Several days later, outside the Zhu Family Castle's phosphate mine.
This mine had been taken over by the court, and following investigation by officials sent from the Ministry of Industry, its reserves proved to be astonishingly vast.
What the thieves had excavated was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Phosphate, a substance that might be used in chemical industries in the future, had little use in this era and was not highly valued by the court.
However, due to the development of firearms in the military, a significant amount of yellow phosphorus was needed, prompting the garrison to send troops, close off the waterways, and construct a mining site here.
Mining phosphate was dangerous, and the miners' lives were short.
When hostilities broke out in Ezhou, prisoners and war captives from various places were sent here to dig and mine.
