I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 266 The clarion call for the textile industry to fight back

Joseph suddenly showed a look of surprise, stepped forward and stroked the machine with a simple shape - perhaps it should be regarded as science fiction in this era - and turned to Louis XVI: "You are definitely the greatest in France, no, the greatest in Europe. The mechanical master!

"It only took you less than half a year to build this machine perfectly!"

"It's just an imitation. Louis XVI curled his lips, "And it's just a boring thing used for weaving..."

As he spoke, light flashed in his eyes again: "By the way, son, when will we start developing the rifled gun you mentioned last time?"

"You can do it anytime you want." Joseph smiled, then patted the automatic loom beside him, "And I must say, this is not a 'boring thing', but the hope of French industry!

“Do you remember the most important source of finance for the British? was their textile exports.

“Now the British have begun to use this kind of machine in their factories, which can reduce the cost of textiles by more than 20% while increasing output several times.

"Without your hard work, Lyon's textile factories would soon be driven to a dead end by the British and eventually collapse in large numbers. But now, we have the capital to compete with the British!"

Louis XVI began to smile: "Well, so I at least saved Lyon?"

"Not only Lyon, but also the fashion industry in Paris, as well as a large number of silkworm farmers, cotton farmers, and hemp farmers. You gave them hope."

Joseph continued: "And according to the information I got, because this machine is expensive and needs to be driven by a waterwheel, there are not many British factories that use it. If we use a steam engine to drive it and promote it on a large scale, it can even be used in Shorten the gap with the UK in the textile industry.

“This will increase France’s textile exports and generate high fiscal revenue.

"In other words, you also saved our finances. Archbishop Brian will be very grateful to you."

In fact, according to Joseph's plan, it is far more than just shortening the gap. If on the basis of the automatic loom, the automatic jacquard machine invented by France and the automatic carding machine invented by the Americans are used at the same time, and an industrial chain is formed in Lyon, it can even surpass the textile efficiency of the United Kingdom!

These advanced concepts can only be put forward by him who has experienced industrial integration and integration in this era.

"Aha," Louis XVI suddenly became energetic after hearing this, "This is just a small gift that I, as the king, give to France."

He waved to the weaver standing outside the door: "Ettore, Dominique, come and show His Royal Highness the Dauphin how this machine works."

Seven or eight weavers immediately walked in, saluted Louis XVI and Joseph, and then placed the large frame of combed cotton on the automatic loom, then carefully set up the machine, tied the threads and shuttle, and finally Attach the connecting rod to the large waterwheel at the Palace of Versailles.

The automatic loom immediately started moving, the stirring plate rotated slowly, and a large number of shuttles flew back and forth under the operation of the weaver - well, the automatic loom of this era is far from being fully automatic, but it is already better than the manual loom. The efficiency is sky high.

Not long after, a piece of cotton yarn more than two meters wide appeared at the end of the machine, and continued to lengthen at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Louis XVI leaned into his son's ear with some pride and said: "Look at the connecting roller in the middle. British machines often get stuck. I added a distance-adjusting spring there, and there has almost never been a problem again. "

"You are simply the Hephaestus of France [Note 1]!" Joseph immediately sent a string of rainbow farts to his father. He originally thought that it would be great to be able to copy the British automatic loom, but he didn't expect that "France's number one craftsman" could actually improve it! You know, this thing is basically equivalent to the technical content of the five-axis linkage machine tools of later generations, and it is a high-precision product.

Louis XVI happily showed his son a thick pile of manufacturing processes, and then summoned more than a dozen assistants who worked with him to build the loom: "With these process drawings, Mr. Frauhang and the others can create automatic looms." Machine."

Joseph nodded and thought about whether the factory producing looms should be located in Saint-Etienne or Nancy. However, if you build a factory from scratch, it will take at least several months to put it into production...

He suddenly thought of a place, looked at Frauhang and other craftsmen, and said with a smile: "The first batch of looms were manufactured in the Royal Ordnance Factory. Please complete at least ten of them as soon as possible and then transport them to Lyon."

The ordnance factory has all kinds of machines, and there are also a large number of carpenters and blacksmiths who can help. The production efficiency is definitely not low.

Although the craftsmen were a little surprised, they still obeyed the orders and began to carry the drawings, tools and other items with the servants of the royal workshop.

Louis XVI looked at his son and said with expectation: "Then let's start developing that new gun."

Joseph silently gave his father a thumbs up. You have just completed such a big project, and you don’t need a bonus or a vacation. You are a role model for French model workers!

He took a deep breath, asked the servant for a pen and paper, then lay on the platform with the cotton basket on the side of the automatic loom and drew a sketch of the gun: "We first need to combine the flash cap firing device and the existing rifled gun. Combined."

"This is not difficult." Louis XVI nodded, "I have previous experience in using flintlock guns to modify flash caps."

Joseph nodded: "The next step is to perfect the rifling process and modify the size of the firing chamber. I only know that the firing chamber needs to be slightly enlarged. The specific size must be determined experimentally by you.

"After that, we will use a brand new bullet so that rifled guns will no longer be useless!"

…

In the east of Paris, on the wooden track leading to Reims, an exquisite carriage was driving at high speed.

In the spacious carriage, Joseph looked at Agriculture Minister Venio and said: "After the spring sowing is completed, you need to ensure that the 'stone fertilizer' can be transported to every parish immediately."

"Stone fertilizer" is the common name used by the French for the phosphate ore shipped from Nauru. Joseph heard it often, so he also called it that.

"Your Highness, the usage of each parish was calculated last month. Stone fertilizer mined from Tunisia has also arrived in Hong Kong in large quantities."

Venio said with some embarrassment: "It's just that with our current transportation capacity, it may be difficult to deliver it on time. As you know, stone fertilizer is very heavy..."

Joseph nodded: "So we still have to lay a lot of wooden tracks.

“For areas where transportation is too difficult, we should first use large-area compost to make the transition.”

[Note 1] Hephaestus is the god of craftsmen in Greek mythology, good at forging tools and carving.