Chapter 42

"Ten gold coins!? Are you sure!?"

During dinner, Fiona learned this news from Tang En and, as expected, was stunned.

After all, those were just thirteen young girls who knew nothing, and after a simple training session by Tang En, they were already able to create a value of ten gold coins in a day. What if more people received the training?

This job was basically without any difficulty!

If the mint industry were to be established in Elington in the future and the scale expanded, it would mean that each person could create the same value. Then, how much would the daily output of the entire Elington be? A thousand gold coins? Ten thousand gold coins!?

This was simply an unimaginable topic!

"Of course, my friend, I have no reason to lie to you."

Tang En wore a very restrained smile, as if waiting for Fiona to praise him.

Fiona ignored Tang En once again and said a bit urgently, "Then can we expand the scale!?"

The people of Elington urgently needed something to divert their attention, and this was a great choice.

"Dear Fiona," Tang En pinched his brow, "you've given me a difficult problem."

"What's the matter?"

"Although production is no longer an issue, have you considered the market?"

Tang En countered Fiona, "The mint candies produced don't have a good market in Elington. This kind of thing can only be sold in Alinx and other towns once it's transported there. Goods only generate value when they are sold; otherwise, they will just rot in the warehouse!"

"I'm already working on solving this problem."

Fiona said seriously, "I sent a letter this afternoon, and the results should be in within a week at the earliest."

"I hope the person you trust will come. Otherwise, I'll have to think of other ways."

Tang En sighed, and the conversation ended there.

That night, Tang En didn't sleep well because he had to start making the water wheel the next day. He needed to draw the structure of the water wheel before tomorrow and even make the critical bearings and rollers himself.

Given Edgar and Brian's skills, it would be very difficult for them to forge usable bearings and rollers. As everyone knows, even a slight defect in these parts would double the wear and tear. If the water wheel broke down after just a few days, it would be a slap in his own face.

If he wanted to solve the drought problem quickly, it was actually very simple. Tang En could just cast a spell to make it rain. But could he do it every time? And the Elington territory was so vast, with other towns far away. He couldn't run to each one, could he?

Therefore, promoting the water wheel was the simplest solution.

"The structure of the water wheel... hmm..."

Tang En sat on the bed, deep in thought, with several iron ingots floating in front of him, constantly changing shape. For many people from Earth, the water wheel was a distant thing, and many had never even seen one. Tang En was the same, but he knew the principle: using the water's own thrust to rotate, then the movable water buckets would fill with water and be lifted to a high place. Once they passed the critical point, they would tip over and pour out the water. A fixed bracket and pipe at the water outlet would guide the water to other places.

The principle was simple. After simulating it a few times in his mind, Tang En roughly understood the structure of the water wheel and began to work...

The next day.

"Ha ha ha, I told you, two days, and the task is done easily."

Brian laughed and called out to Tang En, "Come and take a look. Everything is ready, and the quality is acceptable. I have to say, the stamping machine, cutting machine, and grinding machine you made are really useful!"

Brian was clearly conquered by the three machines. With their help, the forging work became much easier.

Tang En randomly inspected a few items and nodded in satisfaction. "Get Edgar ready. Fiona has already sent people to distribute the subsidy vouchers. People should be coming to collect the tools soon."

"Subsidy vouchers? What are those?"

"Substitutes for gold coins. With the subsidy vouchers, they can get a set of metal farming tools. Then Edgar can use the vouchers to settle the payment with Fiona at the lord's residence."

This was the subsidy policy Tang En had thought about for a long time. He originally planned to distribute gold coins directly, but Fiona vetoed it.

The reason was that it could cause imbalance and lead to malicious incidents.

But with subsidy vouchers, it was different. The vouchers were not gold coins and could only be used to exchange for farming tools. Even if they were stolen, they would be useless, making the farmers safer.

As Tang En had expected, by noon, farmers had already started coming with subsidy vouchers to collect metal farming tools.

The first farmer to arrive was clearly still a bit hesitant, holding the voucher nervously, probably worried that Edgar would think he was a fraud.

"These are your farming tools. Take them. Go home and find a piece of wood to make handles for them."

Edgar quickly handed over a set of iron farming tools and took the voucher.

The farmer was immediately stunned.

It was really true!?

Using the subsidy voucher, he could really get a set of metal farming tools!?

