Coal Mines and Iron Mines

It would take time for the Britain steam warships to become practical and usable, so Joseph hadn't yet felt the pressure of the United Kingdom's world-leading science and technology. At this time, he was busy acquiring the iron mines of Lorraine, the coal mines of Saar, and the coal mines of Ruhr.

Aside from its large reserves, Lorraine's iron ore mines have almost no advantages. The iron content is generally only around 30%, which is nothing compared to the iron ore mines in Australia and Brazil. What's worse, Lorraine's iron ore is high-phosphorus iron ore, with phosphorus content as high as 1%.

Phosphorus is generally considered a harmful component in steel. Increased phosphorus content reduces the plasticity and toughness of steel (especially impact toughness), making it prone to "cold brittleness." Furthermore, phosphorus reduces the weldability of steel. Generally, the phosphorus content in commonly used steel should not exceed 0.045%, but steel made from Lorraine iron ore, without special treatment, can have astronomically high phosphorus levels.

Unfortunately, for a considerable period of time, humanity lacked the technology to effectively remove phosphorus impurities. The phosphorus content in the final steel product depended entirely on the type of iron ore that God provided. As a result, steel produced in Lorraine was notorious for its inferior quality. It is said that the Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage while carrying an iceberg, sank partly because it used cold-brittle steel refined from Lorraine iron ore.

Even though such technologies were gradually developed later, phosphorus removal remained a headache. If one had access to low-phosphorus, low-sulfur, high-grade iron ore like that from Australia and Brazil, who would want to use the iron ore from Lorraine? But at present, Joseph truly had no other better iron ore. In the entire Western European continent, by today's standards, there wasn't a single decent iron ore.

The iron mines of Lorraine had been discovered long ago. Before the Revolution, most of these mines were in the hands of nobles. After the revolution began, these nobles either went to the guillotine or went into exile.

According to the decrees of the revolutionary government, the properties of those nobles who had been guillotined or exiled abroad were naturally confiscated. During the Jacobin period, these mines were basically state-owned, but most of them were abandoned. During the Thermidorians, these iron mines gradually fell into the hands of the Brumaire, and now Joseph was going to take these mines back from their original owners.

This was not a difficult task. In this era, before breakthroughs in steelmaking and the Industrial Revolution, iron ore was not particularly profitable. The uses of pig iron were limited, and the production of wrought iron and steel was difficult, resulting in a relatively low demand for iron ore. Furthermore, some mine owners hoped to curry favor with the Bonaparte Family and establish relations with the First Consul, leading some mines to be sold off, almost as if given away. Therefore, Joseph did not spend much money to essentially control this large mining area.

As for the Saar Coal Mine, they were dealt with in a similar manner. The Ruhr coal mines were even simpler. This region was newly conquered, and although not directly under France control, which of the smaller states of the Rhine Free State wasn't eager to curry favor with the Bonaparte family? While the Ruhr coal mines were mostly fertile farmland, they were only home to a few farmers; how could that compare to pleasing the liberators of Europe?

Besides, it's not like Joseph wasn't going to refuse to pay. Of course, what methods those guys from the Rhine Free State used to drive those poor farmers off the land they'd cultivated for generations was none of Joseph's business.

Compared to the iron ore mines of Lorraine, the coal mines of the Ruhr are far superior in quality. The Ruhr Coalfield are dominated by high-quality hard coal, and offer a complete range of coal types. In particular, the majority of the reserves are of bituminous coal (a type of bituminous coal suitable for coking and power generation), which is extremely valuable for both metallurgy and power generation. Furthermore, the coal seams are shallow, meaning that in many places, only the top layer of soil needs to be removed for open-pit mining, making extraction very convenient. In addition, the coalfields are located on the Rhine River, which boasts some of the best shipping conditions in Western Europe, making transportation extremely convenient. This truly makes it an ideal industrial region.

However, these favorable conditions presented Joseph with a major dilemma: should the future coal and iron industry base be located in Lorraine or the Ruhr?

In later generations, after the Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War and captured Lorraine, they chose to locate their industrial base in the Ruhr. This is easy to understand; the Ruhr was easily accessible and was the core region of the Germany people, relatively stable. Naturally, they wanted to place such a crucial location there.

Now, if we consider the same logic, France should also locate its industrial base in Lorraine —after all, being close to home provides peace of mind. However, considering the flow of the Rhine River, transporting iron ore from Lorraine to the Ruhr is downstream, while transporting coal ore from the Ruhr to Lorraine is upstream. From a transportation perspective, it seems better to locate the industrial base in the Ruhr.

