70 – For the Cold Beer, Cheers
When dissolved in water, saltpeter could absorb a lot of heat. This was the principle behind saltpeter produced ice. Thanks to the novels he previously read, Liszt knew a lot of similar common sense.
Besides, he also knew that saltpeter could be used repeatedly.
“Saltpeter is an amazing substance that can dissolve in water and then turn said water very cold before freezing it.” Liszt instructed a servingman to pour the white powder into a basin of water.
Next, the powder could be seen gradually melt.
Tom put a finger into the water and shouted in surprise: “Master, Master, the water, the water has really become cold, it"s cold!”
Gort pushed Tom to the side. Curious yet hesitant, he ultimately put a finger inside: “It really is much colder than before. Liszt, is this a method of wizards? I have once seen a wizard proficient at ice-attributed magic. In the summer, he would always produce large quant.i.ties of ice to make money.”
However, after waiting for a while, the water was only a bit cold and did not freeze.
“Liszt, how come it didn"t turn into ice?”
“Teacher Gort, this bit of powder is not enough to produce ice. Now was just to confirm that it is indeed saltpeter.” Liszt smiled lightly, “Since it was confirmed, while collecting gravel, also collect all the saltpeter and send it to the castle. None can be missed.”
“Okay, I am looking forward to the moment when you make ice. Ice in the summer; aristocrats should enjoy this much.”
Tomorrow was the Going-out-to-the-sea Festival and the castle was going to host a banquet.
Nighttime.
Looking at the saltpeter powder collected through the day, which was a barrel worth, Liszt rather excitedly instructed the servants to start the genuine production of ice.
When dissolved in water, saltpeter would absorb the water"s heat before turning it into ice.
However, the ice produced from the water where saltpeter had dissolved was poisonous. Therefore, it was necessary to prepare a tank and a copper basin. The copper basin had a fairly good thermal conductivity. The copper basin was put in the tank, then water was put both in the tank and in the copper basin and finally, saltpeter was poured into the tank"s water. Now, what remained was to wait for the saltpeter to dissolve, absorb the heat, and turn the water into ice.
Because the saltpeter powder was quite sufficient, its effect was quite strong.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, the water in the tank started to slowly freeze. Quite a while later, the water in the copper basin also started to freeze.
“It froze!”
“It really froze!”
“What an amazing scene. This is a method of legendary alchemists!”
On the sidelines, Marcus, Gort, Isaiah, and Blair successively exclaimed in amazement. They were under the impression that only in winter would there be ice. Only by building ice houses could aristocrats enjoy ice in summer. However, ice houses were a luxury; only the rich lords could organize huge ice-collecting teams to extract ice from lakes and rivers in winter.
A dest.i.tute aristocrats like Gort could only have a few pieces of ice each year in the Tulip Castle.
While Marcus, Blair, and Isaiah were not even qualified to have ice in summer.
Liszt was similarly excited. Although he heard that saltpeter could be used to produce ice, but this was the first time he had tried it for himself. The impact of witnessing water turn into ice was quite striking.
“Master, it turned to ice.” Standing next to the large tank, Thomas" eyes lit up.
“Go get the ice.” Nodded Liszt. With a reserved aristocratic smile plastered on his face and a dignified bearing, he continued, “Cut it into small pieces. Tonight, everyone can get a small piece of ice.”
Carter whispered: “Master, ice is too precious, why give it to servants?”
“It doesn"t matter. Mr. Carter, just do what I said.”
“Yes, Master. On behalf of all servants, I want to express sincerest respect and thanks for your generosity.” Bowed Carter in salute. Meeting a generous aristocratic master was the servants" fortune.
After saying that, he directed Thomas to carry the copper basin with ice into the kitchen so that it could be cut.
Liszt then called for Tom: “Store the tank of ice. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, take the tank outside to weather the ice. Don"t waste a single drop.”
Gort was puzzled: “Liszt, could the ice not be just used as is? Why weather it?”
“When dissolved, saltpeter can be used to make ice, but it cannot be eaten. By weathering the water content, saltpeter can be turned back to its powder form. It can be used repeatedly to make ice.”
“Is saltpeter that magical?”
“It is far more magical than you imagine.” Thought Liszt. Were he to find sulfur, then he would be capable of configuring gunpowder.
Perhaps compared to TNT, gunpowder was not strictly an explosive, but it was still highly flammable and explosive. It was suitable for making some IEDs (improvised explosive devices) with might at least not inferior to magic released by low-ranked magic beasts. In low-level battles, it was quite effective in catching opponents off guard.
Of course, gunpowder had no decisive advantages in a world with dragons, sprites, and magic beasts.
The dishes at the banquet were not sumptuous as Liszt could not bear to receive Gort and the others with lavish meals every day. The castle"s supplies were for his enjoyment.
The beverages – sour, non-hops beer – were also fairly lacking.
However, because everyone had a few pieces of ice in their cups, the banquet was quite lively. The ice melted and cooled the beer. After downing a cup of cold beer, the entire person would instantly feel refreshed. These days, as the weather was getting hotter and hotter, this was the peak of enjoyment.
“Liszt, I propose that we drink for the cold beer!” Gort happily raised his cup.
Liszt picked up his cup and responded: “Then, for the cold beer. Cheers.”
“Cheers!”
‘Gulp" ‘gulp" sounds from swallowing big mouthfuls of beer sounded above the dining table.
……
In the kitchen.
On the dining table.
Irene used a spoon to fiddle with a piece of ice on the plate in front of her, making ‘whoosh", ‘whoosh" sounds.
Abby Ladle couldn"t help but berate her: “Irene, stop making unpleasant sounds! Master has granted you the piece of ice, so why aren"t you eating it?!”
“Compared to eating it, I prefer to watch it melt, Mrs. Abby. Don"t you think that the temperature in the kitchen has dropped?” Irene Fourfingers continued to fiddle with the piece of ice. She looked at Lily Bathtub sitting next to her, “Little Lily, don"t you think so too?”
“Of course; each one of us has a piece of ice.” Said Little Lily before licking the ice on her spoon. She could not bear to eat it all at once.
Although the ice had no taste, but it was cool and felt very comfortable and refreshing.
Abby said angrily: “Little Lily, you"re not permitted to talk with Irene while eating! Your clumsy and crude table manners will make the kitchen loose face!”
“Cough cough.”
The butler, Carter, crushed the ice in his mouth. He was already in his fifties, but his teeth were still very good: “Mrs. Abby, they are still children, it is alright to let them be a little lacking in manners when dining.”
“Mr. Carter, it is not that I am ignoring your instructions, but you should not condone their behavior. Otherwise, they will become unruly. Being clumsy is already bad enough, but if they don"t even learn a bit of etiquette, then they will never leave the kitchen; forever unable to become maids upstairs.” Said Abby seriously.
Carter and Mawson looked each other in the eyes. They knew that deep down, Abby was a good-hearted person.
However, Irene was clearly not convinced: “Mrs. Abby, I don"t want to go upstairs. There, I could not feel the least bit at ease, always minding my surroundings. Instead, I will become the cook in the future. I like to work in the kitchen.”
“You can forget about that!” Abby immediately went off, “As long as I am in the kitchen, you will have no hope of becoming the cook. Little girl, remember, don"t offend me!”
“But there will come a day when you are too old.”
“Even if there comes a day when I am old and stiff, but currently, I am still the cook! What I say goes!”