Fox of France

In Joseph's office, Napoleon is arguing with Joseph. The reason for the quarrel was simple, because Joseph actually demanded that all the cannons of the French army be replaced with iron ones.

"It would be fine if you produced cheap steel now, but your steelmaking is still in the laboratory, and you actually want to replace the copper cannon with the damn cast iron cannon. No, never, absolutely impossible! I Napoleon, you will never do anything that harms the army's combat effectiveness in exchange for benefits!" Napoleon rarely yelled at this with his eldest brother.

"Napoleon, although iron cannons are a bit bulkier, they are not completely unusable. We won't have any large-scale expeditions in a short time, will we?" Joseph said, "Now we are really short of copper, very, very copper deficiency."

"If you are short of copper, find a way to buy it!" Napoleon said.

"Damn it! If it can be solved by Kaomai, I won't worry at all! Napoleon, do you know that in recent months, the price of copper in the whole of Europe has almost doubled. Those countries around us A large number of paper coins have begun to be used, because the people in those places have directly sold copper coins to us as copper.

All over Europe, from Tsarist Russia down to England, we ate copious amounts of copper as long as it was commercially available. The British have already begun to restrict the export of copper. Of course the Spaniards and Austrians dare not, but they also raised the price very quickly. As for France, almost all the copper items in the homes of ordinary people were stolen by themselves or thieves, and then sold to us. Even the bells in the church have been replaced with iron ones. However, copper is still not enough!

Napoleon, you have to think about it, nowadays, the price of your damn copper cannons has risen a lot. If you agree to hand over those copper cannons to us for refurbishment, I... I will return you two for each copper cannon, not two and a half iron cannons of the same specification-what do you think? "

"Even in normal times, one copper cannon is worth two iron cannons." Napoleon sneered, "No! You need to add more money! I must make the army feel that I am strengthening them, not weakening them. One cannon You need to change 4 doors, and you must ensure the quality, and you cannot fool our army with the ones exported to Prussia!"

"Oh, Napoleon, how can you slander the iron cannons we export like this? Because of the application of new technology, although the iron cannons we export are not as good as copper cannons in performance, they are already inferior to the British iron cannons." There is a performance advantage too.

A while ago, the Prussians replaced all the bronze cannons of the army with iron cannons because they had to pay back the money. They compared British iron cannons with our iron cannons, and their conclusion was that our iron cannons are not inferior to copper cannons at all, and they are not so much better than British iron cannons. How can you say that about our iron cannon? "

"You liar! What the Prussians have to deal with these days is the poor Poles. Of course they can use iron guns, anyway, the Poles have no guns. Besides, they are satisfied with the performance? Are they satisfied with the performance?" What? The only thing they want for performance is cheap. Right?"

"Oh, Napoleon, why are you so stubborn? This iron cannon is purely an excessive product. After a while, when the cheap steel from Lavoisier comes out, these things will become The waste that needs to be returned to the furnace. It is not impossible to improve the performance. For example, the composite barrel of cast iron and wrought iron is not much worse than the copper cannon except that it is a little heavier. But at that price, Well, it's not too different from the copper cannons of the past, and the output will not increase all of a sudden, unlike ordinary iron cannons, which can be used directly for Prussia...Napoleon, don't be so stubborn. Soon, I guarantee that soon, you will be able to use steel cannons." Joseph said, patting his chest.

"Come on, you have assured me many times during this time," said Napoleon, "I don't understand that the copper mine of the Union in Prussia will be put into operation soon--that's what you said; the copper mine The scale is large, relying on it, and our new technology, I can easily double the copper production of the whole of Europe-that's what you said; and..." Napoleon's saliva almost splashed on Joseph's face up.

"Damn it, I need an N95 mask." Joseph thought to himself.

Then he tried to defend himself: "But Napoleon, it will take time, and we have no time to wait now."

"Why don't you have time to wait? Isn't it your power plants, what's the big deal about letting them wait?" Napoleon said.

