Chapter 21: Protecting the Best Goblins

The root cause lay in environmental pollution. The contamination of water resources made obtaining clean water for daily life a difficult task.

You could wear dirty clothes, or even eat dirty food, but dirty water was absolutely unconsumable. The vast majority of illnesses in this era stemmed from water pollution.

Because pure water was difficult to obtain, ordinary households would often use malt to brew alcohol, using beer to substitute for water’s function in quenching thirst and cooling down.

She had seen drunken villagers in the countryside, who would have a few cups as soon as the farming slack season arrived, simply because if they didn’t drink it quickly, the brew would spoil.

The liquid in their cups was usually very thick, like rice wine, and completely flat. This was due to the lack of hops.

She had thought about doing something with this before, but there were no hops in her territory, and she had been occupied with other matters, so it had slipped her mind. She hadn’t expected to stumble upon the actual plant by chance.

The greatest function of hops was to extend the shelf life of beer and provide a unique aroma and flavor. At the same time, it could lower the alcohol content and reduce the consumption of malt, while offering a mild sterilizing effect. The minor side effect of bitterness also set a slight barrier to entry for casual drinkers.

Furthermore, these benefits would stimulate the expansion of the brewing industry. A longer shelf life and lower malt consumption meant long-term storage, long-distance transport, cost reduction, and efficiency gains—making it, in short, an exceptionally suitable cash crop.

Thinking of this, Su Na’s beautiful eyes curved with joy. Looking at the various hops of different species and fragrances nearby, she resembled a little fox that had just stolen a chicken.

She hadn’t even attended her first class of the school term yet, and she had already earned back her tuition. This trip was indeed the right choice.

With her territory currently clearing the forest on a large scale, Su Na had been wondering whether she should replant the cleared spaces. Now, it seemed that reclaiming them as hop plantations would be an excellent choice. With this reliable cash crop, the pressure to push forward the road-building agenda would be greatly reduced.

In this era, roads weren’t built or widened simply because you had the money and wanted to extend them. Su Na could say without exaggeration that every piece of land in populated areas had an owner, whether it was abandoned wasteland or not.

For instance, the portion of the Black Moon Forest closest to the Fafnir region had been secured by Baron Kaibuli early on. Otherwise, the local subjects wouldn’t have been able to gather firewood there, which was a form of assistance from the Baron.

And she wouldn’t keep a cash crop like hops to herself. Besides growing the hops, she would vigorously develop the brewing industry. Once developed, it would have to be exported. In export, transport time and costs were money. She wouldn’t even have to worry about the road-widening issue herself.

When the time came, she probably wouldn’t even need to ask; she would only need to construct a single road, and plenty of low-ranking nobles and manorial lords would eagerly wave their coin purses, begging her to let them connect.

She only wondered where rubber trees could be found. Rubber products were also indispensable, so she would have to write a letter back to her father and mother to see if they could find any clues.

Thinking of her territory, Su Na slapped her forehead. She had been busy for so many days that she had actually forgotten to invent black powder first. Preparing black powder wasn’t particularly difficult; it was nothing more than sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal.

Charcoal was simple. She also had the foundation for mass-producing saltpeter, using the feces and urine they had begun collecting. These filthy materials could be used to manufacture saltpeter. Sulfur was somewhat more difficult, but she knew of a lord who had an extinct volcano in his territory, so there shouldn’t be a shortage of sulfur there.

Setting aside its military applications, the engineering value of black powder for blasting mountains, quarrying stone, and small-scale mining was exceptionally high, and the manufacturing cost was quite economical.

With thoughts flashing through her mind, Su Na didn’t remain idle. She followed the structure of the building to find a manager who looked like they had some authority, and politely requested to purchase some hops to take back.

Carrying her small cloth bag of hops, Su Na’s movements were exceptionally careful. These were the golden geese that would lay golden eggs.

Through this incident, Su Na also realized the benefits of the academy. People from all corners of the land were gathered here. A great deal of information, which was difficult to obtain in this era of underdeveloped transport, lay hidden among them. These resources were a massive, untapped treasure trove to her.

The urge to search for things she had previously thought hopeless began to resurface in her heart—things like rice, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and rubber.