After taking Dongshan Island, Zheng Chenggong's control area suddenly expanded from more than 100 square kilometers to nearly 400 square kilometers. Although the territory far away from the peak of the Ming Dynasty was even more Han than that before the Liao Dynasty.

Judging from the land area of ​​the eighteen provinces plus the Liaodong Dusi Prefecture, such a small area is probably not even a drop in the bucket, but at least if these lands are recovered, the strength of this army will be stronger.

The strength of the Qing court will naturally become weaker. It's just a matter of numbers, and things are always good.

As a civil servant, Chen Kai specializes in the arts and does not need him to manage politics and inform the people. However, he does not have no tricks on how to spend his capital to get greater value, even if it is only involved in the weapons workshop.

Arrived.

A few days later, as Chen Kai's regulations on gunpowder production were quickly approved by Zheng Chenggong, the entire Nan'ao Island and Dongshan Island immediately started to jump up and down.

Chen Kai's statement clearly stated that the manufacturing of gunpowder mainly depends on materials. The three materials required for black gunpowder, charcoal, are easy to obtain. It is nothing more than logging into the mountains and destroying vegetation, which is criticized by environmentalists.

The trouble is actually sulfur and saltpeter. These two items are not produced on the two islands that Zheng Chenggong currently controls. Under normal circumstances, they can only be obtained through sea trade. This undoubtedly does not continue to increase Zheng Chenggong's financial pressure.

But with Chen Kai's provisions, the purchase amount of saltpeter, the raw material with the heaviest proportion among black powder, can be appropriately reduced, and the purchase of sulfur will just continue to be based on the old scale. In fact, if Chen Kai had not

There was no way to determine how effective his method would be. He even considered asking Zheng Chenggong to completely stop buying saltpeter.

"Remember, the money is calculated based on the saltpeter dug out. It looks like this. The other kind is fine. You don't just dig out a lump of soil and come to the government to ask for a reward."

Zheng Chenggong's current control area is two islands. On the islands, there are always seabirds living on rocky cliffs and places where guano accumulates, where saltpeter is most likely to be produced. In addition, islands generally have caves, and caves are basically populated by people.

Bats are also a place where saltpeter is easily produced.

These natural aids made some countries instantly rich in later generations, and even became the economic backbone of those countries. Chen Kai's next step was to purchase these naturally occurring saltpeters from the people of the two islands through administrative means, but because these things were only one-time

It is not in line with Chen Kai's idea of ​​sustainable development, so it can only be a bad strategy. As for the best strategy, it is the pile of manure and saltpeter that the British once used.

There are eleven towns in the two islands controlled by Zheng Chenggong. The feces in the villages will basically be turned into manure, but there are always people who are not engaged in agriculture in the towns. In addition, toilets, pig pens and other places will also produce nitrate, so take it back

It is also possible to purify it. Of course, what is more important is that Zheng Chenggong now has nearly 4,000 troops under his command, as well as many new recruits who are about to join the camp. With so many people, they defecate thousands of pieces of stool once a day. It is not suitable to use it to accumulate salt.

It couldn't be better.

The structure of Nan'ao City has been destroyed by Chen Kai's expansion of the weapons workshop. Most likely, Zheng Chenggong and Hong Xu didn't want Chen Kai to make the entire Nan'ao City smelly, so they simply approved a piece of land outside the city.

, specially used to pile manure and nitrate. In order to prevent people from stealing manure and using it as fertilizer, walls and rainproof sheds must be built. Being assigned to guard this place is probably the most disgusting job.

.

Chen Kai has a way, and Zheng Chenggong has money and power. Once the two of them reach an agreement, they can implement it as quickly as possible on the two islands of Nan'ao and Dongshan.

All of this requires more time to see results. Chen Kai is not in a hurry. His main job is still in the weapons workshop. The production of weapons is particularly important, whether it is cold weapons or firearms.

, all require a huge investment of energy, let alone the development of new products.

A few days later, the dung pile was still under construction, and the work in the weapons workshop did not stop. Chen Kai, on the other hand, enjoyed his first vacation in this era.

"I have had single days off, and I seem to have had monthly days off, but I only have one day off every half a year. It turns out that Zheng Chenggong is the biggest stinking capitalist."

After waking up from a lazy sleep, he only slept for more than half an hour more than usual. He made an appointment with Chen Ding in the morning to go out for fun. This was also the first time since he came to this era that he left the main town specifically for tourism and sightseeing.

Mansion. The other days are just "9 to 5" or "5 to 5" work trips.

