Chapter 44 What I want is more than just it
Leaven said clearly: "First, don't stop acquiring the magic core. Tell Feili that if the second-order magic core cannot be received in a short time, There is no need to force it, the supply of first-order magic core You must give me a guarantee that it will never be less than 20 coins per month."
"Second, let Feili find it for me within 10 days, whether he hires or requisitions it. Five skilled cobblers came and asked to be able to make it independently Leather armor; the employment price can be 30% higher than the market price, but the contract is for at least 5 years. "
"Third, continue to import live pigs, no less than 100 pigs per month."
Old Gordon recorded neatly , and then raised his head to report the bill: "Lord Baron, according to your request, there are 5 skilled cobblers, each with 3 apprentices, that is 20 people. The annual salary is about 4.8 gold coins, which is not a lot."
"100 live pigs cost about 18-23 gold coins per month, which is within our affordability."
"But on average, Fili will send about 24-30 magic cores in a month , based on the average price of 3.72 gold coins, it will cost at least 93 gold coins."
"In addition, we also need to pay a monthly loan of 179.6 gold coins."
"Again. plus We need to pay an average of 311.52 gold coins per month for military pay and personnel salaries; and the monthly payment from Angel’s Tears is about 270-300 gold coins, which is beyond our means.”
Leaven nodded. He had a rough idea of these figures, but he didn't understand it as clearly as Old Gordon did: "Should the taxes from Gold Town and the autumn grain from Eagle Town be accounted for, right?"
"Yes, sir." Old Gordon said: "This time, the tax revenue of Gold Flash Town has been basically calculated, and there are about 617.65 gold coins. When the autumn grain is put into the warehouse, it is expected that there will be 80,000 kilograms of wheat, which can produce about 80,000 kilograms of wheat. 70,000 kilograms of semolina.”
"Well..." Raven knocked on the table: "In other words, there will be a gap in food?"
"Yes, sir." Old Gordon said: "But there are still some in the warehouse. 21,000 kilograms of semolina, including autumn grain, can be about 100,000 kilograms Right, enough to support 7 months of consumption."
"Not enough, far from enough." Raven shook her head and said, "Denise is right about the food. Go talk to her about this. 200,000 kilograms of semolina are needed, and the more the better, as long as she can get it. I want even 1 million kilograms."
Old Gordon's breath stopped: "Sir, isn't this too much? Although the price of food is not high, we can't consume it at all. This is simply throwing money away. ;And we don’t have such a big warehouse.”
"Don't worry, it's impossible not to consume it." Lei Wen said meaningfully: "We will organize manpower to build the warehouse. Anyway, the autumn harvest is almost over, so we can find some work for them."
"By the way, take those women who are idle at home Organize and clean up all the abandoned houses in Eagle Town, so that the deployed citizens will not have a place to live when they come over."
After taking down Raven's instructions one by one, Old Gordon just finished. When he wanted to speak, Raven said half-jokingly: "You Now you want to say that I'm going to make the best use of everything? There are still some problems.”
“Our finances. I'm still too nervous. Even if the payment from Angel's Tears has arrived and the Autumn Tax from Goldsmith Town has been recovered, the gold coins in our treasury will only be between 500 and 600. This amount, this amount is difficult to cope with... Uh. , emergencies.”
When he finished speaking, Old Gordon raised his head and glanced at Raven.
"I think we need at least 2,000 gold coins to be safe enough."
"Yes, the money we have is still too little." Raven sighed with emotion.
As a magician, he needs to buy new spells and spices to improve meditation efficiency. First-level spells cost about 120-500 gold coins, and second-level spells cost 800-3000 gold coins. Spices are not cheap either. Even the first-level ones cost 80-200 gold coins, and the second-level ones are even more ridiculously expensive. Starting at 500 gold coins, 1,000 gold coins is not impossible.
Now that Raven has become a first-level extraordinary, the improvement of the strength of his subordinates must also be put on the schedule. At least three more first-level extraordinarys must be smashed, and a bottle of first-level god-given potion can be purchased with 300 gold coins. In terms of pricing, even if the success rate is 50%, it requires at least 5 bottles, which is 1,500 gold coins, and it also needs to help Eric improve his rank.
This is money that must be spent.
Not to mention the 7800 gold coins to be paid to Judra.
