The border town is not suitable for growing sugarcane, and there have been attempts to obtain sugarcane seedlings in the past, but they have failed.In order to maintain a decent life for the aristocracy, the Eisen family had to buy sugar from other places every year, which was also a large expense.Therefore, when Owen learned that the border town could grow sugar beets that could replace sugar cane, he was naturally very happy, and specially set aside a test field to grow this new crop.In this way, the border town can save a lot of money by planting sugar beets directly on its own land without buying sugar from other places.In addition to being used in sugar production, its by-products also have good utilization value.For example, molasses can be fermented or chemically processed to produce alcohol, alcohols and glycerin.The filter sludge after sugar production is rich in calcium and other nutrients, which can be used as fertilizer.Beet stems and leaves, green heads, tail roots, and beet meal are also high-quality and juicy feeds that can be fed by livestock or slimes.All in all, there are many benefits to growing sugar beets.Some people may ask, so why not expand the cultivation of sugar beets?
The main problem is with the wheat planted this year, and Owen doesn't know exactly how much wheat will be produced this year.No matter how good the beet is, you must first ensure that the people can fill their stomachs, after all, wheat is everyone's staple food.The data provided by Winster cannot be directly applied to the border town, the situation on the two sides is completely different, and the existence of magic is the biggest uncertain factor.After this year's autumn harvest, Clive counted a rough figure, and then Owen would have a bottom in his mind.At that time, he will reclassify the agricultural planting in the border town to ensure the rational distribution of various crop plantings, make more scientific use of land resources, and promote the development of the territory.Before leaving, Owen said to the farmer, "Do a good job, and when the harvest comes, I will buy it all at the price agreed before." ”"I will, my lord."
The peasant nodded.Previously, the farmer wanted to grow wheat like everyone else, but Clive approached him and said that the lord wanted to use the field he had been assigned to as a test field to grow sugar beets.At first, the peasants were reluctant.Why do you want him to grow a crop that he has never heard of, and what if the harvest is not good?
In order to reassure the farmer, Clive offered an attractive price, and as long as the planting was carried out according to the guidelines, he would buy it all at that price, regardless of the final harvest.Moreover, he made a simple calculation for the other party, and the result was that growing sugar beet was more profitable.This made the farmer determined to grow sugar beets.…… In the afternoon, in a makeshift laboratory.Owen took four oval-shaped pieces of yellow soap out of the mold, and the prototype was very successful.Since the laboratory already had the ability to produce caustic soda, plus raw materials such as grease and high-purity alcohol, Owen decided to try making soap.The oil is directly made from animal fat, while the high-purity alcohol is distilled and purified from liquor purchased from other places.The principle of making soap is very simple, it is the saponification reaction.The oil and sodium hydroxide solution are co-boiled and hydrolyzed into high-grade fatty acids and glycerol, and the former is processed and formed into soap.It is worth mentioning that grease is not easily soluble in sodium hydroxide solution.At this time, it is necessary to add alcohol to increase the solubility of the oil and speed up the saponification reaction.Picking up a bar of soap and sniffing it in front of his nose, Owen could smell a faint floral scent, which was due to the fragrance he had added to the process.In this way, it can replace the original strange alkaline smell of soap, and introduce it to the outside world as a soap.If it is to be sold to the outside world, I believe that soap will be very popular with female aristocrats, after all, people like them love cleanliness very much.Therefore, Owen plans to build a soap factory in the border town to produce soap.In addition to making money from external sales, he also took into account the health of the people.As we all know, soap's stain-removing power is quite powerful.If we could produce relatively cheap soap on a large scale, so that everyone had a piece in their home, and everyone would use the soap to wash themselves cleanly, the chance of getting sick would definitely be greatly reduced.In addition to this, there is an even more important reason that there is a by-product produced when soap is made, and that is glycerin.This thing can be used to create explosives that are more powerful than black powder, and smokeless powder also needs it.Unfortunately, the border town does not yet have the conditions for large-scale soap production.The first is that the amount of caustic soda produced in the laboratory is limited, and the production of nitrocellulose must be prioritized to meet the demand for bullets.Secondly, the current production cost of high-purity alcohol is relatively high.This will have to wait until after the harvest this autumn to see if there is any surplus wheat that can be used to ferment to make alcohol in large quantities.In addition, beets can also be used to prepare alcohol.Finally, there is fat, animal fat is very expensive, and it is impossible to produce a large amount of animal fat by Frontier Town alone.Then you need to buy it from outside.In this case, it is better to buy a large number of plant seeds or fruits that are relatively cheap and can be extracted for oil, and then transport them to the border town to extract vegetable oil.Whether it is animal or plant, as long as it is oil, it can be used to make soap.By the way, a large amount of trona can also be purchased and transported to the border town to prepare enough caustic soda by causticizing the method.In this way, the border town will be able to meet the conditions for the construction of a soap factory."
Buying it from outside......"
Owen muttered quietly.If the merchant ships entrusted to the merchant to transport the goods from afar, the border town needs to pay a freight fee, as well as the difference in the price of the goods traded.This will undoubtedly drive up the cost of making soap.In order to reduce production costs, Owen increasingly felt that it was better for Frontier Town to have a fleet of ships subordinate to the lord.Not only the raw materials used to make soap can be transported, but other raw materials can also be transported.For example, if President Masha promised to supply saltpeter exclusively for Frontier Town, he could save some money by sending his own ships to pick up the saltpeter from her nitrate-making factory.In addition, the border town no longer exports ore, and all of it is used by itself.Even so, Owen still felt that there was a serious shortage of iron, and was already discussing with Clive whether to buy a batch of iron ingots or iron ore from outside.Then you can send your own ship to bring the iron back.It's ridiculous to think about it, even though Frontier Town itself is a town rich in iron ore, it needs to import iron ore or iron ingots from outside.It's decided!
After some thought, Owen made a big decision.Anyway, you have the design drawings of the ship in hand, so it is better to gather people to build the ship, recruit captains, train crews, and form a fleet that belongs to the border town.This lord is backed by a tech tycoon