Under Edgar's strange gaze, Todd picked up a lump of ore that had been placed in the open field.

In appearance, these don't look like washed ores, but rather like slag, which is a waste from the fire refining method.

A charcoal-faced smelting apprentice, instructed by the craftsman, put down his work and walked to Todd, who was holding the ore and observing it repeatedly.

"My lord, what can we lowly do for you?"

Hearing this, with a little surprise, Todd looked at the child in front of him who was bent down and bowed his head to be the same age as himself, and realized that the other party was so deferential, most likely because of the monk's uniform on his body.

Frowning and glancing at the cross on his chest, the novice monk desperately recalled the Western religious works he had seen, and used as reasonable language as possible to make the other party not suspicious: "As a preacher authorized by the Father to walk the earth, I have a few questions for you. ”

Burst!

Behind him came the sound of Edgar's mouth choking.

Cold sweat was dripping from Todd's forehead, but fortunately, the apprentice craftsman in front of him didn't have any unusual expression.

Raising the slag in his hand, Todd asked, "Where did these things come from?"

The apprentice replied respectfully, "The Northern Quarry as a gift from the Kingdom of the Silver Ring to the Abbey. ”

"North Quarry?"

"Yes, I've heard that the pits there produce silver ore. ”

After a moment of silence, Todd used his perspective to pass through the surface of the slag, looked at the flickering silver light in it, and asked thoughtfully, "Let me ask you, is the 'Ash Blowing Silver Smelting Method' used in the North Stone Mine to smelt silver?"

"Ash blowing silver smelting?"

Looking at the other party's puzzled expression, he touched his head and explained to the apprentice the general process of the 'Ash Blowing Silver Refining Method' in his previous life.

The so-called "ash blowing silver smelting method" is a method of separating silver and lead. Silver ore generally has a very low silver content, and the key to silver smelting technology is how to enrich the silver. Since lead and silver are completely miscible and have a low melting point, lead is added to smelt silver to dissolve in lead and achieve silver enrichment, and then air is blown to oxidize the lead and enter the furnace ash to separate the silver.

It's very simple to say, but in the previous life, the ash blowing method was subdivided into a variety of categories, just in the European Middle Ages, there were nearly ten kinds of English ash blowing method, German ash blowing method, wind pan ash blowing method, template ash blowing method, etc.

Todd had only explained a little bit, when suddenly a pair of large hands appeared in front of him, covering the ears of the startled apprentice.

A swarthy face appeared in front of the monk's eyes, and the ravine-covered face revealed nervousness and unease, and the old craftsman, who looked to be about fifty years old, lowered his voice and whispered to Todd, "My lord, please come with me." ”

He was led into a studio, sat on a wooden chair, and watched as the idlers were all driven out by the old craftsmen, leaving only one person swaggering in with him.

Edgar, the boy, with a look of nonchalance on his face, walked into the door and found a clean corner, leaning against the wall and looking at himself for a long time. This made Todd's head float black lines, and he secretly cursed in his heart, I know that you bastard was sent by them to spy on me, but how can you be so blatantly monitored in the world?

The old craftsman closed the door tightly, waved his hand to dispel the curious apprentice by the window, stood respectfully in front of Todd, and said carefully, "Your Excellency, you will kill us. ”

With his eyes wide open, the monk asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

Taking off the cloth towel hanging around his neck and wiping his forehead, the old craftsman swallowed: "Although I have never heard of such a name for the 'Ash Blowing Method' you just mentioned, I have heard of similar alchemy. This method of alchemy is known as the 'Nathaniel Silver-Lead Technique', and the general process is similar to what you have said, but the details of the process are only accessible to the craftsmen of the royal family. But it would be very detrimental to you and us to say this casually on such occasions......"

Looking at the man in front of him, he vaguely pointed to the top of his head as he spoke, and Todd instantly understood what he meant.

But this is really a very depressing thing, if I remember correctly, in the previous life, the "ash blowing method" was invented by astrologers in 2500 BC, how can it be in this world, it is still regarded as a treasure by the royal family to set up "technical barriers"?

I think so in my heart, but I still want to let the person on the other side know that I have no malicious intent.

Todd said, "I see, I'm alone......"

Knowing that the monk in front of him did not do it on purpose, the old craftsman was obviously relieved, hung the cloth towel that he was rubbing and pulling between his hands to his waist, and said: "Your Excellency, you don't need to blame yourself, you are the spokesman of the Heavenly Father, and naturally you don't care about the things of this world. ”

"What's your name?"

"Aiden, Aiden Comb, Your Excellency. ”

"Aiden, I need to ask you some questions. ”

"My lord, as long as you ask, I know everything. ”

Looking at the metallic particles in it with clairvoyance, Todd said, "I've heard, these things are from the Northern Quarry? They don't look like freshly mined ores. ”

Glancing at the slag in the monk's hand, the old craftsman picked up the topic: "My lord, as you said. These are the waste from the North Quarry after refining silver. ”

"Why did the Kingdom of the Silver Ring give away these scraps to the Abbey?"

Perhaps misunderstood the other party's question, Aiden hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency, you may have misunderstood, the Silver Ring Kingdom sent this, and there is absolutely no humiliating and demeaning meaning. Although these are wastes from the refining of silver, they are still highly valuable. The lead obtained by the pyrolysis method was an important source of material for the pencils and roofs used in the monastery. ”

What a waste, with this in mind, Todd asked another key question: "How much slag after silver refining like this, how much is here?"

The old craftsman raised his head and replied suspiciously, "How many or as many as you want." The slag sent every year is simply not used up, and more than half of it is used to fill the mountain. ”

His heart was full of joy, and his face was not shocked. Todd said with a smile as he calculated the gains, "Aiden, if I told you that there is an opportunity now that you can contribute to Heavenly Father, would you be willing?"

Pulling out and clenching the cross under his robe, the old craftsman crossed his fingers, closed his eyes and bent down deeply: "I am willing to give everything I have for my Heavenly Father." ”

——————————————————

"You don't have to commit at all, you'll pay him. ”

Hearing Edgar's words beside him, Todd shrugged his brow.

He knew that the boy was right, and that the old craftsman's faith was enough to motivate him to work unpaid without pay. However, in the previous society, the three major capital market thinking, namely the spirit of contract, distribution according to work and win-win mutual benefit, have been deeply imprinted into this soul. Besides, the remuneration given to the craftsman is almost negligible compared to the windfall profits that follow.

With a rare good mood, Todd opened his right arm, grabbed Edgar's shoulder, looked at the tiny freckles on the other party's face, and asked softly, "Do you want to eat meat every day?"

The little guy who was still struggling non-stop, when he heard this, suddenly forgot all the unhappiness, his eyes lit up, and he nodded busily.

"Do you want to put on new clothes?"

Nod.

"Do you want to sleep until dawn without having to work?"

Nodding desperately.

Todd opened his mouth at Edgar and smiled, showing two rows of teeth.

"Trust me, it's going to happen soon. ”