116: Chapter 116 Zhao Fusu's Intent to Launch a War

"Perhaps it really is possible?"

He Zhi spoke up on Zhao Fusu's behalf, "Your Majesty, you have seen for yourself how truly miraculous this Steam Engine is!"

The First Emperor fell silent.

He Zhi's words were very reasonable.

He had witnessed the miraculous nature of this Steam Engine with his own eyes.

After a long pause, he finally asked, "What is that rebellious son Fusu doing now? Why hasn't he gone to inspect the summer harvest?"

After all, Zhao Fusu had only just taken the reins of power; even if it were just for show, he should at least make an appearance.

"Reporting to Your Majesty..."

He Zhi replied, "Young Master Fusu is arranging the matters regarding the steam rotary tillers."

"At least he has some foresight!"

The First Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.

With the nobility slaughtering large numbers of plow oxen, if the steam rotary tillers were not produced, the progress of the summer plowing would certainly fall behind.

If the summer plowing wasn't done in time, the planted grain wouldn't be ripe before the major temperature drop, which would have a massive impact on crop yields.

"Order a batch of steam rotary tillers immediately."

"I want to see for myself if these steam rotary tillers can truly replace plow oxen!"

"Understood!"

He Zhi complied.

Zhao Fusu was equally concerned about the production capacity of the steam rotary tillers.

In one day, they could produce approximately one thousand sets of parts for the steam rotary tillers.

The summer harvest would not last more than ten days.

In ten days, they needed to produce ten thousand sets of parts, assemble them, and train over a thousand repairmen—the schedule was very tight.

The structure of a steam rotary tiller was much more complex than that of a steam thresher.

The front end of this steam rotary tiller was equivalent to a tractor head.

It featured forward gears, brakes, and a stationary tilling function.

During operation, a person would sit on the rear seat of the steam rotary tiller and use handlebars for steering.

The size of the steam rotary tiller was also larger than that of the steam thresher.

The structural complexity of the steam rotary tiller was far higher than that of the steam thresher.

This also meant that the steam rotary tiller was harder to control than the steam thresher and was prone to malfunctions.

Indeed, when Zhao Fusu ordered people to drive the steam rotary tillers, many were intimidated.

Looking at the roaring metal beasts, their faces paled one by one, and they didn't dare step forward to operate them.

It was only after Zhao Fusu offered substantial rewards that a group of brave men were willing to risk their lives to operate the steam rotary tillers.

Zhao Fusu had never driven a steam rotary tiller himself either.

He had only seen others do it, so he could only offer some advice and provide the operation manuals for the soldiers to pass on to the brave men operating the machines.

With Zhao Fusu's advice and the operation manuals, the men gradually mastered how to use the steam rotary tillers.

Once the steam rotary tiller started and was put into forward gear, its speed was relatively slow, so no accidents occurred during the learning process.

It wasn't like someone slammed the gas and drove the training vehicle into a tree.

After finalizing the arrangements for the steam rotary tiller repairmen, Zhao Fusu went to the National Assembly.

He found Feng Jie.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Paramount Leader."

Upon seeing Zhao Fusu, Feng Jie bowed with immense respect.

His family had also purchased several steam threshers.

Feng Jie had personally gone to see the actual performance of the steam threshers.

The failure rate was low, and the threshing speed was fast.

Aside from the need to add coal promptly and maintain safe water levels in the boiler, there weren't many mishaps.

This was mainly thanks to the groundwork laid by Zhao Fusu, who had dispatched safety officers to provide safety training to the users, ensuring they knew how to operate the steam threshers safely.

"Censor Feng Jie."

Zhao Fusu said, "Be sure to collect the total harvest data for all types of grain in Guanzhong for the first half of the year."

"Understood!"

Feng Jie bowed with cupped hands in response.

This was already within his scope of duties.

The reason Zhao Fusu gave this specific instruction was that he wanted to see if the grain yield in Guanzhong could be increased in the second half of the year after using indigenous fertilizers, and by how much.

If the indigenous fertilizers proved effective, then he would certainly need to send people to collect natural fertilizer and produce more indigenous fertilizer.

However, where to collect natural fertilizer was a major problem.

Zhao Fusu came from a farming background; he knew very well that using fertilizer would definitely increase grain yields.

But to collect natural fertilizer, the farmers he sent had already scraped the sludge pits of Guanzhong clean.

Zhao Fusu frowned.

As long as nitrogen fertilizer could not be synthesized artificially, indigenous fertilizers were limited.

He needed a large amount of natural fertilizer.

But where could he get natural fertilizer?

Zhao Fusu's eyes suddenly lit up.

He remembered a place where vast amounts of natural fertilizer existed.

That place was the Indian South Continent.

The islands there were home to massive populations of seabirds.

As early as the age of dinosaurs over a hundred million years ago, birds were already flying in the sky.

As oviparous animals, birds had many natural enemies on the mainland; thus, islands far from the mainland often became paradises for bird habitats.

Over hundreds of millions of years, these islands became almost entirely bird islands, covered in a thick layer of guano.

Seabird guano is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, making it an ideal organic fertilizer.

While scrolling through TikTok, Zhao Fusu had heard a blogger mention that the most famous guano islands were the Chincha Islands, Macabi Island, Guañape Island, and Lobos Islands off the coast of Peru.

On these desolate islands scattered across the Pacific, the density of bird flocks was as high as 2.2 million per square kilometer.

Coupled with the year-round drought and lack of rain, the guano piled up like mountains, reaching depths of dozens of meters!

Long ago, the Incas mined guano from the islands to fertilize their fields, which is why they called these islands 'Wanu', meaning dung.

From January 1850 to April 1851, Peru's guano exports to Britain alone reached 135,068 tons.

After that, a massive labor force mined guano on these islands for thirty full years before exhausting the supply.

One could only imagine how terrifyingly vast the natural fertilizer reserves on the islands of the Indian South Continent were!

Since chemical fertilizers could not be produced yet, Zhao Fusu's gaze was fixed intently on these guano islands of the Indian South Continent.

His eyes burned with a fiery red light.

To seize such vital resources, Zhao Fusu would not hesitate to wage war!

Right!

Zhao Fusu remembered that he had previously obtained the 'Detailed Explanation of Steamboat Construction' through a check-in.

He had originally intended to issue national debt to build steamboats to transport grain from the south.

He hadn't implemented it later because Guanzhong didn't lack grain; rather, the grain distribution was uneven, with vast amounts of grain piled up in the hands of the nobility and landlords!