In a special workshop in the workshop.

Sophia hurried in early in the morning, and found Wald, who was also busy in the midst of a large crowd of busy workers, who was carefully observing the boiling and bubbling viscous liquid in a large cauldron in front of him.

It's bitterly cold outside, but inside this factory is as warm as spring, and the place near the cauldron is so hot that it can burn the skin.

"Mr. Wald."

Outside the door, Sophia put on a special white overalls and called out to Wald, who was looking down and thinking.

"Miss Sophia."

Wald turned his head, glanced at the Minister of Agriculture, who was a few years younger than himself, and said with a smile: "To be honest, this white overalls on Miss Sophia's body have a more beautiful and refined beauty. ”

"Thanks for the compliment." Sophia smiled and replied, "But I still prefer the green overalls in the plantation." ”

"The features are different." "Plantations need to be dirt-resistant and wear-resistant, but here it's more about cleanliness," Wald said. ”

"Speaking of workwear, I heard you're preparing to build a 'textile workshop'?" Sophia asked with interest.

"Yes."

Wald nodded: "Our fabrics are all produced by the most advanced loom, and the loom that has been improved by the lord has increased its efficiency several times more than Gilman's most advanced products after adding the magic energy device.

"However, after all, the clothes need to be sewn by hand by female workers, although it is not bad, but the production is insufficient, Miss Sophia should remember that the first batch of work clothes took nearly half a year to be distributed."

"Yes, the number of people on the plantation has increased, and it often takes a long time to get it distributed." Sophia nodded.

"There is no way, the construction team, the logging team need uniform and better quality clothing, the work clothes of the forging workshop have special requirements, not to mention the school uniforms, during that time, the tailors often work overtime day and night, and the style and quality of the clothes cannot be guaranteed." Wald, the Minister of Industry, had much more to manage than others, and he had mixed feelings when he remembered the difficulties of the early days of the "business".

"Is there anything different about the textile workshop?"

"The biggest difference is that there is an additional machine called 'sewing machine' to help female workers sew clothes, which can be several times more efficient, with better quality and fewer defective products."

"Sewing machine?"

As Sophia, she has never sewed clothes by hand, but she still knows the general process.

It's hard to imagine that sewing clothes can also be done with a machine?

"You're amazing." She knew Wald couldn't lie to her.

"This is the concept and the drawings of the key components proposed by the lord, and then all the craftsmen of our workshop studied together, the first prototype machine, it took more than half a year to make, but everything was worth it. I believe that it will not be long before everyone can change to a new batch of work clothes, and update them regularly in the future. ”

"That's great." Sophia thought of the overalls she had been using for more than two years, and for the sake of example, she had not changed them.

"But when the time comes, there may be a new group of textile workers, and the idea is to get more free farmers involved in the workshops." After Wald finished speaking, he asked, "Miss Sophia, I don't know very well, will this affect next year's grain production?" ”

"No worries at all."

Sophia said with a smile: "The current grain production of the fortress mainly depends on the plantation, although the number of free farmers is larger, the grain produced is less than half of the plantation, but the lord does not want the number of farmers to decrease too much at once." ”

"Then I see." Wald nodded.

"That's right."

Sophia remembered the purpose of her visit, and glanced at the cauldron in front of her: "Is the supply of beets still enough?" ”

In this factory, sugar beets are used to make sugar.

It's the syrup that's boiling in the cauldron.

Although sugar is a luxury, sugar production is not a difficult thing in this world.

However, because of the rough process, a lot of materials will be wasted in the production process, coupled with the higher requirements for sugar beet planting, and the limited land must also be limited to consider food, so that the yield of this crop has been very low. As a result, many people would rather nibble on beets directly, except for some big aristocrats, few people can be luxurious enough to eat sweets regularly.

But the twilight plantation could have started studying sugar beet cultivation as early as the time Colin arrived.

In Colin's eyes, sugar is not only a seasoning, but also a strategic substance.

The happiness that sweets bring is, in some cases, even comparable to the allure of mint to elves.

Therefore, although the plantation has only opened up a small sugar beet orchard in order to ensure food supply as a priority, the production is not small, and even a small batch was given to Dadamir last time.

In the original sugar production process, because of the lack of distillation, filtration, cold brew and other steps in the refining process, the sugar cubes made were turbid and had many impurities.

But the fortress did not have a problem with this.

Wald had been working on a better sugar production process for a long time, and Sophia was also needed to cooperate in this regard, after all, raw materials were also important.

It's just that because it's not urgent, it's always been done as academic research and interest.

However, the other day he suddenly remembered that the lord had said in a small talk that it was customary in some places to offer candy to all those who attended the wedding, called joy candy.

I didn't care about it at the time, thinking about this kind of thing, it is estimated that only Emperor Osik can be so extravagant.

But now it seems that Xiaya also has this qualification.

Thinking of this, he immediately went to Sophia and said his idea - at the lord's wedding, all the guests were offered "joy candy".

Sophia, who was recently indulging in arranging a wedding with Tessa, was shining brightly.

What a wonderful idea.

As a result, the sugar factory, which was originally in laissez-faire, has been running at full capacity these days, and the number of workers has increased several times, hoping to produce more sugar before the wedding.

Sophia watched as the syrup slowly flowed out of the heating vessel, cooled to form a thin line, which was then cut into small pieces by the workers.

Just looking at the entire production process is extremely tempting.

"Miss Sophia, you can taste it."

Wald set an example, reaching for a finished candy cube.

Sophia carefully puts the sugar in her mouth, and even she can't resist the happiness of the sweets.

Wald also closed his eyes for a moment before opening his eyes and smiling: "Lord Lord said that eating more sugar is not good for teeth, but I think it is estimated that many people would rather not have teeth than be able to enjoy this moment.

"In addition, the mint you sent is also being processed, and the mint candy produced at that time is sure to make His Excellency Olivia and the elves like it."

When Sophia heard this, she seemed to have seen the scene of the elves' revelry.

She enjoyed the wonderful feeling of the sugar cubes slowly melting in her mouth for a while, then looked at the busy sugar factory, thought of the surprised and envious expressions of the guests at the wedding, and sighed, "I'm so glad I didn't leave the fortress for Thunder City. ”

Walder nodded: "For Charya!" ”

"For Charya."

After Sophia responded, she smiled again: "Although the lord has never been allowed to say this, this time he shouldn't blame us......"

She picked up another small piece of candy with her slender fingers and put it in her mouth, and said, "For the lord." ”

"For the sake of the lord." Wald smiled and took the opportunity to eat the second piece of candy.

(End of chapter)