Zhao Xian nodded and said:
"To turn saltpeter into fertilizer, it needs to undergo a series of processes. The resulting fertilizer is most effective when mixed with farmyard manure."
According to Qiao Lizheng, the crops there are growing well and the grain yield is much higher than in other places, so every household there has surplus grain and the villagers generally do not go hungry.
Based on this, it is highly probable that there are saltpeter mines there. Saltpeter mines are not common in the Central Plains of our Great Northern Dynasty. If there are saltpeter mines in Fudu Mountain, it would be a gift from heaven to the Great Northern Dynasty.
If the imperial court could mine the ore and produce fertilizer for farmers across the land, it would be able to produce more grain and benefit the people.
Zhao Xian's words greatly excited Li Guang, who then said:
"Should we go to Fudu Mountain to investigate? If it's really as Brother Zhao said, we can report this to the imperial court and expedite the mining of saltpeter to produce fertilizer."
"Okay, Qiao Lizheng hasn't left Fudu Village yet. Let's make some preparations and have him take us to Fudu Village tomorrow."
The trip to Fudu Village was thus decided, and they began preparations for departure.
Ancient people used several methods to find saltpeter. The earliest methods were scorpion hunting and calcination. Under normal circumstances, combining these two methods would yield better results.
If you put a few scorpions in an earthenware pot, they will be very quiet when undisturbed. However, if you put saltpeter in the pot, the smell of the saltpeter will make them restless and want to escape.
Of course, this method is not 100% reliable. The ore also needs to be heated in a bottle. Based on the property that saltpeter produces oxygen when heated, the oxygen is collected and poured onto the nearly extinguished charcoal, which will immediately ignite.
For Zhao Xian, determining whether a mineral is saltpeter is easy and simple, as long as he purchases the reagents from the system.
This time, when Zhao Xian went to Fudu Mountain to search for saltpeter, he decided to use the ancient method. He could secretly use reagents to test and make a final determination.
To use the traditional method, you have to catch some scorpions, but the temperature isn't high right now, and the scorpions are hiding deep inside, making them really hard to catch.
Zhao Xian had his men search for a long time, but they came up empty-handed. He had no choice but to go and search for them himself.
At this time, the scorpions are hiding in caves or crevices, not very active, and unwilling to come out and move around. Zhao Xian will not waste time catching scorpions.
He bought some scorpions from the system, placed them in a pile of rocks, and then sent someone to search for them by turning over the rocks.
Soon, the people searching for the scorpions cheered; they had finally found them, and quite a few at that.
Zhao Xian instructed his men to put the captured scorpions into earthenware jars, placing two or three scorpions in each jar, and to keep them warm to ensure their survival.
Li Guang was not idle either. He selected a thousand soldiers from the army camp and sent them to Fudu Mountain to search for saltpeter mines.
Qiao Li was very pleased to learn that Zhao Xian was going to lead a large group of people to Fudu Village to conduct an investigation.
He knew that Zhao Xian was an extraordinary person in the Great Northern Dynasty and would surely be able to investigate the cause of the children's deaths in the village.
The next morning, Qiao Lizheng was taken to the military camp. Only then did he learn that not only was Marquis Zhengyang going to Fudu Village, but Li Guang and Li Xue would also be going with him. This made Qiao Lizheng extremely grateful.
Upon seeing Li Guang and Li Xue, Qiao Lizheng immediately knelt down and kowtowed to them.
Li Guang quickly stepped forward, helped Qiao Lizheng up, and said:
"Qiao Lizheng, there's no need for such formalities. Please rise. The children of Fudu Village, regardless of age, are all subjects of the Great Northern Dynasty. Their unprovoked deaths must be thoroughly investigated to prevent similar incidents from happening again."
"Please get in the car, Qiao Lizheng, and lead the way. We need to get to Fudu Village as soon as possible to begin our investigation."
Qiao Lizheng nodded, got into the carriage in front, and the large group immediately set off for Fudu Village.
Fudu Village is located in the northwest, about 300 li away from Shuixian Village. Qiao Li was leading the way, and the large group finally arrived at Fudu Village before dark the next day.
The terrain around Fudu Village is generally flat. Zhao Xian wanted to see the specific situation here, but unfortunately it was getting late.
Li Guang found a flat spot, set up camp, and decided to rest well for the night. He would deal with other matters tomorrow. He had been walking for two days and was exhausted.
When Qiao Li returned home, it was already late. He gathered some of the most respected people in the village together and told them who had come to Fudu Village and that they were there to investigate.
The villagers finally understood that it was Marquis Zhengyang, General Li, and Princess Li Xue who had come to Fudu Village to investigate the cause of the children's deaths over the past few years.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking and the soldiers were still asleep, Zhao Xian took a walk around the village alone to check on the water supply.
There are no rivers around the village, only ponds of varying sizes, and the water in the ponds appears to be quite clear.
Villagers had already come to the pond to fetch water, indicating that the villagers here use the pond as their drinking water source.
Zhao Xian took out a test strip and tested the pond water. The results came out quickly, and as he expected, the nitrate content in the water was quite high.
Such a concentration may not be very harmful to adults, but it can be fatal to children, especially infants.
Drinking such water over a long period of time can easily induce blue baby disease in children.
Zhao Xian tested other water sources around the village and found that the situation was similar, with nitrate content being quite high.
Finally, Zhao Xian went to a place quite far from the village to test the water quality there. He found that there was still a certain concentration of nitrates, but the concentration was lower than that of the water sources near the village.
Zhao Xian looked up and around and spotted Fudu Mountain in the distance. He concluded that the closer one was to Fudu Mountain, the higher the nitrate content in the water.
The place where Zhao Xian is located is some distance from Fudu Mountain, so the concentration is relatively lower.
After learning about these circumstances, Zhao Xian returned to the camp.
At this moment, Qiao Li was leading many villagers to the soldiers' camp. They were carrying baskets filled with food such as eggs, steamed buns, flatbreads, and fruits.
Zhao Xian walked over and saw Li Guang and Li Xue greeting the villagers.
It is clear that the food was brought by the villagers out of genuine gratitude, and they were thankful that so many people from Shuixian Village had come to help them investigate the truth of the matter.
Although the food wasn't worth much money, it was a token of the villagers' goodwill. After a moment's thought, Li Guang and Li Xue accepted it.
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