Time soon passed to the day when the cosmetics factory recruited people.

The news spread for seven days, and on that day, the recruitment site was crowded with people.

The location of the recruitment is an open space not far from the factory building. Boiman is the capital of Sathya, and the city is very expensive. It is not easy to find a large enough place to build a factory building, and it is easy to have a lot of people talking.An accident happened, so when chose the location, deliberately chose an open space on the outskirts of the city. This area is not close to the fields and there are not many people living around it, but there is a military camp just over ten miles away. The ar is stationed here for training all the year round.It is very guaranteed.

Moreover, this large area is very empty. Ella chose this place because she thought that if necessary, other factories could be built here to transform this area into an industrial park.

When Aila came, the recruitment here had already started. The conditions stated in the notice posted before were very simple. Ordinary workers are not limited to men and women, as long as they are of the right age. Because Sathyas are relatively young adults, thisThe age range is between fifteen and twenty-five years old, and above that, it is already old for common people.

Although the wages paid by the workers are not as good as those of the craftsmen, they are not less than those of the shop assistants. The work they do sounds simple. This place was founded by the royal family, and the jobs are stable. For most ordinary people without skills, it is justAlready a good job

So there are naturally many people here.

There are at least two or three thousand people applying for jobs in the cosmetics factory, and according to their expectations, the number of people who meet the registration requirements and are registered and allowed to participate in training can be around 500 people. Of course, these people need to pass ten days of trainingFinally decide if you can stay.

The final number has not yet been determined.

Maybe five hundred people did a good job and all of them will be left behind, maybe only one hundred people will be left behind in the end, it's all possible.

The cosmetics factory may not need so many people now, but it will inevitably expand its manpower in the future, and there are many shortages. Instead of recruiting and retraining over and over again, it is better to keep those who have received training and performed well.Let them be free for a few days and they can be assigned to other jobs.

The content of the training in the cosmetics factory is actually the rules and regulations written by Ella besides the work content. It took her several days to write the content, and everyone who wants to pass the internship period must keep it in mind.

Of course, because everyone is illiterate, these contents are also very simple to write, as long as you seriously want to remember, it is not difficult.

And because these applicants are illiterate, the registration matters have to be written by the small officials responsible for the recruitment.enough.

In addition, there are also soldiers maintaining order here. It is easy for some sneaky guys to mix in such a crowded place, and most people have no awareness of queuing. If no one manages order, accidents are prone to occur.

Ella observed from a distance. Under the guard of the soldiers, the scene was in good condition. Even if someone tried to jump in line, they would be stopped soon.

Confirming that there is nothing wrong here, Ella decided to go to the factory to have a look.

The cosmetics factory is very large, covering an area of no less than three football fields, and in order to prevent peeping, the surrounding walls are built very high, more than two meters high, and thorny plants are planted beside the walls to completely prevent people from climbingThe wall enters.

The factory buildings are all made of stone, with yellow mud on the outside. In order to allow enough light in the room, large windows are opened. It rarely rains and there is no cold winter here, so there is no need to consider the issue of keeping warm, but more attention should be paid to ventilation.enjoy the cool air.

All the custom-made tools have been placed neatly, and the distiller for making essential oils is placed in a separate factory building. The people working here are royal slaves sent by Lucis. Originally, civilians should also be recruited here as workers.But after Lucis realized the benefits of essential oils, the people working here were replaced by slaves. The entire factory is the place with the highest degree of secrecy, and others cannot even approach without permission.

Although workers are still being recruited outside, the slaves here have already started working. They put the processed raw materials into the still and burn it to distill. The all-copper still is very large, like a sealed water tower, and the top of the tower extendsA long tube comes out, and the other end of the tube is connected to another set of containers. After heating, the evaporated liquid flows into the other side along the tube. After cooling down, it becomes a mixture of essential oil and pure dew. Afterwards, it only needs to be processed to obtainPure essential oils and hydrosols.

At this time, there is only such a set of distillers in this workshop, and there is a lot of free space, but after a while, more distillers will be made and transported here for assembly.It is officially running.

What is being distilled today is lavender essential oil. This plant has many production areas in the northern part of Sathia. This is also the season when they bloom in large quantities. If you don’t take advantage of the flowering period to produce more essential oil, it will be difficult to make lavender essential oil after the flowering period..

