Chapter 49 Money-making Industry

The drug Chen Wanrong wants to make is the high-efficiency anesthetic diethyl ether. Diethyl ether is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to relieve patients' pain. If diethyl ether appears in the Tang Dynasty, it will definitely be very popular.

Anesthetics had a wide market prospect in the Tang Dynasty, and in ancient times, they were indispensable for treating diseases. Bian Que used "toxic wine" to be charming and was the earliest anesthetic. Hua Tuo's "Ma Fei San" made an anesthetic one step forward and was highly praised by the world.

The preparation of diethyl ether is actually not difficult. As long as there is alcohol, sulfuric acid, and zeolite, it can be made. Sulfuric acid is a catalyst for diethyl ether production. Theoretically, it will participate in chemical reactions, but it is not consumed. In actual production, sulfuric acid must have losses, but the loss is not large. The alum found today can produce at least dozens of kilograms of concentrated sulfuric acid, which is enough to produce hundreds or thousands of kilograms of diethyl ether.

The only difficulty in producing ether with alcohol is that it requires high concentrations of alcohol, preferably close to 100%, otherwise there will be a divergence reaction. The wines in the Tang Dynasty mainly come from the brewing industry, with a concentration of only ten or twenty degrees. If you use the current wine, this concentration alone will be a big problem, let alone the current wine contains a lot of precipitates, which is not conducive to chemical reactions.

This requires the concentration of alcohol, and distilled liquor is put on the agenda. The concentration of distilled liquor is at most 70 degrees Celsius, which still has a certain gap from the required concentration. However, this is not difficult for Chen Wanrong. Who said that zeolites are widely present in nature? With zeolites, it is not a problem to strengthen the concentration of 70 degrees Celsius to become 100%.

Once these conditions are met, the high-efficiency anesthetic agent, such as diethyl ether, can be released, and the patient's pain will be greatly reduced. It not only benefits society but also makes money, which is exactly what Chen Wanrong wants, and he will not be able to be excited.

"Shang Rong, go back quickly and invite your father and Master Wang, and say I have something to do to find them." Chen Wanrong called Xiao Shangrong and gave a few instructions.

Although Xiao Shangrong didn't know what Chen Wanrong was trying to do, he saw that he looked serious and knew that the matter was serious, he responded and turned around and ran away.

The wine seeped out from the wine mash more and more. The guys added a few buckets of water and the jar of wine came to an end. The rest was to wait for it to ferment naturally. This process was very long and took three or two days.

Xiao Zhizhong took people to press the wine, wrapped the wine mash in a cloth, placed it on a rack, and placed it with bluestone slabs on it. Like to press tofu, the wine juice flowed out and flowed into the tank, making a rustling sound.

There are more than a dozen wine jars in a large pot next to it, and the outside of the wine jar is soaked in water. Add firewood under the kettle, and the temperature rises, and the water cannot keep coming out of water vapor. This step is a step that must be taken to cook wine and maintain quality. Without this step, the wine will not be stored for a long time, and there will be no famous wine like "Daughter Red".

The Tang Dynasty did not have better heating equipment, which was a very primitive method, but it had to be done.

Just keep two people watching by pressing and boiling. Xiao Zhizhong arranged two guys to stay and take the others to make wine koji. Chen Wanrong is not unfamiliar with wine making, but the winemaking process of the Tang Dynasty is not clear, so he naturally needs to go and see it clearly.

The music room was just behind the winery and arrived soon. Xiao Zhizhong opened the door and everyone entered in a row. A strong smell of mold came over his face, which made Chen Wanrong twitch his nose.

The jing room is a large and compact house with broken soil. The walls are covered with windows, and the windows are covered tightly, and the light is very dark. The reason for covering the windows is to prevent the air from moving away from heat, because the jingle will have to ferment for a long time after the jingle is finished. If the temperature is high, it can greatly shorten the time and improve efficiency.

If the temperature is too high, open the windows, let the air flow, and take away some heat energy. This is the most primitive method of temperature regulation.

