waiting for the imperial city to be built. When the time comes, Xia Xianze and the others will all go to work in the imperial city. A row of beautiful red brick cement commercial buildings will be built on the original site of the commercial building for diplomatic envoys and businessmen from all over the world to live in.

But today, as soon as Liu Zhe came out of the business hall, he went straight to the first room in this row of temporary huts: the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Commander Liu went in and saw that it was fine, brother Cai Feiming was caught straight away.This gentleman is sitting behind a wooden table, chatting with several book merchants in the room.

These few sea merchants, including the old friends of the time-travelers Comrade Higashino Kamitoru and Comrade Kobayashi Kaoru, and a tall man with a tough face and a crescent hair, have left a heavy mark in the history of Japan and the Netherlands. Comrade Hamada Yahei, an old rascal.

Seeing Liu Zhe enter, Cai Feiming was a little surprised. After asking a few simple questions, Cai Feiming nodded and said something to the book.

The three Japanese businessmen quickly understood, stood up collectively, bowed to Cai Feiming and Liu Zhe, and left.

After Liu Zhe waited for no one in the room, he introduced the situation of today's meeting to Lao Cai, emphatically repeating Master Zhongtang's instructions from the clouds and mountains, and then spread his hands together: "You make up your mind."

After Cai Feiming listened, he shook his head and smiled, and then said to Liu Zhe, "Hehe, this instruction is very clear."

"How clear?"

"Well, contact the exploration team and organize a trading ship to go to Taipei to find savages in exchange for sulfur in the next two days."

"and then?"

"Then blockade Tainan and intercept those big-faced ships. It's not easy. I'm the main one. Forced trade and forced negotiations. Don't worry about this. If the time comes to stop the ship, I will take care of it."

Liu Zhe: "."

(End of this chapter)