When He Bin heard this, he was a little incredulous, he didn't think that he had the qualifications to master the core secrets of the trading company, and after thinking about it, the manufacture of saltpeter was not a great secret, and it was clearly recorded in "Heavenly Creations", and in Japan, after the Warring States Period, the feudal domains also mastered similar techniques.

But what He Bin didn't know was that the method used by the Oriental Trading Company was not the traditional local method, but the large-scale production of saltpeter from the nitrate field.

Under the leadership of Yang Yandi, the group went out of the city and came to the north of the city, He Bin is no stranger here, because in his slave labor era, he had come here to participate in the construction work, he still remembered that this was originally a cave with a large cavity, and a lot of slave labor was used to carry out a comprehensive repair, and a house was also attached to the entrance of the cave, made of rammed earth, and the walls were very heavy.

Originally, He Bin thought that this was a warehouse built by the Oriental Trading Company, but now it seems that this is not the case.

Entering the rammed earth house, I felt the comfortable shade, and I felt it carefully, He Bin felt the wind blowing from the inside, with a pungent fishy smell, but the wind blowing from the inside out, He Bin understood that the cave had been penetrated.

Both in the depths of the cave and in the houses outside are extremely empty, and the ground has either been completed or a facility is still being built.

The deep digging ground is compacted with triple soil, sprinkled with lime, and then built with precious bricks, you know, now there are only two brick kilns in Tamsui, and the supply of bricks is limited, only important facilities such as shipyards are not limited to the amount of use, and even the houses in the city are mostly wood and stone.

The deep brick pool was paved with something, and He Bin bent down to explore it, and found that it was fluffy clay mixed with sifted fine sand, and perhaps some grass and wood ash in it.

In the depths, production has already begun, and the Atayal slave workers wearing masks dilute human and animal feces and urine with fish and shrimp that have naturally rotted outside, and carefully splash them on the fluffy clay and fine sand of the nitrate fields, while the properly prepared nitrate fields are constantly poured water on them to keep them moist.

He Bin is well-informed and has already understood that this is the nitrate mass-produced by the trading company, and the next thing is to boil the nitrate.

Put the collected nitrate in the clay pot, mix the water and stir evenly, then precipitate, put water at the bottom, and then get the tail water, and then mix the tail water with other nitrate and stir, take out the tail water again, and determine whether the tail water is qualified The standard is very simple, put a raw egg into it, the egg floats on the surface, half exposed and half submerged, it is qualified.

If there is less exposure, then add nitrate, take out the tail water, if it is exposed, it is necessary to mix water to reduce the concentration.

After that, take out the qualified tail water, add plant ash and stir it, and then heat .........

These links can be seen by He Bin in the nitrate-making workshop on the side, and the saltpeter obtained will be purified again before it can be used.

After reading these, He Bin finally understood why Dongfang Trading Company didn't keep the secret of nitrate production to himself.

Because there is no great secret in the construction of the nitrate field itself, but it requires a lot of manpower and material resources, which is definitely not something that ordinary people can do. Even if you know it, you can't use this kind of method without the corresponding resources, and even if you do, if you can't cooperate with the corresponding management, you will lose sooner or later.

However, being able to produce saltpeter in batches can greatly increase the war potential of the Oriental Trading Company.

Sulfur was produced on Dongfan Island, which could be obtained at a low price through trade with the natives, and charcoal could be processed anytime and anywhere, and when saltpeter was obtained, the supply of gunpowder was in their own hands.

What's more, the use of saltpeter is not only for gunpowder, but also for others, such as tanned leather, especially deerskin, which is very popular in Japan, untanned raw hides and tanned deerskins, completely two prices.

"Mr. He, how is my nitrate?" At the gate of the nitrate, He Bin saw Li Zhaoji.

He Bin didn't expect Li Zhaoji to be here, he hurriedly said: "The big shopkeeper's nitrate field is really a miraculous power that turns stones into gold." ”

Li Zhaoji smiled and asked again: "Then does Mr. He want to take care of this nitrate-making workshop for me?" ”

"Me?" He Bin was surprised.

"yes, that's you." Li Zhaoji said with a smile.

He Bin shook his head: "How can I be in Xia, I am forgiven by the treasurer, so that I can survive, and I dare to participate in such a big event." ”

Li Zhaoji said: "Mr. He underestimates himself too much, if you are willing, I will give you the authority of the second-level shopkeeper." ”

The trading company basically established the salary system, and the status of the second-level treasurer was the same level as the captain of an armed merchant ship such as the Vostok, and it definitely belonged to the top level in the trading company. Not only does it have authority, but it also has a very high income.

