Volume 7: Doing Business with the World Chapter 228 Is the Fire Department replicable?
After nearly three years of expansion, the Balk Flour Mill has become the largest factory in the Fire Department.
Covering an area of more than 200 mu, with dozens of large and small factory buildings, all production lines are running maturely, truly achieving scale and intensiveness, with sweet potatoes and potatoes going in and vermicelli noodles coming out...
In the No. 1 plant of the cleaning area, which is built at the southernmost end and close to the swamp, two huge cylindrical cleaning machines that look like old-fashioned popcorn machines and are supported at both ends by steel frames are in operation.
The sweet potatoes that had just been delivered from the cat farm were dumped into the cleaning machine one cart at a time . When it was filled to the standard line of 70%, the lifted upper part was closed, fastened, and the screws were tightened. The four wolf-like snow wolves walked to the winch device that was installed next to the cleaning pool and was like a small windmill. They put the traction belt on their chests, let out a "Hey Yo", and pulled it in circles in the same direction.
With the sound of the steel cable turning, this gigantic "giant popcorn machine", or in other words, the giant drum sweet potato washing machine, began to turn...
A few minutes later, the four Snow Wolves who were pulling the winch stopped, used their wolf claws to hook open the drain port on the side of the cleaning machine to drain the sewage, re-injected clean water, and pulled the cleaning machine to turn again.
After three washes, the four Snow Wolves transformed into human bodies, unscrewed the screws connecting the two-piece washing machines, poured the sweet potatoes that were washed to 80% to 90% clean into the washing pool below, and then each took a high-pressure water gun to wash away the remaining floating mud on the sweet potatoes...
Before the pneumatic engine technology matured, high-pressure machines could not be developed. In the past, it took the Snow Wolves a long time to process a pool of sweet potatoes. Now it is convenient and can be done in just a few minutes.
The cleaned sweet potatoes were loaded onto a cart and taken to the starch processing area. The four Snow Werewolves continued to wash the next round...
Master and apprentice Aldoni sat on the steps of the warehouse on the east side of the cleaning area to rest. The six of them looked numbly at the busy Snow Wolves surrounding two huge roller machines that were more than ten meters long and nearly four meters in diameter.
" A truckload of sweet potatoes weighs about 2,000 kilograms. We can clean three truckloads at a time. The whole process only takes half an hour..." The eldest disciple said numbly and desperately, "These weird machines and orcs are all monsters... Even if we are spellcasters, we can only achieve this efficiency at full power..."
It was okay today. Balk saw that they had overdrawn their mental strength one after another, so he didn't let them wash the sweet potatoes... In the past, they would also have been busy in the cleaning area.
Aldoni moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
When he was forced by the green dragon lord to come to the noodle factory to help, Aldoni still wanted to "learn the advanced experience of the Snow Wolf Tribe in making vermicelli and bring it back to the human world", but now... Aldoni no longer considers this issue.
It really doesn't make sense to operate.
The ratio of sweet potato to vermicelli is about one pound of vermicelli for every five pounds of sweet potatoes. This is when the sweet potatoes on the grassland are well grown, large in size and have sufficient starch content. If you change to the malnourished thin sweet potatoes, it would be good if you can produce one pound of vermicelli for every eight pounds.
Then there is the issue of efficiency - every one of these grassland aliens loves to talk about efficiency, and Aldoni is also affected - with the same number of humans as these snow wolves, not to mention other steps, just in terms of cleaning, how many kilograms of sweet potatoes can each human wash every day?
These sweet potato and potato washing machines are tailor-made for the Snow Wolf Tribe. As for other races... I guess only the Tiger Tribe and the Bear Tribe can use them, the others can't~!
And if you want to make a small homemade machine that can be used by humans, honestly, the cost is so high - at least the current "J" definitely does not have the conditions to do so.
"You guys are still here? Let's get to work!"
A snow wolf cub ran over from the starch processing area and waved at the six masters and apprentices from afar.
The six people stood up silently without saying anything...
The starch processing area, as the name suggests, is the processing area where starch from sweet potatoes is extracted.
