The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1371 Royal Gas Company
Because of the excessively cheap kerosene, the laying of gas pipelines was delayed, which in turn led to the lagging development of the entire gas system.

Franz originally considered selling gas cylinders to make money, but due to the limitations of technology and materials at that time, the price of gas cylinders was ridiculously expensive.

But small gas cylinders are not completely useless, they can be supplied to the military and expedition teams. Gas is convenient and fast, and can also be used as a weapon at a critical moment, and the military leaders are very satisfied.

Not to mention the soldiers, having a hot meal is better than anything else.

At present, Franz can only set up gas companies in a few large cities, but it is completely impossible to promote them in small and medium-sized cities and even smaller areas.

Historically, the British invented the gas stove in 1826, but in the following fifty years, less than 10% of people in the UK chose to use gas stoves.

It wasn't until 1869 that a British engineer connected a rubber hose to it and upgraded the ignition system. Within less than 10 years, 50% of urban residents in the UK chose gas stoves.

In fact, the technological content of the gas stove upgrade is not high. Although Franz does not understand the relevant technology of the gas stove, he knows what the gas stove of later generations will look like.

So under the guidance of Franz, the gas stoves of the Austrian Empire were quickly upgraded, and the new gas stoves already had some of the shadow of later gas stoves.

Due to its simple operation, cost-effectiveness, speed, flexibility, and the freedom to control the heat, it was quickly promoted in core cities such as Vienna, Prague, Venice, Milan, and Lemberg.

Of course, gas stoves have also received a lot of criticism. Some traditional chefs believe that gas stoves lack the aroma of burning wood.

However, these disadvantages are not worth mentioning compared with its advantages, especially for the vast majority of civilians and restaurants, using gas stoves is undoubtedly very cost-effective in this era of increasingly scarce wood.

The success of the pilot gave Franz confidence. Just when he was ambitiously preparing to do something big, a problem suddenly emerged: the infrastructure in medium and small cities was too poor, and coupled with the cheap kerosene lamps and opposition from lamplighters, the gas system was difficult to implement.

There is really nothing much to say about this. Franz is not the kind of person who must win all the time, and he will never be stingy when the country is bleeding.

However, everyone has a certain degree of aversion to losses. After a brief hesitation, Franz decided to push forward the gas pipeline project.

However, in order to compensate the government for its losses, the Royal Gas Company will provide 10% of the gas company's dividends to local governments that accept the transformation every year for a period of ten years.

Although it seems a bit like transferring money from one hand to the other, Franz still needs to appease the emotions of government officials. The finances of the government and the royal family are separate, and he cannot be too greedy.

The despotic emperor Franz was not as free as imagined.
When the local officials of the Austrian Empire heard that it was the emperor's order, and that there were company dividend subsidies, most of them chose to accept it with pleasure.

As for those lamplighters, the Royal Gas Company could provide them with training. If they passed the training, they could become employees of the Royal Gas Company. Otherwise, they could choose to receive three months' salary and leave.

The conditions proposed by Franz were quite generous in that era.

Of course, there will be a small number who choose to raise the price. We should appease them if possible. The government, church, and local nobles can all step in.

However, just in case, Franz still has to introduce a relevant law to establish compensation standards. If it comes to the last resort, Franz can only go through legal procedures. According to the rules of the free market, Franz's approach is completely unnecessary. After all, the fittest survive, and the profession of lamplighter has been unable to keep up with the times and is bound to be eliminated.

According to the theories of this era, compensating unemployed workers was a form of government intervention and could even lead to unequal competition.

However, Austria was an empire, and the imperial government could not rely entirely on cold laws. Moreover, the empire had no relevant laws, and Franz did not think that individuals should be held responsible for the lack of laws.

At the same time, the reputation of the Habsburg family needed to be maintained, and Franz would not cause public outrage for a little money.

In fact, the establishment of the gas company also contributed to the development of industry. Some factories that did not have very high temperature requirements no longer needed to build their own boilers.

However, this does not include the smelting industry. After all, in this industry that consumes huge amounts of energy and has high requirements for furnace temperatures, gas is still too expensive compared to coal.

Compared with the economic value brought by the gas company, Franz cares more about the social value.

Using gas can significantly reduce pollution while also reducing the risk of fire.

Franz didn't want to turn Vienna into a city like London, with acid rain falling from the black sky from time to time, white fog hiding murderers who like to disembowel people, and green rivers filled with fish bones and people laughing wildly.
In fact, Franz moved factories to the outskirts of the city during Vienna's second expansion, and heavily polluting factories were moved downstream, but factory pollution to the city was still unavoidable.

Under the current circumstances, Franz really cannot move all the factories out of Vienna. After all, industry is a symbol of a city's strength at this time.

With the changes of the times, trees around Vienna were cut down in large numbers. People who used firewood to cook were generally rich people, while ordinary people would choose cheap and efficient coal.

However, due to the lack of common sense of many people, they close the doors and windows when making a fire in the house, which has caused countless tragedies.

The level of firefighting in this era cannot be said to be non-existent, but it can only be said to be very limited. In the face of fires, most of the time, they are willing but unable to do so, with loose organizational structures, simple tools, and very limited professionalism.

At this time, only the French firefighting had the highest level of professionalism. In fact, they were a military-organized force, and this system was emulated by later generations.

The British fire brigade is well-known for being cruel and charging high prices. Although there are some fire brigades composed of volunteers, they require great patience and luck. After all, they are just volunteers and their working hours are uncertain.

The fire protection system of the Austrian Empire had very national characteristics. It not only imitated the professional fire brigade of France, but also had market-oriented employment. It also welcomed community volunteers and even retained the traditional private fire brigades of the aristocracy.

But despite its many names, the actual efficiency is still ridiculously low.

As we all know, if only one department is responsible for a matter, then it is their responsibility. If two departments are responsible, they will easily pass the buck to each other. If three departments are responsible, there will easily be a situation where there is no food to eat, not to mention four departments.

In history, there was a fire that engulfed a quarter of Vienna. At first, it was just a bakery 50 meters away from the lamp oil factory. The owner and apprentice of the bakery quickly put out the fire in their own shop, but unfortunately the business next door was caught on fire.