The day after the Sleeping Island Witch moved, Roland summoned Barov, the head of the town hall, to his office. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"I need you to make a recruitment announcement," he pushed the draft to the other side, "a week's worth of short jobs, about ten people, preferably women." ”

Barov picked up the paper and read it carefully, "Your Highness, may I ask about starch...... What is it?"

"You know wheat flour, right?"

The steward hesitated, "Do you mean coarse flour or fine flour? Wheat grains can be baked into bread or baked into wheat cakes after they are ground up, and you eat the fine flour that is further sifted to the bran, the latter yielding only sixty percent of the former, and the bread baked is softer, but the price is very high, and only the great nobles can afford it." ”

One of the things that the former assistant to the chancellor of the exchequer is that he has a good understanding of all kinds of low-level goods. Due to the backwardness of agriculture and the scarcity of food, the same thing is eaten in completely different ways at all levels. For example, the most common way to eat wheat is to cook the husked wheat kernels directly into porridge, so as to maximize the use of food, but some residual wheat husks and gravel will also be boiled into the pot, and the taste is often rattling.

The lesser nobles were a little more elaborate, and they would have the grains of wheat sifted and gravel, ground into a coarse flour, and baked into bread and pancakes before eating.

Further up are the wealthy aristocracy, for whom food is no longer a mere tool to fill their stomachs, but a means to pursue delicious enjoyment. The wheat flour is further sifted in the kitchen to remove the bran to obtain a delicate white flour, and the baked bread has a beige color that is not only delicate but also much sweeter.

"Starch is made from refined wheat flour and continues to be purified and processed," Roland said, "and when you recruit people, I will send someone to tell them how to do it." ”

"Continue, continue processing?" Barov's eyes widened, "how much wheat will have to be used." ”

"I don't need much, three or four hundred kilogram......s," Roland paused and changed his words, "a basket as big as my desk will do." ”

He nodded in agreement and asked, "Why do you ask to be as female as possible?"

"Because they're more careful. And I'd like to see more women go to work, rather than sitting idle at home," Roland suddenly thought of something, "The current universal education in the border towns seems to be progressing faster in the girls' class, right?"

"Although the main person in charge of the Ministry of Education is Ms. Shujuan, this is indeed the case. They don't have much to do other than take care of the children and take care of the house, so most of the time is spent reading and writing. ”

"In that case, I ask that after the next round of examinations, the town hall in charge of you must recruit a group of female apprentices, and gradually increase the proportion of female positions," Roland commanded.

"Your Highness, this ...... There is no precedent," said Barov, frowning, "and if I were to be careful, my apprentice would be no worse than any woman." ”

"If there is no precedent, create a precedent," Roland said bluntly, "and it is the easiest and fastest way to grow the workforce without expanding the total population, and if all the women can take on the task of building a small town, I can double the number of people available to me." All you have to do is lead people to change their mindset -- as long as the pay is attractive, I think they'll stand up one by one. ”

After Barov had retired, the nightingale laughed in the prince's ear, "What are you going to do again?"

"No, it's not meant to be eaten," Roland took a sip of his tea, "though it does make a good ingredient in the process." ”

Soak the delicate wheat flour in the water, then knead and scrub until the water is completely white, then change to another basin of water to continue. The last thing left is gluten, which can be fried or stir-fried, and has a pliable and elastic texture. Spread honey or sprinkle spices on the pan.

But Roland's focus isn't on food.

After the milky white water is sieved and left to stand, the starch that settles down is the main material for making explosives.

Before nitrifying * glycerin began to be tested, and T.N.T. was impossible to talk about, nitrogenified starch became the easiest high explosive to manufacture, and the manufacturing process was exactly the same as nitrocellulose. Its finished product has low sensitivity, can not be ignited by an open flame, needs to be detonated with a detonator, is more powerful than T.N.T., and was widely used as a substitute for the former during the two world wars.

With high-purity starch, those alchemy apprentices who have mastered the process of making nitrocellulose must be able to quickly make a batch of nitrocellulose starch.

After lunch, Roland was about to go back to his room for a nap when there was a knock on the door outside his office.

Usually at this time, it is Anna. His heart thumped twice, could it be because he was too tired last time and fell asleep directly, so this time he decided to pick it at noon?

"Come in. ”

The door creaked open, and Roland was stunned, and it was Evelyn standing outside.

Belch...... This was a little different from what he had thought, and he coughed twice and smiled kindly, "Is there something wrong?"

She walked over to the table and bowed her head, looking a little nervous, "Your Highness, I want to ask you a question. ”

Is it a cliché why are you so nice to witches?, but in the spirit of treating comrades with the warmth of a spring breeze, he smiled, "What questions, you ask." ”

"You...... Why did you choose me to come to Frontier Town?"

Roland was slightly stunned, was she thinking that the wine was not good?

"I'm not as good as Sylvie or as practical as Lotus and Honey," she whispered, "and if you just taste wine, the monthly salary of a golden dragon is enough to hire a professional winemaker from the royal capital." ”

"What do you think of those wines...... How?"

"At first, it was too hot, but it's acceptable to drink it slowly, and the blends with ice, juice and sugar water are richer in terms of flavor. But that's just my opinion," replied Evelyn cautiously, "and the tavern at home sells only cheap wine and ale mixed with water, and the nobility tend to ...... I don't know. ”

It turned out that it was not to suspect that there was something wrong with the wine, and the prince quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He got up and opened the bookcase, took out a jar of ale from the top floor and placed it in front of Evelyn, "Can you convert this jar of ale into the liquor I brewed?"

"I want to ...... It should be fine. She stretched out her hands and took the jar, and soon the dim liquor inside changed. As the bubbles swelled, the ale became clearer and clearer, and finally it was as translucent as boiled water, but Roland could already smell the rich aroma. He couldn't wait to dip his finger in a little and put it in his mouth, and the bitterness and burning came at the same time, which was exactly the taste of high alcohol.

Roland couldn't help but laugh out loud, "That's why I chose you." ”

Looking at Evelyn, who looked confused, he clapped his hands and said, "I'm going to open an alcohol factory...... No, it's the winery, would you like to be my head winemaker?" )