Chen Ding, Chen Kai has chatted with him many times these days. As a scholar, he has never shown any of his Confucian talents. He only talked about work, experience, some strange things and the current situation. Occasionally Chen Ding talked with him many times.

Kai cited scriptures, and he was able to pick up the conversation immediately, and they had a great conversation. More importantly, Chen Kai could directly feel the concern for the country and the people in this juren, and he was very concerned about the challenges faced by China.

He was even more impressed by the dangerous situation that was once again contaminated by Hu Xing, and his determination to work hard to avoid suffering the disaster of land sinking in the late Song Dynasty again.

The friendship between Chen Kai and Chen Ding is getting deeper and deeper. However, Ye Yiyun was attracted by Chen Ding at first, but he always put on the air of "I am a Jinshi". At first, Chen Kai was still giving up.

Later, he simply didn't bother to talk to him. He was just polite and talked more with Chen Ding. Gradually, Ye Yiyun stopped coming.

Zheng Chenggong has already arranged jobs for Chen Ding and others. Chen Ding temporarily serves as the temporary minister of Nan'ao. He can be regarded as the minister of education and the principal of the only public school on the island. Such a person, Ye Yiyun even shouldered the responsibility of Nan'ao.

However, there were no counties here, and they only belonged to Zhao'an and Raoping counties. Ye Yiyun was only responsible for administration as Hong Xu's deputy.

The administrative division of Nan'ao Island is awkward, which has caused Ye Yiyun and Chen Ding to be at par with each other. However, compared to them, Shen Quanqi, who once served as the right deputy governor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the inspector of Fujian Province, Zheng Chenggong's appointment is obvious.

Something is not normal.

Regarding Shen Quanqi's abilities, Chen Kai had not had much interaction with him. He only heard that he believed in the principle of "not a good appearance, but a good doctor."

He should show more kindness, otherwise a few months ago in Quanzhou, a large number of people would not have risen up to resist the Qing Dynasty based on his words, nor would thousands of people and their families leave their hometown with Zheng Chenggong because of his words.

He is such a charismatic figure. Zheng Chenggong consults him every time he makes a decision. He even calls him Shen Zhongcheng without naming him. However, he is not assigned any positions with real power and is just a senior adviser.

That's all.

Through history, Chen Kai can probably figure out the way out. It is not that Zheng Chenggong is jealous of talents, but that he simply lacks enough trust in those scholars who were officials in the Nanming Dynasty - not for character, but for Regarding their ability to handle practical matters, they even feared that they would ruin state affairs like they did during the Hongguang, Longwu and other dynasties.

When the Hongguang Dynasty came to power, Zheng Chenggong once criticized his teacher Qian Qianyi face to face, saying: "It's up to the public and others to do it. If you can't do it, go away; if you can, I will go if I don't use it. Isn't this just greed for position and whitewashing the status quo?" evil?"

Translated, this statement probably means that Qian Qianyi and others were clinging to vulgarity, greedy for authority, and whitewashing peace. In addition, Zheng Chenggong once said that the imperial court at that time was "a king who was not a king who fought against chaos, but had many mediocre ministers." Although there are many remnants of officials with rich administrative experience living in Xiamen and other places, the main civil servants under their command are almost all those who have not been officials before. Most of them are just scholars, and some are even military officers who perform civil duties on their behalf. All of this It couldn't be more clear.

However, it has to be said that Chen Kai has dated Shen Quanqi several times. He is a gentle and elegant person, which makes him feel like a spring breeze. Being a friend is an excellent partner. Even this time, Chen Kai also extended an invitation. However, Shen Quanqi had indeed made an appointment with others to appreciate the article earlier, so he was unable to accompany him.

This time Chen Kai and others are planning to go to the tomb of Hunyi, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Xiufu. This tomb is located at Qingjingkou on Nan'ao Island. After exiting the east gate of Nan'ao City, heading east, it is in Qing'ao. Yamashita. Chen Kai has long admired the national hero who was one of the Three Great Heroes in the late Song Dynasty. However, he was busy with official duties and could not make the trip until today.

After Chen Kai had breakfast, Chen Ding also came as promised, and also brought his son, a young man who looked to be twelve or thirteen years old. Don't look at his youth, but when he met Chen Kai, he treated Chen Kai as his uncle, and his gestures were astonishing. He has the calm demeanor of his father, but he seems too mature and not at all as lively as a young man should be.

"Xiandi, this is Quanzi Yonghua."

"Yonghua, what a good name..."

Chen Kai complimented him almost subconsciously, but as soon as he said the words, a flash of lightning pierced the sky deep in his consciousness, and he was shocked.
Chapter completed!