I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 270 Kingship in the New Era

Murdoch naturally chose to invest without hesitation, using distilled gas and the gas lamp patent that was still in his mind to obtain 5% of the shares of the gas lamp company.

5% does not sound like much, but if calculated based on the investment amount of 3 million livres, it is a full 150,000!

This does not take into account future dividends and the company's growth, the stock price will continue to rise.

Joseph told Murdoch in detail about his plan for the gas street lamp, and the latter immediately said: "Your Highness, if you want to ensure the absolute safety of the gas pipeline, I suggest using the gun barrel as a gas pipeline."

Joseph vaguely remembered after hearing this. The documentary he watched in his previous life seemed to have mentioned that the gas street lamps Murdoch built for London used gun barrels as gas pipes.

This may be a historical necessity.

He nodded: "A large number of old guns will be retired recently, so let's use these barrels."

After the new percussion cap guns are installed, the retired flintlock guns can be used as waste.

It was already three o'clock in the afternoon after I finished talking to Murdoch about the gaslighting.

Joseph got on the rail car again and continued to visit most of the park. He did not return to his residence until dark.

He stood in front of the window, watching Murdoch's leaving figure, and couldn't help but sigh to himself, it would be great if there were more people like this...

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think: Yes, talents can be recruited. Didn’t Murdoch recruit him from the UK?

Why not use national action to establish a "talent introduction plan"?

Advertise in various countries, as long as you are a capable person, come to France to develop, and the government will fund your business. At the same time, bonuses, housing, and even marriage problems are solved - in this era, it is much easier for officials to help you find a partner than in later generations.

And she married a fashionable and elegant French girl! This is an irresistible temptation, especially for talents from Germany, Russia and other countries.

The more Joseph thought about it, the more reliable it became. He didn't bother to eat dinner at the moment, picked up a pen and paper, and started planning: "Well, we can also grant noble status to outstanding talents.

"By the way, why not also create the Nobel Prize, which will be more attractive to talents... Well, the name must be changed, let's call it the 'Louis Prize'.

"The Louis Prize in Physics, the Louis Prize in Chemistry... We can't forget mathematics this time, there must be a Louis Prize in Mathematics!

“From now on, France will gradually replace the UK and become the new academic center of Europe!

"Even making the Louis Prize award ceremony more grand can also stimulate tourism and generate another income. Maybe after the bonuses are distributed, we can still make some money..."

Early the next morning, the owners of the iron smelting plants in the development zone brought their technicians to Joseph's residence as scheduled.

After a brief greeting, Joseph asked everyone to sit down and said straight to the point: "I have a technology here that you may be interested in."

He looked towards the steelmaking blast furnace in the distance: "I can increase the blast furnace temperature by 200 to 300 degrees, and I can improve the existing blast furnace without building a new blast furnace."

When the knowledgeable factory owners heard this, their eyes widened immediately, while those who didn't know much hurriedly asked the technicians beside them in a low voice: "What does this mean?"

"Sir, let alone 200 degrees, as long as it can be increased by 100 degrees, that would be amazing!"

"?!"

"You know, it is difficult for the temperature of a blast furnace to reach 1,200 degrees. At this temperature, the iron in the iron ore does not actually melt completely, but turns into a somewhat viscous fluid that flows out from the bottom of the blast furnace."

The melting point of iron is above 1500 degrees. Iron ore is doped with a small amount of other metals, which lowers the melting point to 1200 degrees.

"But this viscous molten iron contains a lot of impurities, which makes it very brittle or easy to crack after solidification. So the crude iron needs to be put into a reverberatory furnace for refining. The temperature in the reverberatory furnace is very high, reaching 1,500 degrees Celsius. The amount of heat can burn away the impurities in the molten iron, and we can add carbon to the completely liquefied iron in the reverberatory furnace to adjust the hardness, or add additives to further remove impurities, so that the steel after refining can be strong and durable."

This is the difference between ironmaking and steelmaking.

Although iron and steel are both mainly elemental Fe, the former contains impurities such as silicon and sulfur, making it neither tough nor durable. Only after removing the impurities and adding an appropriate amount of carbon can it be called steel. Whether it is high-quality farm tools, swords, or springs, they must be made of steel.

Last year, France's annual pig iron production was 120,000 tons, while steel production was only 5,000 to 6,000 tons.

Those factory owners are also very smart, and after hearing this, they roughly understand that if the temperature of the iron-making blast furnace can be increased by more than 200 degrees to 1,400 degrees, many things that can be done in steel-making can be done in the iron-making furnace. It will be done.

Even for less demanding applications, high-quality iron from the blast furnace will do the job.

This can definitely greatly improve the efficiency of your factory!

Joseph saw that all the factory owners were looking at him with burning eyes, and then he continued: "I believe everyone knows the significance of improving by 200 degrees.

"Increasing the furnace temperature can make the ore produce iron faster, and the amount of iron produced every day can be greatly increased. In addition, the high temperature can cause the silicon doped in the iron to be oxidized in large quantities in the blast furnace..."

He was not sure whether the people in front of him understood things like silicon oxidation, so he simply said: "In short, it is to improve the quality of iron ingots and greatly reduce the time for subsequent steelmaking."

Viscount Olivier finally couldn't bear the temptation and asked carefully: "Your Highness, can you tell us how to obtain this technology?"

Joseph smiled slightly: "Actually, I am planning to establish a 'French Steel Technology Association'. Members of the association will be able to use all technologies belonging to the association, such as blast furnace heating technology. In addition, the association will also organize members to conduct research and development of new technologies. Improve everyone’s production technology.”

None of the factory owners answered the call, because they all knew that such a good thing must have many restrictions.

Joseph looked around at everyone and continued: "Oh, the association will also coordinate some matters among its members, such as sales restrictions on steel production and product quality assessment. Of course, if you don't use the association's technology, then naturally you don't have to follow the restrictions."

He then explained to everyone what the restrictions and assessments were.

To put it simply, if you use the technology of the Iron and Steel Technology Association, whoever you want to sell the steel you produce must obtain the permission of the association, and you must not sell it to orders that are prohibited from selling.

Quality assessment means that the association inspects your products and publishes product grades.

The steel industry is the backbone of the industrial revolution. As long as steel can be controlled, it can basically restrict the production of most companies.

As long as you are the manager of the association, you can effectively control the capitalists, and at the same time you hold the handle of the knife to divide the cake.