After receiving Angus's message, Tang En immediately rushed to the Magic Energy Engineering Research Institute. At this moment, a group of people were gathered in the institute, staring at a glass bottle in his hand.
Tang En, who had rushed over excitedly, pushed the crowd aside and asked, "How is it?"
"Pretty good!"
Angus looked back at him and grinned. He shook the glass bottle in his hand, and the light green liquid inside swayed gently. "After reading the detailed records, I tried to extract some."
"How difficult is it?"
"Not very difficult. After failing a few times, the success rate is very high."
After a pause, Angus said, "I feel that if the array is prepared in advance, an alchemy apprentice with some training can basically refine it. The success rate is still acceptable."
Tang En's eyes lit up. "What about the cost?"
"That's what I'm going to talk about next."
Angus smiled and said, "Originally, according to the formula recorded by Hohnheim, the cost of materials used for a bottle of plant growth catalyst is about two gold coins. But after looking at the formula, I found that there is a reaction that I happened to use before, and I also found an improved version of the optimized formula. Using my improved formula, the cost can be reduced to less than one gold coin."
"One gold coin?"
This price did not sound expensive, but it was only the price of one bottle. Tang En frowned slightly. "How much area can a bottle of catalyst be used on?"
"It's hard to say. It involves a very complicated formula."
Angus spread out his hands. "Although the usage and effect of this catalyst increase, there is an effective threshold. Once the threshold is reached, it will be useless no matter how much is used. According to Hohnheim's statistics, after diluting a bottle of catalyst, it can catalyze... Well, if converted into Ellington units, it's about 2,300 square meters of farmland."
One gold coin for a bottle of catalyst, catalyzing 2,300 square meters of farmland. This cost was barely acceptable.
Although it would cost a lot of gold coins to ripen a large number of plants, the grain output would increase, and this was the most important thing.
Tang En raised his head and said, "I need the detailed refining process."
"It's all here."
Angus dispersed the others and pointed at the table behind him. "I brought all the materials and equipment needed to refine the catalytic liquid. This is a complete set of equipment."
After Tang En checked it, he asked Angus to refine a new catalytic liquid. He recorded all the steps involved in the material transformation and reaction, especially the steps related to the processing and extraction of raw materials. This was very important for his next plan.
"… Then there's the final step. Mix the two liquids together in the refining array and wait for them to cool down naturally."
Angus placed the glass bottle on the shelf next to him. Inside was the semi-finished catalytic solution that was waiting to cool down.
Tang En stared at the information he had recorded, his mind spinning rapidly.
"What's wrong? Do you have any questions? "
"No, I'm thinking about how to mass produce it."
Tang En knocked on the table and pointed to the raw materials on the book. "The cost of Ice Mist Grass and Weeping Blood Vine account for most of the cost price. If we can hire people to plant them in large quantities, the cost can be further reduced."
Angus shook his head. "These two herbs have very harsh requirements for the growing environment. We can only hire people to cultivate them in small quantities. It's very difficult to grow them like vegetables."
"If the growing environment is harsh, then find a way to meet their requirements."
Tang En smiled very brightly. When it came to this kind of thing, who dared to say they were the best in China?
"You mean … things like the greenhouses in the suburbs?"
Angus immediately understood and couldn't help but feel excited. "If we can use that kind of technology to cultivate them in large quantities, you may have solved a huge problem."
"Believe me, there will be no problem."
Tang En knocked on the table and said, "The problem of raw materials has been solved, so the next problem is the refining … When I watched you prepare the liquid, I observed the amount of raw materials used, but it's not enough. If we want to industrialize mass production, we need more accurate values."
"What do you mean?"
"After extracting the effective components of the raw materials, quantifying them. If it's a liquid, it's in terms of volume, and if it's a solid powder, it's in terms of weight."
Tang En said decisively. "Only in this way can we ensure that we will succeed in every configuration process, and at the same time, we can let the artificial soul complete the refining work accurately."
"Quantification … This is a new concept."
In the past, when alchemists carried out experiments, they basically improved their proficiency through repeated experiments. But without auxiliary tools, even alchemists with high proficiency would fail sometimes. Perhaps someone had once developed a set of auxiliary tools for measuring, but everything disappeared with the second war of Chaos. The progress of civilization was beaten back to its original state, and everything had to start from scratch again.
