Fox of France

It will take a certain amount of time for the British steam warship to be practical, so Joseph has not had time to feel the pressure brought by the world's number one science and technology in the United Kingdom at this time. At this time, he was busy getting the iron mines of Lorraine, the coal mines of Saar and the coal mines of Ruhr.

In fact, Lorraine's iron ore has almost no advantages except for its larger reserves. The iron content of this iron ore is generally only more than 30%. Compared with those iron ores in Australia and Brazil, it is completely inferior. Dregs. What's more terrible is that the iron ore in Lorraine is high-phosphorus iron ore, and the phosphorus content in iron ore is even as high as 1%.

Phosphorus is a harmful component in steel most of the time. The increase of phosphorus content will reduce the plasticity and toughness of steel (especially the impact toughness), making the steel "cold brittle". In addition, phosphorus can also reduce the weldability of steel. Generally speaking, the phosphorus content in commonly used steel should not exceed 0.045%. However, if the steel made from the ore of the Lorraine iron mine is not specially treated, the phosphorus content can really break through the sky.

However, for quite a long time, human beings have not mastered the effective technology of removing impurity phosphorus, and the phosphorus content in the final steel products can only be determined by what kind of iron ore God bestows. Therefore, the steel produced in Lorraine has always been known for its poor quality. It is said that one of the reasons for the sinking of the Titanic, which was loaded with icebergs during its maiden voyage, was the cold and brittle steel tempered from Lorraine's iron ore.

Even with the gradual development of such technologies, phosphorus removal is still a headache. If there is low-phosphorus, low-sulfur, high-grade iron ore like Australia and Brazil, who would like to use Lorraine's iron ore, but at present, Joseph really does not have any other better iron ore in the entire Western European continent. In fact, judging by the standards of future generations, there is no better iron ore.

The iron mines in Lorraine had been discovered a long time ago. Before the Great Revolution, most of these mines were in the hands of nobles. After the revolution began, these nobles either went to the guillotine or went into exile.

According to the decree of the revolutionary government, these properties of the nobles who were guillotined or exiled abroad were naturally confiscated. During the Jacobin period, these mines were basically state-run, but most of them were in a state of desertion. When it came to the Thermidor Party, these iron ores gradually fell into the hands of the Brumist Party. Now, Joseph wants to get these mines from the hands of the original owners.

This is not a difficult task. In this era, before the breakthrough in steelmaking technology and the beginning of the industrial revolution, iron ore was not particularly profitable. Because the use of pig iron is limited and the production of wrought iron and steel is difficult, the demand for iron ore is not particularly large. In addition, some mine owners also hope to please the Bonaparte family and establish a relationship with the first ruler. Some mines even have a taste of half selling and half giving away. So Joseph didn't spend much money to basically control this large mining area.

As for the Saar Coal Mine, it was also done by similar means. As for the Ruhr coal mines, it is even simpler. This area is a newly conquered area. Although it is not directly under the jurisdiction of France, which of the small states in the Rhine Free State is not in a hurry to find an opportunity to curry favor with the Bonaparte family? Although the Ruhr coal mine is basically fertile land, it is nothing more than a few farmers. How can it be more important than the liberators who please Europe?

Besides, it's not that Joseph didn't give money. Of course, those guys in the Rhine Free State who got the money used any means to drive those poor farmers out of the land they had cultivated for generations, and that was not something Joseph needed to manage.

Compared with the iron mines in Lorraine, the coal mines in the Ruhr are really much better in quality. The Ruhr Coalfield is dominated by high-quality hard coal, and there are various types of coal, especially fat coal (a kind of bituminous coal, suitable for coking and steam coal) that is extremely valuable for smelting and power, occupying reserves Most of the coal seams are buried shallowly. In many places, only the most surface layer of soil needs to be excavated to open-pit mining, which is also very convenient. In addition, the coal field is right next to the Rhine River, and the Rhine River is definitely the river with the best shipping conditions in Western Europe, and the transportation conditions are also very good. This is really the best industrial area.

But such good conditions brought Joseph a big problem: Should the future coal and iron industrial base be located in Lorraine or in the Ruhr?

In later generations, after the Prussians defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War and captured Lorraine, they chose to place their industrial base on the Ruhr side. This is easy to understand. The Ruhr has convenient transportation and is the core area of ​​the Germans, which is relatively stable. Of course they want to put such a vital thing there.

Now that France is changed, it seems that the industrial base should also be located in Lorraine according to the same reasoning-after all, it is more reassuring to be close to home. However, considering the flow direction of the Rhine, the iron ore from Lorraine to the Ruhr is downstream, while the coal mines from the Ruhr to Lorraine are upstream. As far as transportation is concerned, it seems that the It is better to put the industrial base in the Ruhr.

