Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 110 Guano Stones and Cooked Guano

Aman set out for Atsuta and was gone for more than ten days. Then on a warm afternoon, she took a boat directly back to Wanjin.

After receiving the notification, Yuanye hurried to the beach to greet her. From a distance, he saw her jumping up and down in the knee-deep sea water, shouting loudly to Langdang and three strangers to carry a large amount of dried kelp and seaweed to the beach. Probably in order to make some connections, she started a small business on the island, bartering for some raw materials needed for the soy sauce workshop.

The wharf and pier at Wanjin haven't been built yet, so they can only do it this way, and the efficiency is very low. Yuanye quickly waved his hand and took a few of his companions to help, and by the way, he looked at the three people he didn't know.

One of the three men looked older, about fifty years old, more than 1.5 meters tall, wearing a gray-blue straight gown and short hakama that were almost faded, with an unsheathed short sword slung diagonally across his waist. He had a very dark complexion and a slightly hunched back, but was very strong, with a bulging chest and arms. He walked in the waves to transport the goods with a very steady body, and did not shake much even when being hit by the waves.

The other two seemed to be a mother and son. The woman looked to be in her thirties, less than 1.5 meters tall, and had a pretty appearance. She must have been a beauty when she was young. She was wearing a common outfit for working women of that era - kosode + large hakama. However, she seemed not to be used to moving in the sea. Even if she wanted to help, she couldn't be of much help. Instead, she needed the support of the little boy beside her from time to time.

Soon the goods were transferred to the beach. Aman waved at the boat and shouted, "Go away, dung beetles." The sailors on the boat laughed and set sail towards Atsuta. These were probably the new friends she made on this voyage.

She sent the hired boat away, and then, without caring about the seafood, she pulled the three people to Yuanye and introduced them to each other: "This is Yu Da, his wife Aju and their child Qiuyuwan, and this is the head of the Nohara family, Lord Nohara Saburo."

Yu Daneng could see that Yuanye was a "warrior", but he didn't expect that he was the lord of this place. He also didn't expect that the lord of a place would personally wade through the sea to transport goods. He was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and began to kneel down to salute - he didn't seem very willing, and was very hesitant in the salute.

Yuan Ye didn't care about these false formalities, and he was in the state of being prepared and Xuande, so he quickly supported him and said kindly: "You are an elder, there is no need to do this."

Yu Da stood firm, looked at him silently, and said in a very hoarse voice, as if he hadn't drunk water for many days: "Then I'm sorry, Lord Nohara."

"Let's go to the village and have a rest first!" Yuanye was not very good at this kind of courtesy. He looked at Aju again and saw that her face was slightly pale and she looked very tired. He immediately suggested that they go and have a rest first.

Yu Da didn't seem to be a talkative person, and the windy seaside was indeed not a good place to talk, so he immediately supported his wife, took his son, and went back to the village with Yuan Ye. As soon as Yuan Ye arrived at the village, he arranged a room for them and asked them to wash up and rest first, while he listened to Aman's report.

"Of course he is reliable!" Ah Man gave him a very positive answer and said directly, "I went to several large islands and found several people like you mentioned. This one is the most prestigious and knowledgeable. He also has a wife and children, and a group of relatives on Kamimi Island. He is easier to control, so I brought him back first."

After a pause, she went on to explain in more detail, "When he was young, he was a pirate in the Seto Inland Sea. He also worked as a small-time captain on a merchant ship for a while. I heard he was quite famous. I don't know what happened six or seven years ago, but he couldn't stay in the Seto Inland Sea anymore, so he returned to his hometown with his wife. However, Kamimi Island was too poor, and the environment was too bad. His wife's health was getting worse, so I persuaded him to bring his whole family here. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been that easy."

"Were they pirates before?" Yuanye was slightly surprised. He had been here for so long and had never seen anyone in this industry. Today was an eye-opener.

"He must have been a pirate. Anyone with a bit of skill on the island has done this. This is the best. At least he doesn't rob people now and has been making a living by fishing." Ah Man misunderstood and thought he was discriminating against his profession. He immediately explained, "You want to find someone who has never robbed. That's impossible. Besides, those people may not be that good. Many people don't rob because they don't have the skills to rob. They are not kind people at all."

"That's not what I meant... Never mind, does he have any other requests?"

"He is very satisfied with the reward. After all, your offer is very high. It is already worth risking his life. But I also promised him that you will help his wife with her medical treatment. And if he works hard, you will give him a piece of good paddy field in the future. That's all."

Yuanye nodded and didn't care about the small conditions that Aman agreed to on the spur of the moment - as long as she could pass his inspection, her ability was not a problem, she was indeed a useful person, and she was willing to work for him with all her heart, he would naturally not be stingy. Moreover, loyalty has always needed to be cultivated, so he was willing to spend more money and time on this.