"Napoleon, have you forgotten that it will soon be the time when the wheat needs watering the most. We have promised farmers across the country, especially those villages where veterans serve as village heads, that we will let them live without worrying about food and drink. Good days. How did these good days come about? It must be obtained by increasing the yield of wheat. How can the yield of wheat be increased? Of course, it can be greatly improved by having more irrigated land. How can the area of ​​irrigated land be expanded?

With the support of the army, the veterans led the farmers in the village to dig more canals. This played a role. But that alone is not enough. The water in the canal cannot flow to the wheat field by itself, and it is limited by manpower or livestock. To expand the irrigated land in a large area, it is necessary to draw water by electric water pumps. The electric water pump must rely on the electricity delivered from the power plant.

And as you know, generators, motors, and wires all need copper. If we want to have an unprecedented bumper harvest this year, we must quickly build as many electric water pumps as possible before the wheat needs to be watered on a large scale.

Moreover, Napoleon, more than half of our soldiers are farmers from the countryside. If they see the difference that the electric water pump has brought to their hometown and their loved ones, their love for us will grow further.

Yes, you took them to war, made a lot of money with them, and made them own their own land. That's enough to make them grateful. If you add that you can make their crops harvest and ensure that their children and grandchildren will have enough to eat, then let alone a crown, they will even be willing to build a temple for you. "

This last sentence moved Napoleon a little. He thought for a while and asked, "How many electric water pumping stations can we build now?"

Joseph was waiting for his words. As soon as he heard him say this, he knew that Napoleon was tempted. So he said, "Wait a minute, I'll ask your sister-in-law to bring the map. Let's look at the map."

So Joseph came outside and saw Fanny playing chess with Paulina in men's clothes. Polina's situation is not going well at this time, and she is about to let one of Fanny's soldiers go down to the bottom line to become a queen. (By the way, I have always wondered why a pawn in chess can become a queen. Could it be that they had Hua Mulan so early?) Seeing Joseph and Napoleon come out at this time, she stood up quickly and said, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" Is it?" At the same time, he pushed the chessboard smoothly and said, "No more, no more, I have to work."

"Oh, Paulina, we need to find that water plan," Joseph said.

Polina turned around and searched for a while in a filing cabinet, then pulled out a file bag from the top and took it over: "It should be here, you can see for yourself."

Fanny came over at this time, took the file bag, opened the bag, and put the maps inside one by one on the extra-large table in Joseph's office, which was so big that it could be used as a bed for a row of soldiers. spread out. After finishing these, she smiled and pulled Paulina back out.

Napoleon frowned slightly as he looked at Paulina who was retreating.

"Joseph, you don't have to discipline Paulina to see what she looks like. She's always wearing a man's clothes now-what a look."

"What's the point? Men's clothes are so much more convenient, aren't they? You see I get up and get dressed in five minutes, but Fanny, hell, can get dressed in an hour. It's... It's a waste of life."

Napoleon knew what Joseph meant by "wasting life". When Joseph taught him that year, he said: "Life is made up of time, and wasting time is wasting life." Later, Napoleon often used this sentence for his generals and officials in the government. So that if at this time, someone wants to write a book of famous quotes or something, most of these words will be attributed to Napoleon.

But at this moment, Napoleon didn't take Joseph's opinion seriously: "Women, why should you cherish time so much? They have too much time, but they will make a lot of trouble. Hell, I have something to tell you, but You mustn't get excited—Fouche told me a few days ago that he saw Pauline in a man's clothes, with Lucien, to investigate the entertainment industry in Paris, well, that's the entertainment industry."

"What?" Joseph jumped up when he heard it, "When did it happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Just a few days ago, after you went to the Saar coal mine." Napoleon said, "I asked Lucien, and he admitted that it was true. But Lucien said that they didn't do much, That is, to understand the situation on the ground. Because Polina is writing a novel, she needs to understand this kind of situation..."

"What do you believe in what he says? This brat is completely itchy..." Joseph said.

"I don't believe it, but Paulina is really writing a novel, and it's pretty good. I've read it, and many scenes are written with a sense of reality. For example... No, this bastard Lucien probably still has Took Paulina to the casino."