Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Perna, upon her return from Silesia, learned that Camellia had become a maid to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, which for some reason gave her an inexplicable sense of crisis.

Therefore, she began to unconsciously stay as close to the Crown Prince’s side as possible, as if guarding against something.

Once they entered the distillation workshop, the technical expert, Murdock, took over the explanation for Joseph, “Your Highness, you see, this cylindrical object is the dry distillation retort I invented. The ring-shaped, thick iron pipe around it is actually the furnace, used to heat the coal inside the dry distillation retort…

“Oh, before the coal goes into the dry distillation retort, it has to be crushed to a specified size. The crushing workshop is just across…

“After undergoing high-temperature dry distillation, the coal will coke and produce a large amount of gas. This process must continue for 10 hours…

“Then the fire must be extinguished, the coke removed from the dry distillation retort, new coal added, and the fire lit again…”

He pointed upwards to a thick brass pipe overhead:

“The gas produced is sent here to the cooling chamber. But this gas is not yet usable, it must go through several layers of cloth to remove ash and coal slag from the gas…

“Then the gas passes through multiple layers of paper to filter out oily particles…

“After that, the gas goes through a gas scrubber. Oh, it’s that tallest ‘stone column’ on the eastern side.

“Inside, there are actually lots of wooden lattices filled with lime water, which can remove the sulfur from the gas. You know, sulfur burns and makes people tear up incessantly…

“And in the lime water for washing gas, a lot of ammonia is dissolved, which was a reminder from Mr. Lavoisier to collect this expensive ammonia…”

Joseph listened until he was utterly bewildered, no wonder the technology for distilling coal gas could obtain a patent.

It sounded like simply dry burning coal in the absence of air, which seemed very simple, but the actual production process was extremely complex, and missing even one step would mean that usable gas couldn’t be produced.

Take desulfurization, for example, which Murdock had mentioned—if you hadn’t considered it from the start, by the time your distillation plant was built, the coal gas delivered to the gas lamps could make people weep all day, and the millions spent on building the plant would probably be in vain.

Without talents like Murdock and Lavoisier, even if he could bring advanced technological theories from the future, he feared they would remain on paper only, without creating even a sou of profit.

He suddenly remembered the “Talent Introduction Plan” he had been planning before; he hadn’t pushed it forward because he had been busy, but it seemed he would have to put it on the agenda soon.

As they continued deeper into the distillation workshop, Joseph couldn’t help but frown—the surrounding dust became thicker, and it was difficult to see objects even 3 meters away, while the astringent and foul smell of coal ash constantly irritated his nostrils, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He quickly turned to Eman and said, “Please give me a mask.”

“A mouth cover?” Eman looked confused.

Joseph frowned, not knowing how to say “mask,” so he had used “mouth cover” as a substitute.

“Ah, like the one doctors wear over their mouths…”

Upon hearing this, Eman quickly looked back at Perna, who also shook her head with clear eyes.

Joseph then realized that he had never seen Perna or Dr. Lamark wearing a mask. Could it be that such a thing had not yet been invented?

He gestured with the piece of cloth in his hand, “It’s just a piece of cotton like this, square, with strings on either side that can hang on the ears.”

Seeing Perna still shaking her head, he gave up completely. Indeed, it was an era without even masks…

However, the manager Delas by his side took out something resembling a rag from his pocket and handed it over, “Your Highness, are you trying to cover your mouth and nose?”

“Ah, yes.”

Delas immediately demonstrated, “Like this, covering the face.”

Joseph put the “rag” on his face, and his nose and trachea finally felt a bit more relaxed. It was then that he noticed some workers also using triangular scraps of cloth over their faces, as if they were bandits heading off to start their day’s work.

He couldn’t help but frown; such a work environment without masks would surely lead to pneumoconiosis in no time!

Some of these workers were even younger than he was…

Although factory conditions around the world were generally poor at the start of the Industrial Revolution, since he had witnessed it, he couldn’t just ignore the issue.

He first left the swelteringly hot distillation workshop, tore off the face-covering cloth, and took deep breaths of the outside air. Then he said to Delas, “There’s something called a mask that can effectively improve the workers’ inhalation of smoke and dust.

“Please find a tailor to make a batch as soon as possible; from now on, all workers must wear masks to work.”

He signaled Eman to bring paper and a pen and drew a schematic of a medical mask from later times, “Use four layers of cotton gauze, sew them together, fix strings on either side, and attach a metal wire at the top. When wearing it, tie the strings over the ears, and press the wire down on the bridge of the nose…”

Delas’s face turned almost green as he stammered, “Your Highness, the thing you are talking about, uh, a mask, will cost at least 2 francs each. There are more than 200 people in the distillery; won’t that be a little costly?”

That expensive? Joseph was a bit puzzled but immediately understood—cotton wasn’t cheap at that time.

Ordinary people could only afford one or two cotton garments in their lifetime and usually wore linen clothing. As for the wire, custom-sizing it specifically for masks along with the required hardness would also not be cheap without the ability to mass-produce industrially.

He sighed in resignation, “I’ll pay for it. Please get the masks made and distribute them to the workers as soon as you can.”

“Thank you for your generosity and kindness,” Delas hastily said, “But we can’t let you pay for this. We shall deduct it from the company’s accounts.”

“You don’t have to decline,” Joseph insisted, and thinking again of the workers’ difficult working conditions, instructed Delas, “From now on, conduct health checks for the workers every six months; if you discover any health issues, treat them as soon as possible. Oh, I’ll figure out the inspection costs, you just need to organize and get the workers to cooperate.”

After some thought, he added, “But do not use health issues as a reason to dismiss workers indiscriminately.”

The Industrial Development Fund was the largest shareholder in the gas distillation factory, and since he had the final say in the fund, he could completely influence the regulations here.

Delas was incredibly surprised by his words; he had never seen a superior so concerned about the workers before and showered him with praise and thanks.

Joseph was aware that providing basic living and health security for the workers was essential for the stable and sustained development of the industry, and it would also lead to fewer worker uprisings.

Yet no capitalist would voluntarily offer such security as it would reduce their profits, so legislation was needed to address this problem.

Securing the rights of the workers might seem to increase industrial costs, lead to higher product prices, and reduce competitiveness. In reality, however, only a worker treated as a human can produce qualified products. A worker treated like an animal eventually only hinders industrial progress.