There are more than 100,000 curved molds in the room, rectangular shape. Next to it is a large wooden barrel full of rice flour, filled with steamed rice flour. Before Xiao Zhizhong's instructions, the guy sprinkled the wine koji on the rice flour, sprinkled a little spice after sprinkling the wine koji, and mix evenly.

Sprinkle spices to increase the aroma of wine, and it is an ancient method that is still being used today.

Then sprinkle the rice flour evenly into the mold and press it tightly. Sprinkle it in, press it tightly, and repeat this way until the mold is full and cover the lid. Xiao Zhizhong said, "It's been stomping." He stood on the lid, lifted his feet and put it down, put it down, and lifted it down, as if he was dancing a tap dance, stepping on the mold.

While stepping, counting the times, after ten steps, Xiao Zhizhong stood down. Another guy was about to go up, but Chen Wanrong stopped him and said, "I'll do it." He stood on the curved mold, his feet kept rising and falling, and after stepping ten times, he stood on the ground.

Xiao Zhizhong thought that Chen Wanrong had a set of chemical engineering, so this winemaking is no match for him, let alone making koji is the core technology of winemaking. The quality of the wine is mainly determined by the koji. Chen Wanrong should have no idea. Unexpectedly, Chen Wanrong was like an old man, extremely skilled, and even better than himself.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Zhizhong praised: "Shopkeeper, have you ever brewed wine before? You are so skillful."

The reason for stomping is to tighten the song and speed up the fermentation speed. There is only one trick, which is to make the force even. In ancient times, stomping was very important. A box of stomping required nearly two hundred strokes to be considered completed. When encountering a large winery, this stomping alone requires dozens of people to complete, and each person steps on a fixed number of times, such as five strokes per person.

Modern brewing companies use machines to operate, no longer use people to play music, and their efficiency has been greatly improved. Chen Wanrong has been in a brewing company and has some understanding of the current brewing. As long as the power of this stomp is even, it is a personal ability. Chen Wanrong maintains his usual modesty style and smiles: "Learn a little."

I heard it,

Chen Wanrong knew very well about brewing, so Xiao Zhizhong had to put away his contempt and praised: "Shopkeeper, you are so humble!" Several guys took turns to work and kept moving. After one round, the second round was held, Xiao Zhizhong, Chen Wanrong and his guy took 170 or 80 feet before they finished a box of songs and moved them aside.

The emergence of cube qu is a major event in the history of winemaking and can be called a milestone. The earliest use of sanqu was to mix the qu, sprinkle the qu on the ground, and ferment it naturally. The defects of this method are very obvious. First, the heat energy is lost, the temperature cannot rise, and the fermentation time is particularly long. It is impossible to be good without ten days and half a month. Second, there are not many effective ingredients, the efficiency of grain utilization is not high, and it is a waste of food.

There were cake choruses in the Western Han Dynasty. The choruses were pinched into a ball by hand and placed into a pile of fermentation. This method has improved compared to Sanqu, and its effect is still not good. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were choruses, which were called "fan". Put the mixed choruses into the chorus and stacked them together, which greatly improved the efficiency of chorus making, but also because this method produced a lot of effective ingredients, which greatly improved the utilization rate of grain and the quality of the wine.

Block chorizo ​​has been used until modern times, but modern brewing companies have higher automation.

Jiujiu is a great invention of our ancestors. Some people believe that it can be compared with the "Four Great Inventions". This is the earliest microbial technology. Jiujiu contains a large number of microorganisms and enzymes for microbial decomposition. It is a catalyst for winemaking. It can greatly promote the decomposition of grain starch, proteins into sugars and amino acids, and then decompose into ethanol, that is, alcohol under the action of yeast.

Chen Wanrong is familiar with the principle of brewing wine, but he doesn't know it to Xiao Zhizhong and the others. After working for a long time, he made about ten boxes.

"Brother, you are here!" Xiao Shangrong's head reached in and reported to Chen Wanrong: "Uncle and Master Wang are both here."

