Chapter 459 The Road to Chemical Industry
Seeing the alien guest in front of him becoming more and more excited, Paul waved his hand and said, "Please calm down, your noble prince."
He made an unbearable expression and said: "I fully understand your eager enthusiasm for the restoration of the country, but unfortunately, I can only provide you with moral support."
"Spiritual support? What is spiritual support?”
The dwarf, who was not familiar with the Aldo language, took three seconds to react.
"What? I won't give it to you. Ah, powerful human lord, I have seen your soldiers. They are brave, resolute, well-trained, and hold weapons as powerful as thunder."
The dwarf had a look on his face. Incredible.
“Think about the rewards I can give you once you succeed. As far as I know, no dwarf tribe in the Rocky Mountains has ever had good relations with humans, and you will be the first in history. Become a messenger of friendship between the two races."
Paul spread his hands: "Maybe you have some misunderstanding about my identity? I don't have power..."
"Misunderstanding? You don't have power? The owner of this land? As long as you give the order, the people of this land will fight for you.”
Paul smiled and said: "Your Highness, 'Prince', maybe because you are new here, you don't know much about the political structure of our human beings. Let me explain to you. I, Paul Graiman, am just a member of the Aldo Kingdom. One of the many lords, there is a King above me. If I send troops to fight outside Aldo without permission, I will be reported to the emperor, and then I will be put in the shoes of His Majesty."
"What? You are still being controlled by others?"
Irma Stonemason's eyes widened, "Okay, where does the King you are talking about live?"
“In a city called Jingyao in the south.”
“How long will it take to get there?”
"It will take about 20 days if you ride a horse."
"20 days? You still have to ride a horse?"
The dwarf Irma was disappointed.
He had mustered up great courage to follow the exploration team to Arda.
If we go further south...
Perhaps a human lord along the way would be happy for a fat "dwarf" to appear at his banquet.
"Well, human lord, can you support me with a sum of money?"
"As the beginning of our friendship, I will be happy to provide you with a travel fee and solve your problem in my life." The issue of food and drink in the territory.”
Imar: “…”
In this way, Paul’s meeting with the dwarf guests ended in an unharmonious atmosphere.
He called Stanford and detailed his meeting with the dwarf.
Then he asked Stanford: "Do you think what I did is right?"
Stanford nodded, "I think there is nothing wrong with your approach. Little is known about the matter, and my understanding of this Irma is very limited, but at least on the surface, he has a bad temper and is...a difficult person to get along with. In short, from a personal perspective. , He is not a good candidate to be friends with." Apart from the fact that he is just a lord, Paul really has no interest in supporting the restoration of the dwarf prince. As Stanford said, Alda's knowledge of the dwarves in the Rocky Mountains was almost blank, so how could she believe the other party's words.
Even if Paul had the will, he was powerless. Although the territory's fiscal revenue is increasing year by year, every penny must be spent wisely.
Not long ago, Paul and several heads of the Chemistry Laboratory of Wyss College finalized a major plan - to start the chemical industry.
In fact, Alda already has primitive chemical industry - extracting nitrate from dung heaps, uh... if this counts.
Paul’s new goal was to produce sulfuric acid on a large scale.
Alchemists in this world currently obtain sulfuric acid by distilling alum-based substances, which is time-consuming, laborious, and inefficient in small amounts.
So Paul suggested that the alchemists use the lead chamber method to make sulfuric acid.
The general strategy is to build a cubic lead chamber using lead plates that are resistant to sulfuric acid corrosion, and burn a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter in it, so that the sulfur oxides produced are absorbed by the water sprayed on the walls, constantly replenishing the saltpeter. and sulfur, and finally take out the acid and heat it in a glass container to concentrate.
This is just the earlier lead chamber method. The more complete lead chamber method is more complicated and requires catalysts. But for Alda's chemical industry in its infancy, Paul's method was sufficient. And he couldn't come up with the complete method in one step. First, it increased the complexity of experiments and construction (this is the main thing). Second, Paul didn't want his alchemists to become a group of people who only knew how to execute orders mechanically. Idiots, you have to leave some space for them to think and improve.
Alchemists were skeptical when they first heard about this method, but if sulfuric acid could be produced efficiently and on a large scale, who wouldn't be willing to give it a try. You know, sulfuric acid is a very important material in their various experiments.
There are two reasons why Paul wanted to manufacture sulfuric acid on a large scale.
One is that it can be sold to alchemists in other places to make money - guys who engage in this profession are often very wealthy.
Second, sulfuric acid is an important industrial raw material. In the existing industries of Alda, sulfuric acid may be used in metallurgy, tanning, papermaking, pigments, and coking. Even if it is not used now due to primitive technical means, it will be developed in the future in the long run. It will definitely be used in the future - this has been verified in the history of previous lives.
But what Paul hopes most is to first produce copper sulfate through sulfuric acid. Copper sulfate can be used for tanning leather, mineral processing, and sterilization. It can be used to further prepare early pesticides, such as Bordeaux liquid.
With pesticides, agriculture in the Northwest Bay can further develop, and the issue of food is the most important.
The lead chamber method achieved initial success after several experiments.
The alchemists are going crazy with joy.
But at the same time, they couldn't understand how a young man who had never heard of any contact with alchemy could come up with such a wonderful idea.
There is also the previous method of making salt. Could it be that he received the divine revelation from the God of Light in his sleep?
After the experience of making nitrate and acid, the last trace of arrogance of the alchemists in front of Paul disappeared without a trace. Paul is now a favored person in their eyes.
The construction plan of a chemical plant is under intensive preparation. Although the feasibility of the lead chamber method has been verified in the laboratory, there are still many engineering problems that need to be solved before it can be truly applied in large-scale production.
And what must be more considered is the safety issue of the chemical industry. Needless to say, sulfuric acid is a very corrosive thing, and the copper sulfate that Paul is looking forward to is also toxic. Therefore, the location of the chemical factory must be carefully selected. It cannot be built near residential areas or next to the Vis River. God knows what weird things will be produced in the future.
In addition, there is the recruitment and training of workers. The two heads of the alchemists, Hoffmann and Wells, both suggested that the students studying chemistry at Weiss College should be used first. After all, they already have some experience in chemistry. Know the hazards of various materials and reagents.
Then slowly select and train qualified workers.
Paul knew that this group of alchemists couldn't wait to see the chemical plant blossom and bear fruit. Of course, he also wanted to see results as soon as possible, so after repeatedly emphasizing the safety principle, he agreed to the two people's suggestions.
(End of this chapter)