“Two thousand gold coins is too little.” Raven knocked on the table: “In my opinion, it must be at least 10,000 gold coins to be considered insurance.”
Although after a few Although he had been living a prosperous life for several months, Old Gordon had not forgotten the previous embarrassment. Thinking about how Raven had just sent Simon to the Bloody Highlands to spy on intelligence, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
He swallowed and persuaded: "Sir, your achievements in the past few months have been high enough. It is better to move forward steadily and step by step. There is no need to take risks."
"Haha, don't worry, I value my own life more than anyone else." Raven chuckled.
Old Gordon was still a little worried: "Then...how do you plan to make money, sir?"
"The mountain man has his own clever plan!" Raven shook his head and said, Old Gordon didn't listen. If you understand.
The clever plan arrived in Eagle Town with the first batch of flowers the next morning.
After Raven washed up, he briefly discussed the purchase of food with Denise, and then led the people into the riverside workshop.
At the door of the northernmost workshop, Raven stood still: "Poirot, you have to think carefully. If I come in with you this time, you won't be able to get out of this place for a few months or a year and a half at most." The workshop.”
Poirot took a deep breath and nodded: “Understood, sir!”
“Very good,” said Raven, opening the door to the workshop. , a strong floral fragrance assaults the nostrils.
In the corner, there are large baskets of roses piled up.
Poirot stepped into the door immediately after him, and was immediately stunned.
He finally understood why Raven was so demanding about confidentiality.
Now a rumor has begun to spread: Baron Raven is addicted to "magic experiments" and is wasting his family's wealth.
In just two months, four large alchemy equipments were damaged, two more were purchased at once, and four more were customized for a rainy day.
Raven even got a new nickname because of this: "The Second Prodigal Baron."
The first one is of course the dead Donald.
But now, these four pieces of equipment that should have been "broken" are lying in this workshop.
Leaven didn't intend to explain, and said while putting on his gloves: "Don't be stunned, help me beat your hands - put on the gloves next to you, and cut out the baskets of roses."
"Okay, my lord!" Poirot came back to his senses and hurriedly got busy with Raven.
Cut all the buds and wash them clean. There are 247 roses in total, with a total weight of 10.12 kilograms.
"You must be optimistic about what I do next, and you must remember every word I say." As Raven spoke, he brought a pot of water-controlled flowers to a table Before the alchemical equipment.
The main body of this equipment is a table three meters long and one and a half meters wide. The whole is made of steel mixed with [muscovite]. It has very good corrosion resistance and heat resistance. It is two meters high and one meter high. The second cabinet serves as a support. In the cabinet on the left is a designed stove, and on the right is a wooden barrel for storing waste liquid.
On the left side of the table, above the stove, is a spherical flask the size of a bucket, with a long neck and a round bottom. There is a fork on the right side of the bottle mouth, connected to a straight glass tube, and a circle of leather water pipes is wrapped around the glass tube. , it can be cooled by pouring water in. The whole glass tube tilts to the right, and the end is bent down. It is connected to a detachable narrow-mouth flask to hold the final liquid.
The most valuable thing about this equipment is not the table below, but the glassware above. At least 60 of the 83 gold coins were spent on this.
The cost is nothing more than a pile of sand.
“Profiteer!” Raven sighed, secretly fighting in his heart.
When we get a good source of sand in the future, we will have to get the glass out no matter what.
Using a spoon, he carefully spread some small pieces of porcelain on the bottom of the bottle. Raven said: "Don't be distracted, Poirot, you must not forget this step. It is better to put more than less."
This is to prevent bumping.
Once this phenomenon occurs, the sudden increase in air pressure in the bottle is likely to explode the flask.
Then he picked up the washed flowers and threw them into the bottle one by one: "Don't be lazy in this step, put them one by one, bring as little water as possible in, pay attention to the position of the flowers, don't stick to the branch pipes , if it gets stained, use straw sticks to poke it, don’t dare to use anything else.”
Soon, the bright red roses filled most of the flask. Raven walked to the side, opened the lid of a water tank and said, "This is filled with water that has been boiled and then left to stand. When the time comes, people will continue to
Remember, let it sit for at least one night, and pour away the last fifth of the water directly and do not use it.”
This is Raven’s way of balancing efficiency. and effect, the method adopted as a last resort.
