Chapter 390: Stick Grenades and Guncotton (2/2)

Berengar, on the other hand, had done his part and was quite pleased with the results. He saw this as a huge step forward on the path to self-sufficiency; after all, he was not immortal, and the day he died, his Empire would have to maintain and expand upon everything he had built.

With this thought, Berengar had another matter of importance enter his mind. While the implementation of the Stick Grenade was essential to the efficiency of his soldiers, there was another and arguably more critical invention that Berengar had to consider implementing as soon as possible.

Having realized this, Berengar immediately began to stride towards the Chemistry Department, after arriving at his destination, all of the men within its halls immediately halted what they were doing and paid their respects to the young Monarch. Berengar was not in the mood for flattery and immediately inquired about the whereabouts of a specific chemist.

”Can any of you tell me where Aldo is?”

The moment he said those words, he heard a voice he was all too familiar with call out to him. As usual, the man behind the voice began to speak with endless praise.

”Do my ears deceive me? Is that the King of Austria here to visit me personally? What have I done to deserve such an honor?”

Berengar's brow began to twitch as he heard Aldo's usual adulation; this man truly never gave up an opportunity to kiss ass. However, Berengar quickly recovered from his impatience and regained the dignity of a monarch as he played along.

”My dear friend Aldo, I had a sudden epiphany and thought to myself, who better to confirm the results of my speculation than the chief chemist of my Kingdom?”

Aldo immediately began to flatter Berengar further while simultaneously getting to the point.

”Oh, King Berengar, I am truly unworthy of your attention. However, I would be more than happy to entertain another one of your brilliant ideas, show me what exactly you had in mind!”

Having heard this, Berengar wasted no time; he immediately grabbed ahold of the nearby blackboard and began writing out the general formula for nitrocellulose, the critical component in smokeless powder.

Nitrocellulose was essentially little more than cellulose treated with a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid. In fact, For some time now, the Kufstein Chemistry department has been experimenting with cellulose developed from the fiber of hemp. As such, they had a small stockpile of the material lying around.

In Berengar's past life, cotton was the primary material used to create cellulose, hence the nickname ”guncotton” after all, as much as 90% of the plant could be converted into the material. However, cotton could not grow within Austria's borders; thus, hemp was a decent alternative. While hemp may only generate up to 70% of the material known as cellulose, one could grow three times as much hemp as cotton on a single acre.

After looking over the formula for a few moments, Aldo and his Chemists immediately gazed in shock at Berengar; However, they could not confirm the results at the moment; such a formula could theoretically prove to be valid. Having provided the chemists with the recipe for Nitrocellulose, Berengar then began to depart from the Kufstein Chemistry Department, leaving behind a single phrase as he did so.

”I'll leave you to your work...”

It was only after his figure had vanished from sight that the chemists immediately began to work on the creation of smokeless powder. There would be a fully detailed report on their findings placed upon Berengar's desk within two weeks.

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