In the spring of 1915, news came from the European battlefield that Germany had used poison gas. When attacking Ypres, Belgium, the German army took the lead in using poison gas. They released about 180 tons of chlorine gas. A total of more than 15,000 British and French troops were poisoned, including
1/3 of the people died.
In retaliation for Germany's release of poison gas, the British army also used poison gas on May 26, which also caused heavy losses to the German army, who thought they were the only ones who had the secret weapon.
Therefore, the mode of poison gas warfare was continuously used by both sides in World War I.
As a neutral country destined to participate in the war, Romania is of course also very concerned about this situation. For this reason, Edel, as the new king, also went to the Institute of Organic Chemistry in Slobozia, where Professor Bolvin was studying pesticides.
A specially established institution.
This Romanian chemist who was found by Edel is now considered one of the few capable chemists in the country, mainly because the inorganic pesticides he studies use chlorine as the basic raw material. But now his
Organic synthetic pesticides have yet to achieve results. The main reason is that when killing pests, crops are also killed. Even if they are not killed, crop yields will be reduced, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
"Your Majesty, welcome to the Institute of Organic Chemistry."
At the entrance of the institute, Professor Bolvin and his team welcomed Edel's arrival.
As this research institute was specially prepared for him, Bolvin would of course get the news in advance. Because of the delay in the news, he did not know that poison gas warfare had been used, so he thought that Edel came to inspect because of the recent years.
The reason for the lack of results was that I was a little frustrated because I was afraid that Edel would no longer invest in supporting his own research and development of organic synthetic pesticides.
It needs to be explained here that the pesticides currently used in Europe are mainly inorganic pesticides, including lime sulfur mixture boiled with equal amounts of lime and sulfur-flavored raw materials, and Bordeaux liquid mixed with copper sulfate and lime water. However, these are
It is mainly used for economic crops such as fruit trees and grapes.
For crops such as grain, natural pesticides such as lime, tobacco, rosin, pyrethrum, and rattan are still mainly used. However, these pesticides are difficult to use on a large scale due to low yields and poor insecticidal effects. Therefore, even in
At the beginning of the 20th century, European food crops were still plagued by pests and diseases, resulting in Europe's current grain production not being too high.
Under the leadership of Professor Bolwin, Edel visited his not-so-large chemical research institute, which consisted of two small three-story buildings and a piece of farmland at the back that was used as a test field.
During the visit, Edel saw neatly arranged test tubes and well-organized experimenters. This was the result that Bolvin wanted to see. However, the stains that appeared on the ground from time to time also showed that their research also carried certain risks.
When he walked to a room with a large glass that could be seen inside, Edel stopped. He pointed at the two masked staff members busy in the room and asked, "What is this?"
Bolvin saw the king's inquiry and explained. "This is the production room where we extract chlorine. Because there is a risk of gas leakage, they put on the gas masks I designed."
Seeing the familiar gas mask, Edel asked about its origin. "What inspired the professor to design such a unique mask?"
Upon hearing the king's inquiry, Professor Bolvin said a little embarrassedly. "We used laboratory equipment to produce chlorine before, but we didn't expect that the chlorine produced was not enough, so I redesigned a chlorine production equipment. Just because of lack of experience.
This puts the equipment I designed at risk of minor leaks."
Professor Bolwin touched the back of his head in embarrassment at this point and continued. "Due to funding reasons, I can't redesign one, so I can only use this one, but I still prepare it for the people working there.
With the protective measures in place, the masks they wear can ensure the safety of gas leakage for one hour. And it is very simple, only rubber and activated carbon are needed to use it. After completion, they only need to replace the activated carbon and they can continue to use it."
After hearing what Professor Bolvin said, Edel asked in confusion. "Isn't the annual funding of 1 million lei not enough?"
Facing Edel's inquiry, Professor Bolvin said shyly. "Your Majesty, this kind of funding will never be possible. It will cost a lot of money for personnel, operating experiments, purchasing equipment and materials. Take this Reverie."
In terms of chlorine extraction equipment, its cost reaches 470,000 lei, and many precision parts need to be purchased from other countries.”
Facing Professor Bolven's words, Edel casually said to an entourage behind him. "When I go back, I will increase the funding fee for professors to 2 million lei. By the way, I will prepare an emergency fund of 500,000 lei for professors to help them."
Replace this dangerous chlorine extraction equipment. I don’t want to lose any of these scientific researchers who are Romania’s wealth.”
After hearing that Edel directly doubled the funding and provided 500,000 lei to replace equipment, Professor Bolvin quickly expressed his gratitude. "Thank you very much for your majesty's support of our institute. We will definitely serve Romania better."
, develop organic synthetic pesticides that can be used on crops as soon as possible.”
Edel looked at the carrot and gave it to him. Now he needed to tell Professor Bolwin the main reason for looking for him, so he told the followers behind him. "You don't need to follow me. The professor and I have something to discuss."
Professor Bolwin was not someone who didn't understand human affairs. Even if he didn't understand it before, he learned it after being the director of the institute for several years. So he immediately said, "My office is just ahead. Your Majesty, let's go there.
Let’s discuss it.”
"Professor, please lead the way."
After entering the office, Edel told about the poison gas wars taking place on the European battlefield. Professor Bolvin, who was the audience, listened without changing his face before speaking. "When I was doing experiments with Hubble before,
, he had ideas in this regard. But he didn't expect it to be used in the war so quickly. I saw that my old friend is still very capable."
After appraising his former colleagues, he asked Edel, "Your Majesty, do you hope that our research institute will also develop this kind of chlorine?"
Faced with Professor Bolvin's inquiry, Edel said without concealment. "Yes, Professor, I saw that your institute has done a lot of research on chlorine. I hope you can industrialize the production of chlorine. In fact, I hope you can industrialize mustard gas.
I heard that this kind of gas is more harmful to the human body, so we don’t need to use it, but we can’t do without the means to fight back.”
In Edel's few memories, chlorine gas seemed to have been used in gas warfare in the early stages of World War I, while mustard gas was used until later generations. Among them, Japan's famous sarin gas incident helped deepen his impression a lot.
He also searched online and discovered the name mustard gas, but he had long forgotten the method of making sarin.
Among the information he checked, mustard gas was synthesized artificially by the German chemist Meyer in 1886. Moreover, after the gas war, he asked the captain of the guard to look for information on mustard gas, and it was also found. So he planned to
Professor Bolvin, who had experience in synthetic chemicals, was asked to take charge of the poison gas production project, and the production of chlorine gas was also brought to the table just in case.
After listening to Edel's request, Professor Bolvin replied without thinking. "There is no problem with this, but I need to be satisfied with the funding."
Facing Professor Bolwin's request, Edel said magnanimously. "No problem, I will put someone in charge of it. As long as it is the equipment you need, I will have someone buy it. But can you tell me how long it will take?"
"
Professor Bolvin replied quite confidently. "I will industrialize mustard gas in no more than two years, and three months will be enough for chlorine."
Hearing Professor Bolvin's words, Edel smiled and said to him, "Thank you Professor for your contribution to Romania. The people will not forget your contribution."