It is a pity that there are relatively few types of native plants in Sathia that can be used to make essential oils. Even if there are, most of them need to be imported from other countries. At present, this is not cost-effective, and plants such as roses are even imported.There is no channel for it. Its origin is in Ayla's hometown in Asia. So far, Ayla has not found roses in Feiluo - if there is, the appearance of roses must be the most popular in noble gardens.one of the plants.

Ella brought back a freshly distilled essential oil and pure dew, and planned to try their effects. If they were good, they could be sold in the store first.

Compared with other cosmetics, essential oils and hydrosols are produced faster.

Jamila is a very ordinary Sathya peasant woman. What is not ordinary is that she has three young children, the oldest is seven years old and the youngest is two years old. Her husband died in an accident not long ago.

Their family has no other relatives except Jamila's elderly mother. After her husband passed away, all the burdens fell on Jamila, but Jamila is just an ordinary peasant woman who cannot support herself and her children at all.Recently, her mother has been persuading Jamila to find another suitable partner and remarry to make her life better, but she has three children, and those who are willing to marry her say that it is impossible to take over all the children. Her children must have oneTwo were sent away.

But Jamila is reluctant. She knows that she cannot support all the children, but she is also reluctant to send them away. It is not easy for children in this age to survive, and she is afraid of losing any of them.

"Then go and try this."

The neighbor came back from the market and told her about the recruitment.

"They pay a lot. If you can successfully get this job, it should be no problem to support those children in your family."

After hearing the news from the neighbor, Jamila went to look at the notice board with the notice on it. The royal seal on it could not deceive anyone, and there were people reading the notice. Jamila listened to it.Over and over again, finally sure it's true.

But soon the light in her eyes dimmed. Even if it was true, Jamila didn't think she could be selected. With such a good salary, there are too many people who want to be selected.

But even so thinking, Jamila ran to sign up.

Before dawn, she entrusted the child to the care of her mother, and rushed to the registration place with the others. Even though she came so early on purpose, there were already many people queuing up here.

The overly lively scene made Jamila feel helpless. There are so many people, many of whom are strong and healthy men. They are stronger and better at working.Is this a peasant woman who only does some housework?

With trepidation, it was soon Jamila's turn in the team.

The young scribe who was holding a pen asked without raising his head, "Name."

The woman who had seen how the previous person registered immediately reported her name: "Jamila."

Afterwards, the young scribe asked her her age and home address, as well as the situation of her family, and Jamila answered them truthfully.

When I heard that her husband had just died and there were three children at home, the clerk stopped writing and finally looked up at the woman: "What will happen to your children if you come to work?"

Jamila's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said, "My mother will take care of them. Don't worry, my lord. I promise it won't affect my work."

The scribe didn't speak, but when Jamila saw what he wrote on the papyrus scroll for registration, she became more and more frightened. If she was not selected this time, her family would be broken up.

She watched the clerk look up again, afraid that his next sentence would tell her that she was unqualified and she could go.

But the young scribe just asked her, "Do you have any specialty?"

"me……"

Jamila couldn't speak, she didn't know what was special about her.

Behind her was a fellow villager who came with her. Seeing her like this, she couldn't help interjecting: "Jamila is very capable. She is careful and conscientious in her work, and her house is always cleaner than others."

The scribe took one look at them, wrote something on the scroll, and then gave Jamila a wooden tablet with a carved pattern.

"Come here to report at seven hours in the morning the day after tomorrow, and someone will tell you what to do."

Jamila knew this sign. Everyone who got a job before had such a sign. She took the sign excitedly and couldn't believe it: "My lord, I, have I been left behind?"

that's all?Own the job just by asking a few questions?

"Of course not." The clerk ruthlessly denied her words: "This is just a proof that you have obtained an internship opportunity. Next, you will receive a ten-day training. Only those who pass can stay."

How can a simple registration tell whether the applicant is a suitable worker? It has already been established that all qualified candidates need to participate in training for internships, and only those who pass the internship period will be retained.

So there are many people who get internship opportunities now, but it is not known how many people will stay in the end.

"Of course, the remuneration during the internship period is only two-thirds of the official salary, and if you resign or are fired before the internship period is over, part of the remuneration will be deducted. You have to remember these, those who don't want to come can not come."