He then asked another question that he was very concerned about: "Have you made deals with the local leaders? Is there anyone who wants to move here to live?" "No, I can't fool them with a few kilograms of rice. They don't trust me, so how could they just follow me? But I made an agreement with them that they can trade their fish and seaweed for salt, cloth, ironware, and pills here in the future. If it was just business, they would be very happy and wanted to trade with me immediately. I exchanged some things with them and paid them about dozens of strings of cash. The sailors on the ship laughed at me and called me a fool."

Aman was very unhappy when she talked about being laughed at. After all, she was a person who loved face, was extremely vain, and was very competitive. Moreover, she felt a little sad about losing dozens of strings of coins. Those shabby seafood could also be bought in coastal fishing villages, and the prices were even cheaper than on the island. The warriors could mobilize a large number of villagers to do labor to catch seafood, get these raw materials for free, and then resell them at no cost at all.

As long as you are willing to buy it for a long time, they will definitely be happy to do so, and the price is negotiable.

"It doesn't matter. Face is worthless. It doesn't matter if I lose a little money, as long as they are willing to come." Yuanye doesn't care about being a fool. As long as it is good for him, he doesn't care whether he is stupid or not.

He was very satisfied with Aman's action this time, which perfectly met all his expectations. He was worthy of being his number one capable subordinate and was truly a treasure!

He praised A-Man highly, then took her to treat Yu Da's family to dinner so that he could get to know Yu Da's abilities better.

The banquet was very sumptuous, but Yu Da's wife felt quite restrained in his presence. After all, women were not allowed to sit at the table in formal occasions these days, and it was rare for someone to invite the whole family to dinner like Yuan Ye did. So she couldn't help feeling restrained even if she wanted to.

Yu Da, on the other hand, had seen quite a bit of the world and was in a relatively resilient and open-minded mood. He also seemed to be very satisfied with Yuan Ye's emphasis on his family. He showed no impatience when Yuan Ye asked him about trivial matters at sea. He explained clearly how to determine the direction by the stars, how to detect ocean currents and undercurrents, how to predict the weather and avoid storms, and how to safely avoid reefs.

Yuanye also listened patiently. He didn't know how to sail, so he could only judge the other party's confidence by his demeanor and expression, and use this to measure his ability. After Dada finished telling him how he led a group of fishermen to kill a whale with a spear, he finally got to the point and asked him in a hoarse voice where he wanted to go.

Of course Yuanye would not go. The ocean was too dangerous for him, not to mention opening up a new route. Even if it was just to go to an uninhabited island outside the Japanese archipelago, it was still very dangerous in this era. So he himself would not board the ship, but would only provide everything needed for exploration and ask Mr. Yu to take a trip and dig up a boatload of guano or cooked guano.

Yes, he was going to dig guano and guano stones.

The so-called guano is a hard lump formed by the long-term accumulation of large amounts of feces excreted by seabirds and undigested fish bones and other food residues under the action of bacteria on organic matter.

Generally speaking, guano includes minerals such as limestone, calcite, gypsum, chlorite, dolomite, etc. The composition of guano varies due to different geographical locations. Sometimes, you can even find a large amount of natural nitrate in guano mines. After all, guano is also feces, and its essence is not much different from human and animal feces.

Yuanye now needs saltpeter to exchange for a free forward base, but he doesn't want to popularize the technology of making saltpeter from saltpeter fields during the Middle Ages in Japan - Europe already has it. The saltpeter consumed by the rapid development of European musket technology was basically all produced by piling up manure in saltpeter fields before the discovery of the large saltpeter mines in South America, but it has not yet been spread to Japan. Unless he has to, Yuanye does not intend to expose this technology that is very easy to popularize, which will seriously affect his ability to make money and his personal value.

Therefore, he planned to first dig out the guano stone that Japan would not dig for three or four hundred years and use it. This would ensure that he would monopolize this high-profit business for a long time. It didn't matter if the route was exposed. Guano stone could not be used directly as saltpeter. It required a series of chemical methods to obtain saltpeter. Moreover, he dug guano stone as a by-product. In fact, the mature guano that had not yet lumped on the surface was more suitable for him and was more convenient to use to make saltpeter.

Well, even if they don't dig up the guano now, Japan would dig it in modern times. In fact, a big part of the reason why Japan invaded the Ryukyu Islands and occupied this place was to seize the guano mines for making gunpowder and explosives. The guano on the islands affiliated with the Ryukyu Islands has a high phosphorus content and is a good raw material for making explosives.

Seeing Yu Da asking, Yuan Ye did not hide his purpose. These stone guano were useless to others. He directly took out the hand-drawn map, pointed to the ocean southwest of Ise Bay and said, "I need you to go here. There are many circular islands formed by corals. The stones and soil on them are what I need. You must transport as much as possible back and record the route."

Yu Da didn't say anything, and no one asked him what he wanted the stones and soil for. He just slowly estimated the distance and considered the risks. After a while, he glanced at his wife and children, nodded slowly and said, "I need a good boat and fifteen people."

(End of this chapter)