The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair
“Fertilizer?”
In the imperial study, Pang Yukun and Fei Ji simultaneously felt a hint of confusion.
Yesterday, he had reached an agreement with Branden to exchange rubber for steam engines. The next morning, Pang Yukun and Fei Ji sent Branden off in a drizzling rain.
This visit by the Dutch delegation was also a diplomatic event. He also had to receive them with appropriate courtesy. At the same time, he returned some gifts to Branden.
Of course, Xiao Ming was unwilling to suffer a loss. Branden brought a pile of industrial goods, and he returned a pile of industrial goods, including perfume, white sugar, silk, tea, pendulum clocks, and a series of other items.
The reason for choosing these was very simple: he wanted the Dutch Parliament to clearly understand the Great Yu Empire’s strength.
Branden’s arrival was merely a diplomatic event. After sending Branden off, he still faced the problem of the Great Yu Empire’s development.
Now that industry was flourishing and could provide some materials for chemical fertilizers, he summoned Pang Yukun and Fei Ji precisely for this matter of fertilizers.
“Your Majesty, what is this ‘fertilizer’?” Pang Yukun asked directly.
After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Ming said, “This ‘fertilizer’ is a type of fertilizer that can increase grain production.”
“So it’s fertilizer,” Fei Ji nodded. “The common people often collect manure to ferment it; presumably, this is that.”
“Elder Fei is absolutely right, but that is just ‘fertilizer,’ not ‘chemical fertilizer’,” Xiao Ming said with a faint smile. “This ‘chemical fertilizer’ refers to fertilizer produced by chemical methods or processed from mined ore, also known as inorganic fertilizer, while what Elder Fei spoke of is organic fertilizer.”
“Organic? Inorganic?”
Fei Ji and Pang Yukun were confused again. With the development of industry, new terms were appearing one after another, leaving them overwhelmed.
So much so that speaking with Xiao Ming now put both of them under great pressure, as this Emperor would occasionally blurt out unfamiliar words.
At the same time, to understand what Xiao Ming was saying, the two often had to go to Qingzhou University to intensively study some knowledge.
Xiao Ming nodded, acting as a teacher on the spot to explain to the two what organic and inorganic meant.
After the two understood, Pang Yukun said, “Does Your Majesty mean that chemical fertilizer is more potent than fertilizer, and can lead to higher crop yields?”
“Yes, that’s also why I summoned you two. Previously, Qingzhou Province did not have the industrial foundation to produce chemical fertilizers, but the steam engine has made this possible. And most importantly, phosphate rock is scarce in Qingzhou Province, preventing the mass production of chemical fertilizers, but now, the world is vast and all is royal land; I can easily obtain them,” Xiao Ming said, feeling pleased. Having reached his current position, he increasingly felt that sometimes developing a nation was like playing a strategy game.
To push the industry technology tree forward, various ore smelting plants must be established to develop corresponding industries, otherwise everything would be in vain.
So he had not mentioned chemical fertilizers before simply because the conditions were not present to implement it.
Because according to the information in the technology crystal, the Great Yu Empire was one of the world’s main producers of phosphate rock, with abundant phosphate resources. The total resources approached 50 billion tons, ranking second in the world.
Moreover, the Great Yu Empire’s phosphate rock was concentrated in five provinces: Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, and Hunan. The phosphate rock in these places was not only abundant but also of the best quality. It could be said that the Great Yu Empire’s phosphate rock was mainly distributed in the southwestern region, just as the Great Yu Empire’s coal mines were mainly concentrated in Shanxi.
Precisely because of this, even if Xiao Ming had wanted to produce chemical fertilizers back then, he would have been powerless. But after this northern war, it was different.
Now, these southwestern territories were basically under his control.
“So that’s it.” Pang Yukun and Fei Ji immediately understood.
Xiao Ming continued, “Simply put, as long as there is phosphate rock, chemical fertilizer can be produced. So, this chemical fertilizer workshop must be built in a place rich in phosphate rock. In my view, let’s establish the chemical fertilizer workshop in Yizhou. After they produce chemical fertilizers, they can then be transported to various parts of the country.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Pang Yukun nodded. He then said, “Is this chemical fertilizer workshop allowed to be built by private workshops?”
“Phosphate rock mining can be allowed privately, but the chemical fertilizer workshop must be state-owned. When this chemical fertilizer is used on the land, you will understand that if the common people don’t have chemical fertilizer, they will cause trouble. I cannot trust it to profit-driven merchants.”
Fei Ji and Pang Yukun responded in unison.
After giving instructions regarding the chemical fertilizer industry, Xiao Ming suddenly recalled something and said, “I have heard rumors recently that quite a number of powerful families have flocked to Qingzhou Province, transforming themselves into merchants.”
The matter of powerful families had always been overseen by Fei Ji. Hearing this, he said, “Yes, Your Majesty, that is indeed true. As Your Majesty said, land is the foundation of powerful families. Now that Your Majesty is reclaiming illegally occupied land from powerful families in various provinces and redistributing it, these powerful families have no choice but to find other means of livelihood. So, relying on their abundant family assets, they have become merchants. In my humble opinion, this is a good thing.”
“Your Majesty, Elder Fei’s words are absolutely right. Powerful families originally relied on local clans and land. Now that they have become merchants, they are rootless wanderers, easier to control than when they were local powers.”
Xiao Ming frowned. His easy conquest of the north was largely due to his tolerant attitude towards the powerful families, but this did not mean that Xiao Ming would compromise with the powerful families and revert to the Great Yu Empire’s old ways.
In fact, he had always harbored a wary attitude towards these powerful families. Even if these powerful families engaged in commerce, he believed that deep down, they still hated him.
After all, he had ruined the leisurely lives they had enjoyed as local tyrants.
So he said, “Even so, you must remain somewhat vigilant against them. Merchants can sometimes be very dangerous.”
Fei Ji and Pang Yukun exchanged glances. The two knew what Xiao Ming was worried about. They both said in unison, “Yes, Your Majesty, we will remember.”
No longer mentioning this matter, Xiao Ming asked the two about some other aspects of the reforms. When he learned that both private and official workshops were flourishing, he was slightly satisfied.
At this point, he spoke to the two again about the industrial system.
For Xiao Ming, his development of industry this time was not blind but based on his own set of plans. The source of this plan was the contemporary international industry classification from the technology crystal.
This classification standard was all-encompassing, with over a thousand categories, ranging from agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing to mining, manufacturing, electrical, gas, construction, transportation, information industries, and more.
As long as these industries were all established according to this standard, the Great Yu Empire could reach the level of the twentieth century.
And this would constitute a complete national industry system, including the industrial system itself.
Of course, Xiao Ming had only completed about a dozen of these items so far, with the vast majority yet to be realized. After all, some things required continued technological progress to achieve, and he still had a long and arduous journey ahead.