These were written on the recruitment notice, but the clerk explained it according to the rules to avoid disputes later.

How could Jamila be unwilling, even half of the salary is a good income for her, and she will definitely work hard to get this job through the internship period!

For herself and the children!

·····

When the cosmetics factory started arranging employee training, Ella received good news.

She had asked the slaves who made papyrus to try to make real paper. After more than ten days, this matter finally made progress.

The most time-consuming part of papermaking is the process of processing raw materials to make pulp, and Ella doesn't know what kind of raw material combination is suitable for papermaking, so in order to save time, she asked the slaves in charge to try multiple combinations.

Two of them were now showing good results, and the slave came to her immediately to tell her.

"Go and see."

Ella took the people and went out.

After walking a few steps, happened to meet Lucis.

At this time, Lucis was dressed as a king, with a sleeveless robe covered with gold and silver, a king's scarf with gold and blue stripes on his head, and the pharaoh's collar that he often wore on his chest was replaced by a square amulet pectoral.The hollow pattern above is an oval frame surrounded by animal gods wearing divine crowns. In the frame is the text of Sathya, which is the name of Lucis, which means that the gods protect him.

With this attire, it looked like he had just escaped from the court meeting in the multi-pillared hall.

"Where is this going?"

Ella pointed to the slaves behind her, and smiled at him: "It seems that what I asked them to make before has been made, and I'm going to have a look."

"Get something new again? What is it for?"

Lucis was used to Ella coming up with new things on the fly, and it had to be said that there was always something useful about the things she did.

"You'll know it when you see it." Ayla put it off and invited by the way: "How about it, do you have time to go and see it together?"

"good."

Lucis casually tore off the king's scarf from his head and threw it to the attendants. Wearing this on a hot day was a torment for him. After coming out of the multi-pillared hall, there was no ice to cool down. After walking to Ella for a while, heHis forehead was already sweating.

Seeing that his forehead was covered with sweat, Ella passed her handkerchief from her waist to let him wipe it off.

Lucis didn't answer, but bent down and brought his head closer, motioning for her to wipe it off.

Ella had to help him wipe, eyes fell on his hair.

Lucis is afraid of the heat, so he has been wearing short hair like a bun. It has been more than two months since Ella saw him for the first time. His hair has grown a lot, and his head looks a bit hairy.

"You should take care of your hair."

"Forget." Lucis touched his head. In the past, he couldn't bear the heat in summer. Not only would he shave his head, but he didn't like to wear a shirt, but the heat was still uncomfortable. This year, he had an ice queen.The days got better, and he forgot to shave his head regularly.

But before shaving his head, he felt the need to ask Ella: "Do you like a bald head?"

"I don't think it's okay if I shave myself?" Ella regrets that she has long hair. She combs her hair three hundred times a day. She used to maintain her hair regularly when she was in the Fairy Forest.After the essential oil, this activity was picked up again. She can have this beautiful and thick silver hair. In addition to inheriting it from her deceased mother, it is more due to her own efforts to maintain it.

Speaking of hair, Ella remembered a tidbit shared with her by the maids of honor.

"I heard that ladies in the aristocratic circle seem to be wearing wigs recently?"

There were people who used wigs before, and Ella saw them when she was offering sacrifices in the temple, but the people who used them were actually relatively good. According to the maids, those people would wear wigs, mostly because they were accidentally infected with fleas and liceThese hateful and evil creatures had to shave their hair, but it was not very beautiful after shaving, so the ladies who love beauty thought of using wigs.

The wigs at this time are actually real hair. They will buy the hair of ordinary women with good hair quality to make beautiful wigs, and they will also use henna to dye the wigs red, just because this kind of wigs are more comfortable to wear.Hot, but not enough to make fake ones. If you want to wear them, you need to cut your hair short or shave all of it. Most people are reluctant, so only a few people use wigs at present.

But Ella heard the news recently that everyone seems to be keen on this kind of wig. Many people deliberately cut their hair short and wear wigs, and it even has a faint trend of becoming a fashion.

"Why did it suddenly become popular?"

"Probably accidentally infected with fleas and lice."

It may sound funny that nobles get fleas and lice, but in fact this is very common in Sathya.

