Chapter Fourteen Nitrophosphate Fertilizer

  "This little rascal, it's already midday and he still hasn't come back. Is he going to make me wait till midnight before he sleeps? This is infuriating!" Fu Zhenbang stood by the window, looking out, his face anxious and impatient as he muttered to himself.

  Before that, Fu Zhenbang was really too tired. After Fu Xin escaped, he just shouted a sentence and then relaxed, feeling sleepy, and fell asleep on the office desk.

  At this moment, the scorching sunlight slipped in from outside the window and stared directly at Pei Zhenbang's eyes, so Pei Zhenbang woke up.

  "Hehe, I'm telling you, Old Fu, don't worry, I reckon your son is probably out eating with that fake young master and my future son-in-law. You, just eat lunch first. They'll come back once they're full and have had enough fun." Jiang Haiyang walked in from the doorway, a bowl of rice in his hand, with chopsticks stuck in it, surrounded by a mouth-watering mess of dishes. Smiling, he handed the bowl to Fu Zhenbang.

  "Hey, Director Jiang, how can I let you send food over? This is really...". Fu Zhenbang didn't refuse and accepted the rice from Jiang Haiyang, saying somewhat embarrassedly.

  "I said you just eat, we've known each other for so many years, and you really haven't changed a bit! I regard you as a brother, but you regard me as a superior, you're really too pretentious."

  Besides, even if I were your superior, now we are in this together. The project you're working on is strongly opposed by Secretary Chen, so once something goes wrong, whether it's you or me, we'll both be finished! Now, put down the bowl of rice and tell me what happened to my hopes? Jiang Haiyang said somewhat discontentedly.

  In fact, Fu Xin's previous life was indeed like this. If it weren't for Jiang Haiyang's efforts to speak up for Fu Zhenbang, perhaps Fu Zhenbang would have been labeled as someone who damaged national property. After all, doing technical research and development requires funding, and if it doesn't succeed, especially during such a period, the outcome wouldn't be like this.

  Even so, Fu Zhenbang and Jiang Haiyang did not have a good time afterwards. Jiang Haiyang was transferred to a retirement position where he spent the rest of his life, while Fu Zhenbang became a deputy factory director who was looked down upon and marginalized in the factory until it went bankrupt.

  "By the way, Lao Fu, how's the progress on tackling the technical difficulties?" Jiang Haiyang asked while watching Fu Zhenbang savoring his food slowly.

  Before, he trusted Zhen Bang and didn't care much about the progress of this project.

  So, Jiang Haiyang is not very clear about the progress of the project, and it's even more impossible to talk about dealing with the new "snow in the charcoal". Previously, he knew that Fu Xin was back from his daughter Jiang Cheng, and what he said was just as a father, eager to see his son return home.

  As for Fu Zhenbang sleeping, Jiang Haiyang received the news, and the meaning of the news was that Fu Zhenbang fell asleep from exhaustion. As a leader, he came to take a look and show concern for his "subordinates".

  "The past two days have been difficult, and I've been at a loss. Fortunately, that kid Fuxin didn't embarrass me on this trip, he learned some skills and brought back hope." Fu Zhenbang said, putting down his chopsticks.

  Jiang Haiyang was taken aback, furrowed his brow and asked: "Huh? What's going on? I thought the plan was very detailed, and according to that, it shouldn't be too difficult to operate and put into practice. Even if there are difficulties, with your level of skill as an eighth-level worker, you should be able to handle it, right? And didn't your son Fu Xin join the army? How is this related to him?"

  "Alas, it's all my fault. I was too naive at the beginning, thinking that others could produce nitrophosphate fertilizer industrially in the early 1930s. Now it's already the late 1970s, and soon it will be the 1980s. The gap between our technology is huge, but after so many years, time should have made up for the difference, and we should have been able to do it too. But, alas, I was really too naive. In the end, there's still a problem." Fu Zhenbang said somewhat "defeatedly", and then suddenly shoveled several mouthfuls of rice into his mouth to relieve his frustration.

  ……

  Nitrophosphate fertilizers began industrial production in the early 1930s. Since 1945, production has developed rapidly, mainly concentrated in Europe.

  There are many methods for producing nitrophosphate fertilizers, the simplest of which is the calcium nitrate-phosphoric acid method, a process that was used in Switzerland for many years.

  It is similar to the production process of calcium phosphate, using 65% to 70% nitric acid in a mixer to decompose phosphate rock powder, and the product contains about 8% nitrogen and 16% diphosphorus pentoxide.

  The advantages of this method are simple process, and the disadvantages are that a large amount of nitrogen dioxide escapes, polluting the environment, and the product has severe moisture absorption.

  Because the Hongxing Fertilizer Plant mainly produced superphosphate, a single-component fertilizer, if it were to switch to producing ammonium phosphate, a compound fertilizer, the equipment would not need significant new investment. Therefore, Fu Zhenbang chose to tackle ammonium phosphate production. This plan barely gained approval from the factory leadership.

