I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 265 Fighting for Industry

After that, Joseph basically didn't listen to Fouche's report. Anyway, there were documents, so he would read them later.

After Fouche left, Joseph looked at the sunshine outside the window and stretched his waist.

Speaking of which, after his operations over the past year, he has stabilized debts, survived famine, and improved the situation of the people at the bottom, the possibility of France opening a big expansion pack is extremely slim. The most pressing survival issue has been initially solved.

But the price is that it touches the cake of the old aristocracy and causes new social problems.

However, the domestic cake is only so big in total. If more is given to the peasantry, the aristocracy will definitely lose a piece.

Therefore, if you want the aristocracy to solidly unite around the royal family and continue to shine for France, you must make the cake bigger and let them participate in the new process of dividing the cake.

"So, how to make the cake bigger?" Joseph pondered and picked up the tea cup, only to find that the tea had already cooled down.

Emang on the side was very eye-catching and motioned to the servant to bring new tea:

"Your Highness, would you like a piece of cake?"

"Oh, no, thank you." Joseph smiled and shook his head, "The 'quota' for taking in cakes must be reserved for when you go to Her Majesty the Queen."

"Praise for your frugality." Eman, who had no idea about the dangers of eating too much sugar, could only think of this explanation, and retreated to the door with compliments.

The warm black tea made Joseph feel peaceful.

He couldn't help but think of Nahuang. At that time, France was also facing a serious problem of not enough cakes. Nahuang's solution was to direct the internal pressure to the outside - take other people's cakes and share them with the French.

He couldn't help but sigh. War is the main theme of this era, and multiple wars break out at the same time almost every year on the European continent. If you don't hit others, others will hit you. What everyone wants is to grab an extra piece of cake from other countries.

Of course, even if you are trying to grab the cake, you must not be as reckless as taking the emperor, and your appetite must not be as big as him, causing the whole of Europe to target France, and eventually being dragged to death.

"Walking on two legs. In addition to looking outward, we must also make the domestic cake bigger." Joseph put down the tea cup, picked up a pen and wrote down several words such as "industry", "agriculture" and "trade" on the paper.

Speaking of which, France is still an agricultural country. Increasing food production will obviously make the greatest contribution to making the pie bigger, and it can also quickly improve the quality of life of the people at the bottom.

The most direct way to increase grain production is to use chemical fertilizers. Phosphate ores - ores formed from guano - currently mined from Nauru and Tunisia can partially solve the problem, but transportation costs are still too high.

Only the development of purely industrially synthesized chemical fertilizers can bring about a real agricultural revolution.

It's just that the level of chemical industry in the entire world is not very good now, and sulfuric acid can barely be synthesized industrially. The other four items in the "three acids and two bases" that are the basis of chemical industry can only be produced in small quantities in the laboratory.

This simply cannot support the fertilizer industry that can supply the whole country.

Joseph drew a branch "Chemical Industry" under "Industry", recalling the development of the chemical industry during the Industrial Revolution in history.

Then he remembered something - gaslighting.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the British took the lead in installing gas street lights in London, which greatly improved London's urban convenience and city image.

What they did not expect was that the gas street light project would greatly promote the development of the British chemical industry.

Because a large amount of coal tar was produced during the distillation of coal gas, when the British dealt with this sticky and disgusting thing, they found that it was rich in many useful ingredients, such as aniline.

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After that, industries utilizing coal tar flourished, making rapid progress in Britain's processing industries such as disinfectants, dyes, flavors, and even explosives. In the process, it promoted the great development of chemical industry technology.

You know, in this era where the textile industry is king, dyes are high-tech crystallizations.

Joseph nodded secretly, the gaslight project was definitely a good breakthrough.

In addition to promoting the development of the chemical industry, cheap and convenient gas lamps themselves can also bring huge benefits - they light up the city, allowing the city to increase the time for commercial activities, and generate profits at night when there is originally no profit. For industrial production, low-cost lighting equipment can increase the factory's operating hours, making night shifts possible.

This can directly increase the country's GDP.

In addition, gas lighting also promoted the development of France's coal industry. Even the entire gas lamp project will be exported abroad in the future, making it an industrial business card of France.

Joseph looked at the long list of benefits brought by gas lighting, and couldn't help but smile. At the moment, Murdoch, who invented gas lighting, was in his own hands, tinkering with steam engines for France in Nancy.

It can be said that everything is ready for the gaslight project.

I’ve decided on the Englishman’s nonsense!

…

The next day.

Joseph walked out of the conference hall with a happy expression. At the cabinet meeting just now, the "Grain Yield Decree" had been passed. Once registered in the High Court, it will soon be implemented across the country.

This is not surprising. Not to mention that the current cabinet ministers are basically Joseph's people. France just had large-scale riots due to food shortages not long ago. At the moment, increasing food production is the biggest political correctness. No one will do this. Looking for trouble.

Joseph remembered the gaslight plan, and said to Mirabeau as he walked:

“Do you know anything about gaslighting?”

The latter thought for a while and recalled:

"Your Highness, I remember reading a paper that mentioned this thing. The lamp seemed to burn a gas made from coal. The light was very bright."

"That's right." Joseph nodded, "I'm going to set up this kind of lights on the streets of Paris. If everything goes well, we can light up the entire Paris night at a very low price."

"Huh? Street lamp?" Mirabeau obviously did not understand the importance of gas street lamps.

Joseph then briefly told him about the great value of gas lighting, which made Mirabeau's eyes widen:

"Yes, Your Highness, the factory can operate 24 hours a day and the store is open all night. It's really great!"

"But this technology is not mature enough yet." Joseph poured some cold water on him, "However, I know who is good at this. Now I need you to help me make a plan for erecting street lights across Paris and make a preliminary plan. Budget. Oh, and Versailles, too.”

"Yes, Your Highness, I will submit a report to you as soon as possible!"

Just as Mirabeau was speaking, he saw Louis XVI's valet approaching, caressing Joseph's chest and saluting:

"Dauphin Palace, His Majesty the King invites you to his workshop."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Joseph nodded and said to Mirabeau, "We will discuss the details later."

Not long after, in the royal workshop, Louis XVI faced a wooden machine that was nearly three meters wide, two people tall, and equipped with a large number of cylinders. He raised his hand to Joseph in a low mood:

"This is it, the automatic loom you asked for."