The Irresponsible Director of the Gunpowder Bureau

Thinking about the issue of standardized measurements, Joseph couldn't help but feel a little wistful. 💝✋ ♜🎯

In fact, the French Academy of Sciences, at the suggestion of several academic luminaries, had long been preparing to establish a "Standard Committee" to unify measurement standards— the France scientific community was remarkably forward-thinking, and this was the earliest measurement standards initiative in all of Europe.

However, due to the appalling inefficiency of the current bureaucracy, the Academy of Sciences' application for funding was not discussed for several years, and the Standard Committee eventually gave up.

Historically, this matter was only implemented with the support of the National Convention after the Great Revolution.

The efforts of the France Standard Committee also promoted the development of the world metric system and paved the way for France Industrialization.

However, the "Standard Committee" is still just a concept at the moment. Joseph knows that he has to intervene in this matter himself, otherwise it may be ten or eight years before a unified unit of measurement is seen.

"That damned France bureaucracy..." Joseph shook his head inwardly. He would definitely reform the bureaucracy as soon as he had the chance!

Joseph was busy until dinner time before he finally managed to get the two Ordnance Factory supervisors to roughly understand the concept of "Standardized Production".

Standardized Production is now considered common sense, and even small workshops in the countryside follow this standard when making production. However, at the end of the 18th century, it was an extremely advanced concept, and it was not so easy for the two supervisors to accept.

Joseph also interspersed his lectures with some business management tips, which further increased their learning pressure.

Joseph was also exhausted. He drank a large glass of water to relieve the discomfort in his throat caused by overwork. The thought of having to continue tomorrow gave him a headache.

At the current pace, it will take at least half a month to finish explaining the knowledge of Standardized Production.

After putting in so much effort, only managing to train Gaman and Martinier Neil seems like a very low cost-effectiveness ratio.

Since the goal is to "give lectures," why not teach more people at once?

He immediately thought that perhaps he could directly offer a course on "Industrial Enterprise Management," which would definitely be more efficient than teaching them one by one.

So, who should be chosen as the first batch of instructors?

When Joseph thought about business management, the image of Venio immediately came to mind— Venio had finished the Potato promotion project and come to report to him, then stayed in Paris to enjoy Fashion Week, and hadn't returned to Bordeaux yet.

Venio himself is a business owner and runs a plantation. He is also a skilled communicator and has a high level of enthusiasm for his work, making him very suitable for spreading advanced concepts in industrial management.

Even his Girondins friends were quite suitable for this task.

Initially, they can be sent to Industrial Development Zone to train factory executives. Later, a course can be offered at the University of Paris specifically to train professional managers.

This is much more scientific than traditional family-style management.

While France's Industrialization technology and production capacity may not be as advanced as United Kingdom's in the short term, it can certainly surpass Britain in management!

Optimizing management models often improves production efficiency more effectively than new technologies.

Thinking of this, Joseph summoned Eman and instructed him, "Please send someone to fetch Mr. Venio tomorrow; he's the one who helped me promote Potato in Bordeaux."

"Yes, Your Highness, I am very impressed with Mr. Venio."

"Oh, right, and his friend, I think his name is Jean Sonnet? Let him come along too."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph was about to finish teaching and return to the Versailles Palace for dinner when he suddenly noticed the Ordnance Factory manager recording the quality control requirements he had just mentioned: all guns must undergo at least five live-fire tests before leaving the factory.

He immediately thought of the production progress of the Copper Percussion Cap that were designed to match the Percussion Cap Gun, so he looked at Martinier and asked, "Mr. Martinier, do you know how the production of the Copper Percussion Cap is going?"

The latter hurriedly replied, "Your Highness, I went to the Royal Gunpowder Bureau the day before yesterday to inquire, and they said it would take about three or four months to produce the first batch of Fulminate of Mercury before it could be delivered to the Copper Percussion Cap."

The Royal Gunpowder Bureau was the France department specifically responsible for the research and production of Gunpowder. Naturally, explosives like Fulminate of Mercury fulminate were produced by them.

"Three or four months? That's so slow?" Joseph frowned upon hearing this.

Martinier said, "They seem to say they've tried several times, but all of them failed."

"Okay, I understand." Joseph sighed helplessly. Fulminate of Mercury was a technology the United Kingdom had mastered ten years ago, and he himself had explained Fulminate of Mercury synthesis to the Royal Gunpowder Bureau. How could they still not be able to figure it out?

The following day at noon.

In the Reception Room of the Crown Prince at the Versailles Palace, the Assistant and production manager of the France Royal Gunpowder Bureau stood awkwardly before Joseph, explaining with pained expressions.

"Your Highness, you did tell us the method of synthesis, but... the specific proportions of raw materials, processes, and so on still need to be explored gradually."

The lean production manager nodded repeatedly. "Yes, you know, experiments with such high explosives must be conducted with extreme caution. We previously discovered that highly toxic gases are produced during the trial production process, fortunately no one was injured as a result."

Joseph also somewhat helpless. He only knew that Fulminate of Mercury fulminate was produced by reacting Mercury with nitric acid, requiring crystallization and cooling, but he had never done it himself—in his previous life, manufacturing explosives took at least three years, with no upper limit.

He just didn't expect that, even with the combined research and development resources of the entire Gunpowder Bureau, there would still be no progress after a month.

For other things, we could simply buy the technology from the United Kingdom, but for military-related items like Fulminate of Mercury, they simply wouldn't sell it to us.

Joseph looked at the executives at the Gunpowder Bureau with a grim expression. "Even so, it shouldn't take three or four months to complete the trial production, right?"

The Assistant director said cautiously, "Your Highness, if our director were here, it would probably only take a month at most."

"As you know, he was the one who oversaw the testing of these new types of explosives in the past. However, he took a long leave of absence at the beginning of the year, so..."

He took leave at the beginning of the year? Joseph frowned. It's almost April now! This bureau chief is really taking it easy. Does he want to quit?

He said coldly, "Who is your bureau chief? Tell him to come see me immediately!"

The production manager whispered, "Yes, yes, Mr. Lavoisier..."

"Please wait a moment, I'll go find him right away."

"Wait!" Joseph raised his hand to stop him upon hearing the name. "You mean, Mr. Lavoisier? The Lavoisier who discovered Oxygen?"

The two executives exchanged a glance and nodded, saying, "Your Highness, it was indeed our director who discovered the Oxygen."

He also wrote major works such as "Introduction to Combustion."