"Oh... I've never seen such things before. How did you think they came from? Xiaotao, you really have to help me think of a solution. Even if all these sugarcane and corn are burned, what if there is another season? This thing is so contagious that it is too fast. In a few days, almost one-third of the sugarcane and half of the corn are infected." Old man Huang Hai was also helpless. He had been thinking about it for several days with several crops, but he had not found out the cause of this disease, and he didn't know how to treat it.

"It probably was sent back from overseas. People and animals can get infectious diseases, and crops can also be found. We don't have some diseases here, but there are other places. These ships come in and out every day, and maybe anyone will bring them back. This thing is difficult to prevent, so I'll think of other ways. I don't know whether it will succeed." Hong Tao probably understood how these plant diseases that have never appeared in Jinhe City came about, but he had no choice. He couldn't stop the sea trade because of this reason. In addition to creating a more stringent set of isolation and inspection regulations, he also had to think of some ways to treat plant diseases. Prevention alone is not enough.

Pesticides... This thing is the only way, but Hong Tao doesn't know much about pesticides, and he can't remember anything that can be used as pesticides. The empire's chemical industry has just started, and there are only a dozen chemical products summarized through experiments. Hong Tao walked behind his back and wondered whether there are any of these products that can be used as pesticides.

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

This thing has strong oxidation properties. It is originally used as a disinfectant, and of course it can also be used to kill plants by insecticide or sterilization. The problem is that it doesn’t matter if it is sprayed in the cabin, and the floor is on the floor. At most, it tastes bad, but if it is sprayed onto crops, the residual toxicity is too strong. Will there be problems if people eat it? Will there be problems if livestock eat it?

Hong Tao thought he could try it on a small scale first to see if it can treat this disease, and then use tests to determine whether its residue is too toxic.

The experiment of using bleach as pesticides was not smooth. I chose a small corn field to apply bleach to all the sick leaves, and there was no effect after a day. Not only did the rust on the leaves that had been rubbed by the medicine, but many of the sick leaves were also infected. It seems that the bacteria have not been killed and are still spreading.

"Maybe the time is too short, observe it for another day..." said Master Hong.

Unfortunately, Master Hong's spell failed this time. After waiting for three days, the rust on the leaves not only did not decrease, but also more. Huang Hai had led people to cut down all the most ill cornfield. Then burn it with fire to disinfect it, so that it might be possible to cultivate it for the second time.

Looking at the tears in the eyes of the farm workers, Hong Tao didn't dare to stand beside him. They worked hard for several months and were about to harvest, but they could only burn these crops with their own hands. No one except them could feel this feeling.

When he returned to the laboratory, Hong Tao ignored anyone and sat alone in the corner smoking a cigar. In fact, he was not feeling guilty, but avoiding the eyes of those people from Huanghai.

Over the years, they have basically solved the difficulties they encountered. They have unexpected things to surprise them, but this time they have disappointed them. This is how people are. It is easy to forget the benefits of others, but they can clearly remember the disadvantages of others. Didn’t the ancients say that good things do not go out and bad things go thousands of miles. This is the reason.

"Principal, this is not your fault... I have tried it. The bleach we make is very useful. It can kill many bugs that chew crops. Didn't you say when you gave us lectures at school? These are all knowledge, not magic. If you want to do your knowledge well, you must have the courage to persevere. If you give up when you encounter difficulties, you cannot become a great scholar. This is your favorite Bordeaux wine, and I have used the silt ice."

He thought about it in his heart and others were not clear. The three children in the laboratory could not understand his wrong thoughts. Li Yaofu was unhappy when he saw Hong Tao, so he immediately took out a bottle of red wine from the ice bucket to shoot Hong Tao's horse. This child was very clever, the fastest learning among the three apprentices, and the most eye-catching one. He didn't look like a spoiled young man in an official family.

"...what did you say!?" But this time Li Yaofu didn't get Hong Tao's smile, but instead saw a face with a straight eyebrows and two scars twisted. Hong Tao was furious.

"I...I...I didn't say anything..." There were no people in the Jinhe Empire who could be fearless under Hong Tao's expression, let alone a young man like Li Yaofu who had just started working. He was still brave and didn't sit on the ground, but was trembling and at a loss, not knowing that he had said the wrong sentence.

