More than twenty kilometers off the southern coast of Peru, there are three granite islands. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoBecause there are abundant fish schools near the island, the density of seabirds is very high. Over millions of years, a layer of feces up to 45 meters thick has been left on the island.

Guano in Peru can be said to be a better fertilizer than chemical fertilizer. According to the scientific analysis of later generations, guano contains about 15% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 3% potassium, which is a natural compound fertilizer. European agronomists in the mid-nineteenth century documented that using Peruvian guano as fertilizer could increase crop yields by tripling.

According to records, from 1840 to 1880, Peru exported 13 million tons of guano to European and American countries, and it can be said that it completely monopolized the fertilizer industry in the West. According to conservative estimates, these guano increased the production of tens of millions of tons of grain for European and American countries in the first year of their shipment to the West. And the recycling of fertilizer after the grain is consumed, and I don't know how much food production has been increased.

It can even be said that without guano in Peru, Western countries would have been in the difficult situation of severe food shortages before the advent of chemical fertilizers.

For this kind of thing that has changed an era, Li Zhi certainly wants to use it on a large scale.

More than 10 million tons of guano in Peru have been regarded by Li Zhi as a bag. Of course, it is still difficult to develop these guano resources in South America, and Li Zhi has not yet opened up a shipping route across the Pacific Ocean.

But Li Zhi remembers that there are also millions of tons of guano in the Paracel Islands. If all guano resources in the Paracel Islands are fully developed, it can also greatly increase the grain production of plum plants.

In the original history, the Japanese had stolen a large amount of guano from Xisha at the beginning of the 20th century, and transported more than 100,000 tons. It can be seen that this resource is precious.

When the resources of the Paracel Islands are exhausted, Li Zhi can go to Peru to mine guano.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "In the future, your Zheng family's fleet will be responsible for transporting guano from Taiwan, Shandong, Tianjin, and Liaodong from the Xisha Islands. ”

Zheng Chenggong was stunned and said, "Grandpa Guo, the ships in my fleet are all sailboats. Due to the monsoon, Xisha can only go back and forth once a year, and it is not cost-effective to transport guano. ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Of course, it is not realistic to transport guano by sailboat, we have to transport it by ship." ”

Compared to sailboats, which can only travel once a year with the help of the monsoon, ships can sail across the ocean all year round, greatly reducing the cost of transportation. It was only with the low transportation costs of ships that it was possible to transport guano across oceans. Therefore, in 1840, after the development of steamship transportation, guano in Peru was used on a large scale.

Li Zhi patted Zheng Chenggong on the shoulder and said, "I will invest in twenty large ships to establish a national guano transportation company, and hand it over to you Zheng Chenggong to manage." I've got these boats ready, just waiting for your men to get on board! I heard that the loss of people in your Zheng family is very serious, and in the future, your Zheng family has not lost sailors, so they will all work on ships. ”

"You manage this transport company for me, and I appoint you as the garrison of Xisha."

"The monthly salary standard of the Zheng family's sailors is on par with the other steamship convoys under my command!"

When Zheng Chenggong heard Li Zhi's words, his face flushed with excitement. How can young people not be excited when they are suddenly promoted and rich?

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On September 16, Lei San stood in front of the huge "guano fertilizer shop" with a little hesitation.

There was a pungent stench in front of the guano shop, which made Lei San a little disgusted.

Although the newspapers repeatedly advertised the benefits of guano, as the first person to eat crabs, Lei San was still a little undecided. This bag of guano looks black, nothing special, can it really increase or even double the yield per mu as the newspaper said?

This batch of guano soil was the first batch, and the guys in the store didn't seem to get used to the smell, and they all stood in front of the store to breathe.

Seeing Lei San, the shopkeeper of the store greeted him: "This general, do you want to buy guano soil for the grange in Liaodong to make fertilizer?" ”

Although Lei San did not wear an officer's uniform, the kind of officer temperament on his body was immediately recognized by the well-informed shopkeeper. With a mouth, the shopkeeper counted Lei San's origin.

Lei San looked at the shopkeeper and asked, "Can this guano soil really increase the yield per mu?" ”

The shopkeeper took out a copy of "Tianjin Daily" from his sleeve. Turning to the second edition, the shopkeeper pointed to an article and said: "You see, this reporter interviewed Grandpa Guo, and Grandpa Guo said that this guano soil is a compound fertilizer, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus elements needed by wheat. Apply 100 catties per mu as base fertilizer, then use 20 catties as seed fertilizer, and 20 catties as top dressing, and the yield will increase by at least 50%! ”

The shopkeeper smiled: "General, you can not believe me, but you still don't believe the words of Grandpa Guo?" ”

Lei San came to buy guano soil after reading that article, and when he saw that the shopkeeper read the newspaper again, he nodded.

The shopkeeper asked curiously: "This general, how many acres of land do you have in Liaodong?" ”

Lei San was a man of few words, he didn't want to say a word, and he didn't answer the shopkeeper's irrelevant questions.

Seeing that Lei San didn't answer him, the shopkeeper smiled and said, "This general, this guano soil is transported from the Xisha Islands, which are thousands of miles away. Grandpa Guo selected 1,000 people from the Henan refugees gathered in Yanzhou Mansion in Shandong Province to send them to the Xisha Islands to dig guano, and selected Zheng Chenggong to guard the Xisha and specialize in transportation, which was not easy to obtain. ”

"There aren't many people who come to buy guano these days, let's be honest, general, you're the first. The superior of the small shop has a rule, half price for the first month! Originally, we sold the guano soil for two pennies and a pound to the general. General, how much are you going to buy? ”

Lei San stood in front of the guano shop and thought for a while, and asked, "I bought this guano and how to transport it to Liaodong Grange?" ”

The shopkeeper said: "Grandpa Guo has thought about it for you merchants!" There is a newly opened carriage and horse shop next door, and a carriage can transport 1,200 catties. The carriage was transported to Dagu for transfer to the ship, and after the ship was transported to Jinzhou, the carriage was found on the wharf, and then transported to the general's grange by carriage. ”

"Miscellaneous calculations, a pound of guano costs about a penny. When the railway of Grandpa Guo is repaired in the future, the freight will be cheaper. ”

Afraid that Lei San would be frightened by the expensive freight, the shopkeeper added: "Although the freight is expensive, it is definitely worth it." If the yield of your field does not increase by 50%, my small shop will be closed! ”

Lei San said lightly: "I'll buy fifty taels of guano soil first!" ”

Seeing that Lei San bought fifty taels at once, the shopkeeper was stunned and turned his head to look at his buddy. The shopkeeper's secret said that this is a big official, and the grange is at least more than 1,000 acres.

The shopkeeper turned his face, the smile on his face was even bigger, and said, "No problem, general, you sit first, and I will load your guano into the truck." ”

Lei San really couldn't stand the sky-high smell of this guano shop, but his character didn't like to embarrass others, but he wouldn't talk about the smell directly, but said lightly: "I won't sit down, I'll go buy something else, you load the car for me, I'll come over in an hour, and I'll give you money when the time comes." ”