Chen Kai came and went, but it only lasted a few days. A few days ago, before Chen Kai set off, he issued a government order through the yamen of the branch, which was to establish a manure and saltpeter dump outside Chaozhou City. Chaozhou City follows the

It is an old practice in Nan'ao City to collect excrement for nitrate accumulation.

South Australia has a long history of collecting manure and saltpeter. As early as when Chen Kai took charge of the Ordnance Bureau, due to the problem of gunpowder stocks in the army, a factory and corresponding system for collecting manure and saltpeter had been established. Now it is just copied.

But the problem is that Nan'ao City is a military city, and most of them are military lieutenants and their families. The number of real civilian households does not account for a big advantage. When government orders are issued, there is rarely any opposition to the military orders and prohibitions, especially when

This is especially true for those military camps. However, Chaozhou City is a government city. There are no less than 50,000 or 60,000 people in the city alone. The related interests here are not comparable to that of Nan'ao City.

At the same time that the government order was issued, Chen Kai set off for the Zhongzuo Office to meet with Zheng Chenggong. He left, but after the government order was issued, it immediately triggered a controversy among some relevant personnel.

Not far from Chaozhou's South Gate and Sanyang Gate is the Guanwang Temple. Near the Guanwang Temple, in a restaurant, several men in rich clothes were drinking wine while criticizing the recently issued government order.

"When Emperor Zhao was alive, the masters in the city and the countryside all said that the emperor believed in the slanderous words of the eunuch and competed with the people for profit. Now there is no eunuch serving Chen Daotai. How could he come up with such a sinister person?

Come on, isn't this taking away our jobs?"

"It's true that they don't have eunuchs, but those Cantonese guys are not cheap. They are all foreigners, and they must be doing harm to us Chaozhou natives without caring."

The oldest man complained, while the scarred man across from him directly targeted the people of Guangzhou, especially those Guangzhou officials who were guarding the yamen, and started scolding them.

.In the end, even Chen Kai was not immune. It was said that Chen Kai could even fight for feces, and he was probably the reincarnation of the living maggot.

"Lao Liu, you drank too much. Be careful what you say, be careful what you say!"

They are all local businessmen who deal in excrement. To put it bluntly, they collect the excrement of people in the city and transport it to the city and sell it to farmers who cultivate the land to fertilize their fields. This work may seem dirty and smelly, but the money comes from it.

There is no ambiguity at all. In Bianliang City during the Song Dynasty, many wealthy people were engaged in such business, and some of them even left their names in some folk notes. Although this Chaozhou City cannot compare with that one.

At that time, it was the most densely populated city in the world, but it was also a prefecture-level city with tens of thousands of residents all year round. The amount of naturally produced feces every day was an uncountable number.

These people have been doing this kind of business for their ancestors. They don’t have to do it themselves. They hire workers and bribe officials and government servants. Clothing here is expensive, even for generations, but in the eyes of the local gentry

, but completely looked down upon.

At this moment, the scar-faced man was speaking indiscriminately. A few tables away, the two scholars who were hiding aside because he looked down on them and were afraid of smelling the "ugly smell" of their bodies were pointing at their noses.

The curse was uttered. The reason was nothing more than insulting the officials, so he immediately called the government officials to lock them up and put them in jail.

Mo Kan was just two scholars, but Confucian scholars had a very high status among the people. Once someone took the lead, several tables of diners who looked down upon them also started to join in. The oldest one quickly apologized and then threw down a tablet.

Yinzi didn't care about the change anymore, so he hurriedly pulled those people out of the wine shop, as if they were running away with their tail between their legs.

"As far as the students know, the government collects excrement to produce saltpeter and gunpowder. This was done in South Australia in the past few years. Now, the army probably consumes too much, and the production in South Australia alone is not enough.

Alright."

"What you said is true. I have also heard of it. This is Mr. Chen's ancestral skill. His family relies on this skill to provide gunpowder to the officers and soldiers in Jiubian. Now Mr. Chen is using his ancestral business to make a living.

