Opening game, American Tycoon

Chapter 1246 DuPont's Conspiracy (Second Update, please subscribe)
In an instant, the synthetic ammonia technology is no longer fragrant!

The reason why it is not fragrant is not because there are hundreds of millions of tons of saltpeter buried in the desert on the west coast of Ming Dynasty, nor is it because the saltpeter in the empire is a huge industry worth hundreds of millions of yuan. What is the most fundamental reason?
Except for Daming, there are no large saltpeter mines in the world!
This is the most critical reason!
Without saltpeter, for countries such as Britain, the United States and Germany, it is not just that there is no fertilizer such as nitrate. What is the biggest impact?
It's nitric acid!
Without nitric acid, there will be no explosives, no smokeless propellant, without all these, will there be victory in the war?

That being the case, synthetic ammonia must not be done!
Saltpeter is the empire's trump card!
By cutting off the supply of saltpeter during the war, we can weaken the opponent's war potential. In this way, it is almost equivalent to pulling out the teeth of Britain, the United States and other countries!

Synthetic ammonia can't be done!

……

"then!"

In Henry Dupont's office, after seeing his nephew enter the office, Henry Dupont threw an object to Ramon.

Receiving it from the air, Ramon glanced at the object in his hand—colorless, white or gray crystals with glassy luster.

"Chilean saltpeter?"

Although Chile has long since perished, "Chilean saltpeter" is still the name people refer to in South America.

"Yes, remember it?"

Henry said quite proudly.

"That's it, let us earn tens of millions of dollars during the Civil War!"

This is the proud work of his life. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Henry DuPont, the president of the Material Bond Company, realized that once the war broke out, gunpowder would become the second market demand after food, and Market demand will gradually expand with the intensity of the war.Making gunpowder requires a lot of crude saltpeter. Henry had the foresight to send people to various places to purchase it a long time ago. At that time, not only DuPont’s warehouse was full of saltpeter, but even the hillside by the Brandy River where the company was located. Heaped with saltpeter.

After the outbreak of the war, DuPont became the largest supplier of gunpowder in the North with sufficient supply of saltpeter.

"Yes, of course I remember that the consumption of gunpowder in the war was staggering, and it was no longer possible to buy saltpeter at home after a few months of the war, so you sent me to Paris in France and London in England. Immediately after I arrived in London, I bought all the saltpetre raw materials in stock in the UK, totaling more than 335 barrels. There were even those on board—at that time, a freighter was sailing from Calcutta to London with 300 million pounds of crude saltpetre on board. I They also bought all the saltpeter that hadn’t arrived at the port. Four large ships were filled with saltpeter, and the total cost of the goods was more than [-] million yuan.”

When mentioning the past, Ramon seemed a little smug, after all, he directly operated all these things.

"Yes, Ramon, all the saltpeter you brought back was turned into gunpowder and used in wars. Our company has also gained tens of thousands of wealth, but it is it that really makes our company develop..."

Pointing to the Chilean saltpeter in his nephew's hand, Dupont said.

"At that time, because the price of saltpeter in India was soaring, our profits were very limited, so we turned our attention to saltpeter in Chile. Unlike potassium saltpeter in India, the main component of saltpeter in Chile is calcium nitrate. ions and the raw materials that provide potassium ions, we obtained potassium nitrate for making gunpowder, and since then, Chilean saltpeter has become the main raw material for our company to make gunpowder and nitric acid.”

"Uncle, that's because it's cheaper than Indian saltpeter!"

Ramon said directly.

"The price of Chilean saltpeter is cheaper. Even now, it is widely used, but its output is huge, and its price is relatively low. At least it is cheaper than potassium saltpeter in India. There are a large number of mines mining it in the Ming Empire."

"Yes, you are right. There are indeed a large number of mines mining it in the Ming Empire. The annual output is 200 million tons, and it will even exceed 300 million tons soon. According to the official statement of the Ming Empire, within two years It will exceed 600 million tons, which is enough to supply the needs of the chemical industry and fertilizer industry around the world,"

The nephew's words made Henry nod repeatedly.

"But, have you ever thought about a possibility... maybe one day, we will lose it!"

"what?"

Ramon looked at his uncle puzzled.

"Losing it? How?"

"The Akatama Desert is the only place in the world where saltpeter is mined in the open air on a large scale!"

Henry pointed to the west coast of South America on the map.

"And that place belongs to Daming, the Ming Empire, but our enemy country, if one day, we—including the British, and Daming and his "Alliance of Four Emperors" break out in war, what will happen?"

Uncle's rhetorical question surprised Ramon.

"This, this...they will definitely not sell us saltpeter again."

"Yes, why did the Ming Empire continue to increase the mining of saltpeter? Even their large-scale mining has caused the price of saltpeter to drop to a certain extent, which has led to the whole world willing to buy saltpeter from them, of course , because the quality of Chilean saltpeter is very good and the price is cheap, of course we are willing to purchase it.”

Afterwards, Henry looked at Ramon and said.

"But this also directly led to the closure and bankruptcy of many small saltpeter mines, including the Indian saltpeter mine. Ramon, can you imagine what would happen if we and the British did not have saltpeter after the war broke out?"

What will happen?
Do I still need to ask?
In just a moment, Ramon realized the seriousness of this problem, no, it should be said that he realized the wealth stored in it.

"Uncle, we got rich!"

The nephew's reaction made Henry laugh, and he knew that Ramon would definitely understand the key.

"That's right, we are rich, and war will definitely break out. I believe that in the next few years, once war breaks out, the demand for saltpeter will reach an unprecedented scale. Saltpeter is the only way to produce nitric acid. source, and nitric acid is an essential raw material for making propellants and explosives, but the problem is that the supply of saltpeter is now in the hands of the Ming Empire, which is the enemy of the United States. It is equivalent to mastering the lifeblood of the country and wealth, Ramon, I need you to go to India."

"To India?"

Ramon looked at his uncle and asked.

"Is it too early to go there to buy..."

"No, it's going to India to buy. I need you to go there and buy those bankrupt saltpeter mines!"

Henry said.

"This time, we will control the saltpeter from the source!"

(End of this chapter)