Although the nobles would use incense and other things to defend against fleas and lice, this is not a panacea, and they can protect themselves. The servants and slaves around them do not have such conditions. If any servant has such a gadget, it will be a big deal.The probability will be transmitted to the master when they are close to the master, and the nobles are keen on all kinds of communication. If one of them is infected, the others will be infected soon, especially when participating in outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing.when.

Ella shuddered at the thought that one day she would be tricked too.

When she goes back, she will prepare some insect repellent powder, absolutely not allowing these things to appear on her body!

Lucis followed Ella and added, "But maybe they're trying to imitate you."

"Huh? How to say?"

Ella has very little communication with the aristocratic circle. She is very busy herself, and Lucis also intentionally or unintentionally does not allow other people to disturb her. Usually, if Lucis does not hold a banquet, she will hardly communicate with those noble ladies.The source of the news is basically gossip from the maids around me.

"Recently, many people like to braid their hair and put a bunch of small pendants on it."

Lucis doesn't pay attention to these, but he sees a lot of people every day, and everyone has similar hairstyles. The only difference is the style and number of pendants. It's hard not to pay attention.

Oh, and that Cleopatra look.

Ella nodded knowingly, this hairstyle is indeed a style that will be welcomed by the Sathiya people, and it has enough historical proof.

They chatted first, and before they knew it, they reached their destination—the open space between the kitchen and the warehouse.

Sheds have already been set up in this open space, and the pulp tanks used to store pulp are full of sheds. In order to test several combinations at a time, these custom-made pulp tanks are not large in size, and there are ten under the shed.Every trough was filled with paper pulp, and a slave was holding paper curtains to scoop up paper pulp for drying. When he saw them approaching from a distance, he immediately knelt down.

Ella looked around, but didn't see what she wanted to see, so she asked the slave who followed her, "Didn't you say that there is a finished paper? Where is it?"

The slave quickly apologized, walked into another shed with tables, and carefully carried out several paper curtains stacked together.

"Your Highness, do you see this?"

The attendants stepped forward and spread out the paper curtains, holding them up for Ella and the others to see.

This papermaking curtain is also made of papyrus. Because the pulp tank is small, these papermaking curtains are also made small, only a little bigger than a piece of A4 paper.down the paper.

These papers are actually not very good, the color is yellow and wrinkled, and the corners are also tattered, but it can't hold that it is really paper.

Ella carefully peeled off a piece of paper from one of the paper-making curtains and held it in her hand to examine it carefully. The feel and color of this kind of paper made by slaves are very similar to straw paper, which is the kind of straw paper used by Chinese people to worship the dead, butIt feels more delicate to the touch, and the texture is harder, probably because they are afraid that the paper will be broken, so they deliberately made it thicker.

When Ella came over, she brought the reed pen along with her. Now she tried it on this kind of paper with the reed pen, and the paper broke apart with a little force.

Seeing this scene, the slave who announced the good news trembled and his face turned pale with fright.

It was obvious that the paper they made was faulty, and His Highness would definitely not be satisfied.

But the expected scene of Her Royal Highness scolding him did not happen.

Ella didn't express any opinion on the cracked paper. She just put down her strength and wrote on the paper again with the pen.Smudges too openly on paper.

Ella nodded. Although the finished product needs to be improved, it is already a paper that can be written on.

She handed the piece of paper to Lucis and said, "Although there is still room for improvement, it's a good start. Let's see, how about using this instead of papyrus?"

Lucis knew what she was doing when she saw Ella writing on the paper.

"Why substitute? The quality of papyrus is better than this."

The Sathiya people have used papyrus for so many years, and they have long been used to it, but the paper in front of them does not look as smooth and smooth as papyrus. Although it can be written on, it does not look like it is easy to preserve.

"The quality can be improved." She took back the paper, folded it in half and then showed it to him: "Papyrus can only be stored in a scroll, not to mention taking up space, writing is also more laborious, and it is not convenient to carry, so it is not good.It’s easy to scatter if you save it, but this one is different, it’s cheap and easy to carry, stack them together and then bind them together, no matter how much content you have in a thick book, you can record it.”

Ella wrote a line of words on the folded paper, which was different from the usual need to draw many times to leave a clear enough handwriting. This line of words was written quickly and well.

