Alien Knights

Finding a tablecloth, he wiped the water stains from the corner of his mouth indiscriminately. Todd's expression looked like he had swallowed a fly: "Wait! Say what you just said again!"

The young man repeated: "We steal nitrate dung to make perfume..."

After careful questioning, Todd finally understood the cause and effect of the matter.

This young man named Clifford was one of the first students to escape from Taylor City. During the days of living in Muxi City, he had to go to the college to study, to go to the library to print books, and to consider the daily expenses of board and lodging. As time goes by, money is tight, and it happens from time to time that the last meal is not finished. So he found a job in the nitrate factory managed by old Aiden.

The young man is smart and hardworking. Others avoid the hard work of the manure fermentation tank, but he takes it on his own initiative and does it in an orderly manner.

Old Aiden saw it in his eyes and kept it in his heart, and gradually promoted Clifford to the position of supervisor, and gave him great authority. It's a pity that not long after, some subordinates reported to the old craftsman - Clifford stole the raw materials of the nitrate factory together with the monk who kept the book...

Todd glanced at the young man kneeling on the ground, and asked, "What's the matter with the perfume?"

Clifford looked at the trembling "companion" beside him, and sighed: "Your Majesty, it's like this. Once the manure was fermented, and I accidentally splashed some of it while transporting the residue. I washed the ground with hot water several times, and I didn't pay attention to it. At noon the next day, under the sun, there were some pale yellow scale-shaped crystals on the washed ground. I squatted down and smelled it, and it was a very strange smell. ..."

When Todd heard this, his stomach turned upside down, and he cursed: It's really thanks to you that you can do things like smelling feces...

"Later, with the idea of ​​giving it a try, I purified these pale yellow crystals by distillation and filtration, and diluted them with ethanol at a ratio of 1:100. The obtained solution actually had a faint floral fragrance in addition to the smell of impurities." Cliff said while gesturing with his hands: "I went to the market and saw that a bottle of flower essential oil from the Southern Empire, the size of a big thumb, can be sold for 280 silver moons. And this kind of perfume made from feces, the smell is a bit like flower essential oil, and the cost It wasn't even 3 Bronze Stars, so I sneaked a few bottles, said it was a perfume from the south, and sold it."

Todd listened to Clifford's narration, his eyes became brighter and brighter.

Using feces to make perfume is really a breakthrough, but from the perspective of chemical principles and molecular chains, it is completely reasonable.

Medieval flower essential oil is a substance called "methyl dihydrojasmonate" (English name: methyl dihydrojasmonate hedion). It is a colorless or light yellow transparent liquid, which is a natural aroma chemical, mainly obtained from large flowers such as jasmine, or plants such as rosemary. It is troublesome to prepare and refine, and the product conversion rate is low, and the price is very expensive. In medieval Europe, the royal families of some small countries even passed down a small bottle of flower essential oil as an heirloom from generation to generation. Even in modern society, methyl dihydrojasmonate is also a fixed chemical substance in high-end perfumes. It is often used to prepare formulas such as jasmine, lily of the valley, and vanilla jade, which can make the essence produce an elegant and realistic natural floral fragrance.

After talking about high-end products, let's talk about "dung perfume".

There is a chemical substance in feces called "skatole" (English name: Skatole), and its chemical name is "3-methylindole" (English name: 3-Methylindole). It is a white or slightly brown crystal, sensitive to light, soluble in hot water (above 67°C), ethanol, benzene, chloroform and ether. This substance has a pungent smell similar to "foul smell" in high concentration, but after fully diluted, it has a fresh floral smell, which is an important raw material for preparing jasmine type. It can generate derivatives such as indole and quinoline, and use them as flavors such as beverages, candies, and chewing gum. (Yes! You read that right, the drinks you drink and the chewing gum you eat all contain the chemicals in this manure...)

The most interesting thing is that as long as the "skatole" is diluted to a certain level, and additives such as lemon, Bergamo pear, citrus, lavender, etc. are added, the product obtained is indeed very similar to flower essential oil. But the production cost of the two is nearly ten thousand times different.

Thinking of this, Todd looked at the young student in front of him, and something flashed in his mind.

Artificial perfume, scholar faction, financial crisis, scientific research and development... Maybe there is a way to connect these seemingly unrelated things together to alleviate or even solve a series of problems currently encountered by Muxi Kingdom.

Todd signaled to the attendants to bring chairs, and told the old Aiden three to sit down and talk.

Seeing their uneasy expressions, Todd asked Clifford, "Tell me, do all the students in the college lack living funds like you? If I remember correctly, Muxi College should have given some subsidies to all teachers and students."

The young student whispered: "Your Majesty, there are indeed some subsidies. But the food and accommodation in Muxi City are getting more and more expensive. In the past, ten Bronze Stars could buy a catty of wheat flour, but now they can only buy a catty of bran. Most of us students who have no financial resources share other people's houses. With the demand of residents and the influx of immigrants, the rent of houses is getting higher and higher. Many people I know have to leave their houses and sleep in the classrooms of the college, or even on the benches in the park."

After hearing these words, Todd shook his head helplessly. At the beginning, he only ordered the distribution of board and lodging subsidies according to the standard, but he forgot about the rise in prices. But after thinking about it, this incident just gave him an opportunity, an opportunity to weaken the influence of the "Jade Society" from within.

"It's because of poverty that I did the theft. I won't pursue the matter of making nitrate materials anymore." The king's promise made the three sitting people obviously relieved, and Todd changed the subject: "But it's not an option after all. I will use part of the funds from the Muxi Mutual Aid Society to build a workshop dedicated to the production of this perfume."

"Clive."

Hearing the king call his name, the young man shook his body and straightened his back.

After thinking for a while, Todd said: "The kingdom will prepare the funds and location, and I plan to let you be in charge of manpower recruitment, technical research and operation management. In addition, for every bottle of perfume sold, 20% of the net profit will be paid to your team."

Cliff was stunned. Not only did the king not punish him, but he also paid for the construction of a perfume workshop for him to take care of, and promised to give up 20% of the profits from the products. In his opinion, all this is simply incredible, it is really a gift from God!

Seeing the young man's grateful expression, Todd picked up his cup and took a sip of tea, and then said: "The Muxi Kingdom will recently issue a law called the 'Patent Law'. Anyone who has an invention or creation, as long as the registration and filing are completed, the royal family will grant the inventor a 'royal patent certificate'. Whoever uses the patented technology for product production or research and development must pay a certain amount of coins as a 'royalty fee'. The inventor will enjoy 80% of this income, and the royal family will enjoy the rest 20%."