"I think you need a thermometer, a measuring cylinder, a beaker, a graduated dropper, and a pipette."
"What are those?"
"That's it."
Tang En snapped his fingers, and all the crystal utensils that he had prepared for the convenience of refining medicine appeared on the table. "I think you will soon learn how to use them. Now your task is to further extract and purify the raw materials used in the experiment, separate the effective components, prepare more, and then calculate the amount needed for refining. This is very important."
There was no doubt about the importance of the plant growth catalyst to the development of the entire society. Such a miraculous thing would probably only appear in a magical world like Plandal. If it happened on Earth, it was estimated that the food futures market would collapse in minutes after the news was made public.
Angus had no choice but to surrender. "Okay, okay, I owe you. Can I get it done by tomorrow?"
"As soon as possible. I will design an automatic production line according to the subsequent refining steps. After you have confirmed the data on your side, modify the artificial soul, and we can directly start the initial production."
Although the Ice Mist Grass and Weeping Vines had not yet been cultivated and had to be purchased from the market, the plant growth catalyst was of great strategic importance. If they could start production as soon as possible, they could bring in more food. Tang En could not wait any longer.
When Tang En was about to leave, he suddenly asked, "By the way, don't just talk about the plant growth catalyst. Have you forgotten about your business in Hohnheim?"
"Of course not."
Angus's face became serious. "I have already begun to analyze the technology left behind by Hohnheim. Believe me, give me a little more time, and I will completely understand the technology in the Scepter of the King. When that time comes, it will be easier to repair it."
"Well, after the plant growth catalyst is solved, you can focus on solving this problem."
Tang En then hurried back to the lord's residence. "Fiona!"
"Speak."
"I need you to buy a lot of herbs."
"Herbs?"
Fiona stopped writing, looked up and asked, "Are there not enough herbs to refine the Blood of the Goddess?"
"It's not the Blood of the Goddess. It's the plant growth catalyst."
Tang En shook his head and placed a list in front of her. "This is the list of raw materials. Other than the Ice Mist Grass and Weeping Vines, which are slightly more expensive, the other herbs are not too expensive. Buy as many as you can find in the market. As long as the price does not fluctuate by more than 30%, buy them all."
Fiona glanced at the list and found that most of the herbs were commonly used and were not expensive. She nodded. "I know. I will let Owen take care of this immediately."
Owen was the original owner of the Magic Medicine House in Kasparmi Castle. Later, he moved to Ellington and joined the Datang Chamber of Commerce, becoming a member of the Datang Chamber of Commerce. Now, he was considered a senior employee of Tang En. Compared to before, his status and income were much higher now.
"Not only do I need to buy them, but I also need a group of people to grow the Ice Mist Grass and Weeping Vines in the greenhouse."
Tang En reminded Fiona. "I have just studied the characteristics of these two herbs. We can simulate their living environment in the greenhouse and plant them on a large scale. The consumption of these two herbs will be large in the future, so it's best to industrialize the planting."
"We don't have that many people to use."
Fiona was helpless. "If it weren't for Yustisa's help, we might still be stuck on the bus project."
Tang En frowned and said decisively, "We can't contract all the products from the beginning to the end. Since we are too busy, we will outsource these less profitable projects and let those who want to make money do it."
"Outsource?"
"Yes, we will send people to teach them the technology, and then they will contract it. We will buy what they grow according to the contract price."
Tang En explained, "Although it seems to increase our production costs, think about it. This will not only reduce our labor costs, but also effectively promote market competition. When there are more people planting, the raw materials will naturally be in short supply. As long as we have the technology to mass produce the plant growth catalyst, they can only sell it to us. They won't be afraid of the technology leaking."
"Sounds very feasible."
Fiona was immediately interested after hearing Tang En's explanation. If it was really as Tang En said, then many similar projects could be outsourced. The Datang Chamber of Commerce only needed to grasp the most crucial technology to ensure that their position would not be shaken.
"Of course it's feasible. Otherwise, why do you think I promoted the industrial reform of the Irus Empire?"
Tang En spread out his hands. "Ellington's population seriously restricts our development. We need to become a product export base, not a raw material production base. After the production process is broken down, the parts are given to others to complete, and the final product is assembled in Ellington."
The ultimate goal of this economic model was to hand over all production to others, and they were only responsible for setting the product standards. This way, they could get the majority of the product profits.
Didn't this business model look very familiar?
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