What symbolized the Industrial Age in Roland's mind was the train, puffing out steam and tirelessly racing along the tracks.
Cast iron cylinders covered in oil, robust crankshafts and enormous iron wheels, a rhythmic noise and vibration, and the whistle slicing through the air—for him, his initial appreciation of mechanical beauty started with the steam train. Compared to later machines that hid their structure under a shell, used high-precision processing to reduce tremors, and emphasized soundproofing and absorption measures, it undoubtedly expressed the power and beauty of industry more directly.
He also wanted to fill the territory with rails, allowing trains to haul people and goods to and from all parts of the Western Region. However, as good as the ideal was, reality was not so kind—never mind manufacturing a steam train, the sheer amount of steel needed to lay the rails far exceeded the pig iron production capacity of the North Slope kilns.
Therefore, as a second-best option, human-powered bicycles became Roland's best choice. The more flat roads were built in the territory, the greater the benefits of bicycles. Moreover, compared to the complex structure of a steam train, it required almost no maintenance; occasionally, all that was needed was to lubricate the chain.
If he planned to mass-produce bicycles, he naturally couldn't rely on Anna's handcrafting. So, he first had to build a factory and train a group of specialized workers for production and vehicle assembly. Considering that the Kingdom Avenue wouldn't be completed until next spring at the earliest, the initial scale of the factory didn't need to be too large. After Anna created the machine tools needed for the assembly line, the workers could gradually familiarize themselves with the various process steps, producing about ten bicycles a month. The most technically demanding part was the chain, which required chain plates to be stamped out by a machine and then manually inserting pins to connect them.
However, rubber parts such as tires and brakes still needed to be made using Soraya's ability—fortunately, the workload for this part wasn't large. As long as the bottom mold was prepared, the Magic Pen could quickly draw a large number of them. The same went for bearings. If he couldn't make reliable rolling bearings, taking a small section of steel sleeve as a sliding bearing would work just as well. After covering the inner circle with a smooth mirror coating, the effect was no less than the former.
When bicycles were first introduced, only nobles could afford this expensive means of transportation. To popularize them among the masses, in addition to publicizing them widely, Roland also planned to implement an installment payment system to reduce the purchasing pressure as much as possible. Of course, only citizens who had obtained an ID card could apply for this payment method from the City Hall.
The three of them tinkered in the garden all afternoon. Carter. Lannis lived up to his name as the Chief Knight, mastering cycling skills first; Iron Axe followed closely behind, successfully circling the garden a second time. Only Barov failed more than ten times, either wobbling and almost falling off or unable to move forward in a straight line. In the end, Roland had Soraya draw a static image of him standing next to the bicycle, with both hands holding the handlebars.
"Is this okay?" the witch asked after completing the four huge promotional pictures.
"We need to add two advertising slogans," Roland pondered for a moment. "Write: 'The new era's ride. I have it like this, and you will have it like this too.' And below it: 'The bicycle factory is recruiting workers with competitive salaries, generous benefits, and the chance to get a new car of your own for free. Those who have completed primary education can sign up at the City Hall.'"
……
After dealing with the bicycle promotional pictures, the prince returned to his office and, taking advantage of the time before dinner, had his guard summon Keimo. Streel.
Now that the research and development of mercury fulminate had finally made a breakthrough, the development of a new generation of weapons could also be put on the agenda. There was no doubt that in the era of thermal weapons, caliber represented justice, and rate of fire represented ziyou; the greater the power, the more glorious, and the more turrets, the more equality... But an awkward problem was that, at this rate of development, the two acids legally produced by the laboratory would soon be unable to keep up with consumption.
For example, to increase the rate of fire, it was necessary to abandon black huoyao with more residue and switch to smokeless propellant—that is, guncotton, or a mixture of guncotton and nitroglycerin. The same applied to high-power explosives. If trinitrotoluene (t.n.t.) couldn't be made, nitrated starch could be used instead. Apart from its poor stability, its power was even greater than t.n.t.
Regardless of which of the above was needed, a large amount of highly concentrated fuming nitric acid was required. Purifying nitric acid required a large amount of concentrated sulfuric acid, and the output of these from the laboratory was not enough to meet the demand. In other words, if it was impossible to produce two acids industrially, even if more efficient weapons were developed, they would fall into the predicament of having no ammunition to use.
When the chief alchemist walked into the office, Roland said, "I have a new task for you."
"Please speak," Keimo shrugged. "As long as it's not attending some ceremony."
"I need more acid. The current output of the chemical laboratory alone cannot meet my needs. Therefore, your new task is to design a chemical system that can efficiently and conveniently produce two acids."
"Chemical... system?" He looked a little confused.
"That's right, it consists of one and several complete reaction devices. As long as raw materials are input, finished products can be continuously produced," Roland briefly explained the essence of industrial production. "I don't know much about this part either, so you'll have to figure it out yourself."
Although he said that, the prince also knew that this was a very arduous task that could take years to research and might not even yield results. After all, all the other party could rely on was some basic reaction principles and chemical equations from *Elementary Chemistry*.
"I understand," Keimo nodded. "The things you mentioned are indeed refreshing to me."
"Whether you can complete it or not, the two acids are something I urgently need." Roland paused. "Therefore, next month I plan to expand three more laboratories by the Chishui River and recruit qualified candidates from the territory's residents to serve as experimenters. If you don't have time to teach them, choose a few disciples to take over. After all, the industrial acid production method is a very long research project."
Probably because of the youhuo of *Intermediate Chemistry*, he agreed immediately, "Yes, Your Highness."
After Keimo. Streel left, Roland sighed softly.
If the industrial acid production method showed no hope, he would have to let Lucia also purify acid, after all, when the war came, he needed more powerful weapons to win the victory for the town.
Roland opened the drawer, intending to eat some dried fish to relieve boredom, but found the drawer where snacks were stored was empty.
Startled, he looked up and saw a dried fish already being held to his mouth.
"Looking for this?" The blonde woman opposite him smiled.
Roland bit the dried fish and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth. "I thought you would just stay in the mist for the rest of your life."
"That's fine too, at least others can't see me, but I can still see you," Nightingale pouted.
The originally somewhat gloomy mood dissipated a lot without realizing it. Seeing the other party's familiar appearance, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "You said before that you didn't know what kind of expression to show..."
"Hmm?"
"Actually, it's good like this."