Chapter 134 Saint-Etienne Arsenal

In the 16th arrondissement of Paris, Steed and Bonnet, the owner of the "Little Daily News", were walking on the golf course, with a caddy on each side following them a few steps away carrying clubs and other equipment.

Steed and Bonnett both belong to the Republican Party, the Republican Party under the Republican Party.

This is a bit confusing, "Republican" is the collective name for all parties on the left, and "Republic" refers to the "Republic" of the Third Republic.

There is another party on the left named "Republican Party", which refers to the literal meaning of "Republic".

Steed is the leader of the Republican Party. He deliberately chose this party name to misunderstand others. When others hear this party name, they will mistakenly think that it refers to the powerful left wing. Therefore, the Republican Party will be accompanied by victory and cheers all the way.

However, this still cannot prevent the Republican Party from being gradually marginalized among the left.

"Creativity, Bonnet, we need creativity!" Golf is a leisurely sport, but Steed, who is already in his sixties, cannot relax at all: "They have kicked our machine guns out of the army. , and now they are trying to use the same method to deal with rifles, and we will have nothing left if this continues!”

Bonnet was stunned. He knew that Steed was talking about the French government's plan to replace the Lebel rifle with the Bétier rifle.

The Bétier rifle actually evolved from the Lebel rifle. It was originally a cavalry gun. The barrel was shortened, the tubular magazine was changed to a vertical magazine, and a 3-round leakage clip was used for loading.

This was a change made to facilitate the cavalry. The French army even threw it to the colonial army as inferior equipment. Unexpectedly, this rifle became very popular.

Feedback from soldiers: The Bétier rifle was much easier to use than the Lebel, and it was easier and cheaper to manufacture.

The result of the parliamentary discussion is: the production of the Lebel rifle will be discontinued, and the Bétier rifle will be optimized and improved to make it suitable for infantry use, which will eventually replace the Lebel.

The point is, the task of improvement was given to the American company Remington, not Saint-Etienne!

The Saint-Etienne Arsenal is only responsible for small arms, and machine guns have been eliminated. If rifles are eliminated again, what will be left in Saint-Etienne? Almost a decorative revolver?

Steed found the golf ball on the grass. He took the club from the caddy and stood next to it. He swung the golf ball in a standard and natural posture. The golf ball bounced a few times on the grass and slowed down with accuracy. fell into a golf hole more than ten meters away.

But there was no joy on Steed's face. Instead, he gave a long sigh to the hole.

In this era of rising machinery, a small idea can bring a company back to life, all it takes is one!

However……

Steed found helplessly that he had no ideas. His head was like a well that had been dry for many years. No matter how hard he squeezed, he couldn't squeeze out a drop of water!

It seems that he can only watch the industry he built gradually wither, just like the sycamore trees on the roadside. One morning when he opened his eyes and opened the curtains, he suddenly found that all their originally dense leaves fell to the ground, leaving only bare leaves. of branches.

Steed cast his eyes on the lake next to the grass and unconsciously thought of the man who made him crazy with jealousy. It is said that he had a new invention. He successfully brought the machine gun onto the plane and won!

"Lucky guy!" Steed murmured to himself: "God gave him the greatest gift!"

Bonnet, who was following him, didn't know what to say. He knew that this would be the case when playing ball with Steed. Steed didn't need anyone, he just needed someone to listen to him.

At this time, a follower ran towards this side like the wind.

Bonnet immediately became nervous. He knew there was urgent news again.

Sure enough, the follower ran closer and said breathlessly: "Sir, Charles has a new invention, and his father is registering industrial property rights!"

Steed turned around suddenly when he heard this, and his eyes that were originally like a pool of stagnant water instantly regained their luster: "What is it? What did he invent again?"

"It's something called a 'grenade'!" The attendant explained: "I'm not sure about the details at the moment, but from the description, it should be a hand-thrown light weapon, used to replace hand-thrown explosives!"

Steed's breathing gradually became faster, and greed flashed in his eyes. He suddenly threw away the club and walked quickly towards the exit. He walked faster and faster, and soon turned into a trot. He shouted anxiously: "Drive the car over. Go to the city hall immediately!”

Bonnet chased after him from behind: "Mr. Steed, we can take our time, I will have someone stabilize him..."

Steed has a heart disease. He cannot exercise strenuously or be stimulated. Bonnet doesn't want anything to happen to him at this time.

But Steed didn't take Bonnet's words seriously at all. He said as he walked: "We can't miss this time. It may be our only chance! The only one!"

Last time, the industrial property rights of the tank were not successfully purchased, perhaps because of the "inappropriate" hesitation. After all, it involved heavy equipment with high technical content such as engines.

But now, the "grenade" is a real light equipment with low technical content and easy production. It is absolutely suitable for the Saint-Etienne Arsenal. It is the hope of Saint-Etienne!

…

City Hall VIP Room.

Djoka, who was applying for industrial property rights, filled out the form with doubts. He didn't understand the purpose of Charles's invention of this gadget.

Make money?

Tractor factories, motorcycle factories, and aircraft manufacturers, any one of them is more profitable than this thing called a grenade!

It is even a dangerous product, a bomb that needs to be filled with gunpowder, so a separate factory must be set up in an open area, otherwise it may spread to the surrounding areas.

To produce it, a large amount of money will definitely be invested in the initial stage, but the benefits obtained are not optimistic.

Just when he was showing little interest, more than a dozen cars parked one after another at the door of the city hall. After a while, an old man holding a cane and panting hurriedly appeared in front of the VIP room, carrying He looked at government employee Manuel with questioning eyes.

Manuel nodded slightly, indicating that he had caught up and the industrial property rights had not been sold. There was still a trace of confusion in his eyes, as if he was saying that no one else would be interested in this gadget, so there was no need to be so anxious!

Djoka also noticed the old man standing at the door, and then he stood up with an exclamation: "Mr. Steed!"

The owner of the Saint-Etienne Arsenal is responsible for almost all the production of light weapons for the army. Not many people in France don't know him.

Steed breathed a sigh of relief. He walked forward slowly, dropped his cane and shook hands with Djoka, with a bit of joy: "Mr. Djoka, let's talk about the industrial property rights of grenades! If , it would be great if you could cooperate with us! ”

Djoka was so shocked that he suddenly understood what Charles meant: "I will let my allies come to me."

I also understand why Ciel wanted to design the "grenade" gadget at this time!

(The picture above shows the Saint-Etienne Arsenal. It has 10,000 workers and produces 30,000 weapons per year in normal times. During World War I, it expanded to more than 16,000 workers and doubled its output. The Saint-Etienne Arsenal had Showing signs of decline, the need for arms during two world wars kept it alive before declining in the 1970s and finally closing in 2001)