CHAPTER 459: THE PATH OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Observing the increasingly excited demeanor of the foreign guest before him, Paul waved his hand and said, “Please calm down, esteemed Prince.”

He made a sympathetic face and said, “I fully understand your urgent passion for restoration, but unfortunately, I can only offer you moral support.”

“Moral support? What is that supposed to mean?”

The dwarf, not quite fluent in the language of Ordo, took three seconds to comprehend.

“What? So, you mean no? Ah, mighty human lord, I have seen your soldiers. They are brave and steadfast, well-trained, and wield weapons as powerful as thunder.”

The dwarf was incredulous.

“Think of the rewards I could offer you once we succeed. As far as I know, no dwarf tribe from the Rocky Mountains has ever had good relations with humans. You would be making history, becoming an ambassador of friendship between our races.”

Paul spread his hands: “Perhaps you have some misunderstanding about my identity? I don’t have the authority…”

“Misunderstanding? Authority? Aren’t you the master of this land? At your command, the people of this land would fight for you.”

Paul smiled and said, “Your Highness, ‘Prince’, perhaps because you are new here, you do not fully understand our human political structure. Let me explain. I—Paul Grayman—am just one of many lords in the Kingdom of Ordo. There is a king above me. If I were to send troops outside Ordo without authorization, I would be reported and then reprimanded by His Majesty the King.”

“What? You’re controlled by someone else?”

Imar Mason widened his eyes. “Alright, where does this king of yours live?”

“In a southern city called Crystal Shine.”

“How long does it take to get there?”

“By horse, it’s about 20 days.”

“20 days? And by horse?”

The dwarf Imar was deeply disappointed.

It had already taken a great deal of courage for him to come to Alda with the exploration team.

Going further south…

Perhaps some human lord along the way would be delighted to have a plump “gnome” juggler at their feast.

“Alright, human lord, can you support me financially?”

“As a start to our friendship, I am willing to provide you with some travel funds and take care of your food and drink in my territory.”

Imar: “…”

Thus, the meeting between Paul and the dwarven guest ended in a somewhat discordant atmosphere.

He called Stanford and detailed the entire meeting with the dwarf.

Then he asked Stanford, “Do you think I did the right thing?”

Stanford nodded, “I think your approach was fine. We still know very little about the events in the Rocky Mountains. And as for my understanding of this Imar, it’s also very limited. But at least on the surface, he seems to have a bad temper and is a difficult person to deal with. In any case, personally, he doesn’t seem like a good candidate for friendship.”

Apart from the fact that he was merely a lord, Paul also had little interest in supporting the restoration of a dwarven prince. As Stanford mentioned, Alda knew almost nothing about the dwarves of the Rocky Mountains, so it was unwise to take their words at face value.

Even if Paul were inclined to help, he lacked the resources. Although the financial income of his domain was increasing yearly, every penny had to be spent wisely.

Recently, Paul finalized a major plan with the heads of the chemistry laboratory at Weiss Academy — to embark on the path of the chemical industry.

Alda already had a primitive form of chemical industry — extracting saltpeter from manure heaps, if that counts.

Paul’s new goal was set on mass-producing sulfuric acid.

Currently, the world’s alchemists obtained sulfuric acid by distilling alum, a time-consuming and inefficient process that yielded only small amounts.

Therefore, Paul suggested using the lead chamber process to manufacture sulfuric acid.

The basic strategy was to build cubic lead chambers using lead plates resistant to sulfuric acid corrosion. Inside, a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter was burned, causing the generated sulfur oxides to be absorbed by water sprayed on the chamber walls. The process involved continuous replenishment of saltpeter and sulfur, and finally, the acid was collected in glass containers for concentration through heating.

This was just the early version of the lead chamber process. The more advanced version was more complex and required catalysts. However, for Alda’s nascent chemical industry, Paul’s method was sufficient. He couldn’t introduce the complete method all at once as it would increase the complexity of experiments and construction. Moreover, Paul didn’t want his alchemists to become mere executors of orders; they needed some room to think and improve on their own.

The alchemists were initially skeptical of this method, but the prospect of efficiently and massively producing sulfuric acid was too tempting to ignore. After all, sulfuric acid was a crucial material in many of their experiments.

Paul had two reasons for wanting to mass-produce sulfuric acid.

First, it could be sold to other alchemists for profit — those in this profession tended to be wealthy.

Second, sulfuric acid was an important industrial raw material. In Alda’s existing industries like metallurgy, leather making, papermaking, pigments, and coke production, sulfuric acid could be potentially used. Even if not immediately, its use would certainly be integrated in the long-term development — as history in his previous life had proven.

However, Paul’s primary hope was to produce copper sulfate from sulfuric acid first. Copper sulfate could be used in tanning, ore processing, and as an antiseptic. It could also be used to produce early pesticides, such as Bordeaux mixture.

With pesticides, the agriculture in the Northwestern Bay could further develop, and solving the food problem was paramount.

After several experiments, the lead chamber process achieved initial success.

The alchemists were almost ecstatic.

Yet, they couldn’t comprehend how a young man, seemingly unrelated to alchemy, could come up with such a brilliant method.

And the earlier method of saltpeter production — could it be that he received divine inspiration from the God of Light in his dreams?

After the experiences with saltpeter and acid production, the alchemists lost the last shred of their arrogance before Paul. He was now seen as a favored child of heaven.

The construction plan for a chemical plant was being prepared in full swing. Although the feasibility of the lead chamber process was verified in the laboratory, many engineering challenges still needed to be addressed for large-scale production.

Moreover, the safety issues of the chemical industry must be carefully considered. Sulfuric acid, being highly corrosive, was one concern, and the anticipated copper sulfate was toxic. Thus, the location of the chemical plant was crucial — it couldn’t be near residential areas or beside the Weiss River, considering the unknown chemicals that might be produced in the future.

Additionally, there was the recruitment and training of workers. Both Hoffman and Wells, the heads of the alchemists, suggested starting with students currently studying chemistry at Weiss Academy. They already had some experience in chemistry and were aware of the dangers of various materials and reagents.

Then, suitable workers could be slowly selected and trained.

Paul knew the alchemists were eager to see the chemical plant bear fruit. He, too, wanted to see results soon. Thus, after emphasizing safety principles, he agreed to their suggestion.