"Paper is a container of knowledge"

Lucis, who had to read many scrolls every day to deal with government affairs, realized that, among other things, at least writing on this kind of paper was much less labor-intensive than papyrus.

The benefits of paper were obvious, especially after Ella told Lucis what the paper was made of.

Afterwards, she looked at the paper on the other paper-making curtains. The paper that was not removed after drying was made of different material ratios, and the paper produced was very different. Some were as soft and fragile as toilet paper.But the color is off-white, and some are rough and out of shape. They can't be called paper at all. It can be said that most of them are unqualified.

But to be able to do this in such a short period of time is already very good.

She pointed out some of them that were obviously inappropriate and told the slaves that these formulas can be used directly in the future, and focus on improving the formula on the yellow paper: "Try more ratios, try what you have, and if you can make itWhite, flat, smooth paper is a success."

The slave nodded again and again and said that she would continue to work hard to improve according to her instructions.

Ella rewarded these slaves without stinginess. Slaves generally do not use money, and it is difficult for them to retain, so Ella asked the kitchen to improve the food for these slaves in charge of papermaking. Not to mention how good the food is, but at least they canKeep them full.

When she went back, she didn't forget to ask them to make more straw paper and send it to the bedroom. From now on, she no longer felt that it was too wasteful to use linen to go to the toilet.

·····

The paper has been made, but it can be cut into a book, and there are still improvements to be made. Only a few slaves don’t know how long it will be improved. Lucis simply sent people to help, and at the same time, he planned to put the experiment place in a short time.It will be moved to the open space next to the cosmetics factory.

There is no way, the smell of paper making is too strong, and the pulp is also polluting to a certain extent. If it is scaled up, it will definitely affect the kitchen and warehouse next to it. Although they are not good at saying anything, it is not good if it contaminates food and things in the warehouseup.

Of course, it is not so fast to move. You have to wait for the outside area to be built before you can move. Someone will arrange this.

Soon, Harnett came to resign, and he was going back to Tanis.

The piece of land produced per mu is now on the right track. The newly elected steward doesn't say he is honest and responsible, but he doesn't dare to act recklessly. Harnett has already taught what he can teach, so naturally he has to go back.

He is also worried about the situation in Tanis. The land there has been planted for more than a month, and the fast-growing crops are beginning to show signs of blooming. At this time, diseases and insect pests are most likely to appear, and a bad one may result in no harvest.

Ella gave Harnett a book full of basic pest prevention and treatment methods, and asked him to deal with it according to the above content if he encountered the above situation, and send her a letter if he couldn't deal with it.

This book is made of paper that has been successfully made before and is sewn together. The outside is sandwiched with papyrus as a cover. Although the paper in the middle is rough, it does not smudge, so it does not hinder writing.

The content in this book was written by Ella a long time ago. Since she started breeding, whenever she has free time, Ella will write down the relevant content about the diseases and insect pests that have encountered in crops. In the past, these contents wereIt was written on papyrus. Now that she had paper, she hired literate scribes to help copy the content into a book, which was more convenient to carry than scrolls.

Of course, she asked people to not only copy this one, but she needed it in her own field, as well as the land on the other side of the ranch, so after copying a few more copies, she could give them to the stewards to learn from.

She also plans to wait for the quality of paper to improve, to try to conduct research on printing technology, and to print more agricultural books in the future to benefit the public.

After Harnett got this book, which is regarded as the first book in the world, he looked excited as if he had found a treasure: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely memorize all the contents in it!"

It didn't have to be so, but Ayla was glad he had this realization.

She asked again: "When you go back, you can write to me if you have any questions you don't understand."

"My lord."

Hartnett left with a book full of content, and this book has been preserved by him for a long time, and it has even become a family heirloom of his family.

"Your Highness, these are posts inviting you, do you want to have a look?"

Ella looked at the invitation cards Tetis held in her hand, there was a thick stack of them, probably more than a dozen.

"No, just watch and deal with it."

I don't know what happened recently, but suddenly a lot of invitations were sent to her. They were either inviting her to a banquet or going out for fun. Ella always refused these invitations.

In the past, Tetis would help handle these invitations, but today Tetis persuaded: "Your Highness, why not choose one you like to participate? You have not accepted the invitation, and other nobles may have opinions on you."