The original method of processing sweet potato starch alone will never increase production. In order to shorten the processing cycle, corresponding machines have naturally been developed.
The sweet potatoes that have been washed clean of dirt and impurities must be pulped and filtered twice to ensure that the starch in the potato residue is completely extracted; the first step for the sweet potatoes transported to the processing area is to load them into a giant crushing steel tank one meter high and five meters wide for the crushing process.
The six masters and apprentices put on sanitary shoes, gloves, scarves and hats at the factory gate. After entering the factory, they saw several Snow Wolf tribe strong men working together to push the winch that crushed the steel tank, driving the spiral blade inside the steel tank to rotate and crush the sweet potatoes into pieces...
The Snow Wolf Clan is absolutely serious about making food. In the starch processing area factory with hygiene requirements, they would rather use more manpower to push it slowly rather than turn into wolves that easily shed hair.
After this step is completed, the sweet potato pieces crushed into large particles are discharged from the discharge port of the crushing steel tank and flow into a semi-enclosed grinder to be beaten into pulp.
A grinder is a stone mill... What makes it different from an ordinary stone mill is that it has two layers of grinding surfaces inside. The sweet potato pulp ground on the upper layer flows to the lower layer and is ground again to ensure the grinding efficiency.
The twice-ground, foamy sweet potato pulp is flushed into the starch pool through a ceramic pipe as thick as a person. During this process, the filter installed in the ceramic pot completes the process of filtering the potato residue...
The filtered potato residue is poured back into the semi-enclosed grinder, pulped once more, and any remaining starch slurry is extracted.
The slurry in the starch pool needs to be settled and then rinsed again. This is the step that Master Aldoni and his apprentice help with.
Following the arrangement of the Snow Wolf Man, they came to the starch pool. The six masters and apprentices were responsible for one pool each. After standing still, they performed a spellcasting gesture, summoned a translucent hand more than one meter tall out of thin air, reached into the starch pool, and stirred it back and forth...
The process of stirring, settling, and replacing clean water is quite time-consuming without a spellcaster, because a settling process takes at least two hours. With a spellcaster, it is much simpler. After helping to stir, they do not need to wait for time to settle, and can directly extract the sewage in the pool with water element magic - so green dragons are very suitable for making powder. In the past, these tasks were done by Balk alone~! One dragon can do the job of multiple spellcasters!
Anyway, it is to make vermicelli, so there is no need to wash the slurry water very clean. Just change the water twice and the quality of the starch slurry can be used to make vermicelli.
The starch slurry in the pool is scooped up with a wooden barrel and brought to the flour-making area behind the processing area. It is shaken into uniform vermicelli using a nozzle device similar to a shower head, dropped into hot water and cooked, and then scooped up to make perfect sweet potato flour.
Without a spellcaster, the cooked sweet potato flour needs to be dried before it can be stored. With a spellcaster, this process is greatly shortened - extracting moisture and air-drying to set the shape can be done in one go, done!
Then pack them into bags, pull them into the warehouse, and they can be sent out for sale!
The sweet potato flour that is popular across the Bloomfield continent is made this way by the grassland people!
In the past, Balk alone could not catch up with the workload of all the Snow Wolf workers. There was always about 30% of the starch that had to slowly settle and the vermicelli that had to be dried naturally. Now with these six masters and apprentices, Balk will no longer have to deal with the trouble of more and more work. He is so happy...
When it got dark, none of the six masters and apprentices refused to accept the help of the Snow Wolf people for the sake of face, and they obediently rode (or lay) on the backs of the Snow Wolf workers and returned to the tribe to rest...
The Snow Wolf, who had already treated the six masters and apprentices as co-workers, took good care of them. The Snow Wolf carrying four men not only sent Aldoni, the eldest disciple, Aisha and another male apprentice to the public bathroom, but also enthusiastically helped them to scrub their backs.
"Don't worry, I've rubbed Sal before. Sal can't stand the heavy hands of others. Sal is always happy when I come."
