Since muskets are to be used in large quantities, another item—gunpowder—must be prepared. Because, every time they fight, the musketeers will consume a lot of gunpowder.
According to the ratio of the old-fashioned Spanish phalanx, the ratio of spearmen to musketeers is about 3:1. In other words, in a phalanx of 1,200 people, musketeers accounted for about 1/4, about 300 people.
According to the information seen on the Internet in the previous life, Marin knew that each musketeer would generally send out 1 pound of lead weight and less than 1 pound of gunpowder in each battle. This is the data of the British. For the brown bass flintlock guns used by the British, one pound of lead block is made into 15 lead bullets, which is 30 grams each. The charge is 3/4 ounces each time, which is 21 grams.
That is to say, in a battle, the musketeers fired up to 15 shots, and then entered the stage of bayonet fighting... Of course, that was the tactic of the British Red Shirt Army later. The bayonet has not yet appeared these days. When the enemy is close, the musketeer usually fights with a one-handed sword or short spear.
However, the Spanish musquete musket is different from the brown bass flintlock. The bullets of the Musket gun weigh 50 grams each, and the charge is as high as 35 grams. Therefore, ammunition costs more.
Greater ammunition consumption requires more gunpowder consumption. Unfortunately, there are no saltpeter mines in Europe, and the trade routes between India and the Middle East, which are rich in saltpeter, are also blocked by Turkey. Therefore, Europeans can only find nitrate in the cesspit now. The quantity is small and the collection is difficult.
Right now, Europe has not yet fully entered the gun era, and the demand for gunpowder is not too great. When Europe entered the era of queuing and shooting, the consumption of gunpowder was very alarming. If the British hadn't opened up the saltpeter trade in India, God knows if the British have enough gunpowder to fire so many naval guns.
In order to collect enough saltpeter for war, King Charles I of England, the bastard whose head had been beheaded, specially dispatched saltpeter officers to break into people's homes at any time throughout the UK and dig up the saltpeter in toilets and stables. Let's go, refine the soil nitrate. In order to obtain enough soil nitrate, Charles I also ordered that no slate or wooden boards should be laid on the ground of toilets and stables across the country, so as not to affect the collection of nitrate...
Although Charles I's approach seemed a little crazy, it was actually a kind of helplessness. Why would he do it if there was enough saltpeter? It was not until Britain established a firm foothold in India and steadily obtained a large source of cheap Indian saltpeter that Britain canceled the saltpeter collector.
On Marin's side, just about to form the Spanish phalanx, but immediately needed a lot of saltpeter to configure gunpowder. Currently, saltpeter is not only expensive but also scarce in Europe. Because the demand is not large, not many people produce it. The Hoffman estate once conducted research on soil nitrate, but after the coal mine was put into operation, the collection of soil nitrate became dispensable. Old Hoffman directly sent the workers who collected soil nitrate to the coal mine to help...
In order to reduce the cost of gunpowder, Marin decided to set up a nitrate officer on the island of Texel...
At the same time, in order to obtain nitrate, Marin learned from Charles I and ordered that all toilets and stables on the island be prohibited from laying stone and wooden boards, so as not to affect the collection of nitrate...
Marin estimated that the original population of the island was more than 800 people, and later more than 400 people (Marin and soldiers) came, including the families of the soldiers, reaching 1,500 people; then, because of cooking salt, recruited More than 3,000 people; then, more than 600 Frisian fishermen were recruited...
In other words, there are now 6,000 people on the island, plus more than 1,000 horses and cattle, and a total of more than 7,000 animals are producing feces every day...
It can be said that the amount of nitrate produced in this way is still considerable...
Of course, things didn't go so well. It is a very dirty job to be a nitrate officer, and absolutely no noble children and cultural people are willing to take it.
Therefore, Marin had to choose from civilians and pay high salaries. After training, about 20 salt collectors began to patrol around the island every day. The toilets of every household must be unconditionally opened to the nitrate collector...
At the same time, Marin also dug two craftsmen who made nitrate from the mainland, and asked them to be responsible for boiling the nitrate dug back by the nitrate collectors into soil nitrate. Then, mix it with plant ash, etc., and further boil it into potassium saltpeter that can be used in gunpowder preparation...
Every day, every nitrate collector pushes a wheelbarrow, knocks on doors from door to door, and then holds the command flag issued by Marin, ordering the residents to take them to the latrine to find shit...
All the islanders felt very strange about this order from the lord. However, the nobles can play, and they can't help it. After all, the only noble on this island is Marin. As for the knight Schwartz, he is just a vassal of Marin. Therefore, Marin is on the island of Texel, that is what he said, and no one objected.
Marin had read online articles in his previous life and knew that it would take about 20 days for feces and urine to be poured on the soil before it would be transformed into nitric soil. For the 6,000 residents on the island, there are only the original toilets for more than 800 people, which are old and thick with nitrate soil. As for the new immigrants, the nitrate produced by excrement and urine is not enough, but it is still being produced. After all, there are so many people.
But what made Marin angry was that many fishermen by the sea actually poured feces and urine into the sea directly. It was a serious waste, it was a crime, and it polluted the sea...
Therefore, Marin ordered to build centralized public toilets in the downwind of the fishing village. All fishermen's families are not allowed to dump their feces into the sea at will. Of course, exceptions can be made when going fishing.
In this way, Marin established a complete nitrate collection mechanism on the island. In the first period of time, the nitrate collectors on the island plundered all the nitrate soil from the toilets of the original 800 residents on the island. Then, Marin ordered them to dispatch once a month to collect nitrate. Because, the formation period of nitrate soil is about twenty days.
Of course, on the island, Marin didn't keep his word. For example, in several churches on the island, the toilets are paved with stone slabs. For the church, Marin did not dare to send someone to remove the slate in their toilet. Because, the church, Marin can't afford to mess with it now.
However, Marin also thought of another way. For example, he dug a pit away from the church. Then, he sent people to the church, used a dung truck to remove all the feces in the church toilet, and then poured them into the pit, waiting for the formation of nitrate soil...
The fact that Marin set up a salt collector on Texel Island was quickly spread by businessmen who came to the island to do business. This news was regarded as a joke after dinner. But there are also shrewd businessmen who come to Texel Island and ask to buy saltpeter. However, Marin knew that in future wars, his own saltpeter might not be enough, so where would he sell it