Viscount Olivier hesitated and said, "Your Highness, but if too many orders are prohibited, our factory might struggle to survive..."
Joseph smiled and waved his hand. "Rest assured, the association will only intervene in a few cases where a sale could threaten national security. Such cases might only arise once every few years."
Hearing this, the factory owners visibly relaxed. If that was the extent of the restrictions, they were hardly limitations at all. Compared to the benefits of the new technology—improved iron quality and increased steel production—these were conditions they could easily accept.
In reality, they hadn't paid much attention to the clause about "quality assessnts," which was actually Joseph's main tool for controlling the steel industry. Quality assessnts would effectively serve as a rating system for companies. In the future, if a factory's products were rated lower than those of its competitors, custors would naturally prefer to buy from the higher-rated suppliers.
As a result, these factory owners would have no choice but to cooperate obediently with the Crown Prince.
Joseph then threw out another enticing offer: "Oh, and soon, the association will introduce a new ironmaking technology using a different fuel. This thod will further reduce impurities in the iron and increase production."
He was referring to the use of coke in iron slting. Once gas lamps were introduced, one of the by-products of coal gas production would be coke. This material, which has low impurity content and high heat value, was ideal as a fuel for iron slting and would fit perfectly as a complentary industry to gas lighting.
This ti, it was young Mr. Grigoire who couldn't contain himself. "Your Highness, the Grigoire Brothers Steel Company sincerely wishes to join the Steel Technology Association."
Viscount Olivier and the other factory owners quickly followed suit, saying, "Your Highness, the Silke Steel Company also applies to join the association!"
"And the Red Furnace Ironworks..."
"And the Willhorry Steel Company..."
Joseph gestured to the industrial zone manager, Ramaux, who had been standing by with the association's managent regulations and application forms. "Please fill out the application and submit it to Mr. Ramaux. After that, the association will send technicians to teach you the new slting techniques. There may be so delay, as there are a number of formalities to complete."
In reality, there were no formalities—Joseph hadn't yet applied for the patent on hot blast iron slting and still needed technicians to turn the principle into workable blueprints, which would take ti.
The factory owners didn't mind waiting a few months. After all, in this era, developing new technologies was never a quick process.
Joseph added, "Oh, and in the anti, you should start procuring refractory bricks and steam engines to drive the blast furnaces. You'll need them later."
The factory owners hurriedly instructed their technicians to take note.
Joseph stayed in Nancy for three days, attending to various aspects of industrial developnt, and then headed south to Saint-Étienne. The new industrial park there had officially opened four months earlier—its size rivaled that of the one in Nancy, thanks to its proximity to Paris.
Naturally, Joseph had to visit and ensure that the steel factories there joined the Steel Technology Association as well.
His visit to Saint-Étienne followed much the sa pattern as his ti in Nancy. After leaving the industrial park, he planned to continue east to Lyon, France's textile hub, to promote the newly reverse-engineered automated looms.
However, when he reached Foray, east of Lyon, a ssenger was waiting for him. The ssenger handed him a letter from the Royal Armory, stating that they had encountered so issues with mass-producing the automated looms. The main problem was that the craftsn lacked the necessary precision, and Louis XVI had to guide them individually. As a result, the first batch of ten looms wouldn't be completed until the end of next month.
Faced with this news, Joseph reluctantly adjusted his schedule and decided to return to Paris first to file the patent for hot blast iron slting.
However, before he could leave, he received another report from the National Intelligence Bureau—the upgraded version of the forr Police Intelligence Office.
Joseph opened the secret letter and handed it along with the codebook to Éman, who quickly deciphered it and then looked up at Joseph.
"Your Highness, there was a coup in Tripoli six days ago."
Joseph frowned as he took the decoded report. It read: "On March 18th, Ottoman officer Ali Ben Jouir led dissatisfied nobles in Tripoli in a coup against the Pasha. Pasha Ali I fled to Egypt. Ben Jouir declared Tripoli's return to Ottoman rule. There is evidence of British involvent in the coup, including weapons and funding provided by Britain."
The ntion of the British imdiately put Joseph on alert. The British wouldn't involve themselves in a diterranean country with a population of only a few hundred thousand for no reason—this had to be aid at France.
It seed that even though he had been very restrained, limiting France's North African influence to a small area in Tunisia and avoiding the direct conquest of Algiers as in history, he had still attracted the attention of the British.
Sensing sothing was amiss, Joseph looked down at the last line of his schedule and sighed.
"It seems I need to visit Tunisia sooner than planned."
Tunisia had largely recovered from the chaos of expelling the Janissaries and, after several months of governance, had restored order. Joseph had originally planned to go there to address so issues and arrange for the next phase of developnt.
He turned to Éman. "Is the Moulin Regint still in Montpellier?"
Éman thought for a mont and nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. They just finished reorganizing the Montcalm Regint, so they should still be in Montpellier."
Joseph imdiately wrote a letter, sealed it with wax, and stamped it with his private seal before handing it to Éman.
"Send soone to Montpellier at once and deliver this to Colonel André."
In the letter, he instructed André to take two battalions to Toulon and board ships to Tunisia.
He then wrote another letter and handed it to Éman. "Take this one back to Versailles and have the General Staff issue supplentary orders."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Now, we're heading to Toulon to board a ship. Oh, and if the Queen asks, tell her I'm going to the 'dostic provinces.'"
Technically, this wasn't even a lie—Tunisia was now a province of France.
(End of Chapter)
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