Chapter 267 The Romance of Steel and Steam

Chapter 268 The Romance of Steel and Steam

With the blessing of soybeans, and the "anywhere supply" model invented by Emperor Napoleon, the logistics capabilities of the French army will crush any opponent in Europe.

There has always been a saying about war, called "laymen look at strategy, experts look at logistics".

Logistics is always the most important part of war, so from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Three Kingdoms, everyone loves to burn other people's food and grass.

The logistical advantage brought by soybeans is even more important than new firearms.

Joseph continued: "When there is no war, you can buy a lot of soybeans from farmers and store them in strategic reserve grain depots."

What he didn't say is that in case of severe famine, this thing can also be mixed with bread as rations.

Venio followed Joseph and memorized all the way.

When it was time for dinner, he looked at the thick stack of work arrangements and couldn't help feeling tired.

He thought that as the Minister of Agriculture, he should be like before, urging people to plant potatoes everywhere, and he was very idle, but he didn't expect that the prince would have so many tasks pressed down.

It seems that the promise to take Madame Laclos to travel to Spain is going to fall through...

Two days later, the convoy arrived in Nancy.

Vergniaud went to work on potato purchases. Now the northeast of France has almost become a "potato breeding base", and as the Minister of Agriculture, he must pay special attention to it.

Joseph went straight to the industrial development park.

This is the destination of his trip. If you want to make the domestic pie bigger, vigorously promoting industrial development is the fundamental. Only a little bit of the dividends of the Industrial Revolution can feed the aristocracy who are complaining. Historically, the British did this.

From a distance, Joseph saw several thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

In the future, this will definitely be fined by the environmental protection department, but now it is a symbol of advancement and civilization.

This time, Joseph did not let anyone notify the development zone, but only informed the person in charge of the development zone, Rameau, an hour before arriving here.

So at this time, only Rameau, William Murdoch, Sandel and a dozen others were waiting at the door to greet him.

Joseph and the others rode on a hand-cranked trolley on a wooden track and drove deep into the park. Since this section was downhill, even though there were only two people pressing the joystick, the speed of the car was still very fast.

Joseph looked around and saw that nearly one-third of the park had been built into factory areas, which seemed full of vitality compared to the sparse buildings when he came last year.

Ramo wiped the black dust off his face with a handkerchief - God is my witness, he washed his face when he went out, which was all from the coal smoke on the way just now - and then introduced to the crown prince diligently: "Your Highness, now more than half of the factories in the development zone have achieved production standardization, and production efficiency has increased several times compared to before.

"The remaining factories, oh, now they can only be regarded as workshops, many of which were newly built not long ago, but they are also promoting standardized production.

"Our goal is to make more than 80% of the factories achieve production standardization within this year."

The attitudes of these factory owners are now very different from last year - they have witnessed the terrible efficiency of other factories after implementing standardized production.

And efficiency can reduce costs and increase production, that is the silver river!

For capitalists, no one can stop them from doing things that can make money. Therefore, the "production management consulting company" built by Sonne before is now booming, and the cost of standardization reform is rising. Employees have to work until dark every day before they can get off work.

Ramo stood up and pointed to a large factory building on the west side: "Your Highness, look, that is Viscount Olivier's ironworks. Oh, he later made additional investments twice, and now has 3 blast furnaces and 4 reverberatory furnaces. In the first three months of this year, nearly 24 million pounds of iron ingots have been produced, and this year it is expected to produce more than 98 million pounds.

"And his steelmaking workshop has also hired a number of British technicians, and the quality of the steel produced now has basically reached the level of Birmingham. "

He added in a low voice: "It's just that the cost is still a little high..."

Joseph nodded. France's steel industry has been lagging behind Britain for decades. In addition, there is not much iron ore, so it is difficult to catch up with Britain in terms of cost.

He remembered that when he came last year, the pig iron output of the entire development zone was only 7,000 tons. Now, Viscount Olivier alone has reached 98 million pounds, which is nearly 50,000 tons. This speed of progress is already very amazing.

You know, the pig iron output of France last year was only 120,000 tons.

With the policy support of the park and the blessing of production standardization, this ironworks has produced nearly half of the national output last year.

Director Rameau continued: "Combining the ironworks of the Gregor brothers and several other smaller ironworks, the iron ingot output of the entire development zone this year should be able to exceed 200 million pounds. "

200 million pounds is nearly 100,000 tons.

The Nancy Development Zone has basically reached the pig iron production of the whole of France in the past.

Joseph couldn't help but smile. If the ironworks in Saint-Etienne and Lille are added, France's pig iron production this year is likely to exceed that of the UK by a lot!

Although the cost may also be higher than that of the UK, only with steel production can there be a possibility of industrial revolution.

This is a very good start.

He asked Rameau again: "What about sales?"

"Your Highness, we have recently laid a large number of wooden tracks in our country, which consumes more than 60% of the iron ingots. Most of the rest are sold in Paris and southern provinces, and some are sold nearby to countries such as Bavaria and Württemberg."

Although the wooden tracks are mainly made of wood, they are still covered with a layer of iron sheet to prevent wear. In addition, iron is also used in rivets, joints and other parts.

So if the iron production in Nancy had not increased significantly, even the 20 to 30 kilometers of wooden tracks around Paris would not be laid.

If you want to lay railroad tracks in the future, the steel consumption will be astronomical.

Joseph suddenly remembered the "blast ironmaking" technology. Although he was not clear about the details, at least he had watched some documentaries and understood the principle.

This is a great tool to increase the production of pig iron, and it can be improved on the existing blast furnace without the need to build a new blast furnace.

He immediately told Rameau: "Please arrange for several ironworks owners, oh, and their core technicians, to come see me tomorrow morning. There is something very important."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After the rail car bypassed the endless ironworks area, Emman began to wipe the black dust off Joseph's face with a handkerchief.

Murdoch on the side finally waited for the opportunity to speak, and gestured to the factory building not far ahead as if to take credit: "Your Highness, your United Steam Engine Company has expanded three times in the past year."