The day after the Sleeping Island witches were relocated, Roland summoned Barov, the chief of the City Hall, to his office.
"I need you to issue a recruitment announcement," he pushed the drafted content in front of the other party, "Short-term workers for a week, about ten people, preferably women."
Barov picked up the paper and read it carefully, "Your Highness, what is starch...?"
"You know wheat flour, right?"
The chief hesitated, "Do you mean coarse flour or fine flour? Ground wheat grains can be baked into bread or pancakes, but what you eat is fine flour that has been further sieved to remove the bran. The latter's output is only 60% of the former, and the bread baked is softer, but the price is very high, and only great nobles can afford it."
The point that Roland was most satisfied with this former Assistant Minister of Finance was his thorough understanding of various grassroots commodities. Due to agricultural backwardness and food shortages, the same thing was eaten differently by different classes. For example, the most common wheat, the common people's way of eating it was to directly boil the shelled wheat grains into porridge, so as to maximize the use of food, but some residual wheat husks and gravel would also be cooked into the pot, often crunching between the teeth when eaten.
The minor nobles were more particular, they would order people to sift the wheat grains to remove gravel, grind them into coarse flour, and bake them into bread and pancakes for enjoyment.
Further up was the wealthy great noble class. For these people, food was no longer a simple tool to fill their stomachs, but a means to pursue delicious enjoyment. The kitchen would further sift the wheat flour to remove the bran, resulting in snow-white, finely ground flour. The bread baked was rice-yellow, and it was not only delicate in taste, but also much sweeter.
"Starch is made by further purifying and processing on the basis of fine wheat flour," Roland spread his hands, "When you recruit people, I will send someone to tell them the specific method."
"Con-continue processing?" Barov couldn't help but widen his eyes, "How much wheat would that use?"
"I don't need too much, three or four hundred kilograms..." Roland paused, and changed his words, "Just a basket as big as my desk will do."
He nodded in agreement and asked, "Why do you require it to be mostly women?"
"Because they are more careful in doing things. Moreover, I hope to see more women take up jobs instead of being idle at home," Roland suddenly thought of something, "It seems that the popular education currently being promoted in Border Town is progressing faster in the girls' classes, right?"
"Although the main person in charge of the Education Department is Ms. Scroll, that is indeed the case. They don't have much to do besides taking care of children and doing housework, so most of their time is spent learning to read."
"In that case, I require that after the next round of assessment, the City Hall under your responsibility must recruit a batch of female apprentices and gradually expand the proportion of female positions," Roland instructed.
"Your Highness, this...has no precedent," Barov frowned, "If only considering carefulness, my apprentices are no worse than any woman."
"If there is no precedent, then create one," Roland said directly, "This is also the simplest and quickest way to increase the labor force without expanding the total population. If all women can take on the task of building the town, my available manpower can be doubled. What you have to do is guide people to change their perceptions - as long as the salary is attractive, I think they will stand up one by one."
After Barov took his leave, Nightingale smiled in the prince's ear, "What delicious things are you planning to make again?"
"Starch? No, it's not for eating," Roland took a sip of tea, "Although a good ingredient can indeed be obtained during the processing."
Soak the fine wheat flour in water, then knead and rub it until the water turns completely white, then change to another basin of water and continue. The remaining sticky substance is gluten, which can be deep-fried or stir-fried, and it is flexible and resilient. It is a great delicacy to coat it with honey or sprinkle spices after it comes out of the pot.
But Roland's focus was not on food.
After sieving and settling those milky white water, what settles down is starch, which is also the main material for making explosives.
Before nitroglycerin has started trial formulation, t.n.
t. is even out of the question, nitrostarch has become the easiest high explosive to manufacture. The manufacturing process is exactly the same as nitrocellulose. The finished product has low sensitivity, cannot be ignited by open flame, and needs to be detonated with a detonator. Its power is 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 have mastered the nitrocellulose production process, presumably can also quickly prepare a batch of nitrostarch.
After lunch, Roland was planning to go back to his room for a nap when there was a knock on the office door.
Usually, those who come to him at this time are most likely Anna. His heart thumped twice. Could it be that he fell asleep directly last time because he was too tired, so this time he decided to pick noon?
"Come in."
The door creaked open, and Roland was stunned. Standing outside was Evelyn.
Uh... this is a bit different from what he thought. He coughed twice and showed a kind smile, "What's the matter?"
She walked to the table and bowed her head, looking a little nervous, "Your Highness, I want to ask you a question."
Could it be the same old question of "Why are you so kind to witches?" However, in the spirit of treating comrades as warm as spring, he smiled and said, "What's the question? Ask away."
"You... why did you choose me to come to Border Town?"
Roland was slightly taken aback. Could it be that she was complaining that the wine was not good?
"My ability is not as comprehensive as Sylvie's, nor as practical as Lotus and Honey's," she said in a low voice, "Just for wine tasting, a salary of one gold dragon a month is enough to hire a professional winemaker from the Royal City."
"What do you think of those wines...?"
"At first, I thought it was too spicy, but I can accept it after drinking it slowly. As for those mixed wines mixed with ice cubes, fruit juice and sugar water, they are richer in taste. But this is just my personal opinion," Evelyn answered carefully, "The taverns at home only sell cheap wine and watered ale, and the nobles' preferences... I'm not sure."
So, she wasn't suspecting that there was something wrong with the wine. The prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He got up and opened the cabinet, took out a can of ale from the top layer and placed it in front of Evelyn, "Then can you turn this can of ale into the white wine I brewed?"
"I think...it shouldn't be a problem." She stretched out her hands, held the can, and soon the dim yellow wine inside changed. As bubbles surged, the ale became clearer and clearer, and finally it was as clear as plain water, but Roland had already smelled the strong aroma of wine. He couldn't wait to dip a little with his finger and put it in his mouth. Bitterness and burning sensation came at the same time. This was the taste of high-proof alcohol.
Roland couldn't help but laugh, "That's why I chose you."
Looking at the confused Evelyn, he clapped his hands and said, "I plan to open an alcohol factory...no, a winery. Would you like to be my chief winemaker?"(。)