Saving the Angels

After briefly describing the properties of benzene to Lavoisier, Joseph immediately turned to Mirabeau:

"You're going to be very busy for the next few days."

"First, you need to cooperate with Mr. Lavoisier to build the Soda Ash production plant as soon as possible. Oh, I will have the French Reserve Bank allocate a special fund to you for this matter."

"At the same time, you also need to build two Casein Glue factories. One in Paris, smaller in scale, with a monthly output of about 50,000 kilograms. The other in Brittany, with a monthly output of 500,000 kilograms."

"After that, we'll build a beverage factory in Paris, Nancy, Bordeaux, Lyon, and Marseille. We'll bottle the drinks in Glass and sell them. I'll send the specific recipes directly to the factories."

Earlier in the Carriage, Lavoisier mentioned that Baking Soda is produced during the alkali production process, which reminded Joseph of this.

Baking Soda to lemon or vinegar produces a large amount of Carbon Dioxide —isn't that just like an 18th-century Carbonic Acid beverage?

Baking Soda used to be expensive and no one could afford it, but after industrial production was achieved, it became possible to use it to make high-end beverages.

A bottle of water, a few grams of Baking Soda, a little sugar and fruit juice—this novel, refreshing sparkling beverage, if properly marketed, could even sell for more than a high-end Wine. It's practically a money-printing machine!

Joseph continued, "Most importantly, we need to set up two furniture factories, one in Paris and the other in Brittany. The initial scale should be designed to produce over 10,000 sets of wardrobes and chairs per month."

Mirabeau's pen, which had been flying across his hand as he took notes, suddenly stopped, and he looked at the Crown Prince in surprise:

"Your Highness, are you saying you want to build a factory to produce furniture? Forgive my bluntness, but I'm afraid this will result in losses..."

It's no wonder he questioned this, since furniture in this era was basically the carpenter's "personal work of art," and people who needed furniture would go to a carpenter to make it. Then the carpenter would start by processing the wood planks and spend a month or two making a set of furniture for them.

What's the point of building a factory with this production model? Especially since it's supposed to produce 10,000 sets of furniture per month.

Paris has a population of just over 600,000, which means that about five people need to replace their furniture every year!

According to the current France custom, a set of furniture is meant to be passed down for eighteen generations. Usually, only newlyweds will order new furniture. It's impossible to sell 10,000 sets of furniture per month.

Joseph smiled slightly:

"Please believe me. 10,000 sets of furniture per month is just the beginning; the scale will expand tenfold later. Not just in France, I will get all of Europe, even the Far East and Americas, to replace their furniture. Oh, as for the specific requirements for the furniture factory, I will have someone give them to you later."

He had no intention of making furniture in the style of a carpenter creating art. With standardized composite boards, all that was needed was to recruit a small number of designers to design the furniture shapes; the rest of the work was simply cutting the boards and nailing them in according to the blueprints.

This kind of work can be easily done by hiring workers who don't know anything about carpentry, and after two or three months of training, they can be competent. It can be mass-produced.

Afterward, Joseph gave Mirabeau and Lavoisier instructions on the details of building the factory, and soon it got dark.

After the two left, Joseph sent someone to inform Brent, the General Manager of the Paris Angel Company, to come to his office first thing the next morning.

It's important to know that Baking Soda isn't just for making beverages; it's also an excellent deodorizer!

Mixing Baking Soda and Talcum Powder together and applying it to areas prone to odor, such as the armpits and groin, can effectively eliminate odor.

The reason why the perfume industry in France is so developed is largely because people don't like to bathe, resulting in strong body odor that they need to cover up with perfume.

It was common for a France Nobility to spend several hundred Livre on perfume every year.

If Paris Angel could release a Cosmetics that reduces body odor at its source, it would definitely become a strong competitor to perfumes.

In addition, Baking Soda can reduce bad breath.

It's easy to imagine that in the future, Nobility would rinse their mouths with Paris Angel's mouthwash a few times before leaving the house, otherwise it would be considered disrespectful to others.

According to Joseph's plan, Paris Angel Company will also join the Chemical Industrial Chain, triggering the next wave of sales.

Reims, a city in north-central France.

In the open space outside a rural church on the outskirts of Reims, a strikingly handsome young man with long hair, dressed in a black short-sleeved jacket, white tight-fitting trousers, and a simple white scarf around his neck, stood on a dilapidated oxcart, delivering a passionate speech to dozens of farmers before him:

"That's right! The government lied to us!"

"They use lies to keep you in check so that you can continue to endure high taxes and exploitation by Nobility and officials."

"They said they were abolishing the privileges of the Nobility, but in reality only small taxes like Mill Tax and Hunting Tax disappeared, while the most important Annual Tribute and Tithe remained!"

"That King, sitting in the Versailles Palace, indulging in extravagance and doing nothing all day, tells you he will give you the land. But I must tell you the truth: the King and his bureaucrats have decided that you will have to pay for 30 years' worth of the land's produce, plus 30 years' worth of Annual Tribute and Tithe. By the time you are worn out by the heavy labor, unable to walk, your eyes are clouded, and your teeth are gone, that land you have cultivated for decades will still not belong to you!"

The farmers immediately looked at each other and burst into a murmur of discontent.

A moment later, a burly farmer shouted to the young man on the oxcart:

"My esteemed sir, what's the use of saying all this? Whether it's 20 years or 30 years, we can only accept our fate and pay the money."

"No, you're wrong!" the young man waved his hand forcefully. "Besides accepting our fate, we can also resist!"

"As long as we unite as one and let those bureaucrats see your anger, they will tremble with fear and withdraw that shameless ransom plan!"

"We've contacted people from dozens of parishes. We'll all gather in front of the Reims City Hall in five days to teach those shameless officials a lesson with stones, clubs, and even Musket!"

His inflammatory tone made the farmers' blood boil, and they excitedly joined in, raising their fists.

"Teach them a lesson!"

"We don't want to pay for another 30 years!"

"Let's rebel together with this gentleman!"

After the farmers dispersed, still seething with anger, a middle-aged man emerged from behind a haystack not far away, handed a glass of water to the young man who had given the speech, and said in an exaggerated tone:

"Mr. Saint-Just, you're absolutely right! These peasants will surely join the revolution you're leading! Do you think we should still go to Zesfield Village today?"

Saint-Just drank several gulps of water, wiped the sweat from his brow, and shouted:

"Of course, there are still hundreds of France people there waiting for us to save them!"