For distillation work like this, it is best to use pure water to prevent scale from settling in the bottle and causing unnecessary trouble.
But now that there are not enough alchemy equipment and manpower, it is impossible for Raven to distill pure water.
Boiling the water is to reduce the content of impurities as much as possible; letting it stand is to precipitate the impurities that precipitate after boiling; only taking the upper part of the water is to avoid interference from impurities.
Poop in water to fill the flask to three-quarters, and plug the mouth of the bottle with an oak stopper: "Remember, the water level cannot be too high, otherwise it may surge into the cooling pipe and affect the final effect; the stopper will not If it is plugged too tightly, it is better to have a little gap than to plug it all in, otherwise it may cause the bottle mouth to break..."
While operating, Lei Wen kept talking and occasionally stopped to answer questions. Luo's doubts. After all the preparations were completed, Raven put the prepared charcoal into the furnace and chanted a few syllables. A flame appeared on his fingertips, and soon the charcoal was lit.
Poirot hesitated and said: "My lord...this...I don't know how."
Raven chuckled: "I didn't ask you to learn this - there is a fire sickle next to it, and you are a chef. How can you keep the fire without me teaching you?"
The flames rose and burned the countertop. , ten minutes later, the water in the flask finally boiled, and the water vapor poured into the branch pipe, condensed into water droplets under the cooling of the leather water pipe, and flowed at a slightly inclined angle into the flask on the other side.
This was the first time for Poirot to see this situation, and his eyes could not help but stare.
"Don't be stunned, you will have time to watch later." Raven clapped his hands: "I'll leave that alchemy equipment over there to you, you will operate it this time."
波When Luo heard this, he suddenly became nervous. He knew how valuable this thing was. If it was really damaged, he wouldn't be able to afford the compensation if he sold it.
Seeing the tension in his heart, Raven comforted him: "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of unscrupulous lord. As long as you follow my operating procedures, even if the equipment is damaged, it will be my own loss."
Poirot swallowed again, nodded and walked forward to start the operation. Every two steps he took, he would open his notebook and compare it.
It must be said that because of his experience in extracting glycerin, Poirot got started quickly. Raven only corrected a few minor problems and the alchemy equipment started running.
"Okay, there is still work to do next, and then you can take some time off for a while." Raven pointed to the corner: "Boil a pot of lard, the ingredients are on the shelf over there. The last frame.”
But Poirot still obeyed.
When the lard was cooked, Poirot asked habitually: "My lord, where is the caustic soda?"
Sodium hydroxide solution will leave the caustic soda when it is dried naturally, and you can mix it with it when you use it. Just water, Poirot had made it before and had a lot of it in reserve.
"Don't worry, let's leave it for now." As he said that, Raven took out a few pieces of charcoal from a bag and threw them into the lard.
Poirot asked in surprise: "My lord, what is this?"
Leaven was too lazy to explain: "Just remember, no need to ask, this charcoal will be used as fuel when used up, and it will be used next time Put new charcoal in.”
Porous activated carbon can absorb the odor in lard. Although Raven does not have activated carbon, charcoal is not impossible to deal with.
As time goes by, the rose petals gradually lose their color, turning from bright red to deep purple, and the water in the flask becomes lighter and lighter.
When there was still a trace of water left in the bottle, Raven immediately turned off the fire and said: "Stop the other one too and rely on the residual heat to dry it. It is better to leave more than less."< br>
Poirot quickly did so.
When the water in the condenser tube was almost gone, Raven removed the flask on the right, and a strong rose aroma suddenly filled the air.
This liquid can be called "rose hydrosol" or "water essential oil". It has a rich fragrance and is an important raw material for many cosmetics.
Poirot rubbed his nose and smelled it in disbelief. The fragrant aroma made him a little unbelievable: "My lord, is this the treasure you want?"
"It's just rose hydrosol, it's not even close." Raven opened a clay pot on the shelf next to him, grabbed a handful of salt and threw it in, and started stirring it with an iron spoon.
After the salt melted completely, Raven took a deep breath, took out a long and thin glass funnel, blocked the outlet of the funnel with cork, and covered the funnel with a glass plate, feeling quite nervous. Waiting.
There were no problems during the experiment, but Raven didn't know whether the final result would be satisfactory.
