A new divine artifact
Joseph had no idea that Queen Mary had arranged a new "matchmaking" for him, and it was with a very difficult young girl.
During the dinner, he was still carefully preparing to deal with his mother's continued urging to get married, but the Queen only gave him knowing looks from time to time and did not bring up the matter again. Instead, she talked about Russia customs and culture.
At the subsequent ball, Joseph became the center of attention for all the Nobility.
A Crown Prince who was not yet 16 years old personally led his troops to defeat the Prussia and Hanover armies on the battlefield, which led the Nobility to constantly compare him with the Sun King Louis XIV.
Some even went so far as to say that "His Crown Prince will surely surpass the Sun King."
When Louis XVI proposed building a statue for the Crown Prince, some ministers were not in favor, since the King himself did not have a formal statue in public.
After news of the Royal Guard Legion's defeat of Karl II reached Paris, no one raised any further objections. Artists from all walks of life flocked to the Versailles Palace, vying to create a statue of the Crown Prince.
The ball began with the stirring music "Triumph," and the entire evening was filled with melodies related to war and victory. The Nobility also abandoned their usual gentle and refined manners, and danced in a military style.
Halfway through the ball, a renowned poet came to the center of the Hall of Mirrors and loudly recited a hymn of praise to Joseph, bringing the atmosphere to its climax.
Joseph, observing the excited Nobility at the ball who showered him with praise, couldn't help but think: indeed, victory in a foreign war is the best stimulant for a nation. The discontent and opposition that had arisen from the abolition of Nobility privileges had largely subsided; at least on the surface, the Nobility were extremely supportive of the Royal House. Hopefully, this would reduce the resistance the Land Redemption Policy would encounter among the Nobility.
The ball lasted until late at night before Joseph was able to return to his Bedchamber. The various social engagements made him feel more exhausted than if he had fought three days of battle on the front lines.
The next morning.
Joseph ate a simple breakfast and then dragged his tired body to the Royal Armory, located next to the Sycamore Tree on the southeast side of the Versailles Palace.
The United Kingdom Minister of Foreign Affairs will arrive in Paris in about a week, and he wants to use this time to get the long-planned Bulletproof Insert ready.
As soon as Joseph stepped out of the Bedchamber gates, he saw that the spacious corridor was lined with elegantly dressed Nobility ladies. In an instant, all sorts of alluring glances, some bold, some graceful, and some melancholic, assaulted him from all directions, making his scalp tingle.
Eman leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Your Highness, most of them have been waiting here since three or four in the morning. Some haven't even left since the ball ended..."
Perna, who had just finished her routine examination of Joseph, followed him out. The gazes of the ladies around her immediately turned cold and murderous, startling her so much that she quickly lowered her head and fled back to the royal physician's office on the second floor.
Joseph ignored the beautiful scenery along the way and strode towards the exit of the Versailles Palace.
Once he arrived at the square, he stroked his stubble-covered chin, gritting his teeth and thinking to himself: Let you jump! After I'm over puberty, I'll definitely pick a few and give them a good "fight"!
Martinier, the head of the Royal Armory, had clearly anticipated the Crown Prince's arrival and had been waiting at the entrance with his management team since early morning.
Joseph nodded to the bowing group, then got straight to the point. "Mr. Martinier, have all the things I asked you to prepare been ready?"
The latter quickly gestured towards a shed on the west side. "Yes, Your Highness, everything is ready, it's placed over there."
While in the Southern Netherlands, Joseph wrote a letter listing the materials needed to manufacture the Bulletproof Insert, along with simple process requirements, and sent it to the Royal Armory.
Upon entering the workshop, Martinier had boxes of iron sheets, porcelain shards, silk, and other items laid out before the Crown Prince, boasting, "Your Highness, as you can see, I've had the Craftsman produce iron sheets of varying hardness and thickness for you to choose from. The porcelain shards were custom-made from the two finest Workshop in Sèvres, and I also had a sample made by Quimper."
Sèvres is a porcelain-making mecca on the Western Suburbs of Paris. Many Nobility who couldn't afford the East Porcelain and disdained United Kingdom goods opted for products from here. Quimper, on the other hand, is the center of Brittany's painted pottery, primarily catering to ordinary households, though its Workshop also possess many unique firing techniques.
Joseph nodded in satisfaction. After all, the Royal Armory was personally overseen by his father, so they were quite reliable in getting things done.
He then asked the question he was most concerned about, "What about the adhesive? Does Mr. Lavoisier have any suggestions?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Martinier gestured to a large Glass on the table, "Mr. Lavoisier recommended this special Casein Glue."
"Casein Glue?" Joseph looked curiously at the Yellowish Beige, viscous liquid in the bottle.
"It's a kind of adhesive made from milk," Martinier hurriedly explained. "First, the milk is fermented to remove the Oils, then alkali, Water Glass, Slaked Lime, and other substances are added to promote coagulation, followed by filtration..."
Joseph had never heard of an adhesive made from milk, but for now, he had no choice but to trust Lavoisier.
He immediately took out iron pieces, porcelain pieces, and other items of different sizes from the Wooden Box and summoned the Craftsman to prepare for trial production.
He had previously watched a documentary about Bulletproof Insert, and immediately instructed the Craftsman: "Please glue the iron sheet, porcelain sheet, silk sheet, and iron sheet together in that order. Be careful to press them down as firmly as possible."
"You place the silk on the outer layer, then the iron sheet and the porcelain piece, and finally the silk again."
"Your outermost layer is made of iron sheet, followed by silk..."
Unsure of the effectiveness of these 18th-century alternatives, he had the Craftsman create five different combinations. Each combination required different thicknesses of boards and varying amounts of adhesive, resulting in over 40 test samples.
They were busy until around 3 p. m. when Craftsman told Joseph that the Casein Glue, which had been processed using a heat drying method, had dried.
Joseph took the insert, which was about the size of a modern tablet computer, and tried to pull the metal and ceramic pieces apart.
It didn't budge, it was very sturdy. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that this milk-based adhesive was basically usable.
He didn't know much about adhesives. In fact, Casein Glue has advantages such as high viscosity, fast curing speed, and strong adhesion, and it is still widely used in the 21st century.
Lavoisier, following his instructions, specifically adjusted the manufacturing process to maximize the bond strength, making it impossible to break apart by hand.