I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 497 2 francs vs. life

After Perna returned from Silesia, she learned that Camelia had become the maid of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and for some reason she felt an inexplicable sense of crisis.

So, she began to unconsciously follow the crown prince as close as possible, as if she was guarding against something.

After entering the distillation workshop, Murdoch, a master of technology, explained to Joseph: "Your Highness, you see, this cylindrical retort is the retort I invented. The thick ring-shaped iron pipe around it is actually the furnace. , used to heat the coal in the retort...

"Oh, before entering the retort, the coal must be crushed into specified sizes. The crushing workshop is just opposite...

"After high-temperature carbonization, the coal will coke and produce a large amount of gas. This process will last 10 hours...

"After that, we have to turn off the flame, take out the coke from the retort, replace it with new coal, and light the fire again..."

He pointed to a thick brass pipe above his head:

"The generated gas is sent to the cooling room from here. However, the gas cannot be used yet. It has to be deslaked through several layers of cloth to filter out ashes, cinders and other substances in the gas...

“Then the gas is passed through multiple layers of paper to filter out the oily particles…

"After that, the gas has to pass through the gas scrubber. Oh, it's the tallest 'stone pillar' on the east side.

"There are actually many wooden grids inside, which are filled with lime water, which can remove the sulfur in the gas. You know, burning sulfur will sting people to tears...

"A lot of ammonia will be dissolved in the lime water used for gas washing. This is what Mr. Lavoisier reminded me to collect this expensive ammonia..."

Joseph was stunned for a while. No wonder the technology of distilling and making gas could be patented.

Speaking of it, it seems to be very simple to cut off the air and dry-burn the coal, but the actual production process is extremely complicated. It is impossible to produce usable gas without one step.

Take the desulfurization mentioned by Murdoch, for example. If you didn't take it into consideration at the beginning, when your distillery is built, the gas sent to the gas lamp will make people cry all day long, and the millions of dollars spent to build the plant will probably be lost. It has to be watered down.

Without talents like Murdoch and Lavoisier, even if they could bring advanced technological theories to future generations, they would only remain on paper and not even a sou of profit could be created.

He suddenly remembered the "talent introduction plan" he had planned before. Since he was busy, he didn't push it much. It seems that this matter will be put on the agenda in the future.

As he walked deeper into the distillation workshop, Joseph couldn't help but frowned - the smoke and dust around him became thicker and thicker, and he could no longer see clearly from a distance of 3 meters. At the same time, the astringent and smelly smell of coal ash continued to irritate him. It clogged his nose, making it almost impossible to breathe.

He quickly turned to Eman and said, "Please give me a mask."

"Muzzle?" Emang looked confused.

Joseph frowned. He didn't know how to say the word "mask", so he used "muzzle cloth" instead.

"Ah, it's the kind that doctors wear on their mouths..."

When Eman heard this, he quickly looked at Perna behind him, who also shook her head with clear eyes.

Only then did Joseph remember that he had never seen Perna or Dr. Lamarque wearing masks. Could it be that this thing hasn’t been invented yet?

He pulled Perna over and made a gesture: "It's a piece of cotton cloth like this, square, with ropes on both sides that can be hung on the ears."

Seeing that Perna was still shaking her head, he gave up completely. It’s really an era where there aren’t even masks...

On the other hand, the manager Dras on the side took out a rag-like thing from his pocket and handed it over: "Your Highness, do you want to cover your mouth and nose?"

"Ah, yes."

Dras immediately gestured: "Like this, covering your face."

Joseph put the "rag" on his face, and his nose and trachea finally relaxed a little. Then he noticed that some workers also used this triangular rag to cover their faces, as if they were about to start work.

He couldn't help but frown. In such a working environment, without a mask, he would definitely get pneumoconiosis very quickly!

Some of these workers are even younger than me...

Although the factory environment in various countries around the world was generally poor in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, since you saw it, you couldn't ignore it.

He first exited the hot distillation workshop, took off his mask, breathed in the air outside, and then said to Dras: "There is something called a mask, which can effectively improve the situation of workers inhaling smoke and dust.

"Please find a tailor to customize a batch as soon as possible. From now on, all workers must wear masks before they can work."

He motioned Eman to get a pen and paper, and drew a schematic diagram of later medical masks: "Fold four layers of cotton gauze together, sew the edges, nail ropes on both sides, and stick a wire on the top. When wearing it, tie the rope to the ears. Go up and press the wire against the bridge of your nose..."

Dras's face turned green when he heard it, and he murmured: "Your Highness, the thing you are talking about, ah, a mask, costs at least 2 francs. There are more than 200 people in the distillery. This cost... or let the workers Buy it yourself?”

So expensive? Joseph was a little puzzled, but he immediately understood - cotton is not a cheap commodity nowadays.

Ordinary people can only buy one or two cotton-padded clothes in their lifetime, and they usually wear linen clothes. There is also iron wire. The size and hardness of the mask must be customized. If it cannot be industrialized and mass-produced, the price will not be cheap.

He sighed helplessly: "I will pay for the money. You can make the masks as soon as possible and distribute them to the workers."

"Ah! Thank you for your generosity and kindness." Dras said hurriedly, "However, I can't let you pay this money. It should be deducted from the company's account."

"You don't have to refuse." Joseph said, remembering the difficult working conditions of the workers, and told Delas, "In the future, we will check the workers' health every six months, and treat health problems as soon as possible. Oh, I will think about the cost of the examination. The only thing you need to do is organize the workers to cooperate.”

He thought for a while and added: "But workers cannot be fired casually due to health problems."

The Industrial Development Fund is the largest shareholder of the Gas Distillery, and the Development Fund has the final say, so he can completely influence the rules and regulations here.

Dras was extremely surprised when he heard this. He had never seen a superior who cared so much about the workers, and he was busy praising and thanking him.

Joseph knew that workers must be given basic living and health protection so that industrial development could be stable and sustainable and there would be fewer worker riots.

It’s just that absolutely no capitalist will take the initiative to provide such a guarantee, which will reduce their profits, so legislation is needed to solve this problem.

Protecting workers' rights seems to increase industrial costs, lead to higher product prices, and reduce competitiveness. But in fact, only a human worker can produce qualified products. As livestock workers, it is impossible to promote industrial development.