Toulon 2

"Joseph, you wish to be transferred to manage military production?" Carnot looked up from the documents and gazed at Joseph.

"Yes, Lazar," Joseph said. "Now, everything else in the military is slowly getting back on track, but our military production is still in complete chaos. Shoddy workmanship, poor quality, and all sorts of problems are rampant. It's seriously hindering our army. Although the Committee of Public Safety has sent some special envoys to supervise military production, most of these envoys know nothing about technology or production and can hardly be of much help..."

"They're not just not helpful; we should be thanking God if they don't make things worse. What else can they do besides randomly arresting saboteurs and killing people?" Carnot said. He was more straightforward and dared to speak the truth. However, Carnot had a reason for saying this. Just a few days ago, the Committee of Public Safety sent a special envoy to a certain artillery factory. As soon as that guy arrived, he started tracking down saboteurs and then hung up most of the factory's engineers in one go. Before the special envoy was sent, the factory's problems were only slow production speed and unstable quality. After the special envoy was sent, the factory simply stopped production. Of course, it wouldn't be fair to say that the special envoy did nothing. At least, after he went, the factory never produced any cannons of poor quality again.

"So what are your thoughts on this kind of thing?" Carnot asked.

"I want to set up an agency like this," Joseph said, handing a document to Carnot. "This agency will consist of an 'Military Technology Laboratory' and an 'Military Technology Inspection Department'."

Carnot took the document and began to read it carefully. Joseph then found a chair next to him and sat down, gesturing for Carnot's attendant to pour him a cup of coffee.

Carnot always read documents very quickly, so after Joseph leisurely finished his coffee, Carnot looked up from his document.

"The idea is good," Carnot said. "Set up an 'Military Technology Laboratory' to be responsible for technical research and standard setting, and set up an 'Military Technology Inspection Department' to send specialized technical representatives to be stationed in military production enterprises to monitor production throughout the process. All products must be signed off by representatives of the technical inspection department before they can be sold to the military. This idea is good, very good! It's much better than sending those clueless special envoys to military factories! But... Joseph, have you considered that our army also lacks enough people capable of doing these things?"

"It's not like there's no way," Joseph said. "We can recruit and train some people who can do this job." Joseph said, "The University of Paris has so many students; with their level of knowledge, they can handle this kind of work with just a little training. The more crucial thing is actually supervising them. Lazar, I've heard that anyone with power will automatically try to expand the boundaries of their power, or rather, they tend to abuse it. Judging whether a product is up to standard is a huge power, and it involves a lot of economic interests. So, we also need to be able to control those technical representatives."

"They're military personnel. If the technical representatives don't discover the quality issues, but the troops find them, they can be court-martialed," Carnot said. "Does that lab you mentioned have enough researchers?"

"Not yet, but we can try to recruit some people. Hmm, Lazar, you know, the Academy of Sciences of Sciences was dissolved, and some of Academy of Sciences members aren't in a very good position right now..."

Carnot stared at Joseph for a moment, then said, "Joseph, you have a keen sense of smell. You've actually noticed that Lavoisier's situation is precarious? Haha, he probably hasn't even noticed it himself. I know Mr. Lavoisier is your friend. But there's an economic case involving Mr. Lavoisier, and now the 'Le Père Duchesne' newspaper is attacking him. You know the background of that newspaper..."

"Le Père Duchesne" was the newspaper of Hébert, a representative of the far-left Enragés. After Marat's death, Hébert replaced Marat, and this newspaper replaced the former "L'Ami du peuple" to become the most important mouthpiece for the Sans-culottes from the lower class.

Compared to Marat, Hébert is far less capable. Although Marat was extreme and harsh, and not very likable, Marat had profound insights and a keen political sense. Hébert is far inferior to Marat in these aspects. Therefore, if he were to replace Marat, he would have to be even more extreme Marat.

Marat then said that to save the Republic, the heads of 100,000 unscrupulous merchants must be chopped off; Hébert said that the entire merchant class was a parasite of the people, and all merchants should be hanged from lampposts. Marat said that the proportion of bad people was higher among the highly educated (because at that time, the educated were all rich); Hébert said that all those with knowledge were bastards, and revolutionary France did not need scientists!