Xiang is assisting the King's Master. I heard that the government does not want to treat those guys badly, but they still dare to insult Mr. Chen. They really don't know what's going on."

The scholars talked eloquently and showed their knowledge, even if there were others who echoed their opinions. With the technology of piling manure to accumulate saltpeter, this Ming army has not spent money to purchase saltpeter for several years. Like carbon, saltpeter has also been self-sufficient.

The cost of gunpowder production is nothing more than the sulfur, and at most the labor and money spent on eggs and radishes are included.

Nowadays, factories that pile up manure and accumulate saltpeter are not only in Nan'ao. Feng Chengshi moved the weapons bureau to the Zhongzuo Institute, and the Zhongzuo Institute also built a replica of the yard where manure was piled up and accumulated saltpeter. The number of people there is even greater than in Nan'ao.

, especially when large armies gather, the amount of excrement produced every day by the army alone is astronomical.

"I'm afraid they will cause trouble to the government..."

"Hmph, what are you afraid of, a bunch of shit-diggers?"

As expected, the worrying thing appeared the next day. Unlike other days, this morning, early this morning, the dung truck did not go through the streets and alleys as usual, emptying the grains accumulated in the previous day into the dung truck.

Keep the house clean.

Such a vision was immediately associated with the government order. After hearing about this, the colleagues in Fucheng sent people directly to call the men. Their explanation was that the government's move ruined the livelihood of those workers.

, now those workers have gone on strike and have gone to find other jobs one by one, so they can't find enough manpower to do these things.

"Don't think that I don't know what your plans are. I'm talking to you now. You can still get out alive. When Chen Daotai comes back, you will look good!"

A few men were so poor that they decided to bribe the tongzhi later. If the tongzhi had no gray income, it would be impossible, but he was not heartless. Knowing how powerful Chen Kai was, he would let the government officials

Beat these guys away with sticks.

In the evening, Tongzhi returned home to rest after a busy day. He had already begun to think about using some tough measures, because this matter always needed to be resolved before Chen Kai came back. Unexpectedly, the man with the scarred face had just returned home.

So he sent a greeting note, saying that he could help him solve the problem.

"Master Tongzhi, we know the difficulties faced by the government regarding this matter. Both you and Mr. Chen are working very hard for the people. Naturally, we have to be sensible. It's just that the government has given us a few shops.

Let us do something else to make a living. We have no internal or external channels, and there is nowhere to get the goods and nowhere to collect them. Isn’t that a loss of capital?”

"Then you mean to let the government spend money to purchase feces from you?"

At this moment, Tongzhi frowned, and the man stepped forward with a smile on his face: "Master Tongzhi is wise, we are thinking of not destroying the original method, who will we sell the feces to when the time comes? When the time comes, you, Mr. Chen

Mr. Chen, as well as the gentlemen from the prefecture and county, we will pay our dues and send him there every month. And with people like us here, we are not afraid of delaying Mr. Chen’s affairs, so why not do it?"

Tongzhi needed to consider the pros and cons, so he asked the man to go back and wait for news. Early the next morning, after thinking about it all night according to Chen Kai's past behavior style, Tongzhi returned to the government office and immediately ordered the arrest of the dung businessmen.

The order was issued. Unexpectedly, the order was issued, but the officials below were unable to catch the person. It was said that the families had disappeared without a trace last night.

In this regard, Tongzhi was helpless and had to order the government officials to continue the pursuit. However, in the hot weather, in just a few days, the entire Chaozhou City was stink-filled with feces that had not been cleaned up in time. The air was filled with

The smell of feces also aggravates the occurrence of diseases.

There were a lot of complaints in the city for a while, and even the farmers who could not buy manure to fertilize their fields outside the city were quite dissatisfied. This situation continued until Chen Kai came back. Sitting on the carriage with a curtain in front of him, he smelled some stench but

He didn't take it too seriously. It wasn't until Chen Song told the whole story that he suddenly remembered the saying, "Destroying a person's wealth is like killing his parents."
Chapter completed!