The father of chemistry

Joseph could not be said to have heard of the name Lavoisier, he could only say that it was very familiar to him.🐍🐝 ➅➈ ♝☜

He was the greatest France chemist of the 18th century, known as the "Father of Modern Chemistry" and the "Newton of Chemistry."

He was the founder of modern chemistry. He proved the Law of Conservation of Mass, defined the concept of "Elements," invented the modern chemical table, which was the prototype of the Periodic Table of Elements, and established the Oxygen Theory, thus ending the "Phlogiston Theory."

Simply put, he's the ultimate chemistry genius.

Joseph felt a sense of relief. No wonder the Royal Gunpowder Bureau couldn't function without their director—any department would develop a dependency on a technical genius like Lavoisier. It was likely that all the research and development work in the Gunpowder Bureau had revolved around Lavoisier. With him taking leave, the others had lost their backbone.

The Assistant director of the Gunpowder Bureau glanced cautiously at the Crown Prince:

"Your Highness, I will go and inform the director to come see you."

"No need." Joseph stood up.

Whether out of admiration for scholars who have made their mark on history or respect for contemporary academic giants, he felt he should personally visit Lavoisier.

He looked at the Assistant director. "Please tell me Mr. Lavoisier's address."

Less than two Lieue from the Versailles Palace, you can see crowds of people transferring to horse-drawn Carriage in the distance— the United Kingdom track-laying technicians are quite fast. The Wooden Railway have now been laid to the Western Suburbs of Paris, and in at most another month, you can take a horse-drawn Carriage directly from the Versailles Palace to Paris.

The Nobility who were queuing to change carriages made way for the Crown Prince. Joseph did not refuse and directly boarded a four-person Carriage.

The carriage sped along the Wooden Railway at an incredible speed, more than twice as fast as a regular Carriage. Moreover, due to the minimal resistance of the Wooden Railway, it was clear that the horses pulling the carriage were extremely relaxed, almost as if they were running without any load.

In the past, the horses would slow down and rest at least once or twice on the journey from the Versailles Palace to Paris. But this time, the horses not only didn't rest, but they even ran wild and accelerated on downhill sections, forcing the coachman to whistle continuously to control them.

Joseph looked out the window at the trees rushing past and estimated that the car's speed was already close to that of a modern electric scooter.

He secretly planned to first build a Wooden Railway around Paris, and then build one running north-south through Paris city. The east-west wooden track had already been completed before Fashion Week.

At that time, Paris's overall traffic efficiency will be the best in Europe, bringing a significant improvement to the efficiency of the entire city.

As for the construction costs, with the current Wooden Railway serving as a model, funds can be raised from the public, and the operating rights of the rail transit can be used as a means of repayment, just like the highway model of later generations.

Once Paris's rail transit system has gained a reputation, we can try building rail lines connecting Paris to industrial areas like Lyon to boost product sales.

It's important to understand that although these Wooden Railway are only meant for Carriage, they won't be wasted in the long run, because the foundation and sleepers underneath are compatible with Iron Rail.

Once France's steel production increased and steam locomotives were invented, the wooden rails were removed and replaced with Iron Rail, allowing trains to run in a very short time.

In just over an hour, the Carriage arrived at the western side of the Saint-Germain District in Paris. Joseph got off and walked a short distance before seeing a gray-white Villa in the distance.

Eman looked around at the road signs and said to him, "Your Highness, this should be the place."

As Joseph gazed at the exquisitely designed Villa, and the flowerbeds and children's play area within its Villa, which spanned three or four hundred square meters, he remembered Lavoisier's other identity— Tax Farmers.

If I remember correctly, Lavoisier contracted Livre Salt Tax and tobacco taxes, which should have brought in 80,000 to 100,000 livres annually, making him a very wealthy family.

However, it was precisely this identity that led to his death in the Great Revolution. Lagrange once lamented this:

"They could cut off his head in the blink of an eye, but a head like his won't grow back for another hundred years!"

Joseph sighed inwardly. As long as he was there, he would never allow a scientist of Lavoisier's caliber to be harmed.

Lavoisier never expected His Crown Prince to visit so suddenly, and he hurriedly led his entire family and Servant out to greet him with a mixture of surprise and nervousness.

"Ah, what an honor it is, Your Crown Prince!" Lavoisier bowed respectfully at the door. "I never expected you to grace us with your presence."

Joseph smiled and nodded in return, then pulled the chemist into the house and asked with concern:

"I heard you took a long leave of absence. Are you not feeling well?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Lavoisier smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine. Look, I'm perfectly healthy!"

"I only had to temporarily put aside my work at the Royal Gunpowder Bureau because I needed to concentrate on finishing my thesis."

Joseph asked curiously, "Oh? What masterpiece are you writing?"

"Oh, I've named it ' Elementary Treatise on Chemistry '," Lavoisier said, a proud look on his face. "It's a summary of all my ideas about chemistry. I believe it will bring new life to the field!"

Joseph was deeply moved. No wonder Lavoisier had taken such a long leave of absence; it turned out that a foundational work in modern chemistry was about to be published.

"Elementary Treatise on Chemistry" is a masterpiece that has been regarded by later generations as one of the "three great classics" of natural Natural Science, along with Newton's "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica" and Darwin's "On the On the Origin of Species".

Joseph was led to the sofa by Lavoisier, where he sat down. The sofa, which the hostess had tidied up three times, was the sofa the hostess had prepared. Joseph then said to Lavoisier:

Please have a seat.

Thinking of the main purpose of his trip, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Mr. Lavoisier, although it may affect your research, there is something that only you can help with right now."

"Oh, Your Highness, please feel free to give your orders; it would be my pleasure."

"I need the Gunpowder Bureau to produce Fulminate of Mercury as soon as possible, but they said that without your supervision of the experiments, it would probably take them four months to produce a finished product."

Lavoisier nodded slightly:

"You're talking about the kind of explosive that's easily detonated upon impact, right? I've seen it in the United Kingdom papers; it's supposedly made with Mercury and nitric acid. I estimate that a relatively pure final product is obtained through crystallization, and a catalyst might also be used."

Joseph mentally gave a thumbs up. As expected of an academic genius, he had estimated the preparation process to be almost perfect just by looking at the published papers.

Lavoisier continued:

"Clovis and his colleagues may not be very skilled at such delicate experimental procedures. Your Highness, I can help you test the production of Fulminate of Mercury, but I can only go to the Gunpowder Bureau two days a week."

Joseph thought to himself that two days would be fine, and he couldn't delay the publication of "Elementary Treatise on Chemistry".

He asked, "How long do you estimate it will take to complete the experiment?"

"About a month," Lavoisier said gently, glancing at his wife beside him, "If Marianne is willing to help [Note 1]."

[Note 1] Madame Lavoisier's name should be "Marie-Anna," but the connector has been omitted in the text for ease of reading.