This snow wolf, who was still a cub (not yet thirty), held a towel in both hands and motioned to Aldoni and the other three to sit in a row on the bath stools with their backs facing him. Then... with his hands as fast as lightning, he actually rubbed the backs of the four people at the same time.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!" Aisha screamed miserably.
The other three also wanted to scream, but they couldn't afford to lose face, so they gritted their teeth and held it back.
My entire back was rubbed red, but I have to say, it was really nice to endure it...
When the dormitories were being built, a shower room and toilet were reserved for each dormitory, but they were rather cramped after all. After the public bathrooms that provided hot water were built, they quickly became popular among everyone.
As Aisha, whose back was red and in so much pain that she couldn't breathe, leaned against the wall to catch her breath, a goblin staggered over.
"Hi, hello, can you help me rub it? I don't dare ask the snow werewolf for help." The ugly goblin raised his head and looked at Aisha expectantly.
Aisha: “…”
An adult goblin is at least one meter tall, but this goblin is only as tall as his thigh, which means it is a goblin cub.
As halfling cubs, the gray dwarves are at least a little cute, but the goblins are as ugly as ever...
Aisha squatted down silently and reached out to take the towel from the goblin cub's hand; the goblin cub was very happy and turned his back with his fists clenched.
Aisha, the disciple who often cries because of his master's stupidity... does have one good thing, he is willing to sympathize and care for the weak.
Even though he turned his face away in disgust while rubbing the goblin's back... he was still willing to help.
After washing up and meeting up with the two disciples who were going to the women's bathroom, the six masters and disciples headed to the cafeteria as if they were familiar with the place...
The agricultural production teams, which account for the majority of the tribe’s population, are still busy in the fields with the autumn harvest, so the canteen is not too crowded and people can still sit inside to eat.
In the tribe, as long as you work, you will be paid. The six master and apprentices who helped in the flour mill for five days were given an advance salary by Balk because he thought they had performed well. It was double the salary - in addition to the salary for the flour mill, they also received the salary for assistants in the chemical laboratory.
As for whether Aldoni and his six apprentices were happy to receive the double salary, it was hard to say...
Of course, whether they are happy or not, Master Aldoni and his apprentice are financially better off than other "J" companions, so they will not save money when eating in the cafeteria.
Adrian from Sean's group brought his disciples to have dinner. When he passed by the table of Master Aldoni and his disciples, his eyes lit up and he sat down immediately.
"Aldoni, let's sit at the same table?" Adrian said with a smile, "Let's eat together, let's eat together!"
Aldoni: “…”
"Wait, how can you bring a basic meal and then eat our luxurious dinner?" This brat Aisha was very useful at this time.
The basic meal is the cheapest set meal: any one of the three combinations of steamed cakes/pancakes/flavored pancakes, plus a portion of boiled meat in red oil (mainly fish/rabbit meat, with side dishes such as sweet potato leaves, bean sprouts, radish slices, cabbage, etc.), a large bowl of vegetable stew cooked in bone broth + dipping sauce, and a plate of cold dishes (pickled sauerkraut, sauerkraut, etc.).
If this set meal was placed in other places in Bloomfield, it would be a luxurious treat... But in the canteen of the Fire Department, it was really a basic meal - no braised pork elbow! No braised pork! No twice-cooked pork slices! No dry-fried fragrant pot! Spicy chicken, spicy fish, green pepper pork and potato shreds, hot and sour cabbage, fish-flavored eggplant, spicy garlic shrimp... and so on, all kinds of stir-fried dishes that were so dazzling that you couldn't eat them all were not available!
"Don't be so stingy~~~~" Adrian said as he took a fork (he wasn't proficient in using chopsticks yet) and pointed it at the most expensive and delicious braised pork elbow on the table.
"Stop it--!!" Aisha let out a terrible scream, attracting curious looks from people at other tables.
At the critical moment... the eldest disciple and the female practitioner both took action, using their flexible shadowless chopsticks to quickly scrape the elbow meat off and put it into their own bowls and their master's bowls.