After a few minutes, a light layer of oil finally appeared on the surface of the pure dew in the funnel.
"It's done!" Raven clenched his fists excitedly, took an iron bucket, opened the cork under the funnel, drained more than half of the liquid, and then blocked the mouth of the funnel. Start repeating the above process.
This process can be called boring, but neither Raven nor Poirot is slacking off at all. Once one person is slightly tired, the other person will pick up the slack.
Four hours later, all the rose hydrosol in the two large beakers was finally poured out, and a layer of clear oil finally condensed on the surface of the hydrosol in the funnel.
Lei Wen carefully opened the cork under the funnel and drained out the hydrosol. He had to wait for a while after each row, for fear that he would let out a little bit of the oil on it. At the end, only the oil would be left in the funnel. A little bit of hydrosol has fallen on it, and the oil on it looks no bigger than a soybean.
Putting the funnel on the iron shelf, Raven moved his wrist: "Pass me the small glass bottle under the shelf over there."
Poirot quickly ran over, uncorked the bottle, and put it on in the hands of the former.
Putting the vial on the table, Raven leaned down, pursed his lips, held his breath, held the funnel, pointed it at the mouth of the glass bottle with his mouth, exerted slight pressure on his fingers, and tilted the funnel upward. Finally, the grease fell into the glass bottle and spread an oil film at the bottom of the bottle.
"Huh..." Lei Wen let out a long breath, quickly capped the bottle, and raised it up to the sun, as if looking at his lover: "I finally got you!"< br>
This is rose essential oil. Its fragrance is far longer and more lasting than hydrosol. Even in the previous life, it was worth a lot of money. It is known as liquid gold.
A total of 247 roses weighed 10 kilograms and cost as much as 24.7 silver coins. Only a drop of less than 1 gram was extracted.
"Sir, what should I do with these... um, rose hydrosols? Throw them away?" Poirot's voice sounded.
Lei Wen said with a smile: "You can't throw this away. I've been working for so long. Do you think it's just for a drop of hydrosol?"
"Pour the caustic soda powder in and add lard. !”
There is no need for Raven to direct this step. After a few months, Poirot has already become an expert.
Prepare the solution, heat the lard, and pour the solution in.
The caustic soda solution based on hydrosol was poured into the lard. As Poirot stirred skillfully, a little bit of debris condensed and precipitated in it, and then settled down, condensing into one layer after another. of soap.
After filtering out the glycerin, Poirot habitually wanted to throw away the soap, but Raven stopped him, pointed at the latter and said: "Don't be so anxious, smell it."
Poirot put his nose to Go: "It seems... nothing special, eh! Ahem!"
It turned out that Raven held the charcoal soaked in lard and brought it to the tip of his nose. Poirot immediately smelled a strong smell. Disgusting pig smell.
Raven raised his chin: "Smell it again now."
Poirot came forward with some doubts, sniffed lightly, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "My lord...this, this , It’s simply amazing! Did you use magic?”
The soap is still the same soap that Poirot is familiar with, but the taste is completely different. Not only does it not smell like the pig, but Full of the sultry fragrance of roses.
Lei Wen said nothing, but there was a smile on his lips.
He has long known that using charcoal to deodorize can solve the problem of soap odor, but that is not necessary.
A piece of soap costs only 50 copper coins. If you sell it rashly, not only will you not get much profit, but it will make people associate it with the sudden appearance of the tears of angels.
There are not so many idiots in the world, especially businessmen.
And this is one of the reasons why Raven claimed that many alchemy equipment were broken, and he did not hesitate to be called the "Second Prodigal Baron".
He didn't want anyone to associate alchemy equipment with new products.
“This kind of thing can be called soap.” Raven said.
Poirot nodded slowly and admired from the bottom of his heart: "Soap...what a good name, sir. This kind of thing will definitely sell like crazy in the homes of wealthy merchants and nobles!"
He is no longer just He is Raven's chef and his chief craftsman. The more money Raven makes, the more benefits he will get. After all, Raven has always been generous to his opponents.
"Then you are happy early." Raven smiled mysteriously: "This is just the beginning, the next thing I want to do is the big head."
After all, he wanted to If you want something, rose essential oil alone will not achieve the effect.
“Poirot, go tell the warehouse.
The wine can be shipped over. ”
……
(End of this chapter)