Chen Wanrong said he knew, jumped off the curved model, asked Xiao Zhizhong and the others to continue doing it, and followed Xiao Shangrong.

When I arrived at the winery, I saw Chen Laoshi and Wang Zhongze helping the two friends with excitement on their faces. It was obvious that they had never seen winery before and felt it was very fresh.

Chen Wanrong came to them to make tools, not to ask them to change careers as wine workers, and said with a smile: "Dad, Master Wang, if you don't like it, just be a wine workers here."

This is a joke, but Chen Houshi nodded violently and said, "Wanrong, this is quite good, the winemaker is good, drink as long as you want."

Wang Zhongze said, "But according to the instructions of the boss."

"I'm joking with you." Chen Wanrong's joke was not responded to by the joke. He felt bored and expressed his intention: "I asked you to come here because I wanted you to make some wine-making tools for me."

Chen Laoshi put down his work and asked hurriedly: "Wanrong, what tools do you want?"

"I want a kettle, made of wood." Chen Wanrong found a piece of charcoal and drew it on the ground: "I want this thing."

There were no aluminum plates or copper plates in the Tang Dynasty, so it was impossible to roll the kettles for distilled liquor, so they could only be made by carpenters. The kettles used in modern countryside winemaking workshops are made of wood. Chen Wanrong has seen them and can only be used "copy" and it is not difficult at all.

This wooden kettle maker is mainly divided into two parts. Part of it is placed on the pot, which is cylindrical and needs to be taller for one person. Fill water in the pot. After heating, the water turns into water steam and heats it. Put a round wooden board on the pot, which can be used to withstand grain. The kettle maker is filled with grain. How big the cylindrical kettle should be made depends on the actual situation.

In terms of current abilities, it is three feet tall and one person is enough. After all, sulfuric acid is limited, and the market has not yet been opened. Let’s make a batch first and wait until the market opens.

The other part is like an inverted funnel, which is made by making it a piece of wood. It is not a problem for the carpenter to have good skills. The difficulty lies in this cooling part, because wood is not a hot conductor, and condensation is very difficult. You can find a way to do these things first.

Chen Zhen looked at him with his neck tilted for a while, laughed and said disrespectfully: "Wanrong, just do this, is it necessary for two people?"

This thing is not very difficult, and although Wang Zhongze didn't speak, he agreed very much in his heart.

"Dad, this thing has a requirement, that is, it must not leak water." Chen Wanrong said the only requirement. After heating, steam will produce pressure, so sealing is the most important requirement.

Chen Houshi patted his chest: "Wanrong, you can't trust your father? Don't worry! What time does it take?"

"When will you do it well?" Chen Wanrong asked back.

Wang Zhongze pondered and said, "If the boss wants to be anxious, we can put the others in advance."

Chen Wanrong shook his head: "No hurry, you can do it if you have time. It can be done for five or ten days." Even if you make the distilled liquor, you may not be able to make ether immediately. After all, sulfuric acid has not been done yet. Now that you are so busy, Chen Wanrong is not sure when can you make sulfuric acid well.

This matter was decided. Chen Wanrong went out of the winery and sent invitations to Chen Que. Chen Laoshi and Wang Zhongze were very curious and started working as wine workers again.

The county government office was in the north of the city. Chen Wanrong bought things many times and was familiar with the road and arrived soon.

The Tang Dynasty buildings had its distinctive characteristics: the city must be wide, the streets must be upright, and the government houses must be spacious. The government offices in Ning County are no exception, covering a large area, with many buildings, and spacious and bright. A wall surrounded half a yard, and four officials were on duty at the main entrance. Seeing Chen Wanrong strode, an official interview came up and asked, "This is a major area of ​​the county office, and idlers cannot wait to enter. Do you have any trouble? If you are seeking grievances, you can make a drum or we can report it to you."

Although he was stopping people, he did not forget to ask for injustice. It was not bad. Chen Wanrong smiled and said, "I have something to see Lord Shen."

