When the mirror-making process encounters a bottleneck, the craftsmen on the earth can only find new scientific means to try to overcome the difficulties, which takes more effort and more inspiration, but once the invention of new technology can be quickly applied to practice, and through industrial mass production, the cost can be greatly reduced, so that luxury goods become the price of cabbage; The artisans of Varess had a shortcut, resorting to magic, which did solve the problem, but it also had the side effect of being too expensive to industrialize.

There are two ways to solve the problem, the former is difficult and then easy, and the latter is easy and then difficult, and while solving the technical bottleneck, it will also encounter the bottleneck of output. In the two worlds of Earth and Varess, there are many analogies such as the craft of mirroring, which reflect the characteristics of two different civilizations.

Roland's strength lies in his knowledge of both the Earth and Varess civilization systems. Knowledge is power, and his faith comes from knowledge that is universally applicable in both worlds.

Since the glass, tin, and mercury of the Varess world are no different from the glass, tin, and mercury of the earth, the mercury mirror technology on the earth must be equally effective in the Varess world.

"Alright, Mr. Roland, I'll try it as you said right away, it will take some time to prepare, I'll report back to you when the experiment is complete, please wait a moment."

"It's hard work, see you later."

At the same time that Jack was doing the experiment, Roland and the others did not wait, and under the guidance of Semyon Ivanovich, they went to visit the next place.

Jack has his own independent alchemy lab at the Koras Armory, and it doesn't take much time to prepare materials and experimental equipment. Melt the tin and apply it evenly to the glass plate, then apply a layer of mercury as Roland says, and all he can do is wait until the mercury penetrates the tin foil and forms a tin amalgam coating that adheres tightly to the glass plate.

Finally, when the experiment was completed, Jack carefully flipped open the glass plate, and couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise......

At the same time, Master Anthony Fogel's eyes widened in surprise, shocked by the incredible landscape in front of him.

Led by Semyon Ivanovich, Roland, Lyudmila and Antony crossed the Red Rock Mountain, trekked for two hours in the desolate wilderness, and climbed a hill to reach the end of their journey, where they were presented with a tranquil lake.

The surface of the lake bubbles, and it seems that spring water from the depths of the earth's crust is constantly gushing out. The lake covers an area of about 50 square miles, and the deepest point is only 3 yards, and there are no waterfowl on the lake, and there is no grass on the lake's edge.

In the middle of winter, when most of the other lakes in the area freeze, this shallow lake that looks inconspicuous still has no signs of freezing.

What's even more bizarre is that there is a thick layer of white frost condensed on the shallows by the lake, which looks like ice and snow everywhere from a distance, and when you get closer, you can squeak when you step on it, and the touch is harder than snow but crisper than ice.

Anthony bent down and touched the hoarfrost under his feet, and there was no cold feeling in his fingertips.

"What is this substance, it looks like salt?"

"You've only guessed half right, this is 'soap salt', haven't you seen it?" This time it was Lyudmila's turn to taunt Anthony, "This lake is a well-known local landscape, it is called 'Soap Lake', the lake water contains a high concentration of soap salt, you can't drink it, but you can use it to wash clothes, and the decontamination effect is not bad." ”

"The so-called 'soap salt' is actually natural soda ash." Roland didn't care whether Vares had the word "soda ash" or not, and used the literal translation of the noun on the earth to forcibly promote cultural exchanges, "This lake is a trona lake, and the water of the lake evaporates and precipitates alkali frost, which looks like a thick layer of snow." ”

Anthony nodded blankly and asked Semyon Ivanovich: "What is your purpose in bringing us here?" ”

"Miss Lyudmila has already mentioned that the natural soap salt produced in the lake is ...... Well, that's what His Highness Roland said about 'soda ash', which can be processed into decontamination powder, which local women are used to using to clean oil stains, and I plan to set up a factory in the industrial zone to collect natural soap salts as raw materials to produce decontamination powder. ”

"It's a great idea!" Lyudmila, who runs a hotel at home, of course knows that cleaning greasy dishes and tablecloths is a chore, and adding a handful of soap and salt to the cleaning will have an immediate decontamination effect.

"The idea of using soda ash to produce detergents is correct, but it is a waste of valuable trona resources." Roland said thoughtfully.

"Huh? How can it be wasted? Lyudmila was puzzled, "It is a waste to put these resources near the lake and not use them." ”

"Of course, the resources of the alkali lake should be utilized, but it would be a pity to sell the soda ash directly as a decontamination powder," Roland explained to his girlfriend with a smile, "The effect of soda ash solution as a detergent can only be said to be barely improvised, better than nothing, the market price is relatively low, as a commodity, the added value is too low, there is no profit, it is better to deep process it, made' Soap' and then sell, the same raw materials, a pound of soda ash powder is only worth 5 copper coins, and processed into a pound of soap can be sold for at least 5 gold coins, here is 100 times the value-added, you say which way to sell is more profitable. ”

"Wouldn't that be a bit too exaggerated?!" The giant girl was shocked by the hundredfold profit, "It sounds like 'turning a stone into gold'!" ”

"I've heard of soap, which is made of ashes mixed with grease and flour, which can be used to clean oil and sweat stains on the body. Anthony asked Roland.

"It's true that the soap is made from soap, but the soap I want is different from the shoddy stuff you said, and the stain removal effect is much better."

Roland has a reason for that. Vares's decontamination powder is not good, and the soap is still in its primitive stage, using plant ash and trona as raw materials, the decontamination effect is not good, and it is not popular. The kind of primitive soap with added spices that Anthony spoke of could only be afforded by wealthy families.

Roland remembers that his high school chemistry textbook had a chapter on "saponification" and a brief description of how to make soap. His knowledge of chemistry was very limited, but he didn't read it in high school, and he still had an impression of the process of making soap and the related chemical reactions.

"Is there any limestone in the mountains around here?" Roland asked Semyon Ivanovich.

"Isn't limestone just 'bluestone'? Of course there are, and they are everywhere, and they are often used as a material in the construction of houses, so it is not unusual. Semyon replied in the affirmative.

The most widely distributed and common stone in the Far East is "bluestone", which is blue-gray with white spots, and belongs to calcite, dolomite and the like in terms of the concept of minerals on the earth, and the main component is limestone (calcium carbonate).

"There's limestone, and that's easy." Roland smiled relievedly.