So Joseph hesitated for a while.

But for this question, Lucien quickly made a judgment.

"Is there not enough coal in Thrall?"

"Ah, it should be enough for a period of time." Joseph said.

"How long is this period?" asked Lucien.

"It should be quite long, at least ten years, or even decades."

"Then it will cost less to transport iron ore to the Ruhr area, plus mine coal in the Ruhr than to mine coal in the Saar and then send them to Lorraine or vice versa Is it cheaper?" Lucien asked again.

"It seems not."

"Then why are you hesitating?" Lucien asked.

"Ah..." Joseph suddenly realized that he seemed to be really disturbed by some information from his descendants. Thinking about future generations, Joseph's country, under the circumstances of trying hard to reduce the steel production, easily passed the year. Nearly one billion tons of steel can be produced, and any large steel base can produce tens of millions of tons or even close to 100 million tons of steel, so that the capital of the Yuan Dynasty will know that I am coming to Hebei Province, and the steel factory is very good. .

If the site selection is considered according to that standard, then the output of the Saar Coalfield is really not enough. However, today's New Rome is still several hundred years away from the Iron Kingdom. As far as the coal in Saar and the iron ore in Lorraine are concerned, they should be enough for the French within hundreds of years.

"What's the matter?" Lucien asked when he saw that Joseph seemed to be stunned.

"I'm overthinking it." Joseph said, "But we've already bought the coal field in the Ruhr, and it cost a lot of money? If it doesn't come in handy, and the Ruhr area..."

"Besides, most of the Ruhr piece is made of coking coal and steam coal, and there is not much anthracite coal, and even honeycomb coal is not easy to make..." Joseph thought in his heart.

"How much did it cost? There is a big coal mine in my hand, and I can always find a way to use it. It would be nice to transport it back to generate electricity." Lucien said indifferently.

"Shipping back? The Rhine waterway is good, but unfortunately our steamship research is not going well, otherwise... it seems that we can only consider the train first. However, this can't be rushed, we must first have a lot of steel , then there will be trains, and then...well, the coalfields in the Ruhr, it seems that they can only be left for the time being."

While Joseph was worrying about the vain backlog of funds in the Ruhr coalfield, Lavoisier was enjoying himself. Because a few days ago, he just used a modified quartz crucible to fill molten pig iron, and used a compressor to blow heated air into the pig iron, successfully obtaining liquid steel.

With this project completed, Lavoisier was getting closer and closer to being rewarded with a Champagne estate. That manor was originally the property of the Duke of Orleans, but the champagne it produces is famous far and wide. It can bring a lot of wealth to the Duke every year. After he lost his head, the estate was confiscated by the revolutionary government and later passed into the hands of the Bonaparte family.

Of course, there is a price to receive this reward. At that time, Joseph gave Lavoisier one-tenth of the patent rights of the manor and the steelmaking technology of blowing air (now Lavoisier has become much smarter, after many negotiations, he finally reached an agreement with Joseph Such a cooperation agreement, that is, the research project directly hosted by him, and he will be given one-tenth of the technology patents obtained) to choose between. But Lavoisier, who lacked enough imagination for future development, chose the manor without hesitation.

It is said that many years later, Lavoisier regretted his choice so much that he even said to his niece many times: "Your husband is a big liar. He doesn't know how much money he cheated from us..." But at least for now, Lavoisier still feels that he has taken advantage of it.

In another laboratory, Lavoisier's deadly rival, Faucroy, has just completed the experiment of a new refractory material. According to Joseph's requirement that the refractory material must be alkaline, he used dolomite as the main material, burned A refractory material capable of withstanding the high temperatures of steelmaking crucibles has been developed.

He was also a famous chemist and was once a friend of Lavoisier. But during the Jacobin period, he joined the faction of Marat and Hébert, and he was the one who brought about the pursuit of Lavoisier. If Carnot had not intervened, Lavoisier would have been the object of mourning by now.

It is also this person who single-handedly contributed to the closure of the French Academy of Sciences. It was not until the Thermidorians came to power, and thanks to Joseph's efforts, that institution was able to re-emerge.

Because of these things, after the downfall of Jacobin, this guy's situation was once very bad, but considering this guy's ability is also very good, so Joseph also picked him up.

It's just that he doesn't have the good treatment like Lavoisier, and he doesn't get one-tenth of the patent share. After completing this project, he can only get a bonus of 600 francs. The only consolation is that the bonuses given by Joseph have always been in metal currency.