Chen Que is the number one figure in Ning County. Logically speaking, the official officer should be allowed to leave immediately, or even lead the way. However, the official officer's performance is far from what Chen Wanrong imagined, but the official officer is indifferent: "Mr. Shen is doing his job publicly. If there is nothing big, there is no need to alarm Mr. Shen."

A very flattering official, whose subordinates were so unstoppable, and they didn't learn the ability to flatter. Chen Wanrong was really surprised. If he had enough, he couldn't help but be stunned. He was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Thank you for your reminder. I actually have nothing to do. I just want to invite the adults to the banquet." Since I was stopped, it would be better to say it.

The bribery should be carried out secretly, how could it be said so openly? The official's eyes rolled and stared at Chen Wanrong, and his face changed: "I'm sorry, Lord Shen, Yan Xun, no one who invites food and drinks will be seen!"

I was not very happy to eat and drink last time, why did this rule be made? If Chen Wanrong hadn't heard it with his own ears, he wouldn't believe that the flatterer Chen Que would have such a command. He smiled and said, "Please don't get me wrong. My brother, Chang'an Commission, entered the Imperial College. We set up a few tables at home to thank the gentleman and his classmates in the county. Lord Shen is the honor of the county and a scholar, and it's time to have a drink."

"You're your surname is Chen, right?" Guancha's eyes suddenly lit up.

Chen Wanrong nodded and smiled, "Yes! I am Chen Wanrong."

"Congratulations to Lingdi, our Ning County people, for benefiting from him!" The official clerk held his fist and bowed. The other three official clerks also greeted him with smiles, and congratulations continued.

I guess the incident of Chen Zairong going to the East Palace had been rumored for a long time, and Chen Wanrong was not surprised and gave a gift one by one: "Thank you!"

"Since this is the case, we won't stop you. Lord Shen is working in the side hall on the right, you will be here." An official sent a guide to Chen Wanrong's path.

They didn't take Chen Wanrong over in person. Not only did Chen Wanrong not feel rude, but instead developed a three-point favor. Not flattering is a good thing. He smiled and said, "Thank you." He took out ten taels of silver and stuffed it into the hands of an official: "This little money is not respectful. Please accept it and have a glass of wine."

The official quickly stuffed it back into Chen Wanrong's hand and said with a serious look on his face: "Mr. Chen, we have understood your kindness. But this matter must not be done. If Lord Shen knows, we will eat the board."

Chen Wanrong refused to answer and said with a smile: "It's all in the countryside, let's take it together."

The official hesitated for a moment, but still refused to stop, "Mr. Chen, I really can't. Lord Shen's board is hurting. If you really want to invite us to a glass of wine, we are very happy, but this matter must be approved by Lord Shen."

Looking at them, there was no admiration, nor was it staring at Yinzi. Isn’t he telling lies? Chen Wanrong thought that Chen Que is really a flatterer as he showed in front of me? If he is a flatterer, he would not be so strict in the governance. This is a happy event. If the official collects the silver, no one will say that the four people’s ten taels of silver is not much. Even if the above investigation, it will be a scolding at most.

"Let's do it, you accept it first, I'll tell you about it to Lord Shen." Chen Wanrong became increasingly unpredictable about this question.

The official chae shook his head: "No, no! Lord Shen didn't agree, so we dare not accept it."

Yan Lai was afraid of Chen Que, and Chen Wanrong smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I'll meet you little. When I say I know about Lord Shen, I'll invite you to drink."

"Thank you Mr. Chen!" The four officials thanked each other.

I held my fists a little, left the official's fault for a while, and walked straight to the side hall. The side hall was not far away, and in just one breath, the door was open. There were more than a dozen tables and chairs in the door, and several people were sitting beside the door, burying their heads to review the files.

The side hall was not big, and you could see the end at a glance. Chen Qi sat in the innermost part of the side hall. Although the dark green official robe was worn on his body, the cloth buckle was unbuttoned, and his upper body was naked and his clothes were not tidy. He was not the well-dressed county magistrate Chen Wanrong was familiar with.
Chapter completed!