The series of symptoms mentioned earlier are basically symptoms of poisoning.

There are also many things that can poison people and increase the fertility of the land.

But if it has a slight odor, it is most likely phosphate rock.

Perhaps the underground river passes through the phosphate rock, and the water contains some phosphorus minerals.

Raw ore that has not been processed and decomposed contains both a large amount of nutrients and a large amount of highly toxic ingredients.

After being washed by the river and diluted by a large amount of river water, although its poisonous content is already very thin.

But phosphorus only requires one milligram to cause death.

If you are lucky, you will not die even if you drink it dozens or hundreds of times. If you are unlucky, you may burp after drinking it once.

Of course, this situation should be an exception, and it is almost the same as some cancer villages in later generations.

The discovery of phosphate rock made Wang Buxu think of chemical fertilizers, but it also made him think that with the current level of technology, there was no way to refine it.

Even if it can be forcibly refined, it will be very messy and the purity will be very low after refining.

The most important thing is that yellow phosphorus extracted from phosphate rock, also known as white phosphorus, is highly toxic.

Perhaps during the refining process, a gust of wind or some dust thrown up by a piece of ore could kill someone if inhaled.

These potential dangers were so high that Wang Buxu had timid thoughts.

Moreover, there is another most important factor.

That means there is no point in promoting it.

Yes, there is no point in promoting chemical fertilizers now.

Although its effect is indeed very good, it can greatly increase the fertility of the land and even eliminate the need for fallow farming. As long as the manpower can keep up, the output will be more and more every year.

But the problem is that with current technology there is no way to achieve large-scale refining and production.

Even mining is done in open-pit mines and is completely done by manpower.

Even if the above two problems are solved, how to transport them is still a big problem. When transporting these fertilizers to various regions every year, what is the appropriate price?

The price of a bag of chemical fertilizer is more expensive than the price of a stone of grain. What is the point of promoting chemical fertilizer at this time?

The current land system determines that it is impossible for the people to sell food as a source of income. The purpose of all people is to cultivate food for their own consumption and to pay taxes.

After the forced promotion of chemical fertilizers, the price of food will inevitably rise.

However, the operation of currency is still in its preliminary stages, and there is not enough currency in society to support too much circulation.

Therefore, from a technical, economic and political perspective, Wang Buxian only temporarily abandoned this idea after understanding it.

So what if the output doubles?

Forcibly raising the height may not bring about a good result.

So, in the end, Wang Buxian gave a puzzling reply.

“Focus on small-scale testing and accumulation of technical experience!”

"No!" Liu Ji was inevitably a little disappointed, but the emperor personally ordered it and he had to obey it.

Since this year, the Academy of Sciences has been developing rapidly.

A large number of Mohist disciples joined the Academy of Sciences, and after a series of examinations and selections, those who entered were all elite.

Even Liu Ji selected a few people from the Mo family to join his team.

The same goes for their fellow apprentices, who also took advantage of their teacher Wang Ji.

Now it is difficult to find a project that can change the future, but it is rejected by the emperor.

That's not right either, maybe it can't be said to be negative.

The emperor didn't say not to do it, but he didn't need to expand the scale, and he wouldn't invest too much money. Just a few of them would do research and accumulate some related technologies. When they were done with the research, the data would be sealed and the staff would be disbanded.

, and then start working on new projects.

This model is very novel, but it is not unusual in the Academy of Sciences.

In other words, this is an item explicitly listed in the system promulgated by the Academy of Sciences.

All projects are divided into three types. The first type is the demand put forward by the government. This type requires the Academy of Sciences to increase investment and increase resources for research. This problem must be solved in the shortest possible time.

The second type is projects that innovate existing technologies.

The third type is a free project. This project may be very important in your mind, but others may not think it is so important.

Funds are limited, and as there are more and more projects, resources become increasingly tight.

The allocation of funds is also differentiated based on the categories of projects 1, 2, and 3. The further back the project goes, the less the funding resources will be, because it means there is not much need at the moment.

Just like Liu Ji's project, Wang Buxu gave it a three-star rating in the blink of an eye.

What follows is a restriction on resources and the transfer of valuable resources to other high-level projects.

And they also need to continue to study the project until it is completed, or the projects are merged, and then some people quit to form new projects.

The purpose of this is to prepare for a rainy day. Maybe it is not needed now, but when I need this technology one day in the future, I can directly take out the technical data and start work, eliminating the tedious research process.

Is this a wasted effort?

Of course not, because it will be used sooner or later, and I have no other projects to work on except this one. Instead of being idle, I might as well work on it slowly by myself.

"Teacher, what did your Majesty say?" After going to court, Liu Ji returned to the Academy of Sciences in a panic, and then quietly waited for his teacher to return.

Wang Ji was also in court at the time, and his response to Wang Buxu was very clear.

At that time, he even gave Liu Ji a look to tell him not to panic.

Apparently Wang Ji couldn't figure out why His Majesty suddenly listed this project as a third-class project?

Wouldn't it be a good thing to increase the production of all the cultivated land of the Han Dynasty?

Or is it that the emperor is worried about something?

"Your Majesty said that the things in Jiangxia and Shu County may be the same, and they should all be related to the mines. However, the river water in Jiangxia is not drinkable, which proves that it is poisonous. It is very likely that the ore was brought out after being soaked and washed by the water.

If it is used for processing, it must be crushed, which will inevitably cause dust and smoke. If people inhale the dust and smoke, there will be a risk of death."

"In one case, the development cost is too high and requires a lot of manpower. From ore to refining to final transportation, this requires a lot of people and money. The final price sold to the people will definitely be higher than that of one stone of grain.

The price is even more expensive, and although the output can be increased, according to the current situation, investment and income are not directly proportional, so the value of vigorous development is not high."
Chapter completed!