Chapter 216： poison gas

In the spring of 1915, news of the use of poisonous gas by Germany came on the European battlefield. When attacking Ypres in Belgium, the German army took the lead in using poison gas. They released about 180 tons of chlorine gas. More than 15,000 people in the British and French armies were poisoned, and one-third of them died.

In retaliation for Germany's release of poisonous gas, the British army also used poisonous gas on May 26, which also caused heavy losses to the German army who believed that only they had a secret weapon.

So this mode of gas warfare was used by both sides in World War I.

As a neutral country destined to participate in the war, Romania is of course very concerned about this situation. For this reason, as the new king, Edel also went to the Institute of Organic Chemistry set up in Slobozia, which is an institution specially established by Professor Bolvin for the research of pesticides.

The Romanian chemist who was found by Edel is now one of the few chemists in China that can be known, and it is mainly because the inorganic pesticides he studied use chlorine as the basic raw material. However, his organic synthetic pesticides have not yet achieved results. The main reason is that when the pests are killed, even the crops are killed together. Even if they are not killed, the crop yield will be reduced, which will not pay for the gains.

"Your Majesty, welcome to the Institute of Organic Chemistry."

At the entrance of the institute, Professor Bolvin and his team greeted Edel's arrival.

As this research institute specially prepared for him, of course, Bolvin will get the news in advance. Because of the delayed nature of the news, he still didn't know that the gas warfare had been used, so he thought it was because Edel came to inspect it because of the lack of results in the past few years. The whole person is a bit bumpy, for fear that Edel will no longer invest money to support his own research and development of synthetic organic pesticides.

I need to explain here that the pesticides currently used in Europe are mainly inorganic pesticides. Among them, the lime-sulfur mixture is boiled with the same amount of lime and sulfur-flavored raw materials, and the Bordeaux liquor mixed with copper sulfate and lime water is used, but these are all It is mainly used for cash crops such as fruit trees and grapes.

For food and other crops, natural chemicals such as lime, tobacco, turpentine, pyrethrum, and roe are still used. However, these pesticides are difficult to use on a large scale due to low yields and poor insecticidal effects. Therefore, even in the early twentieth century, European food crops still need to be plagued by pests and diseases, which leads to the fact that European food production is not too high.

Under the leadership of Professor Bolvin, Edel visited his small research institute of chemistry, which consisted of two three-story buildings, plus a farmland as a test field at the back.

During the visit, Edel saw the neatly placed test tubes and the well-organized experimenters. This is the result that Bolvin Sang let himself see. However, the stains that appear on the ground from time to time also show that their research also carries a certain degree of danger. When he reached a room with large glass that could be seen inside, Edel stopped. He pointed to the two busy masked staff in the room and asked. "what is this?"

Bolvin explained when he saw the king's inquiry. "This is the production room where we extract chlorine. Because of the risk of gas leakage, they put on the gas mask I designed."

Looking at this familiar gas mask, Edel asked the reason for it. "What inspired the professor to design such a unique mask?"

Hearing the king's question, Professor Bolvin said with embarrassment. "Before we used laboratory equipment to produce chlorine, but we didn't expect that the produced chlorine was not enough, so I redesigned a chlorine production equipment. It was just because of lack of experience that the equipment I designed was in danger of slight leakage."

Having said that, Professor Bolvin touched the back of his head a little awkwardly, and continued. "Because of funding, I can't redesign one, so I can only use it, but I still prepare protective measures for the people working in it. The masks they wear can ensure the safety of gas leakage for one hour. Time. And it’s very simple. They only need rubber and activated carbon to use. After they’re finished, they only need to replace the activated carbon before they can continue to use it.”

Hearing Professor Bolvin's words, Edel asked incomprehensibly. "Is the funding of 1 million lei per year not enough?"

Facing Edel's question, Professor Bolvin said shyly. "Your Majesty, this funding will never be possible. It takes a lot of money to spend on personnel, operating experiments, purchasing equipment and materials. Take this reverie chlorine extraction equipment for example, it costs 470,000 lei. Many of these precision parts need to be purchased from other countries."

Facing Professor Bolvin's words, Edel casually spoke to an entourage behind him. "After I go back, I will increase the funding for the professor to 2 million lei. By the way, prepare an emergency fund of 500,000 lei for the professor to help them replace this dangerous equipment for extracting chlorine. I am not willing to use these as Romanian wealth. What are the losses for the scientific researchers."

Hearing that Edel directly doubled the funding and provided 500,000 lei for replacement equipment, Professor Bolvin quickly thanked him. "Thank you very much for your majesty's support to our institute. We will definitely serve Romania better and develop organic synthetic pesticides that can be used in crops as soon as possible."

Edel looked at the carrot and gave it, and now I need to talk to Professor Bolvin about the main reason for finding him, so I told the entourage behind him. "You don't need to follow, I have something to discuss with the professor."

Professor Bolvin is not a person who does not understand human relations accidents. Even if he did not understand before, he has learned it after several years as the director of the institute. So he spoke immediately. "My office is right in front of you. Your Majesty, let's go there and talk."

"Professor, please lead the way."

After walking into the office, Edel recounted the gas war that is currently taking place in the European battlefield, and Professor Balvin as the audience listened to it without changing his face. "When I was doing experiments with Hubble before, he had this idea. But I didn't expect it to be used in the war so quickly. I saw this old friend of mine is still very capable."

After evaluating his former colleague, he asked Edel. "Your Majesty, do you want our research institute to also develop this kind of chlorine?"

Facing Professor Bolvin's question, Edel said without concealment. "Yes, professor, I looked at your research institute on chlorine research and I hope you can produce chlorine industrially. In fact, I hope you can industrialize mustard gas I heard that this gas is more harmful to the human body. We don’t need to use it, but we can’t do without the means to fight back.”

In Edel's few memories, chlorine seemed to have been used in the gas battle in the early days of World War I, but mustard gas has been used in later generations. Among them, the famous sarin gas incident in Japan has deepened his impression. For this reason, he also specifically checked the Internet, and only then discovered the name mustard gas, and he had long forgotten how sarin was made.

According to the information he checked, mustard gas was artificially synthesized in 1886 by the German chemist Meyer. Moreover, after the poison gas battle, he asked the chief guard to look for mustard gas information, and he was also found. So he intends to let Professor Bolvin, who has experience in synthetic chemicals, to preside over this poisonous gas production project, and just in case the production of chlorine gas is also mentioned on the table.

After listening to Edel's request, Professor Bolvin replied without thinking. "This is no problem, but I need to be satisfied in terms of funding."

Facing Professor Bolvin's request, Edel said generously. "No problem, I will let someone take care of the equipment you need, and I will send someone to buy it. But can you tell me how long it will take?"

Professor Bolvin replied quite confidently. "In less than two years, I will industrialize the mustard gas, and three months will be enough for chlorine."

Hearing what Professor Bolvin said, Edel told him with a smile. "Thanks to the professor for his contribution to Romania, the people will never forget your contribution."

"This is what I should do."