xymnovel Chapter 94 Saltworks and Laboratories
Chapter 94 Saltworks and Laboratories
Chapter 94 Saltworks and Laboratories
After promising a generous reward at the artisan's workshop, Roger, seeing that it was still early, instructed his servants to prepare a small fishing boat and row to Holly Island.
The two saltworks on Holly Island Salt Flats are now operating smoothly.
The manager of the first saltworks was the lean head of the Milk House Estate.
Roger paid him five pence a week and promised that if he did a good job of boiling coarse salt, he would be granted free citizenship after two years, and if he performed well after three years, his whole family would be granted free citizenship.
Zhuang Tou was originally honest and hardworking, and now that he has the expectation of a salary and freedom of identity, he works even harder.
Every day, he led four old salt workers and six "pirates" captured from the south to boil salt from dawn till dusk.
Even outside the salt-making season, the five new salt-making stoves and ten flat-bottomed frying pans at the First Saltworks can still produce 600 pounds of coarse salt every day.
Three hundred pounds of high-quality coarse salt were selected and sent to the second saltworks for further processing, serving as the core commodity for trade southward.
The remaining goods are sold to ordinary people through vendors, thus securing a place in the low-end market.
Such production efficiency is naturally closely related to Roger's previous improvements in technology and tools, but it is also inseparable from the hard work of the salt workers.
At the First Saltworks, Roger instructed the estate manager to send someone back to Milk House Estate to fetch five pounds of cheese and two strips of dried meat for the salt workers as a treat.
He also spoke separately with the six "pirate" prisoners, telling them that after they completed two years of forced labor, they would be released from their crimes and given their freedom.
In reality, although these "pirates" had worked hard on Holly Island in recent months, they had been able to eat their fill almost every meal, and their desire for freedom was not as strong as one might imagine.
Free amateur pirates are no match for unfree professional salt workers.
At least here I don't have to worry about starving to death.
He stopped at the first saltworks for a while to inspect it, and instructed the head of the farm to pay close attention to any problems that arose during production and to report them to him promptly.
Then they went to the second saltworks managed by the horse groom.
The area here is much smaller, but the enclosed walled compound, sturdy wooden buildings, and clear functional zoning make the investment and construction costs of the second saltworks more than twice that of the first saltworks.
Two wounded soldiers became technical backbones, and five serfs who had just become professional salt workers were struggling to adapt to life in the factory.
The bald, half-blind grandmother and the maid with a ponytail are busy every day preparing food for the twenty-odd mouths on Holly Island.
With the help of the weakling as his assistant, the young stable boy became more and more mature beyond his years, and he really had a bit of a managerial air about him. In addition, the workers all knew that the young stable boy was a favorite of the new lord, so no one dared to neglect him, even though he was young.
The second saltworks is operating smoothly.
After adding wood ash, the quality of refined salt from the saltworks was significantly improved. The use of flat-bottomed pans, double-hole stoves, and continuous brine boiling processes also gradually increased production. Three hundred pounds of raw coarse salt could be processed into more than two hundred and twenty pounds of refined salt per day.
If sold at a conservative price of no less than one and a half pence per pound, after deducting the daily costs of labor, raw materials and equipment wear and tear, the second saltworks can currently generate a profit of one pound per day.
Considering the high yield in summer, the profits from crude salt at the First Saltworks could basically offset the costs of labor and raw materials.
Campbell Saltworks generates nearly four hundred pounds in profit each year.
But these are all ideal values.
With large-scale production and market saturation, the price of refined salt will definitely continue to decline before a larger market can be opened up. Moreover, although the operating costs of the two saltworks are not high, the construction costs are not low.
More importantly, such profits come from high-risk armed smuggling, and the risks and costs of armed smuggling must also be taken into account.
Moreover, this cost may even exceed the production cost.
Roger estimated that, after deducting all costs, the annual net profit from construction investment, production and operation, and smuggling shipping would be around £350.
This is already considered extremely profitable, but only if smuggling channels are unimpeded, the consumer market is stable, and various forms of tax evasion and avoidance are possible.
The young horseman led Roger on a tour of the entire factory and raised the pressing issue of packaging and transporting the finished refined salt products.
The refined salt is currently stored in a dry, hot baking room, but it must be taken out and transported away when it is sold in the future.