And Li Zhaoji really likes He Bin's ability, he has been a slave for a few months, and he has passed the age of confusion, and he can endure humiliation and perseverance until now, which shows the strength of willpower. Moreover, among the slave labor groups, the Atayal people captured in the Battle of the Holy Mountain were the mainstay, and He Bin not only survived in that group, but also became a leader, which shows his talent.

Oriental Trading Company is now short of people, but also lack of talents, although He Bin and the trading company once had a dirty relationship, but still a rare management talent.

Yang Yandi saw that He Bin was still hesitating, and he took the initiative to say: "He Bin, don't miss the opportunity and don't come again, you have to grasp it." ”

He Bin was stunned by the sudden good thing, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, pick up this matter in the future, and you will not disappoint the big shopkeeper." ”

This is expected by Li Zhaoji, He Bin is already dead with the Dutch, even if he is not dead, he has been living in Tamsui for so long, and he will inevitably suffer from suspicion if he goes back, and He Bin's status in the Zheng family in Fujian has little to do with the former eighteen Zhi friendships, and is more as a bridge between the Zheng family and the Dutch, and when it cannot maintain its position with the Dutch, this role does not exist.

He Bin had to reconsider the future, and Lee gave him the future.

Lee Siu Ki returned to Tamsui, where he was met by all the local leaders, including Atta, the leader of the Keda Grans. It's just that Atta came to Tamsui without much fanfare, but only brought three or two retinues into the city without disturbing anyone.

At the settlement of the new immigrants, Atta successfully met his brother-in-law Haruki, a young man who was very different from his original appearance, he had the same hairstyle as the Han people, and his clothes were also dressed in the appearance of Han Chinese, except for his slightly dark skin and the slings pinned to his waist, it was no longer obvious that he was a Kedagran.

"Big Brother Atta." Haruki sees Atta and pounces on him and gives him a heavy hug.

"Haruki, you're all right, I'm really happy, my family misses you very much, you shouldn't make your own decisions and leave with the big shopkeeper." Atta said with a little reproach that Haruki's departure was his own initiative, and Haruki's original duty was to lead the Kaidagran soldiers trained in Tamsui City, but when Li Zhaoji went to Guangzhou, he secretly got on the ship without everyone.

But now that Haruki is back, Atta's reproaches have turned into relief.

Haruki gave the job at hand to the others, and then took Atta to his room, the small room was full of bags and boxes, and Haruki excitedly introduced them as gifts he had bought in Guangzhou.

All of them were bought for the people of Kedagran, and Atta's wives and children had their share.

"Haruki, in the place of the Han people, what happened." Atta stopped Haruki's excitement and asked directly.

Haruki secretly went to Guangzhou out of uncontrollable curiosity, but he also grew a lot of insight during this trip, even so, Haruki could not accurately say the relationship between the Oriental Trading Company and the Ming Dynasty, and Atta was a Tubaozi chief in Dongfandi, and he didn't know what the Ming Dynasty was, let alone what the government and governor were.

He originally wanted to hear some news about the Oriental Trading Company from Haruki's mouth, and wanted to find out the details of Li Zhaoji and the strength of the Oriental Trading Company, but after listening to Haruki, he heard a cloud and a mountain of fog.

"In short, Shopkeeper Li is very powerful, there is no doubt about it. Many of the people I met were afraid of him, or praised him, or worshipped him. There seems to be a magic in him that can bring wealth to friendly people and death to hostile people. When Atta asked about Lee himself, Haruki said.

Atta asked, "Did you feel any malice towards the Kedagrans during the time you were following him?" ”

Haruki frowned, and after thinking for a while, he remembered Li Zhaoji's anger when he heard in the letter that the Kaida Gran people were fighting with the Han fishermen, but he didn't think it was a malicious intent, and he was smart enough to know that if he said it to Atta at this time, it would definitely be regarded as malice.

"Brother Atta, why do you ask that?" Haruki asked.

Atta said: "Haruki, when Li Zhaoji first came, the next three ships, four or five hundred people, occupied the broken city left by the ghosts, but now, there are thousands of people inside and outside this Tamsui City, and I think it won't be long before there will be as many people as we Kaidagran."

They need a house to live in, a fishing ground for fishing, and land for planting, and sooner or later they will compete with us for living space, will one day, they be our enemies? ”

Haruki couldn't believe it, he had thought about it, but he felt that it was an extremely long time ago, and the two of them had discussed it, Haruki said, "The last time you talked about it, didn't you say that the Atayal people were all right before they were wiped out?" ”

"Now things have changed, you look at this ......," Atta said. ”

Atta took out a cloth bag and opened it and placed it on the table, making a muffled thud, the metal inside was quite heavy, Haruki opened the window and looked at it with the help of the light, his eyes instantly widened, because it was a piece of gold of different sizes, judging by its irregular shape, it was obvious that it was naturally formed, not smelted and cast.

"We found a gold panning field, a lot of golden sand, and gold nuggets, a lot!"