Steel and Economic Warfare

Lucien's defense was understood and supported by Joseph to some extent, but he could not escape punishment from Joseph and Napoleon. The reason, of course, was his "disrespect for elders."

"Such a big matter, and you didn't even consult us first? Tell me, are you recklessly audacious, or are you so arrogant that you've lost your ability to judge yourself correctly? Hmm, you choose one of those two..."

"Joseph, I..." Lucien's face turned pale.

"Joseph, Mr. Lavoisier sent something over." At that moment, Fanny suddenly pushed open the door and walked in.

Joseph frowned, but decided to put Lucien's matter aside for now. After all, Lavoisier's sudden delivery must be something important. "Could it be..." Joseph's heart pounded.

"What is it?" Joseph asked.

"It's right here, see for yourself." Fanny took her hand out from behind her back, and a shiny little steel ingot appeared in front of Joseph.

Joseph took the small steel ingot, examined it closely, and then picked up a paper cutter from the table and made a cut to confirm that it was indeed steel and not wrought iron or anything like that. He became even more excited.

"Consider yourself lucky today," Joseph said, turning to Lucien. "I have other matters to attend to, and I can't deal with you, you bastard. Go find Napoleon yourself."

In fact, ever since his brothers had all become independent, Joseph had rarely used "family rules" to punish them.

After sending Lucien away, Joseph immediately arranged for a carriage to head to Lorraine.

Three months earlier, Lavoisier had conducted an experiment in his laboratory near Paris, blowing hot air into a converter and successfully producing a batch of steel. Although the quality of that batch of steel was not particularly ideal, especially at low temperatures, it was still steel, and in any case, much stronger than copper and iron.

Joseph knew that the problem remained the same: the phosphorus and sulfur content in the steel. The phosphorus content in the Lorraine iron ore was still too high; even using steelmaking furnaces made of basic refractory bricks couldn't completely remove the phosphorus. Of course, given more time, more experiments, and adjustments to the slag-forming raw materials and process flow, the quality of the steel could be further improved, but...

"We can't wait any longer. We've already consumed too much money, and we urgently need products that can quickly recoup our investment. Besides, isn't this amount of steel already more than enough, as long as it's not used under extreme conditions?" After receiving news of the initial success of the experiment, Joseph immediately terminated the subsequent funding for the experiment and demanded that the existing technology be commercialized immediately and a real, commercial steel plant be built right away.

Lavoisier strongly agreed with this decision because it meant the project would start making money, and he would be able to get his own estate. Therefore, he was even more eager Joseph to rapidly industrialize the steelmaking technology.

Lavoisier then personally went to Lorraine to oversee the construction of the first modern steel plant.

Clearly, the faster the steel mill was built and put into operation, the greater the benefits for the Military-Industrial Complex. So, in pursuit of speed, many things were neglected, and as a result, the steel mill was completed in just one month. This was still the reason why Joseph boasted to Napoleon that he could immediately produce a large amount of steel and steel cannons.

However, as the saying goes, haste makes waste. Rushing to meet the deadline resulted in a series of problems. A major accident occurred during the first operation of the steelmaking furnace. The operating steelmaking converter collapsed due to construction defects, causing a fire.

The Military-Industrial Complex suffered considerable losses in the fire. Hundreds of workers and more than a dozen engineers died in the blaze. Lavoisier himself would have almost perished in the fire if he hadn't gone to the toilet because he was feeling unwell. Of course, as long as Lavoisier survived, the deaths of some workers and Lavoisier assistants were not considered a major incident.

However, the fire almost completely destroyed all of the steel plant's facilities, resulting in a month being wasted. In the eyes of the bigwigs in the Military-Industrial Complex, this was the real and greatest loss.

Because the reconstruction took a long time, the factory only recently began trial operations. Joseph even issued a special ban on Lavoisier, prohibiting him from entering the factory during the trial operation. Of course, the previous accident also completely dispelled Joseph's idea of personally overseeing the official commissioning of the steel plant.

It was precisely because of these issues that the steel mill delayed its trial production until recently. Before that, the blast furnaces that had been built had already been operating for several months. Meanwhile, the supporting factories were also sitting idle, waiting for steel. Every minute of waiting meant enormous waste.

Joseph arrived in Lorraine four days later. Upon Lorraine, he immediately went to find Lavoisier.

"How's the situation now? What's the daily output?"

"It's about what we expected," Lavoisier said. "If nothing unexpected happens, we can produce about ten tons a day, which is 3,650 tons of steel a year. But you know that's impossible, because the various systems can't run non-stop all year round. There will inevitably be shutdowns for maintenance. But even so, this factory can still produce about 3,000 tons of steel a year."

"It's still not enough, far from enough." Unlike Lavoisier, Joseph felt that a steel mill with an annual output of only about three thousand tons was far too small. He knew that in his previous life... and there were still far too many places that needed steel.

Joseph didn't come here to see firsthand how molten steel is poured from the furnace. After the fire, he had no intention of going to the steel mill at all—even setting aside the dangers of the fire, the high temperatures, noise, and exhaust pollution would pose a huge threat to one's health.

