"Alas...... I've never seen anything like it, how do you think they came about? Xiao Tao, you really have to help me think of a way, even if all these sugarcane and corn are burned, what if there is another next season? The disease spread so quickly that within a few days, almost a third of the sugar cane and half of the corn were infected. The old man Huang Hai was also very helpless, he took several old ways to grow crops and pondered for several days, but he did not find out the cause of this disease, let alone how to treat it.

"It is estimated that it is transmitted from overseas, and people and animals can get infectious diseases, and so can crops. There are some diseases that we don't have here, but they do exist in other places, and these sea ships come out and go in every day, and whoever doesn't know who will bring them back. It's hard to prevent this, I'm going to think of something else, I don't know if it will work or not. Hong Tao probably understood how these plant diseases that had never appeared in Jinhe City came about, but he didn't have a problem, so he couldn't stop the sea trade for this reason. In addition to a stricter set of quarantine inspection rules, there is also a need to find ways to treat plant diseases, and prevention alone is not enough.

Pesticide...... This thing is the only way, but Hong Tao doesn't know much about pesticides, and he can't think of anything that can be made into pesticides for a while. The empire's chemical industry has just started, and there are only a dozen chemical products summarized through experiments, and Hong Tao is wondering whether any of these products can be used as pesticides.

Not to mention, he soon came up with something that could barely be counted as a pesticide, and that was the by-product of making soda ash using the Lubran method, bleach!

This thing has strong oxidizing properties, and was originally used as a disinfectant, but of course it can also be used to kill insects or sterilize plants. The problem is that it doesn't matter if you spray it in the cabin or on the floor, at most it doesn't smell good, but you can spray it on the crops. This residual toxicity is too strong, will there be a problem for people to eat it? Will there be a problem with the livestock eating it?

Hong Tao thinks that he can try it on a small scale to see if it can treat this disease, and then test it to determine whether its residue is too toxic.

The experiment with bleach as a pesticide did not go well, and a small corn field was selected and all the diseased leaves were rubbed with bleach, but after a day, there was no effect. Not only the rust on the medicated leaves is still there. Many leaves that are not sick have also been infected, and it seems that the germs have not been killed and continue to spread.

"Maybe it's too short, just observe ...... another day," Venerable Hong said.

It's a pity that Master Hong's spell failed this time, and after waiting for three days in a row, the rust on the blades not only did not decrease, but also increased. Huang Hai had already led the men to cut down a field of corn that was most sickly and then burned it with fire to disinfect it, so that it might be possible to cultivate it a second time.

Look at the tears in the eyes of those farm workers. Hong Tao didn't dare to stand next to him. They had toiled for months, and when the harvest was about to be harvested, they had to burn the crops with their own hands, a feeling that no one but them could feel 100%.

Back in the laboratory, Hong Tao didn't pay attention to anyone, sitting alone in the corner smoking a cigar and worrying. In fact, he was not feeling guilty, but dodging, avoiding the eyes of those people in the Yellow Sea.

For so many years. The difficulties they encountered were basically solved by themselves, and they didn't expect them. I will surprise them myself, but this time I let them down. People are like this, it is easy to forget the good of others, but they can clearly remember the bad of others. Aren't the ancients cloudy, good things don't go out, evil things go thousands of miles, that's the truth.

"Headmaster. It's not your fault...... I've tried it, and the bleach we make works very well and can kill a lot of bugs that gnaw on crops. Didn't you tell us when you lectured us at school that these are learning, not spells. I want to do a good job in learning. You must have the courage to persevere, and if you give up when you encounter difficulties, you will not be able to become a university scholar. This is your favorite Bordeaux wine, and I've chilled it with nitrate. ”

What he thinks in his heart is not clear to others, and the three children in the laboratory can't figure out his crooked mind. Li Yaofu saw that Hong Tao was unhappy, and immediately took out a bottle of red wine from the ice bucket to pat Hong Tao's horse. This child is very clever, the fastest learner among the three apprentices, and at the same time the most discerning, not at all like a pampered little son in an official family.

“…… What did you say!? But this time Li Yaofu didn't get Hong Tao's smile, but saw a face with horizontal eyebrows and two scars that had been distorted, and Hong Tao was angry.

"I ...... I...... I didn't say anything...... "There are few people who can be fearless under Hong Tao's expression, and there are few people in the Jinhe Empire, let alone a hairy young man like Li Yaofu who has just started working." He was quite bold, he didn't sit on the ground, but he was trembling and overwhelmed, not knowing that he had said something wrong.

