Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 26: Banshees, learn chemistry
While Alexi was running around the construction site, Hughes was working in his laboratory.

By the way, he officially named this place the Chemical Laboratory a few days ago and established various rules, such as not allowing servants to approach without reason, what to do if there is a fire, and what to do if there is an explosion.

Hearing this, Old Connor's eyes twitched. He tried many times to persuade Zeus to give up this dangerous place, but when he remembered that this was an alchemist's workshop, he finally shut up.

Connor didn't know much about alchemy, he only knew the most important part: this stuff was extremely profitable.

Any lord's attitude towards alchemists is: worship them.

Even the royal family's attitude towards alchemists is no less than that of the nobles. You should know that the Queen has punished the nobles many times, but has no intention of dealing with alchemists at all.

After all, it is easy to find someone to replace a noble after his death, and every alchemist is a treasure.

So Connor's advice changed from "Don't do such a dangerous thing." to "Can't you let someone else do the dangerous part?"

As for the answer——

"Of course not. In fact, the most dangerous thing about a chemistry lab is letting in people who know nothing."

But despite what he said, he was actually still a little tempted.

It takes a very long time to train a person with sufficient chemical knowledge, which also means that a high level of loyalty is required, and chemical experiments are quite dangerous.

Putting these conditions together, Hughes suddenly realized that he seemed to have a good choice.

Banshee.

These banshees were quite loyal to him and not afraid of danger. What was even better was that they were also very powerful. The physical strength of these banshees shocked him.

The impact that would be fatal to a human was only enough to cause injury to the Banshee.

Come to think of it, their huge bodies must require stronger physical fitness to support them. The taller they are, the stronger they are, and strength also means flexibility and physical strength.

He guessed that the bone density of a banshee should be much higher than that of a human.

No wonder, despite their small number, they were able to defeat the Murloc clan with their desperate efforts.

If this were a computer game from the past, he would have immediately given the Banshees chemistry lessons.

Unfortunately, the banshees are not a string of cold data. They are living beings with their own preferences. They live at the bottom of the ocean. Although they are nominally his subjects, they are not actually closely involved.

Well, except for Ash. She and Zeus signed a symbiotic contract, so she can only stay in Castel from now on and can't be separated too far.

To be honest, there is no way to do any chemical experiments in the seabed. Maybe Ash is his only student, and I don’t know if she is interested in chemistry.

I shook my head, thinking that these were too far away.

"Connor, since there's a volcano on the island, let's get some sulfur ore. It's almost certain to appear with a volcano, and the quantity doesn't need to be too large. I'll only use it for experiments."

sulfur?

Connor had some impression that small quantities should be available, so he nodded.

"Also, I need a batch of bottles and jars for experiments. I'll draw them for you later, and you can see if you can find a craftsman to make them. It doesn't matter if they're a little expensive."

After a moment's thought, Xius added, "I remember there are quite a few vases in the manor. If all else fails, we can use those. I think I also have a few glass cups." With a light sigh, Xius said, "Let's melt them."

"I, I'll go ask the craftsman if he can do it." Connor's expression was a little complicated. Those things could be called works of art. Are we going to use them as materials now?

Well, this is a sacrifice for the alchemy workshop
“What about the olive oil factory?”

“Everything went smoothly and we have already produced a batch of olive oil.”

Hughes nodded, not surprisingly. The olive oil was made using a completely old process, essentially using a millstone to squeeze the oil from the olives.

Change the power?
Without a foundation in materials science, it would be impossible to build a steam engine.
This is actually one of the main dilemmas he is facing now. He has countless drawings in his mind, but he cannot put them into practice in this world.

For example, how does the steam engine solve the tolerance problem?
The mechanical structure is closely related to the entire structure. If it is not precise enough, forced production will only lead to tragedy.

It is not impossible to make a hand-rubbed steam engine, but it requires a large number of parts to be manufactured, and then finding the ones that just match, and assembling the entire device bit by bit.

His homeland on Blue Planet had used this method to develop industry in the past, but that required a considerable number of people in basic industries.

In other words, he only has one or two blacksmiths, so this approach is pure dreaming.

“There’s still a long way to go.”

"But speaking of which, the construction of the school can't be delayed. Alexi has been busy building the factory. Let's talk to him later."

The school is actually the part that Xius attaches the most importance to. The current olive oil factory can only be regarded as a small-scale operation. If the industry is to really start to develop, it is absolutely impossible to rely on the current group of illiterate craftsmen.

Moreover, schools cannot only train qualified workers, engineers, and researchers. None of these can be missing. Once a gap occurs, future development will be stuck. From this perspective, the most important thing now is to lay the foundation.

"Time is still too tight."

The pirates have to come up with something next month, and olive oil is definitely not going to work. Although Hughes had made a plan long ago, time is still tight. Now that the olive oil factory is open, the soap only remains in his laboratory.

Laboratory preparation and industrial assembly line production are completely different things. Next, he needs to try to let the craftsmen get started and ensure that every link is fine before he can start building the factory.

This is completely different from the olive oil industry that has already become an industry. It is a new technology.

He didn't intend to use soap to fight pirates. It was just a transitional product, but still important - he was trying to establish an industrial assembly line.

There is always a huge gap between small workshops and industrialization. Even if the empire can make the most sophisticated watches by hand, it is still not an industrial country.

Industrialization and standardization are what give Hughes the greatest confidence in facing the world.

The soap factory is just the first step towards implementing these goals.

Once you successfully establish an assembly line and standardized processes, everything will go smoothly.

"Buy the sulfur as soon as possible, followed by nitric acid and sulfuric acid. The wheels of the chemical industry will begin to slowly turn, starting with this simple laboratory."

There was a light of anticipation in Hughes' eyes.

(End of this chapter)