Chapter 34: Secret Weapon
Lamark glanced uneasily at the physician beside him, Larseny, who stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, I will take care of the matters afterward. Mr. Lamark, he’s actually leaving here in a few days.”
“Leaving?”
Larseny continued, “Actually, Mr. Lamark has received a special grant from the French dical Association and is preparing to go to South Arica for botanical research. As you know, there are many unimaginable plants there, and perhaps new dicinal agents can be discovered. Ah, in fact, he has already resigned from his position as a court physician.
“As for the technique of purifying salicin, he has already taught in detail, which ans he has no more business in the workshop here.”
Lamark coughed slightly and bowed sincerely, “Your Highness, I truly apologize.
“To be honest, one of the major reasons I got this funding is that the dical Association read my paper on the effects of salicin. Oh, and you are still the first author of the paper. But the opportunity to go to South Arica is really rare, and I thought…”
It was only then that Joseph rembered receiving a letter from the dical Association a couple of days ago, complinting him on his contributions to salicin, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it at the ti. It turned out it was because of Lamark’s paper.
If it had been before, he would have congratulated Lamark and personally seen him off to South Arica, but today, after seeing the professional processing and experintal equipnt in the workshop, as well as the nurous skilled technicians, he had other ideas.
That was to try to manufacture the legendary dication in the pharmaceutical world that he had been thinking about ever since he arrived in this world — penicillin.
If penicillin were available, firstly, his own pneumonia could be completely cured, and secondly, this miracle drug would be very important militarily — in the wars of the 18th century, being wounded almost ant death due to infection, but penicillin could bring the wounded “back to life.” One could imagine, in war, one side’s wounded continuously returning to the battlefield, while the other side’s numbers dwindled. How could the latter side keep fighting?
The idea of making penicillin had been with him for a long ti, but the manufacturing process and technology were extrely complex; not only did it require a highly professional laboratory, experintal and cultivation equipnt, but also a professional experintal team to operate it, to possibly succeed in creating it.
Previously, these conditions did not exist, but now there was a possibility, that being this pharmaceutical workshop right in front of him.
With just a few additional experintal devices and Lamark, an eminent figure in biodical science, along with the workers here, perhaps penicillin could be introduced more than a hundred years in advance!
So, he certainly couldn’t let Lamark leave at this mont.
With this in mind, Joseph shook his head and said, “No, you need not apologize; it’s my lack of consideration. Your stage shouldn’t be limited to this small pharmaceutical factory. Those unknown areas of biodical science are where you can truly shine.”
Lamark was moved and said, “Thank you for your understanding. Please trust that wherever I am needed here, I will co back at any ti.”
Joseph smiled slightly, as if making an offhand remark, “It’s just a pity. I originally wanted to ask for your help in trying to make a new dication. Now, it seems we can only wait for your return from South Arica.”
Upon hearing “new dication,” Lamark imdiately beca interested, “Oh? May I ask what dication Your Highness is referring to?”
Joseph was about to say penicillin directly, but then he thought that just the preliminary preparations for making this substance would take quite so ti. It would be better to start with a “small toy” to get Lamark ward up, which would also help to train the experintal team in the process.
So he temporarily put aside penicillin and said, “I heard about a dication that can delay aging, treat miscarriages, and even make a man’s, cough, performance much more formidable.”
Lamark searched his ntal database and found nothing that matched this description. He was about to shake his head in denial when he suddenly rembered the miraculous effects of salicin and quickly dropped his dismissive attitude, “That’s really incredible, are you certain such a thing exists?”
“There’s no mistake,” Joseph nodded, “it also has a special na, called tocopherol.”
The so-called tocopherol is vitamin E, a substance that was very common in later tis but had not been extracted in the 18th century.
He chose vitamin E for a couple of reasons, one being that its extraction is relatively simple with a high success rate. Second, it could be mixed into costics as nearly all skincare products related to anti-aging and suppressing age spots in later generations contained vitamin E.
This would be the second secret weapon of the “Paris Angel” company to extract money from the purses of wealthy ladies.
Mr. Lamark, upon hearing such a professional na, beca even more serious, “Your Highness, do you know how to obtain this… ah, tocopherol?”
Joseph affird, “I know of a thod to extract tocopherol from corn germ, which will require the purchase of so additional equipnt, such as centrifuges, sedintation dishes, and so on, oh, and the construction of a constant temperature greenhouse.”
“A constant temperature greenhouse? Is that a laboratory that maintains a fixed temperature? How could that be achieved?”
In this era, without air conditioning, maintaining a constant temperature was indeed not easy.
After so thought, Joseph explained, “Lay dense water pipes beneath the flooring and inside the walls of the room, and build a large water tank outside, connecting these pipes. When you need to raise the temperature, heat the water in the tank; to cool down, draw water from the Seine River. This waterwheel could be put to good use.”
Even in the sumr, the temperature of the river water can stay below 20 degrees Celsius, which is sufficient for biological cultivation.
Lamark was obviously interested in this substance that could delay aging, but on the other hand, his long-standing wish to explore the plants of South Arica made him appear indecisive.
Seeing his hesitation, Joseph promptly threw out even bigger “bait”:
“Mr. Lamark, after acquiring facilities like the constant temperature greenhouse, there is actually another, more miraculous dicine that I need your help to experintally produce.
“This dicine can treat diseases like pneumonia, wound infections, childbed fever, and can even cure deadly diseases like the Black Death, syphilis, and septicemia.”
Lamark was stunned!
If such a dicine really existed, wouldn’t it fulfill his life’s dream—for there to be no more death from disease in the world!
He breathed excitedly, almost out of breath, “Your Highness, are you, are you not joking?”
Seeing that he had “taken the bait,” Joseph smiled and said, “After you have produced this dicine, try it and see, won’t you?
“Right, about going to South Arica, I will fund your expedition later on, and guarantee it will be a larger sum than the dical Association would offer, with more freedom too.”
With that said, where would Lamark hesitate any further? He nodded vigorously, “Your Highness, I will give it my all to produce that miraculous drug with you!”
…
After leaving the workshop and giving Mr. Lamark the thod for extracting Vitamin E, Joseph’s carriage arrived at Paris City Hall by a little after 3 p.m.
Eman exited the City Hall and waved at the slightly overweight man with the large ears behind him, “No need to trouble yourself further, please go back.”
The man could only reluctantly turn and head back into City Hall while Eman approached the carriage across the street, bowing to Joseph, “Your Highness, I have inquired clearly. There are a total of fourteen properties registered for sale in Paris that et your requirents.”
Without hesitation, Joseph said, “I want the best.”
“Your Highness, that would then be the Nagel Jewelry Store on Champs-Elysees.”
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