Adrian finally took a piece of pork elbow with his fork, and the pork elbow plate was left with only the side dishes...
"That's too cruel!!" This time, it was Adrian who screamed.
"Teacher, there is also this spicy garlic shrimp." Adrian's disciple reminded quickly.
So the eldest disciple and the female monk used their chopsticks to clean up the entire plate of spicy shrimps.
Master Adrien and his apprentice: "..."
The two stopped talking nonsense and quickly buried their heads in eating the food...
The eight human spellcasters competed with each other to grab the food. After finishing all the food on the table, everyone was so full that they could hardly stand up ...
The two teachers asked the students to wash the dishes, and then they walked to the square in front of the cafeteria to sit down and chat. The Fire Department has a big class every five days, and a small class every other day. There is no class today, so everyone has more time in the evening.
Before they could chat for a few words, Aldoni saw that his fellow Snow Wolf workers at the flour mill had also finished their meal. A large group of people came out of the cafeteria in a line and walked in the same direction.
"Where are you going?" Aldoni greeted.
"The harvester of Dashui's production team broke down and they couldn't harvest the rice in time. We went to help." A co-worker at Snow Wolf turned around and explained.
"Uh... do we need to go?" Aldoni hesitated.
"No need, it's only a few hundred acres away. Besides, there are lots of mosquitoes in the fields at night." The Snow Wolf worker waved his hand and said goodbye to them.
Watching the group of snow werewolves walk away, the two spellcasters sighed at the same time.
"If only we humans could be as united as these orcs... Alas." Aldoni shook his head slightly.
He felt it more deeply than others because he had been closer to ordinary Snow Wolf people in the past week. Hardworking, helping each other, and being open-minded and generous were his most profound understandings of the Snow Wolf people. It was not that humans did not have such qualities, but... for the entire human race, the number of such people was far from enough.
"That's why Mr. Sean would rather live here than return to his hometown of Kroning." Adrian also sighed, "If it were me... I would also like to spend the last years of my life in such a peaceful and harmonious place."
These two human spellcasters who have lived for a hundred years have been to many places and have experienced a lot. They have seen noble people of the same race, and they have also seen despicable people of the same race. They will not use simple and crude, black and white judgments to judge that all people of the same race are noble or all despicable. They have a deep understanding of the complexity of human nature.
"Al, these past few days, I've thought about this many times. What exactly is the difference between this grassland tribe and the place where we humans live? Maybe I'm ignorant... or I don't have enough vision. I think... we can't create such a place in the human world." Adrian said in a somewhat depressed tone.
Aldoni looked at him in surprise. This old friend had always been a cheerful and enthusiastic person. He never expected Adrian to be so pessimistic.
"Why do you think so, Yade? Yes, we cannot deny that we humans are much more complicated than orcs. Most ordinary people only live for a few decades. They cannot be as leisurely as orcs with longer lifespans. Therefore, they will be more eager and excessive in pursuing things that are beyond their capabilities. This makes some humans seem greedy and insatiable."
"But this is not the human race's fault, Yade. This does not prove that we humans are hopeless or inherently despicable. You and I have seen enough of our own kind. Even if there are many despicable people, they cannot represent all of them."
"Our country is sick. The cruel and incompetent enjoy wealth and glory, while the kind and hardworking people wail in sorrow. So we must change this unreasonable world and remove those harmful but inherited power rules. Isn't this exactly our 'J' philosophy?"
Adrian smiled bitterly and shook his head. After Aldoni finished speaking, he spoke softly, "Of course I know this, Al. Isn't this what I have always believed? When King Kroning carried out the reforms, I was one of the first people to rush to the capital of King Kroning, just like you..."
Sighing, Adrian said quietly, "The enthusiasm and passion at that time, now thinking about it... it's just what the grassland tribes said, ignorance is fearless."