"Bordeaux wine? Hehehe..." Hong Tao's twisted face lasted only a few seconds before slowly relaxing, tilted his head and pointed at the glass of red wine in Li Yaofu's hand and smiled again.

"Yes... you brought it back from sea. You said this was produced in a place called Bordeaux in the Great Qin Kingdom... I used ice cold..." Li Yaofu was even more scared when he saw Hong Tao laughing. He knew his principal very well, and all the children in the navigation school knew about it. The principal never punished people when he was angry. When did he start to smile, that was the most dangerous thing.

"My fucking brain is a bit old. I didn't even remember such a simple thing... Bordeaux... Hahaha... Let me tell you, this is not Bordeaux wine at all. It is made from grapes in the northern part of the Apennine Peninsula. The teacher lied to you. The teacher hasn't been to this place, so I don't know whether there are grapes there. But you have made meritorious service, so you remind the teacher! Come, pack up, and the teacher teaches you a new thing, and its name is Bordeaux liquid. If it can cure the diseases of these crops, boy, congratulations, you have made great contributions. Just rely on this thing. After you die, no matter whether you are a resident of the empire or not, your statue will stand at the door of the library!" Hong Tao indeed began to laugh, but he did not smile but did not smile, but laugh happily and sincerely.

Li Yaofu's horse was very timely and effective. He directly took a new chemical synthetic pesticide from Hong Tao's grocery store-like head. It was an inorganic bactericide invented by the French botanist Mirad, inspired by the owner of the Bordeaux vineyard. This bactericide itself has no bactericidal ability, which means it is not very toxic, but after it encounters acidic substances, it will decompose copper ions, and after entering the bacterial cells, it can affect normal metabolism, thereby indirectly killing bacteria and spores.

It is precisely because of its low toxicity characteristic that since its invention, Bordeaux liquid has been widely used in the prevention and control of various diseases in crops such as vegetables, fruits, cotton, and hemp. Except for a few crops with poor copper resistance that cannot use Bordeaux liquid, this highly efficient and low toxic pesticide has not been eliminated until today. It is the longest-used pesticide in human history, no doubt.

It is because it is famous and distinctive, so there is a special method for preparing Bordeaux liquid in high school chemistry experiments. However, Hong Tao was not very interested in chemistry. He must have learned it at that time and had an impression in his mind, but this impression was deeply buried under other things. If Li Yaofu had not reminded him inadvertently, he would have been unable to remember it for the rest of his life. The main reason is that there are too many things in his mind and too messy. It seems that knowing too much is not all good.

"But...but this is not what I thought of... I can't receive the reward without merit." Li Yaofu then put away his fear and turned into a shy girl again, blushing and turning away the great honor that Hong Tao gave him.

"No! Although it was not what you thought of, it had a lot to do with you. If you didn't remind me, the teacher wouldn't remember it. So, even if you do the teacher a favor, you said that this thing was what you thought of. What is the teacher? Being a teacher for a lifetime is your father! It's not considered bad to help the teacher tell a kind lie, do you understand?" Hong Tao smiled even brighter, and then took out the skills of the big bad wolf fooling Little Red Riding Hood, and began to fool Li Yaofu.

The reason why he wanted Li Yaofu to make this point was not to make him a role model, nor to reward him to remind himself, but to let him serve as a shield for himself. The bleach he made last time didn't work, which made his citizens a little disappointed with him. If it didn't work this time, his sacred aura in their eyes would be a little dim. Don't underestimate this kind of superstition, this thing is very good for being an emperor, otherwise the ancient emperor would not desperately put the name of a god on his head.

If Li Yaofu is the inventor, no matter whether he succeeds or not, it will not have much impact on his reputation. If he fails, Li Yaofu is just his little disciple, and it is normal to fail. If he succeeds, Li Yaofu is his little disciple. With his own intelligence and hard work, of course, he cannot do without his own teaching. Therefore, Hong Tao will never give up on such a thing as taking advantage of both sides. If Li Yaofu doesn't follow him, he will let the other two disciples come forward, and he will not be the inventor himself.

As for the patent rights and honor ownership of Bordeaux liquid, these are not something Hong Tao needs to consider. Is he lacking such a broken patent? Do he lack this honor? Sometimes too many honors are not a good thing. If you should share the burden, you get one point. Hello, I, everyone is a real good thing.
Chapter completed!