  But what Pei Zhenbang did not expect was that the idea was great, and it succeeded, with a bright future ahead. However, he thought too simply, in fact, before submitting this plan, Pei Zhenbang had done experiments, and in the experiment, he indeed prepared nitrophosphate fertilizer.

  However, the laboratory is different from industrialized production after all. Industrialized production requires consideration of many more factors than in the laboratory. Fu Zhenbang was too excited and didn't think deeply enough before submitting the plan, without considering the difficulties encountered in industrialized production.

  The main problem he is currently facing is how to achieve fast and good industrialized production. The most important thing is how to remove calcium. Because, using 65% to 70% nitric acid in a mixer to decompose phosphate powder will produce calcium nitrate and other mixtures, and this calcium nitrate is the problem.

  Although calcium nitrate is a typical fast-acting foliar fertilizer, it can act more smoothly in acidic soils, and the calcium in the fertilizer can neutralize the acidity of the soil.

  For the re-fertilization of winter crops, post-attached fertilization for grains, excessive alfalfa growth fertilization, sugar beets, fodder beets, poppy, corn, green fodder mixtures and effective elimination of plant calcium deficiency with additional fertilizers, especially convenient.

  However, it is not suitable for paddy fields because calcium nitrate belongs to nitrate nitrogen and is easily lost with water. The Hongxing Fertilizer Factory is located in Jiangnan, and the fertilizers produced are mainly supplied to the Jiangnan area, where there are many paddy fields, so removing calcium nitrate is a must.

  ……

  "What's going on? If we can't get it done, both of us will be finished!" Jiang Haiyang panicked as soon as he heard this.

  "Huh, no way, you're saying that Fuxin that little guy has a solution? Tell me about it, what's his solution?" Jiang Haiyang also grasped at this straw of hope, anxiously slapping his own forehead as he spoke.

  "That kid, at least he didn't bring shame to his old man." Seeing Jiang Haiyang's reluctance to listen to his sighs, with a look of eagerness to know the solution on his face, Fu Zhenbang stopped his lamentations and said directly: "Some time ago, our country didn't teach that disobedient little country in the south a lesson? When Pei Xin got the opportunity and went onto the battlefield, he picked up an American's abandoned notebook on the South Vietnamese battlefield, which happened to record the manufacturing process of compound fertilizer."

  "That's not right, Old Fu. Even if he picked up a notebook, it should be handed over according to the rules. The three major disciplines and eight points of attention of the troops are not unknown to you. This little guy wouldn't have kept it for himself, would he?" As he said this, Jiang Haiyang furrowed his brow.

  He was transferred from the troops, so his brain's thinking is more rigorous. He deeply abhors and detests the behavior of privately hoarding war spoils, which violates the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention.

  "No way, how could he? If he dared to do so, I would beat him to death. He just flipped through it before submitting it." Fu Zhenbang explained.

  As soon as Fu Zhenbang said this, Jiang Haiyang's face relaxed a lot, but he immediately realized something and said: "That's not right either. You say that laptop is American, so it shouldn't have Chinese on it, should be English instead. Fu Xin can understand and remember it?"

  "I'm telling you, Old Chiang, your words make me unhappy. Can't you have some confidence in that good-for-nothing son of mine?" said Fu Zhenbang with a displeased expression, at which point the bowl in his hand had already been scraped clean.

  "Haha, look at you now, you're not even calling me Director Jiang anymore?" Jiang Haiyang said with a smile, ignoring Fu Zhenbang's displeasure.

  "Oh, sorry, I made a mistake... Director Jiang..." Fu Zhenbang also refused to show weakness, dragging out the two words "Director Jiang" for a long time.

  These two men, although in a superior and subordinate relationship, with Jiang Haiyang always suppressing Fu Zhenbang, are both childhood friends who grew up together. Fu Xian's grandfather, also Fu Zhenbang's father, and Jiang Haiyang's father, also Jiang Cheng's grandfather, were old comrades-in-arms who survived the battlefield together.

  After liberation, Jiang Haiyang's father did not return to his hometown, but instead retired from the army with Fu Zhenbang's father and came to this Yicheng area. The two were the same, serving as a civilian cadre.

  So there is no generation gap or estrangement between Jiang Haiyang and Fu Zhenbang. Although this Fu Zhenbang always calls Jiang Haiyang with an official title.

  ……

  Jiang Haiyang suddenly thought of something, patted his forehead and said: "It's still not right, nitrophosphate fertilizer is mainly found in Europe, but the one Pei Xin picked up was American, are you sure there's nitrophosphate content on it?"

  "Hmm..." This suddenly woke up Fu Zhenbang, who had been immersed in joy before. Ah, yes, nitrophosphate fertilizer is mainly produced in Europe, and there are so many types of compound fertilizers. What Fu Xin saw may not necessarily be the content of nitrophosphate fertilizer. If it wasn't, thinking about this, Fu Zhenbang didn't dare to think further.

  "Alas... there's no way, I can only wait for that kid to come back and ask again. Hopefully the chairman's spirit in heaven will bless us, and there will be content about ammonium phosphate fertilizer above." Fu Zhenbang sighed, sat down on the chair with a thud, and said gloomily.