In the past, coarse salt was transported in cloth bags, which were very susceptible to moisture and clumping due to the wind and waves at sea.
If the refined salt is sealed and stored in expensive oak barrels, the cost cannot be reduced.
Roger had been thinking about the low-cost sealed packaging of refined salt products, but had not yet found a solution, so he could only have them purchase more oak barrels.
As usual, there was material and spiritual encouragement at the second saltworks.
Then Roger went to the "laboratory" near the factory to visit the alchemist Old Black Sheep, who was living in bottles and jars.
Roger mainly wanted to see what the old man lacked. The old man first complained that Roger had tricked him into coming to this remote, godforsaken place, then said that the saltworks workers scolded him for tinkering with witchcraft and making terrifying noises all day long, and finally listed a densely packed list of supplies.
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He wanted all sorts of glassware, metal raw materials, and powdered medicines, and he also strongly requested Roger to assign him a clever apprentice as an assistant.
However, it's reassuring that the supply list also includes sulfur and saltpeter, so at least the old man hasn't forgotten the task Roger gave him.
Roger and the alchemist briefly discussed some technical issues and proposed a vague ratio of sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter in a 1:2:7 ratio.
Good people can't remember the gunpowder formula.
The old man felt that Roger's proposed mixing ratio was too far removed from the mixing ratio he had in mind, and said he would demonstrate the rationality of this ratio.
During his conversation with the alchemist, Roger learned that the French and English had mastered the secret technique of making black powder, or gunpowder, and seemed to be beginning to try to use it in warfare.
No wonder even a failed alchemist could concoct gunpowder. Roger thought he was the chosen one. It turns out that this stuff has already been rudimentarily mastered by this era.
As Roger left the isolated laboratory, the pressure on him increased dramatically.
Roger returned to Milk House Manor by boat before noon and planned to go to the training ground for sergeant training first.
Marne and Olaf had been leading the soldiers in drills all morning.
As soon as I entered the manor, I saw a girl lifting her skirt and walking towards the carriage outside the courtyard.
Last night it rained and snowed, and the roads in the Milk House Manor were muddy and slippery everywhere. The girl almost slipped and fell.
The girl wore a wool sweater that reached her knees, and a thin, belted outer garment accentuated her full curves. The belt was made of cowhide with silver buttons. This outfit was quite revealing for such a cold day.
The girl deliberately slowed her pace and observed Roger out of the corner of her eye, like a young girl waiting for a date.
I'm afraid he won't come, and I'm also afraid he'll cause trouble (Note).
"Wait a minute." Roger recognized the girl as the daughter of the village chief of Locklanza Village.
Upon hearing Roger's greeting, the girl's face suddenly flushed slightly, but she still came.
Roger trudged through the mud and looked at the girl who seemed to be someone he had bullied before. "Are you Gary's daughter?"
The girl turned around, bowing slightly. "Sir Roger, it's me. My father went to Ayrshire to harvest the barley. It's the end of the month to collect debts, so he sent me..."
"I was just about to go see your father. Since you're here, please pass on a message for me." Roger's immediate question about her father made the girl's slightly flushed face fall again.
The girl raised her head and observed the former bully for the first time face to face.
"I will definitely pass on your words to my father." Her tone revealed a hint of disappointment.
Roger patted the empty oak barrel on the carriage next to him, a gesture that startled the freckled apprentice driving the carriage, causing him to back away.
Roger looked at the freckled apprentice, smiled, and continued to the girl, "I'm going to sea before Christmas, but I won't be able to fill two ships with my cargo. Tell your father that if he's interested, he can brew some more strong ale and specialty beer before Christmas, and I can buy them at a slightly higher price."
"He can also entrust me to sell overseas, and after deducting costs, the profits will be split 30/70, with me getting 70% and him getting 30%. I can bypass all tariffs, so he should be able to estimate the profit."
The girl repeated it softly, then asked, "Sir, is there anything else?"
Roger shrugged. "That's all."
"Oh." The girl curtsied slightly to Roger and, with the help of the freckled apprentice, boarded the carriage.
The freckled apprentice bowed deeply to Roger and quickly led his packhorse away.
"By the way, what's your name?" Roger suddenly realized he didn't know the girl's name.
The girl suddenly became excited, turned her head, and answered loudly, "Lisa, my name is Lisa."
"Lisa, remember to tell your father what I said."
"Oh"
~",............