So Joseph hesitated for a moment.

However, Lucien quickly made a judgment on this issue.

"Isn't Sal's coal supply sufficient?"

"Ah, that should be enough for a while," Joseph said.

"How long is this period?" Lucien asked.

"It should be quite a long time, at least ten years, or even several decades."

"So, would it be cheaper to transport iron ore to the Ruhr region, plus the cost of mining coal there, than to mine coal in the Saar and then send it to Lorraine, or vice versa, to send iron ore to the Saar?" Lucien asked again.

"It doesn't seem so."

"Then what are you hesitating for?" Lucien asked.

"Ah..." Joseph suddenly realized that he seemed to have been influenced by some information from his descendants. Thinking about the future, the country Joseph lived in could easily produce nearly a billion tons of steel a year while trying to reduce steel production. A single large steel base could easily produce tens of millions or even close to a hundred million tons of steel. This made the head of state know that he had come to Hebei Province and that the steel plant was amazing.

If we consider site selection according to that standard, then the output of the Saar coalfield is really not enough. However, the New Rome is still several centuries away from becoming that steel kingdom. The coal from Saar and the iron ore from Lorraine should be enough for the France for the next hundred years.

"What's wrong?" Lucien asked, noticing that Joseph seemed stunned.

"I was overthinking it," Joseph said. "But we've already bought that coalfield in the Ruhr, and it cost quite a bit of money. If it doesn't come in handy, and that Ruhr area..."

"Moreover, the Ruhr area is mostly coking coal and thermal coal, with very little anthracite, and even honeycomb briquettes are difficult to produce..." Joseph thought to himself.

"How much did that cost? With a large coal mine in hand, we can always find a way to use it. We can even transport it back to generate electricity," Lucien said nonchalantly.

"Bring them back? The Rhine River waterway is good, but it's a pity our steamship research isn't going well, otherwise... it seems we'll have to consider the trains first. However, we can't rush that. We need a large quantity of steel first before we can have trains, and then... well, the Ruhr coalfields, it seems we'll have to put them aside for now."

While Joseph was fretting about the money he had wasted on the Ruhr Coalfield, Lavoisier was gloating. Just a few days earlier, he had successfully produced liquid steel by filling a modified quartz crucible with molten pig iron and blowing heated air into it using a compressor.

With the completion of this project, Lavoisier was getting closer and closer to receiving a estate in the Champagne as a reward. The estate originally belonged to the Duke of Orleans, but its champagne was famous far and wide, bringing the Duke considerable wealth every year. After he lost his head, the estate was confiscated by the revolutionary government and later fell into the hands of the Bonaparte Family.

Of course, receiving this reward came at a price. Joseph presented Lavoisier with a choice: the estate or a tenth of the patent rights to the air-blown steelmaking technology. (Lavoisier had become much more astute by then, and after numerous negotiations, he finally reached a cooperation agreement with Joseph: he would receive a tenth of the patent rights for any research projects he directly led.) Lavoisier, lacking sufficient vision for the future, unhesitatingly chose the estate.

It is said that many years later, Lavoisier regretted his choice terribly, and even told his niece on several occasions, "Your husband is a big liar. He doesn't know how much money he swindled from us..." But at least for now, Lavoisier still feels that he got a great deal.

Meanwhile, in another laboratory, Lavoisier's arch-rival, Fourcroy, had just completed an experiment on a new refractory material. In accordance with Joseph's requirement that refractory materials must be alkaline, he used dolomite as the main material and produced a refractory material that could withstand the high temperatures of steelmaking crucibles.

He was also a renowned chemist and a former friend of Lavoisier. However, during the Jacobin era, he joined the faction of Marat and Hébert, and it was he who orchestrated Lavoisier's persecution. If it weren't for Carnot's intervention, Lavoisier would likely be an object of mourning by now.

This same man was instrumental in the closure of the French Academy of Sciences. It wasn't until the Thermidorians came to power that, through Joseph's efforts, the institution was able to reopen.

Because of these things, this guy was in a very bad situation after the Jacobin fell, but considering that he was quite capable, Joseph took him back.

However, he didn't receive the same treatment as Lavoisier; he didn't get a tenth of the patent royalties. Upon completing the project, he only received a bonus of six hundred francs. The only consolation was that Joseph always paid his bonuses in metal currency.