Kays Translations

Chapter 137: Trial Production of Soap

Bianshu Town was not suitable for growing sugarcane. In the past, people had been sent to bring back sugarcane seedlings and attempt cultivation, but the results ended in failure.

To maintain the noble family’s refined lifestyle, the Eisen family had no choice but to purchase sugar from other regions every year, which added up to quite an expense.

So when Owen learned that sugar beets—which could serve as a substitute for sugarcane—could be grown in Bianshu Town, he was naturally delighted. He even set aside a special test field for this new crop.

This way, Bianshu Town wouldn’t need to buy sugar from outside. They could grow sugar beets on their own land and refine sugar directly, saving a great deal of money.

Besides sugar production, its by-products also had considerable value.

For example, molasses, after fermentation or chemical processing, could produce alcohol, various alcohol derivatives, and glycerin.

The filter mud left after sugar extraction, rich in calcium and other nutrients, could be used as fertilizer.

The beet stalks, leaves, green tops, tail roots, and beet pulp were all juicy, high-quality feed that could be given to livestock—or even slimes.

In short, there were plenty of benefits to cultivating sugar beets.

Some might ask: then why not expand sugar beet cultivation?

The main problem lay with this year’s wheat crop—Owen had no idea what the yield would be.

No matter how good sugar beets were, he first had to make sure the people had enough to eat. After all, wheat was still their staple food.

Winston’s data could not be applied directly to Bianshu Town, since the conditions were completely different. The very presence of magic made it the greatest uncertainty.

After this year’s autumn harvest, once Clive had compiled an approximate yield report, Owen would finally have a clear picture.

At that point, he planned to reorganize Bianshu Town’s agricultural distribution to ensure a balanced planting of various crops, using the land more efficiently and scientifically to promote the territory’s development.

Before leaving, Owen told the farmer.

“Work hard. At harvest time, I’ll buy everything at the price we agreed upon.”

“I will, my lord.” 

The farmer said, bowing deeply.

At first, this farmer had wanted to plant wheat like everyone else. But then Clive had approached him, saying that the lord wished to use his plot as a test field for sugar beets.

The farmer had been reluctant. Why should he plant some crop he had never even heard of? What if the yield was poor?

To erase all doubts, Clive had offered him a very tempting deal: as long as he followed the given guidelines for planting, no matter the actual harvest, everything would be purchased at a set price.

He even did a simple calculation for the man, showing that the profits from sugar beet cultivation could actually be greater.

That was what convinced the farmer to commit to planting sugar beets.

…

Inside the temporary laboratory.

Owen took four oval-shaped yellow bars of soap out of the mold. They were perfectly shaped—the trial production was a complete success.

Since the laboratory was now capable of producing caustic soda, and raw materials like animal fat and high-purity alcohol were available, Owen had decided to attempt soap-making.

The fat was sourced from animal grease, while the high-purity alcohol came from distilled and refined liquor purchased from outside.

The principle behind soap-making was simple: the saponification reaction.

Fats, when boiled with sodium hydroxide solution, hydrolyzed into higher fatty acids and glycerin. The former, once processed and molded, became soap.

It was worth noting, however, that fats were not easily soluble in sodium hydroxide solution.

That was where alcohol came in—it increased the solubility of the fat and accelerated the saponification process.

Lifting one bar of soap to his nose, Owen inhaled a faint floral fragrance. That was thanks to the fragrance essence he had added during production.

In this way, the original unpleasant alkaline odour of soap was replaced. To the outside world, he would present it as fragrant soap.

If it were to be sold to the public, Owen believed that fragrant soap would surely be very popular among noblewomen—after all, they were known for their love of cleanliness.

Because of this, Owen planned to eventually establish a soap factory in Frontier Town dedicated to soap production.

Besides earning money through external sales, he was also considering the hygiene of his people.

It was well known that soap had excellent cleaning power.

If it could be mass-produced cheaply enough so that every household owned at least one bar, and if everyone used soap to keep themselves clean, the chances of falling ill would certainly decrease significantly.

Beyond that, there was an even more important reason: the production of soap yielded a by-product—glycerin.

This substance could be used to manufacture explosives stronger than black powder, and it was also essential for smokeless gunpowder.

Unfortunately, Bianshu Town did not yet have the means for large-scale soap production.

First of all, the laboratory’s supply of caustic soda was limited, and priority had to be given to the production of nitrocellulose to meet ammunition demand.

Second, the current cost of producing high-purity alcohol was still quite high.

They would have to wait until after the autumn harvest to see if there was enough surplus wheat to use fermentation methods to produce large quantities of alcohol. Beets could also be used for alcohol production.

Lastly, there was the issue of fats. Animal fats were expensive, and Bianshu Town alone could not supply them in sufficient amounts.

That meant they would need to be purchased from outside.

Given that, it would be better to buy large quantities of cheaper oil-bearing plant seeds or fruits and transport them to Frontier Town for oil extraction.

Whether animal or plant-based, as long as it was fat, it could be used to make soap.

At the same time, they could purchase natural alkali in bulk and bring it to Frontier Town to produce sufficient caustic soda through the causticization method.

With this, Bianshu Town would finally meet the conditions for building a soap factory.

“To buy from outside, huh…” 

Owen muttered softly.

If they relied on merchant ships to transport goods from far away, Bianshu Town would have to pay freight charges as well as middlemen’s markups.

That would undoubtedly raise the production cost of soap.

To reduce costs, Owen became increasingly convinced that Bianshu Town needed its own fleet under the lord’s command.

Not only could it transport raw materials for soap, it could also carry many other supplies.

For instance, Guildmaster Masha had promised to provide nitre exclusively to Frontier Town—if they had their own ships, they could pick it up directly from her refining grounds, saving money.

What’s more, Frontier Town no longer exported ores—all of it was consumed locally.

Even so, Owen still felt that the supply of iron was far from enough, and he had already begun discussing with Clive whether they should purchase iron ingots or ore from outside.

If so, their own ships could also handle transporting the iron back.

The irony was almost laughable: Bianshu Town, a place famed for its iron mines, was now considering importing iron ore and ingots.

Decision made!

After some thought, Owen reached a major conclusion.

Since he already had the ship design blueprints in hand, why not gather manpower to build ships himself, recruit captains, train sailors, and form a fleet that truly belonged to Bianshu Town?

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