Lavoisier became their target. He was famous, and bringing him down would bring them immense notoriety. At the same time, he lacked political influence, and his frivolous pursuit of wealth left a trail of marks, making him vulnerable to economic attacks. It's said that even while Marat was alive, many urged Marat to take action against Lavoisier. However, Marat, who had a personal grudge against Lavoisier, refrained from doing so because he knew Lavoisier's value. But now, Hébert, eager to inherit Marat's fortune, has turned his guns on Lavoisier.

"I'm doing this not just because Lavoisier is my friend. Lazar, you know, Mr. Lavoisier was once our political enemy. He was a Brissotins, and even among the Brissotins, he was considered one of the more conservative ones. I also know that Mr. Lavoisier was a very greedy man, and he was involved in some troublemaking in the chaotic market. But... but Lazar, Mr. Lavoisier was the greatest scientist in all of France. It might only take a second to cut off such a head, but it might take a hundred years for France to grow such a head again! Mr. Lavoisier was too valuable! Just think, if his dynamite could be further developed, if it could be loaded into cannonballs, then all the feudal lords of Europe would tremble under our cannons. If we could achieve that, even if he had a few more problems, he would still be a treasure of France. Moreover, even now, if we count Mr. Lavoisier's contributions as positive and his crimes as negative, I dare say the total is still a huge positive number, a much larger positive number than most revolutionaries!"

"Joseph, don't get agitated. I know what you mean, and I agree with your thinking," Carnot said. "But do you really think that hiding him in the 'Military Technology Laboratory' will save him? Do you think that once those guys from the Committee of General Security issue an arrest warrant, the doors of the 'Military Technology Research Institute' will be able to stop them?"

"Then let Mr. Lavoisier die in an experimental accident, his remains never to be found!" Joseph said. "Anyway, research involving explosives often produces such results."

Carnot knew that Joseph's suggestion of killing Lavoisier in an experimental accident, leaving no trace of his body, did not mean he actually wanted Lavoisier dead. Rather, it was a way to turn him into a nameless Man in the Iron Mask, thereby protecting him.

"Joseph, I know what you mean. But you should know that what you can think of, Hébert ... Hébert's brain probably can't think of. But after you do this, he's not so stupid as to not understand. At that time, he will hate you to the core." Carnot thought for a moment and lowered his voice to say.

"Then let him hate! A real man, if he does his whole life and doesn't even have anyone who hates him, what a failure he is!" Joseph replied resolutely.

Carnot stood up, staring intently at Joseph. The light in his eyes made Joseph wonder about his sexual orientation.

"Well said, Joseph. Compared to you, I am too cowardly. A true warrior does not flaunt his bravery everywhere, like a fierce fighting dog that never barks and howls—just like Hébert! Heh, as long as I am in this position, that mad dog Hébert will not be able to put his claws into the army!"

Actually, Carnot overestimated Joseph. Because his knowledge of history from his previous life was limited, Joseph feared Robespierre, Danton, and Marat, but he wasn't afraid of Saint-Just (who had he heard of before), and even less afraid of Hébert (who the hell is he?).

After saying this, Carnot paced hurriedly around the room a few steps, then stopped, turned around, and said to Joseph, "Quickly find a suitable place to set up the laboratory, preferably far from Paris. Also, find an opportunity to arrange for Mr. Lavoisier to meet with me secretly. He probably doesn't even know he's become someone's target."

"Thank you, General. Words cannot express my gratitude!" Joseph quickly saluted.

"Joseph is so grateful to me because of someone else's situation. He's truly a moral and trustworthy person!" Carnot thought to himself, but said aloud, "Joseph, I remember you said that your greatest wish was to stay in the laboratory. Now your scheme has succeeded! You wicked scoundrel who abuses your power for personal gain!"

"Hahaha, Lazar, you figured it out! I love seeing your envious look." Joseph laughed along.