[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-473":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365401,4632,"Chapter 473: Synthetic Ammonia","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-473",473,"\u003Cp>While other European countries were frantically expanding their militaries in preparation for war, Spain remained somewhat calm at this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from the naval construction already underway, the Spanish Army had no plans for further expansion; after all, they had only recently increased the army to 424,000 men, and when combined with colonial troops and the Imperial Guard, the total number of Spanish troops had actually reached as many as 750,000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carlos was busy trying to recruit a foreign scientist at this time, and he held high expectations for this individual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This scientist’s name was quite famous: Fritz Haber, an excellent scientist whose reputation was defined by both praise and infamy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding his fame, in 1909—the current year—Fritz Haber became the first scientist in the world to produce ammonia from the air, ushering humanity into the era of synthetic ammonia, freeing it from the passive reliance on natural nitrogen fertilizers and accelerating the development of global agriculture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The importance of synthetic ammonia was not limited to agriculture; it could also replace saltpeter in the production of gunpowder. In the era before synthetic ammonia, both fertilizer and gunpowder production required vast amounts of saltpeter mines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, the world's saltpeter mines were limited, and the largest source currently came from the Pampa Desert in Chile, a mining region firmly controlled by the British.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Precisely because the British controlled the Chilean saltpeter mines, the importance of synthetic ammonia was implicitly increased. For Spain, synthetic ammonia could be used not only to produce gunpowder but also to manufacture fertilizer, increasing the grain yield of Spanish farmland and accelerating the development of Spanish agriculture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The importance of synthetic ammonia was already destined by these two points alone, which was why Carlos placed such great importance on Fritz Haber, the first scientist in the world to synthesize ammonia from the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Fritz Haber’s infamy, it was actually related to the First World War.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a German chemist, Fritz Haber was heavily relied upon by the German government during the First World War, serving as the director of German chemical warfare plants and responsible for the research and production of poison gas, including highly lethal chemical weapons such as chlorine and mustard gas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The poison gas produced by Fritz Haber’s chemical plants was used by the German government in the First World War, causing nearly a million casualties; such actions were condemned by scientists around the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the primary person responsible for the research and production of poison gas, Fritz Haber’s reputation naturally suffered, and at certain times, his infamy even outweighed his fame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Carlos, Fritz Haber’s infamy was naturally not that important. After all, Haber had not yet produced chemical weapons for Germany at this time, and since he had already arrived in Spain, it was naturally impossible for him to go and produce chemical weapons for Germany again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding chemical weapons, Carlos held the principle that one could choose not to use them, but one could not afford to be without them, and he still hoped for Spain to conduct relevant research.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain would not take the initiative to use chemical weapons in war, but if the enemy used them, Spain would need to retaliate with the same means, so as not to let soldiers suffer innocent casualties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, researching chemical weapons would also allow for better defense against the enemy’s chemical weapons. Although it would not be enough to completely change the situation of soldiers on the battlefield, it would at least allow some soldiers to remain calm and figure out ways to survive when facing enemy chemical weapon attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, at least for now, what Carlos valued most about Fritz Haber was actually his synthetic ammonia technology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain was definitely one of the countries in Europe most in need of synthetic ammonia, because the soil in Spain was truly too barren, and coupled with drought, the grain yield per acre was at the bottom of all of Europe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were not for the large tracts of land Spain had developed in West Africa for growing grain, I am afraid the domestic grain yield alone would not be enough to feed such a large population.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Spain had mined large quantities of phosphate in Morocco and the Western Sahara region, and used these phosphate mines to produce large amounts of phosphate fertilizer to increase domestic grain yields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These phosphate fertilizers did not conflict with nitrogen fertilizers made from synthetic ammonia; Spain could fully adopt both types of fertilizer to further increase domestic grain yields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a reasonably patriotic German, Fritz Haber was originally uninterested in coming to Spain. But after the Spanish side offered a salary he could not refuse, Fritz Haber eventually gave up on Germany and chose to go to Spain to take up his post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no helping it; the conditions Carlos offered were simply too attractive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carlos promised to build a large-scale chemical laboratory for Fritz Haber, with a total investment of no less than 15 million pesetas, and to provide Haber with at least 5 million pesetas in research funding annually, without interfering in any of Haber’s scientific research.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this basis, Carlos would also establish a chemical plant specifically for the production of synthetic ammonia and the subsequent processes of manufacturing gunpowder and fertilizer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spanish Royal Family, represented by Carlos, would hold a 90% stake in this chemical plant, while Fritz Haber would contribute his technology for a 10% stake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carlos promised that the investment in this chemical plant would be no less than 50 million pesetas, meaning even with only a 10% stake, Fritz Haber’s share would be worth at least 5 million pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with Carlos’s almost naked act of handing over money, Fritz Haber truly could not say no. In addition to the obvious financial gains, Carlos also personally promised Haber that as long as the fertilizer made from synthetic ammonia could effectively increase Spain’s grain yield, he would personally grant Haber a title in the future based on his contributions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Fritz Haber, this was equivalent to a double harvest of fame and fortune. All he had to pay was the act of immigrating from Germany to Spain, which was something Haber found entirely acceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Spain was also a European country, and at this time, Spain was very powerful and its economy was quite prosperous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Haber, it was nothing more than changing his environment; being able to own a large-scale chemical laboratory of his own plus a 10% stake in a large enterprise was enough to ensure that he and his family would have no worries about food or clothing for the rest of their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fritz Haber did not even hesitate much; he quickly agreed to Carlos’s invitation and, after transiting along the way, finally arrived in Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After being personally received by Carlos, Fritz Haber finally believed that all of this was not a fantasy; the King of Spain, Carlos, truly valued him highly, and the conditions previously offered were all real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since these conditions were all real, Haber naturally would not have any other thoughts. He was eager to immigrate to Spain immediately, to go back and forth between his villa and his large-scale chemical laboratory, and to focus on his experiments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For such a scientist with great ability in chemistry, Carlos naturally valued him highly. In order to let Haber devote himself to chemical research as quickly as possible, Carlos first let Haber choose any one of the chemical laboratories in all of Spain’s universities to use as a temporary substitute.\u003C\u002Fp>",1265,"2026-06-25T09:27:15.200Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","3d171ce3fcbd3cd48ac8f6216cda1c914038fd2104d6fe86ab913bd6487cfc5c","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-474","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-472",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]