In the past, Ella just arrived and was always threatened with her life. It was more reassuring not to go out to socialize, but now that the black hand behind the scenes has been executed, safety is guaranteed. Tetis thinks that Her Royal Highness should expand her social circle.At least you can't always refuse other people's invitations like this.

"I see what you mean, but there have been too many invitations recently, and I find it a bit strange."

It is true that she will integrate into the noble circle sooner or later, and it is impossible to stay outside all the time. This is not a good thing for her, but the invitations sent in the past two days are weird, and Ella feels something is wrong.

Debbie, who had just come back from outside, happened to hear what they said, and said hesitantly, "Your Highness, I heard something just now, which may have something to do with it."

The maid who was born as a slave is not a talkative person, and she doesn't care much about the gossip in the palace. She only wants to serve her master. But it happened that she met her in the corridor of the garden just now when she was out on errands.Seeing two noble officials chatting, the other party didn't know her, and they didn't shy away from talking. Debbie happened to hear something when passing by.

"What did they say?"

"They were talking about the next prime minister. They said that the several nobles who are now competing for the position of prime minister seem to be interested in wooing you."

When Debbie said this, Ella reacted.

She looked at Tetis: "Prime Minister Vizier has stepped down?"

Tetis also reacted: "Yes, he will step down after the trial is over, but His Majesty has not announced the candidate for the next prime minister."

The prime minister is the head of all officials, this position is very important, there are many officials coveting it, but only a few qualified ones, Lucis has not issued orders for a long time, these people are of course in a hurry.

Ella can understand their speculative ideas. Pillow wind is easy to use anywhere. Ella doesn't think that Lucis is a person who will be easily swayed by his ideas, but if he doesn't have a clear candidate in his mind, other people's persuasion maywill play some role.

But Ayla couldn't understand why they thought they'd be involved in such a thing.

Is it because her hiding posture is not standard enough?Since when has she meddled in Sathya's affairs?

Not to mention government affairs, she has never even interfered with the affairs of the palace, and has always been focused on living her own life, okay?

"Reject, I reject all these invitations."

She didn't want to get involved at all.

"Good Your Majesty."

This time Tetis didn't try to persuade her anymore, this kind of thing is really not suitable for their highness to participate.

For several days, all invitations were rejected, and the nobles gradually understood what she meant, and the number of invitations sent decreased a lot.

"I thought you'd at least talk to me about these things."

"Um?"

Recently, Lucis would come to Ella from time to time during the lunch break. The two of them didn't do anything serious, just sat together and chatted, and then when sleepiness hit, they would sleep on their respective low couches.Noon nap, no one bother anyone.

For this peace and leisure, Lucis also put a low couch exclusively for him in Ayla's bedroom, and of course he also had a low couch for Ayla in his own king's bedroom.

Two low couches are placed side by side on the balcony, with only a small table for placing things in between. At first glance, it looks a bit like a lounge chair by the beach pool, only a parasol is missing.

Lucis was lying on it, taking a sip with a glass of wine in his hand. He knew that Ella didn't like him drinking too much alcohol. Although the frequency of drinking has not decreased recently, the amount of drinking has indeed decreased.

"It's what they came for you, I thought you would tell me."

Aila held a scroll in her hand, which was the royal collection, and it recorded the myths and legends of Sathya. She read it as a storybook, and said without raising her head when she heard the words: "I don't intend to help them, there is no needBothering you with such trivial things."

"Who do you think is suitable to be prime minister among the current ministers?"

"Huh?" Ella then turned her gaze to Lucis: "I'm not familiar with your ministers, so how do I know who is suitable for me?"

"Currently candidates who are eligible to serve as the prime minister include candidates for the Minister of Finance, the Supreme Court Officer, the two generals of the North and the South, and the three high priests."

It should be explained here that although Lucis is the magistrate of the Supreme Court as the king, he will only exercise this right when he needs to try important cases related to the royal family. At other times, the magistrate is still held by other people., the current magistrate is a nobleman of royal blood.

At present, one of the three candidates for the high priest is Meyert, but obviously a female priest will not be selected for the position of the prime minister, and if the priest takes the position of the prime minister, it means that they give up becoming the high priest.

The king will not allow them to combine these two positions of supreme power.

"If you had to choose one of these people, who do you think is the most suitable?"