"Yade——"
"Listen to me, old friend." Adrian interrupted Aldoni and continued, "The Grassland Tribe is a transparent tribe both inside and outside. They will make the tribe's total annual income public, allowing everyone to calculate the tribe's revenue and expenditure accounts. They can earn more than 100,000 gold coins every year. In addition to saving, they use most of it to purchase materials needed by the tribe, build the tribe, and improve everyone's life... That's why they can build a brand new town from a barren wasteland in just a few years, and even buy an entire inland sea fleet."
Adrian turned his head and looked at Aldoni: "Let me make an impolite assumption, Al. If you and I, if we 'J' were the masters of this grassland tribe, we would have the power to dispose of more than 100,000 gold coins every year - how much of this money do you think can be used for tribal construction and development?"
Aldoni was stunned.
Several disciples who were listening quietly also showed shocked expressions.
Adrian laughed at himself, "Please believe me, I am not disgusted with our companions. I trust everyone. If all the members of 'J' were not full of confidence and enthusiasm in our common ideals, we would not be able to come this far with everyone."
“But I cannot blindly assume that all people are saints who have no desire for external things.”
"When a large amount of gold coins appears before our eyes, can we really not be tempted? All of us will not suddenly think of the top wizard tower, the most luxurious mansion, the most luxurious robes, the most beautiful women... Can all of us in 'J' be so pure?"
Adrian looked disappointed: "We can't do it, Aldoni."
Aldoni moved his lips, but no sound came out.
Emotionally, he was extremely opposed to Adrian's groundless speculation. This questioning of his companion's character made him furious, and he wanted to point at Adrian's nose and scold him.
But intellectually, Aldoni knew that Adrian was right.
In all the legendary stories of the human race, all the protagonists who become rich, successful, famous and wealthy must eventually own a luxurious mansion and have beautiful lovers on both sides.
The fact that these legendary stories can be widely circulated is itself a testament to human beings’ desire for material desires and their indulgence in lust.
After attending one large class and two small classes, Aldoni saw with his own eyes the person who owned the grassland tribe and had the right to control the gold coins - the sage Ayun. Needless to say, he lived in the oldest house in the tribe and only occupied half of it, which he shared with Mr. Sean.
There are more than 30 tribe leaders, including the Fire Chief, Grassroots Chief, Li Chief, Arthur Chief, etc. All of them are conscientiously responsible for their own work. A small half of them are single, and those who have a partner only have one partner.
The situation of Hongye, Languo, Xuehua, Yu, Ayue, Qingcao, Dashui... and other management members is the same as that of the clan leaders.
Even among the clan leaders and management, those who can have separate housing must be people with partners...single guys should just sleep in the dormitory.
Anyone who has a partner, is in heat, or wants to have cubs, even an ordinary member of the tribe, can have a family house just like the tribe leader and management.
All the powerful orcs calmly faced the huge amount of money that increased by more than 100,000 gold coins every year, and lived a stable life just to meet their needs!
For the human race... this is really too much of a stretch!
Aldoni felt something in his body rapidly draining away, as if it was heat, or as if it was spirit or soul; inexplicable fatigue and the sudden appearance of icy darkness overwhelmed him, and his body seemed to lose the strength to support itself in an instant.
"Teacher!" The eldest disciple called out softly and hurried forward to support Aldoni who was about to fall from the stone pier.
Adrian also reached out and grabbed Aldoni's arm. Seeing his old friend so distraught, he smiled wryly and said with great uneasiness: "Al, you...should I advise you to be more open-minded?"
"Mr. Adrian..." The eldest disciple supported his teacher with all his strength and shouted with extremely complicated emotions... He was somewhat resentful of the other party, but Adrian was indeed not wrong, he was right, and the eldest disciple really couldn't say the words of complaint.
"As expected of Mr. Adrian and Mr. Aldoni, everyone at 'J' is indeed wise and far-sighted. Mr. Alman, your friends are all as good as you. I think this is what they call birds of a feather flock together."
"Hahahaha...if someone else said that, I would believe it. Ah Yun, please give us some face."
Xiao Yun and Alman walked out of Canteen No. 2. They were in high spirits and laughing happily. They flattered each other and walked towards the two groups of masters and apprentices who were in high spirits.
Aldoni & Adrian: “???”
