The Mountain needed to focus his time on military matters, so he wanted Jenny to handle many other things.
No matter how powerful a military is, food is fundamental.
Milk is a type of food, and a very nutritious one at that.
The disease outbreaks that occur every year in milk production have nothing to do with strangers.
It's purely due to the milk not being sterilized, leading to the growth of bacteria.
Milk is highly susceptible to bacterial contamination, especially in hot weather.
Flies and milk buckets can carry germs, but the most important source of germs is during milking.
During the period of semi-animal husbandry and semi-agriculture, there were many diseases, and many people died.
What are minor illnesses in later civilizations would be incurable diseases in primitive and backward times, such as an infected wound. A small wound, once infected, could be fatal or require the amputation of the infected limb.
For illnesses caused by milk, simply sterilizing the milk scientifically is sufficient.
The best method is pasteurization.
Pasteurization requires the use of a thermometer.
However, in this civilization that combined animal husbandry and agriculture, thermometers were a highly specialized item even among scholars, and were not yet widely used. The Mountain had seen the thermometers used by the scholars; because they were not sealed, and due to atmospheric pressure, the temperatures were not very accurate and fluctuated considerably.
The Mountain decides to make its own thermometer.
Mercury already exists in this world. Maesters produce mercury by calcining ore and then replacing it with iron, which is insoluble in mercury. This substance can be purchased by maesters in the Citadel.
The Mountain decided to use mercury instead of water or alcohol as the medium. In this world, the thermometers used by the scholars are made with water or alcohol. Furthermore, the temperature units and data are separate, without using degrees Celsius.
*
The Mountain and his group went to the kitchen.
Ice is stored in the basement of the kitchen.
In this amazing world, the technology for storing food is highly sophisticated.
This is due to the season.
A winter can last for three to ten years or even longer. During the cold winter, human food production almost completely stops, and people rely on the food stored by each household during the spring, summer and autumn.
If grain needs to be stored for ten years or even longer, storage technology is required.
Among the scholars in the old town's academy, there were scholars who specialized in studying grain storage techniques and developed a very advanced set of knowledge.
The most fundamental aspect of storage technology is low temperature.
The lower the temperature, the lower the chance of grain becoming moldy.
Ice is stored in the Count's underground warehouse.
This is also one of the must-have food options when drinking on a hot day.
The Mountain ordered his servants to bring ice, which he then broke and added a small amount of water.
He selected the smallest and narrowest type of glass tube from several options.
He was just demonstrating to Jenny how a thermometer is made. After learning, Jenny would order a batch of thermometers from a glass factory and, through Bachelor Assa, purchase mercury from the Citadel to use as the sensing medium.
Magic Mountain added a small amount of water into the glass tube.
Then put the glass tube into ice water.
"We set the temperature of the ice water at zero degrees," the Mountain told Jenny.
Earl Gavin and Lady Hipper were completely baffled.
They felt that if Scholar Asahi came to see it, he would understand.
The Mountain hoped that Jenny would understand the principles before telling Maester Assa, and together they could create the first mercury thermometers for Cliffrock. Assa's expertise would help Jenny, and Jenny's understanding of the Mountain's knowledge would also help Maester Assa.
The Mountain used a quill to apply paint to a mark on the glass tube: "This means zero degrees."
The principle of thermal expansion and contraction applies to objects, and thermometers utilize this principle. Of course, factors such as atmospheric pressure inside the glass tube must also be considered, which is why the thermometer needs to be sealed – a task undertaken by Assa and the glass manufacturer.
Pasteurization requires a temperature range of approximately 62 to 70 degrees Celsius, and slight errors in the accuracy of the thermometer are acceptable.
The temperature of ice water is defined as zero degrees Celsius, which is easy to understand.
Jenny said she understood.
"Heat this ice water until it boils," said the Mountain.
So the servants started heating the water, and the water in the glass tube placed in the water rose in temperature until it boiled.
"We define the temperature of boiling water as 100 degrees," the Mountain said. He marked the point where the water in the glass tube had stopped.
"Ice water is zero degrees, boiling water is one hundred degrees." Demon Mountain pointed to these two signs. "We start marking upwards from the fifty-degree mark."
The Mountain gestured to a servant to bring a piece of string, quantified the length from zero to one hundred degrees, and then folded the string in half: "Jenny, the length of the folded string is the position from zero to fifty degrees."
The half-length of the folded line segment corresponds to a 50-degree mark.
The Magic Mountain marks the position at fifty degrees.
"Using this method, a thermometer can be made."
Jenny nodded: "Sir Gregor, it's that simple, and then!"
"As long as zero degrees and one hundred degrees are accurate, the other degrees will be accurate as well. So you can test zero degrees and one hundred degrees repeatedly with Bachelor Assa when you have time."
"good!"
"Scholar Assa is knowledgeable about water thermometers and alcohol thermometers, but I hope you and Scholar Assa will go to the glass factory to order a batch of mercury thermometers. The glass tubes need to be sealed. My suggestion is to remove the air inside the glass tubes by heating them to a temperature one hundred degrees above boiling water before sealing them."