"Bordeaux wines? Hey, hey, hey......" Hong Tao's distorted face only lasted for a few seconds, and then he slowly relaxed, tilted his head and pointed to the glass of red wine in Li Yaofu's hand and smiled again.

"Yes...... You brought it back from your trip to sea. You said that this is from a place called Bordeaux in the Great Qin Kingdom...... I also used ice to ......" Li Yaofu saw Hong Tao smile, but he was even more scared. He knew himself as a headmaster, and all the children in the nautical school knew him. The headmaster never punishes people when he's angry, and when he starts laughing, that's the most dangerous.

"I'm a little old in the brain, and I didn't even think of such a simple thing...... Bordeaux...... Hahahaha...... Let me tell you, this is not Bordeaux wine at all, it is made from grapes in the north of the Apennine Peninsula, and the teacher is lying to you. The teacher has never been to Bordeaux, and I don't know if there are grapes there. But you have made meritorious contributions, and you have given the teacher a wake-up call! Here, pack up, the teacher will teach you a new thing, and its name is Bordeaux liquid. If it can cure the diseases of these crops, congratulations, boy, you've done a great job, and with this one thing alone, when you die, whether you are a resident of the Empire or not, your statue will be in front of the library! Hong Tao really began to laugh, but he didn't smile or laugh, but laughed happily and sincerely.

Li Yaofu's horses were photographed at the right time and very effectively, directly from Hong Tao's grocery store-like head, photographing a new chemically synthesized pesticide. It is an inorganic fungicide invented by the French botanist Mirard inspired by the vineyard owners of Bordeaux. This fungicide itself does not have the ability to kill bacteria, that is to say, it is not very toxic, but it will decompose copper ions after encountering acidic substances, and after entering the bacterial cells, it can affect the normal metabolism, thereby indirectly killing the bacteria and spores.

It is precisely because of its low toxicity that Bordeaux liquid has been widely used in the prevention and control of various diseases of vegetables, fruits, cotton, hemp and other crops since it was invented. Except for a few crops with poor copper resistance that cannot use Bordeaux liquid, this high-efficiency, low-toxicity pesticide has been used until today and has not been eliminated, and it is one of the longest-used pesticides in human history.

That is, because it is famous and distinctive, there is a special preparation method of Bordeaux liquid in high school chemistry experiments. However, Hong Tao didn't have much interest in chemistry, he must have learned it at that time, and he also had an impression in his mind, but this impression was deeply buried under other things, if it wasn't for Li Yaofu inadvertently reminding him, he might not be able to remember it for the rest of his life. The main thing is that there are too many things in the brain, too messy, and it seems that knowing more is not all a good thing.

"Yes...... But that's not what I came up with...... I can't afford to be in vain. Only then did Li Yaofu put away his fear, turned into a squirming girl again, and pushed away the huge honor that Hong Tao gave him with a red face.

"Don't! Although you didn't come up with it, it has a lot to do with you, and the teacher can't remember it if you don't remind you. Well, even if you do the teacher a favor and say that you came up with this thing. What is a teacher? A teacher for one day and a father for life! It's not bad for you to tell a white lie to the teacher, you know? Hong Tao smiled even brighter, and took out the kung fu of the big bad wolf to fool Little Red Riding Hood, and began to fool Li Yaofu.

The reason why he wanted Li Yaofu to come out was not to let him be an example, nor to reward him for reminding himself, but to let him be a shield for himself. The bleach liquid I made last time didn't work, and my people were a little disappointed in themselves, and if it didn't work this time, my divine aura in their eyes would dim a little. Don't underestimate this kind of superstition-like thing, this thing is very good for yourself as an emperor, otherwise the ancient emperors would not desperately put the name of God on their heads.

Let Li Yaofu be the inventor, whether he succeeds or not, the impact on his reputation will not be too great. failed, Li Yaofu is just a little apprentice of his own, and failure is normal. succeeded, Li Yaofu is his own little apprentice, with his own wisdom and hard work, and of course, he is inseparable from his own teaching. Therefore, Hong Tao will never give up this kind of two-sided advantage, if Li Yaofu does not comply, he will let the other two apprentices come forward, anyway, he can't be the inventor himself.

As for the patent rights and honor of Bordeaux liquid, these are not things that Hong Tao needs to consider. Do you lack such a broken patent? Do you lack this honor? Sometimes too much honor is not a good thing, and it is worth one point for others to share it, hello, hello, everyone, is really good.

(To be continued.) )