The dangers of these things were unknown to people of that era, but Joseph was aware of them. However, even knowing this, he did not take many measures to prevent them. Some of these were technical issues, such as the treatment of waste gas and wastewater. In that era, there was indeed no such technology, and not even the scientific theoretical basis needed to develop such technology.

Fortunately, in this era, theories about the harmful effects of various forms of pollution on human health had not yet emerged. Furthermore, the foundations upon which these theories could be built, whether sociological or natural scientific, were also lacking. Therefore, Joseph could simply pretend ignorance and freely pollute as he pleased.

Of course, some preventative measures are achievable even with today's technology. For example, masks to block dust, earplugs to protect hearing. However, this increases costs. It's fine if it's for skilled workers, but for ordinary workers who can be hired anywhere, equipping them with such a complete set is economically unnecessary. Of course, masks and earplugs can be sold near factories; take it or leave it.

Various safety training programs are indeed essential. Without them, some workers' careless operations might damage valuable machinery. However, excessive training content would also increase costs. Therefore, only highly skilled workers who have the potential to damage machines, and who are relatively stable in their factory jobs, receive such training. The main content of their safety training is, first and foremost, how to protect the machines.

As for manual labor such as pulling carts, although there are many risks in their work, considering that they are completely freelance workers, working in one factory today and possibly another tomorrow, providing them with safety training would only increase costs unnecessarily. Therefore, these people do not need any safety training.

Joseph came here primarily to see that the factory was operating efficiently and that products could be produced in a high-quality and timely manner. Then, according to his plan, they would be used where they were urgently needed.

The most urgent need for steel is in various types of machinery. Many moving parts in modern machinery are made of cast iron. For example, the crankshaft of a steam engine, as well as the transmission components of a loom and water pump, are all made of cast iron. Cast iron is far less strong than steel, so using it to make load-bearing moving parts is problematic. If the parts are not robust enough, they are prone to breakage. If they are made too robust, they become too heavy and reduce mechanical efficiency. Replacing them with steel would result in a significant improvement in both reliability and efficiency.

However, steel production was quite limited. Considering the speed of cost recovery, Joseph decided to use it first for steam engines and ore crushers. Then for agricultural implements, and then for various civilian products that could generate profit. As for the steel cannons and rifles that Joseph had promised Napoleon, he would build one or two, seven or eight, and then hold a military technology exposition to intimidate foreign governments, and incidentally, obtain enough money from foreign governments, mainly those that would not pose a direct threat to France.

"The days when the Britain can easily make a fortune in Europe with their steam engines and textiles are coming to an end." After confirming that steelmaking had reached mass production levels, he told Napoleon, "Now is the time for us to prepare an economic counterattack against Britain."

"So how do you plan to retaliate against the Britain?" Napoleon said. "Once we gain the upper hand in steam engines and textiles, the Britain will immediately break the contract, and you, sir, are unwilling to immediately apply the latest technology to the army. How will you retaliate against the Britain then?"

"You, Napoleon, still have a lot to learn in economics," Joseph said dismissively. "I ask you, what kind of social situation would arise if business were booming for a period of time?"

"Don't treat me like a fool. I've read Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations too," Napoleon said. "If this happens, more resources will naturally flow into this industry. Then there will be more and more steam engine manufacturers and textile factories, and more and more people will participate in and invest in this industry. With increased supply, prices will naturally fall, and the industry will become less profitable. Then capital will gradually leave the industry..."

"Why say so much?" Joseph said. "You've said so much, but haven't gotten to the point at all."

"Then tell me," Napoleon said.

"We'll first cede the steam engine manufacturing and textile industries," Joseph said, "Making these two industries the most important sources of revenue for Britain. Then we'll gradually eliminate their other industries. In this way, we'll gain an advantage in other industries, and they'll have to increase their dependence on steam engine manufacturing and textile industries to avoid a large trade deficit."

In such a situation, they would gradually become dependent on these two industries, their entire economy would be tied to them. During this time, the wise men of Britain would surely recognize the danger. They would certainly cry out and try to prevent this from happening; these people would try to undermine our trade agreements. But what would those who are making a fortune through steam engines and textiles do?"

Napoleon laughed, "Joseph, this is truly a despicable and shameless plot, brimming with your own flavor. How could those who are so eager to make money tolerate having their grand schemes ruined? Machiavelli said that a man can easily forget who killed his parents, but he will never forget who took away his wealth. In your words: 'The hatred inflicted on someone who blocks their path to wealth is greater than the hatred inflicted on them by killing their parents.'"

Those who can amass great wealth through these two things are undoubtedly people of status and power. Their path to wealth is not so easily blocked. If we were to forcefully block it, the Britain themselves would first face internal problems without us even lifting a finger. But if we don't stop it, and they truly become completely dependent on these two things, then if we were to tear up the agreement, their economy would be utterly ruined!"

"Napoleon, why should we break the agreement? We only need to threaten to break it from time to time," Joseph said. "Besides, do you know why I left the textile and steam engine manufacturing to them?"

Napoleon thought for a moment and replied, "The textile industry employs many workers, and if anything goes wrong, it could lead to large-scale social unrest. As for the steam engine, as long as we protect the secrets of steelmaking, they will have to rely on the raw materials we provide. In that case, any disruption to our relationship will be fatal for them."