The day after the witches of Sleeping Island moved, Roland called the City hall manager, Barov, to the office.
"I need you to issue a recruitment notice," he pushed the draft in front of the other party, "A week of short-term work for about ten people, preferably women."
Barov picked up the paper and carefully looked it over, "Your Highness, what is starch?"
"You know wheat flour, right?"
The manager hesitated, "Do you mean coarse flour or fine flour? After grinding the wheat grains, they can be baked into bread or baked into wheat cakes, but what you eat is fine flour that is further sifted to remove the bran. The output of the latter is only 60% of the former, and the baked bread is softer, but the price is very high, only the great nobles can afford it."
The most satisfactory thing about this former assistant finance minister was that he had a full understanding of all kinds of low-level goods. Because of the backwardness of agriculture and the scarcity of food, the same thing was eaten in different ways at different levels. For example, the most common wheat, the commoners ate it directly by peeling the wheat grains and cooking them into porridge, which maximized the use of food. However, some residual wheat husks and gravel would also be cooked into the pot, which often caused a crunching sound.
The lesser nobles were more particular, they would order people to sift the wheat grains and remove the gravel, grind them into coarse flour, and bake them into bread and pancakes before enjoying them.
Further up the hierarchy were the wealthy nobles, and for these people, food was no longer simply a tool to fill their stomachs, but a means to pursue delicious enjoyment. The kitchen would further sift the wheat flour, remove the bran, and obtain a snow-white fine flour. The baked bread would be cream-colored, and not only would it have a delicate texture, it would also taste much sweeter.
"Starch is made from the fine wheat flour, which is further purified and processed," Roland spread out his hands, "When you recruit people, I will send someone to tell them the specific process."
"Continue, continue to process," Barov could not help but stare, "How much wheat will be used?"
"I don't need too much, three or four hundred kilograms," Roland paused, then changed his words, "A basket as big as my table will be enough."
He nodded and asked, "Why do you want as many women as possible?"
"Because they are more meticulous in their work. Moreover, I want to see more women go to work, rather than idle at home. "Roland suddenly thought of something," At present, the universal education carried out in Border Town seems to be progressing faster in the girls' class. "
"Although the main person in charge of the Ministry of Education is Lady Scroll, the situation is indeed like this. Apart from taking care of the children and housework, there isn't much they can do, so most of their time is spent on learning how to read. "
"If that's the case, I request that after the next round of assessment, the City hall you're in charge of must recruit a batch of female apprentices and gradually increase the proportion of female positions," Roland ordered.
"Your Royal Highness, there is no precedent for this," Barov frowned, "If we only talk about meticulousness, my apprentice is not worse than any woman."
"If there is no precedent, then create one," Roland said bluntly. "This is also the simplest and fastest way to increase the labor force without increasing the total population. If all the women can take up the task of building the town, my available manpower will double. What you have to do is to guide people to change their minds. As long as the pay is attractive, I think they will come forward one by one. "
After Barov left, Nightingale laughed in the Prince's ear and said, "What delicious things are you going to make?"
"Starch, no, it's not for eating," Roland took a sip of tea, "Although in the process of processing, you can indeed get a good ingredient."
He soaked the fine wheat flour in water, then kneaded and scrubbed it until the water completely turned white, then changed the basin of water and continued. The last remaining sticky substance was the gluten, which could be used to fry or stir-fry, it had a soft and elastic texture. After it was out of the pot, it would be smeared with honey or sprinkled with spices, and it would be delicious.
But Roland's focus wasn't on the food.
After the milky white water was sifted and left to rest, the precipitated starch was also the main material for making explosives.
Under the conditions that nitroglycerin had not yet been tested, and there was no way to talk about T.N.T., nitrostarch became the easiest high explosive to make, and the manufacturing process was exactly the same as nitrocotton. The finished product had low sensitivity, and could not be ignited by open fire, so it needed to be detonated by a detonator. Its power was higher than T.N.T., and it was widely used as a substitute for the former during the two World Wars.
With high-purity starch, those alchemy apprentices who were familiar with the nitrocotton manufacturing process would surely be able to quickly produce a batch of nitrostarch.
After lunch, Roland was planning to go back to his room to take a nap, when suddenly there was a knock on the office door.
Usually at this time, it was Anna who came to find him. His heart thumped twice. Was it because he was too tired last time and fell asleep directly, so this time he decided to pick noon?
"Come in."
The door was pushed open with a squeak, and Roland was startled. It turned out to be Evelyn standing outside.
Uh, this is a little different from what I thought, he coughed twice, and showed a kind smile, "What's the matter?"
She went to the table and bowed her head, looking a little nervous, "Your Highness, I want to ask you a question."
Is it a cliché again? But in the spirit of treating comrades as warm as the spring breeze, he smiled and said, "What question, you can ask."
"Why did you choose me to come to Border Town?"
Roland was slightly stunned. Could it be that she thought the wine was bad?
"My ability is neither as good as Sylvie's, nor as practical as Lotus and Honey's," she whispered, "If it's just wine tasting, the monthly salary of one Golden Dragon is enough to hire a professional winemaker from the King's City."
"What do you think of the wine?"
"At first, I think it's too hot, but as I slowly drink it, I can accept it. As for those mixed with ice, juice, and sugar water, the taste is richer. But this is just my personal opinion, "Evelyn replied cautiously," My family's tavern only sells cheap wine and watered ale, so I don't know the inclination of the nobles. "
It turns out that she's not suspecting that there's a problem with the wine, the Prince quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He got up and opened the bookcase, took out a jar of ale from the top and placed it in front of Evelyn, "Can you turn this jar of ale into the white wine I brewed?"
"I think it should be no problem," she held out her hands and held the jar, and soon the dim yellow wine inside began to change. With the emergence of bubbles, the ale became more and more clear, and finally became as transparent as plain water, but Roland could already smell the rich aroma of the wine. He couldn't wait to dip his finger into the wine and put it in his mouth. It was bitter and hot at the same time, this was the taste of high alcohol.
Roland couldn't help but laugh, "This is why I chose you."
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