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 Nahuang, the French army's logistics capabilities will crush any opponent in Europe.

Regarding war, there has always been a saying that "laymen look at strategy, and experts look at logistics."

Logistics is always the most important aspect of war, so from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Three Kingdoms, everyone loved to burn other people's food and grass at every turn.

The logistical advantages brought by soybeans are even more important than new firearms.

Joseph continued: "When there is no war, soybeans can be purchased in large quantities from farmers and stored in strategic grain reserves."

What he didn't say was that in the event of a serious famine, this stuff could be mixed into bread and used as rations.

Venio followed Joseph all the way.

When he was having dinner, he looked at the thick pile of work arrangements and couldn't help but feel tired.

He originally thought that as the Minister of Agriculture, he would be busy planting potatoes as he did before, and he would have a lot of leisure time, but he didn't expect that the Crown Prince would have so many tasks pressed down on him.

It seems that the promise to take Mrs. Lacloro to travel to Spain is going to come to nothing...

Two days later, the convoy arrived in Nancy.

Vergneau has been busy with potato procurement since then, and now Northeast France has almost become a "potato breeding base". As 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 we want to make the domestic pie bigger, vigorously promoting industrial development is fundamental. Only a small amount of the dividends from the Industrial Revolution would be enough to feed the disgruntled aristocracy. Historically, the British did just that.

Still far away, Joseph saw several thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

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

Joseph did not notify the development zone this time. He only informed Ramo, the person in charge of the development zone, one hour before arriving here.

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

Joseph rode with them on a hand-cranked car running on a wooden track and drove towards the depths of the park. Since this section is downhill, even though there are only two people pressing the rocker, the car is still going very fast.

Joseph looked around and saw that nearly one-third of the park had been built with factories. Compared with the sparse buildings when he arrived last year, it seemed full of life.

Ramo wiped the black ash on his face with a handkerchief - God is my witness, he washed his face clean when he went out, it was all the soot that was stained along the way - 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 with before.

"The remaining factories, well, they can only be regarded as workshops now. Many of them are newly built, but they are also popularizing standardized production.

"Our goal is to have more than 80% of factories reach production standardization within this year."

The attitude of these factory owners is very different now from last year - they have seen with their own eyes the terrible efficiency of other factories after they implemented standardized production.

Efficiency can reduce costs and increase output, and that is the shining river!

For capitalists, no one can stop them from doing anything that can make money. As a result, the 'Production Management Consulting Company' that Jeansonet built before is now prospering, and the cost of standardization and restructuring continues to rise. Employees have to work until dark every day before getting off work.

Rameau 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 increased his investment twice and now owns three blast furnaces. Reflecting It has four furnaces and has produced nearly 24 million pounds of iron ingots in the first three months of this year. It is expected to produce more than 98 million pounds this year.

"Furthermore, his steelmaking workshop has hired many British technicians, and the quality of the steel produced now has basically reached the level in Birmingham."

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

Joseph nodded. France's steel industry has been lagging behind Britain's for decades. In addition, there is already little 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 production in the entire development zone was only 7,000 tons. Now, Viscount Olivier alone has reached 98 million pounds, or nearly 50,000 tons. This rate of progress is already amazing.

You know, last year France's national pig iron production was only 120,000 tons.

With the park's policy support and production standardization, this ironmaking plant produced nearly half of the country's output last year.

Supervisor Ramo continued: "With the addition of the Gregor brothers' ironworks and several other smaller ironworks, the entire development zone's iron ingot production this year should exceed 200 million pounds."

200 million pounds is nearly 100,000 tons.

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

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

Although the cost may be higher than that in the UK, only with steel production can the industrial revolution be possible.

This is a very good start.

He asked Ramo again: "What about the sales situation?"

"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 the southern provinces, and some are sold to countries such as Bavaria and Württemberg nearby. "

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

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

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

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

This is a great tool for increasing pig iron production, and can be improved on existing blast furnaces without the need for a new blast furnace.

He immediately ordered Ramo: "Please arrange for the owners of several iron smelting plants, 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, Emang also began to wipe the black ash on Joseph's face with a handkerchief.

Murdoch on the side finally got the chance to speak, and motioned towards the factory not far ahead as if he was taking credit: "Your Highness, your United Steam Engine Company has tripled its size in the past year."