"Long live the lord! Thank you for the lord's kindness!"

At that moment, the farmer was deeply grateful to Tang En and deeply thanked him for his kindness.

The reactions of the subsequent farmers were similar. They all received the metal farming tools with gratitude and thanked the lord for his kindness, showing how moved they were.

Brian, hiding behind the house, nudged Tang En's thigh, "Brother, how does it feel to be thanked?"

"It's okay."

Tang En didn't know how to respond but had a faint smile on his face.

"Humans are so hypocritical. Your mouth is almost up to your ears," Brian said, rubbing his hands. "Brother, do you have any more orichalcum ingots?"

"I do, but what do you want them for?"

"Hehe, I want to make a few more orichalcum ingots and forge an orichalcum axe."

Brian laughed. "Think about it. When you encounter an enemy, before the battle even starts, you show them the golden orichalcum axe, and it will blind their eyes. The enemy won't have the will to fight. That's called winning without fighting."

"Save it. Compared to winning without fighting, it's more likely to be stolen."

Tang En was speechless. Want to show off wealth? Your precious two-handed warhammer is better than an orichalcum axe.

But to be fair, the two-handed warhammer did look a bit shabby...

"Hey, brother, you can't say that! You're underestimating my combat ability! I can take on five with my small frame!"

Tang En looked up and down at Brian. "Are you sure?"

Brian smiled proudly. "Of course! Don't believe me? Let's arm wrestle! I'll let you use four fingers!"

Tang En looked at Brian's big, dark hand and shook his head. "Not interested."

"Why are you such a buzzkill! I said—"

"Stop talking. Edgar is selling the farming tools. Don't just stand there."

Tang En threw the water wheel structure diagram to Brian. "This is the structure of the water wheel. Take a look. If you have any questions, ask. If not, start working. I've already made the important parts. You just need to make the frame. Part of it is made of wood, so you'll need to find a carpenter. Can you finish by tonight?"

Brian looked at it and patted his chest. "No problem! Absolutely!"

"Great. I'll leave this to you. I'll go ahead. If possible, I hope it can be assembled by tomorrow."

Tang En patted his buttocks and returned to the lord's residence.

The stamping machine, cutting machine, grinding machine, and metal farming tools were all done. The mint candy workshop was also taking shape. To further develop, they needed to rebuild and plan a factory, and most importantly, establish trade routes, which required a caravan.

According to Fiona's information, it would take at least a week to form a caravan. During this period, there wasn't much Tang En could do.

Tang En was very eager to make toothpaste, but he didn't know the specific ingredients. Even if he did, there was no chemical plant to help extract them, so he could only use salt as a substitute for now.

Compared to toothpaste, soap was easier to make. After refining and filtering the soap, adding mint essential oil would make it mint-scented soap, which would make bathing much more comfortable.

Thinking about it, Tang En felt invigorated and summoned Tina.

Hearing Tang En's request, Tina was a bit stunned but still prepared a lot of fat left over for oil refining and a large bag of salt as he asked.

The smell of making soap was very strong, and Tang En didn't want to continue in his bedroom. He picked up the fat and slipped into an empty warehouse.

The original form of soap is the reaction of fat and wood ash in water. The essence of this reaction is the saponification reaction of fat and alkali, with wood ash playing the role of the alkali.

However, Tang En didn't plan to use wood ash. The soap made that way would look too ugly. He intended to use a more advanced method—electrolysis of saturated salt water.

A simple chemical reaction: electrolysis of saturated salt water produces hydrogen, chlorine, and the most important sodium hydroxide solution!

With sodium hydroxide solution, who would use wood ash?

If it were anyone else, even knowing the formula wouldn't help, as this world had no civilian electricity. But who was Tang En?

A powerful mage...

Playing with lightning was like clapping his hands.

"Zzzz..."

After making a large pot of saturated salt water, Tang En's hands emitted clusters of electric light. A very stable high-voltage arc directly drilled into the pot. Soon, the salt water began to bubble, and a pungent smell of chlorine filled the air...

Tang En really wanted to collect the chlorine, as it was quite useful for bleaching, but he had no specialized container, so he had to give up. He directed the hydrogen and chlorine gases to a container to mix with water for future use.

=== PS: The title is very pure, really (serious face) ===

=== Page break AD starts ===

=== Page break AD ends ===