"I understand!" Jenny said. "What happens after the thermometer is made?"
"We can use a thermometer to heat the milk at a certain temperature to kill the bacteria in it. After scientific processing, the diseased milk can be drunk and made into cheese and various dairy products, which can be sold to the people of Cliff Rock City. Of course, it is also a good nutritional supplement for the soldiers after training."
Jenny looked at her father and mother, while Earl Gavin and Lady Hipper exchanged bewildered glances. They felt just like they were listening to a priest's prayer in a church—completely bewildered.
"First, I'll make a thermometer. After that, I'll teach you how to heat unclean milk at high temperatures and then rapidly cool it down. Then, you can use your cat, Ries, to experiment and see if it's safe to drink sterilized milk."
"What did you say?" Jenny exclaimed loudly.
"Of course, you can use wild dogs, domestic dogs, or other animals." Demon Mountain smiled slightly.
"What about the sour milk?"
"You can give it a try, but you need to filter the milk several times before you start."
The hygiene of milk in this world is questionable. During milking, both the servants' hands and the milk's 'mouth' are unclean. This must be corrected.
Amidst the bewildered looks of the Earl and Countess, The Mountain calmly tossed down the package, as long as Jenny understood it. It didn't matter if Jenny didn't understand; as long as she remembered the method, that was enough. Once the thermometer was made, it could be tested with ice water and boiling water to determine its accuracy. Then, the milk could be pasteurized. After that, the soldiers would be safe and sound when eating and drinking, naturally gaining credibility.
In this world, people often get sick from drinking milk, but it's not as severe or widespread as in July or August. In fact, there's always an outbreak of an epidemic caused by the growth of bacteria in milk once every few years.
There are many types of pasteurization processes, but Magic Mountain only chooses one: heating the milk to 62-65 degrees Celsius, not exceeding 70 degrees Celsius, and maintaining this temperature for 30 minutes. This method kills various pathogenic bacteria in the milk. Only some thermophilic and heat-resistant bacteria, as well as spores, remain after sterilization. However, most of these bacteria are lactic acid bacteria, which are not only harmless to humans but also beneficial to health.
Within a certain temperature range, higher temperatures promote bacterial growth, but excessively high temperatures, exceeding 37 degrees Celsius, kill bacteria. Pasteurization utilizes the heat intolerance of pathogens, using appropriate temperatures and controlled holding times to kill them all. However, it preserves beneficial bacteria or bacterial spores.
This sterilization method comes from the civilized world before the Mountain's journey—Louis Pasteur—a French microbiologist and chemist, the founder of modern microbiology. Like Newton who pioneered classical mechanics, Pasteur pioneered the field of microbiology; he was a scientific giant. And the Mountain, rather embarrassingly, borrowed the shoulders of this scientific giant for a moment.
That night, Earl Gavin and Lady Hipper talked in their bedroom about the Mountain's past and present, as well as the various rumors about him. Before they knew it, the sky began to lighten, and new training slogans and military whistles rang out in the parade ground. Before they knew it, it was dawn.
The count and his wife spent a sleepless night.
Shortly after, there was a knock on the door, and the voice of Maester Assa rang out: "Your Excellency."
"Come in!" Earl Gavin sat up halfway on the bed, revealing the thick chest hair on his chest. Lady Hibernate also sat up halfway, covering her chest with a blanket, revealing a section of her snow-white arm.
The couple didn't mind Scholar Asa entering their bedroom; that was just how rugged and energetic their lifestyle was.
"Count, a letter from Clegane."
The Earl of Gavin accepted the letter, which was sealed with the Clegane family crest.
He weighed the letter in his hand and said, "From now on, Clegane's letters should be sent directly to Sir Gregor. Just let me know afterward; you don't need to go through me again."
"Yes, Earl!" Scholar Assa bowed and left.
Soon, on the Great Parade Grounds, the Mountain received a letter from Clegane Castle. The letter was from Maester Harry, saying that Notebook had secretly caught Littlefinger outside King's Landing, was returning, and had entered the Westerlands. It would be brought back to Clegane Castle the day after tomorrow.
Littlefinger has been captured and brought to the West.
It seems that the notebook did a good job with this mission. He planned to lure Littlefinger out of the city to capture him, and judging from the letter, he succeeded.
Littlefinger is a big deal, concerning the future of the Westerlands and the Mountain's own destiny. This guy needs to be used properly. Littlefinger's fatal weakness is, of course, his single-minded desire to shed the shame of Earl Sheepdung and become a true nobleman.
Only by making good use of Littlefinger and secretly using the witch to exorcise Tywin can the Mountain's chances of changing his fate increase.
The Mountain immediately decided that the training here would be handled by Polliver Clegane and Lofoten Spicer; the secret minting of Castamere would be given to Old Man Booz and his granddaughter, along with Stinky Mouth and Leonard; the thermometer and milk experiments would be left to Jenny and Maester Assa. He himself had to rush back to Clegane Castle, where he needed to meet Lord Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger, known for his cunning and shrewdness.