nagpurpolice Chapter 43: The Alchemists' Association's Contributions
Chapter 43: The Alchemists' Association's Contributions
Two large "factories" have recently sprung up on the plains within the jurisdiction of Xianhua Town, a satellite town outside the capital.
On a factory's huge signboard, the three large characters "麻沸散" (Mafeisan, a type of anesthetic) are engraved.
Outside the factory, fifty to sixty thousand people were busy in the designated "poison garden," harvesting the "Nightmare Vines" and "Sleeping Lilies" that they had just purchased from druid merchants and transplanted.
The sap of these plants is corrosive, and prolonged contact inevitably causes many workers' fingers to ulcerate.
Another group of workers were responsible for transporting herbs such as fish oil, angelica, moonspot moss, datura flowers, and chuanxiong.
Inside the slaughterhouse, the strange cries of the "red-scaled lizard" never ceased day and night. Tens of thousands of workers, wearing simple leather aprons, tirelessly used their hands to peel off the venom glands and pour the filthy blood and extracts into designated wooden barrels.
All of them worked together to produce "Mafeisan" (a type of anesthetic)!
The sign on the gate of another factory reads "Penicillin"!
There is a dedicated team of tens of thousands of people who deliver tons of melons to a huge moldy cellar every day, where specialists turn them over and select those with good green mold spots.
In addition, more than 100,000 people work in an environment filled with constant "roaring" and various odors.
Hundreds of standardized brick kilns, designed by experienced alchemists, are neatly arranged. Three people are stationed next to each kiln: one person feeds the materials, one person adds firewood and controls the temperature according to the unified flame signal cast by the fire mage apprentice from a distance, and one person stirs the fire at a constant speed with a long pole.
The magic was compressed to a minimum, used only to activate the most basic constant-temperature runestone slab at the bottom of the furnace and to maintain several large air purification arrays to prevent the workers from being poisoned en masse.
The complex catalysis and blending process is broken down into hundreds of simple physical steps: when to add the neutralizing agent and when to skim off the foam are all determined by the hourglass and the ringing of a bell.
On the final purification and packaging line, 30,000 to 40,000 people are engaged in meticulous but repetitive manual work.
The turbid medicinal liquid was poured into stone troughs stretching for miles. Workers repeatedly rinsed and filtered the liquid with specially made ice-salt water, relying on experience to judge when crystallization would occur.
The finished products are weighed by the most meticulous women, wrapped in oil paper, stamped with numbers, and packed into wooden boxes made from uniform templates.
Throughout the entire process, the mage only appears at the last stage: to perform a final "stabilization blessing spell" on a batch of finished products.
Every day, laborers collapsed from the poisonous gas and exhaustion, and as raw materials were put in, large quantities of medicine boxes were constantly being transported out.
Alchemists and magicians are both highly respected figures.
They cannot spend all day, a lot of time, in the "factory," doing the same monotonous, "mechanized" work day after day.
The efficacy of "Mafeisan" and "Penicillin" produced in this factory "assembly line" manner is naturally incomparable to the original version, which was personally overseen by Chairman Philip and refined through a complete enchantment process.
However, these "standard" medicines are perfectly adequate for treating routine battlefield injuries and damage at the level of an ordinary fighter—after all, not all wounds, in terms of size or pain, can compare to the inhuman "organ modification" surgery.
The funds required to build two such magnificent and massive factories are astronomical!
The current financial resources of the capital's treasury are completely insufficient.
As the "chief architect," Philip once again defied public opinion and mobilized the Alchemists' Guild's own funds.
Although the Alchemists' Association is not as wealthy as the Magicians' Association, its accumulated wealth over the years is still immense.
After all, most of the potions, weapons, magical artifacts, and even many strange and wonderful things needed for daily life in the entire Kingdom of Grant come from the Alchemists' Guild.
To become a successful alchemist, having money is the first step.
Philip spent almost six million gold coins on the construction of the factory, and 90% of the association's own funds were also depleted.
Of course, all these efforts were worthwhile. The mysterious alchemy, along with hundreds of thousands of workers, worked together to build the initial drug production base with their blood and flesh.
The production of pharmaceuticals is much more arduous than the previous work of "catching ladybugs" and "producing pesticides".
Some people's lazy nature began to emerge.
While other workers are working hard, some people use the excuse of a stomachache to squat in the outhouse for most of the day, and then use the excuse of drinking water for an hour or two.
Some people have started to dawdle and procrastinate.
This infuriated the factory manager, Foyer!
.............
"Damn it! These people have truly forgotten their roots! If it weren't for His Majesty the King, who disregarded past grievances and showed compassion by establishing factories and providing jobs for everyone, they would still be in the slums, scavenging leftovers from the nobles and living a precarious existence!"
"Now, Foreign Minister Tester is imposing harsh taxes. If they weren't working in factories and receiving His Majesty's protection, exempt from taxes, Tester's guards would beat those who resist to death!"
"But they eat cheese bread, drink white rice porridge, and occasionally even have chicken! Now, they dare to slack off? They deserve to die!"
The usually "compassionate" Fuye was now completely enraged!
"These lazybones are living too comfortably! This huge factory has just been transformed from a slum into a productive facility! It's time to set some rules for them!"
Fuye's gaze instantly turned cold and sharp.
Just then, a young man, who was clever, quick-witted, and hardworking, caught Fuye's eye.
"Young man, what's your name?" Foye asked.
"Reporting to the factory director, my name is Pepys!"
The young man answered with bright, alert eyes.
"Have you been to school? Can you read?"
"My father was a down-on-his-luck country knight. As a child, I received a complete general education in the kingdom and practiced the knight's breathing technique! Now, I am a prospective fighter!"
Hearing Pepys's words, Foye's face lit up with joy: "Good! You're literate and have martial arts skills! And so young! From now on, you'll follow me. I'm appointing you as the assistant officer of the main factory!"
Pepys's eyes flickered for a moment before he stated his preference: "General Manager, I would prefer to be the manager of the penicillin branch!"
Foyer paused slightly, but didn't seem to find anything wrong with it: "If you don't mind the extra work, you can take on both the assistant officer position at the main factory and the manager position at the penicillin branch!"
Pepys was overjoyed: "Thank you so much for nurturing me, head office!"
.............
Inside the palace, Li Ang listened to Philip's report on the combination of the "factory" and alchemy, and was very grateful for Philip's efforts.
"Philip, the Alchemists' Guild's investment will yield rich returns in the future!"
"The battle against the alien races is about to begin! I will trade the regular versions of [Anesthetic] and [Penicillin] produced in the factory with peace-loving druids, goblins, cat people, and elves through the Ratman Merchant Guild!"
"From now on, a large amount of gold coins will be deposited into the Alchemist's Guild for you to conduct various experiments!"
Leon patted Philip on the shoulder.
At the same time, Li Ang also conveyed the latest instructions to Fu Ye: the remaining poor people should get to planting crops as soon as possible!
Once war begins, food supplies are also a core "resource"!