Struggle in the Steam Age

For Lawrence, there is a very bad thing, that is, he did eat dozens of snacks made of dried seafood in his previous life, but there is only a three-minute popular science video for their production. refer to.

So after pondering for a long time in the kitchen with Safiel, the two of them finally figured out a good recipe for making grilled fish fillets.

This is a very simple method, which is to use a steam engine to drive a metal mill to crush a variety of fish with meat and bones, and add various seasonings at the same time. Then put the added surimi on the iron plate heated by the biogas furnace in the adjacent factory building, and finally cut it into small pieces with a knife for sale.

Although the entire factory building looks more like a dark workshop from the perspective of Lawrence's previous life, whether it is the dim indoor light or the small factory building, it gives people this feeling. But compared to the practice of other food manufacturers in this era, Lawrence's small workshop can be regarded as very concerned about hygiene.

At least everyone who works here wears clean uniforms, masks and hats. Likewise, Lawrence used all the hygienic methods he could think of here.

After the first batch of grilled fish fillets were made, Lawrence offered them to everyone to taste. Although the steward thinks that it is a demeaning practice for nobles to eat this kind of thing. But he also admitted that this kind of food tastes good, at least as a food for ordinary people, it should be very marketable.

What happened next also illustrates this point. The ships from other islands that entered the port before were only to deliver what Lawrence ordered. But after tasting the fish fillets made of this minced fish, they all listed this new specialty of the island as the commodity they purchased from the island.

And the best thing for Lawrence is that everything in the fish is fully utilized in the food production process, and the heads, fins, scales and viscera that are disposed of are just enough to support the factory. Digester operation. These debris after fermentation can also be used as a very good organic fertilizer to make the land more fertile.

As the development progressed, this land also began to produce various outputs. In addition to the specialty fish fillets, a small amount of dried shellfish and shredded squid are also sold. In addition, with several small factories began to produce a variety of daily necessities.

So now Lawrence needs to open up various trade channels to sell these commodities, which is why he bought the two historical offshore sailing ships.

Although he does not intend to go directly to the large settlements in the north to take over directly considering the possible conflicts, but he can do many things in advance. For example, win over as many settlements as possible through economic and trade means.

There are no detailed statistics on the settlers on this island, but according to records, there are about 800,000 people on the island. Among them, the number of settlements in the north and the settlements under their strict control will not exceed 150,000 people, while the settlements in other places on the island are just independent natural communities.

Now all Lawrence has to do is to fight for those independent natural communities, and in actual operation, he found that this work is not as difficult as he imagined.

Because those naturally formed settlements, although seemingly self-sufficient, are actually very fragile. Leaving aside the problem of crop yield reduction or casualties due to natural disasters, heavy rains or various dangers, it is very bad if there is no medicine for the disease.

Besides, it is difficult for them to obtain various necessities of life. So in desperation, I can only use wooden, shellfish and stone production and living tools on a large scale through my own use. Although the local soil is fertile and the water and heat conditions are suitable, these inferior tools can produce enough food in normal times, but in any case, these tools are definitely not as easy to use as metal tools, and they are not as efficient as various agricultural machinery.

Therefore, after the metal tool repair shop established in Lawrence for agricultural services, in addition to repairing various tools that were damaged and worn out during land reclamation, it produced a series of small hardware products such as sickles, hoes, and axes. These things were then used to open up markets in the surrounding settlements scattered along the coastline.

After gaining initial trust, the settlers near the coastline were willing to try to establish a closer relationship with Lawrence and the others. For example, sending those sick people in their settlements to the ship to come to Lawrence to see a doctor.

As soon as the Niujiaowan Colony was established, Dr. Lister established a hospital with the support of Lawrence. But now the hospital and the school established by the Church of Knowledge have become the two most luxurious buildings in the newly established port town. For those villagers who can only rely on simple experience and use a small amount of several herbs to treat diseases. Even if Lawrence's hospital has various deficiencies, it is still very attractive to them.

"Working here is simply too busy." After receiving the two offshore sloops at the pier, Lawrence went to the hospital to find Liszt to inquire about the problems in the hospital recently, and he heard Liszt as soon as he saw him. his complaints. "The main reason is because we are clearly understaffed."

Liszt was telling the truth, because besides himself, there were only four doctors and seven nurses in the hospital. And most of these medical staff are also the family members of Lawrence's retainers, and the number is not large. So when facing more and more patients, it seems obviously powerless.

After all, medical staff need professional training no matter what era they are in, but in the current era where education is not so popular, medical staff can be said to be very rare. For a place like Lawrence to have so many medical staff, it can be said to be one of the best in the surrounding area.

For example, the Viscount Nicosia that Lawrence visited before had only one priest of the Church of the Guardian God to provide treatment services for himself, his relatives, relatives, and a small number of managers. As for the others, apart from using some herbs and earnestly praying in anticipation of the extremely rare miracle, they can only stay where they are and wait for death.

And this can be regarded as the island with relatively strong medical power among the surrounding islands. On some islands, even the lords have to go to other places to get medical services, let alone ordinary people on those islands.

Therefore, after the opening of the medical institution facing the public in Lawrence, it has received a large number of patients. At first, it was only patients from this land, and then it was patients from other parts of the island who heard the news. Now even patients from outside the island have begun to rush over, which is why Liszt, as the director of the hospital, feels so tired.

The only good thing is that basically all church members know some knowledge related to medical care, and with the advancement of education in the compulsory school of the Church of Knowledge, many young people have received education and learned some simple Nursing knowledge, so with their help, the hospital is still able to maintain itself.

"Sorry, but that's how it is now." Facing Liszt who was complaining, Lawrence also showed a helpless expression. "However, I guarantee that I will choose a group of smart young people from the school to follow you and train a group of temporary medical personnel as soon as possible."

"That would be great." Liszt nodded and said, "Actually, the group of young people who are studying with us can already be of great help."