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

Chapter 1598 An Era of Progress

Vienna, Coal Street.

A large crowd had gathered at the entrance of the United Forces department store, all crowding around a massive machine. Engineer Raul Clyde, dressed in his long-unseen tuxedo and gold-rimmed glasses, was intently staring at the instrument panel.

"The pressure is normal, you can begin."

Today is a big day for Raul Clyde, whose invention of the world's first commercial steam elevator will usher in a new era.

Franz nodded. Actually, he wasn't very interested in this kind of invention, but he still had to show the right attitude. He had to demonstrate enough support and tolerance so that more people would get involved in invention and creation.

The elevator at this moment resembled a cage, but a sophisticated one. The car frame employed a brand-new mortise and tenon cast iron splicing technique—technology used in warship construction.

As the lever was pulled down, a tremendous roar erupted, the piston began to turn, scalding high-pressure steam gushed out, the gears began to turn, and the steel chains rattled.

The counterweights began to fall continuously, and the car finally rose.

A burst of excited exclamations erupted from the crowd.

"It's rising! My God! This is the power of science!"

The sound of the crowd rose as the elevator car ascended.

"There's nearly a ton of goods inside; even three horses couldn't pull it that high!"

Franz was actually a little embarrassed by this. He didn't think there was anything wrong with a steam elevator; it was just a simple machine.

In fact, similar machinery already existed in mines and the military, but ordinary people had no chance to see it or know about it.

The reason why no one invented this machine before was largely because the houses at that time were too low, and generally there was no need for elevators.

After all, in a two- or three-story building, running around might be faster than taking the elevator.

However, at this time, the United Power Department Store on Meishi Street was five stories high, and the elevator suddenly became valuable.

Of course, most people still prefer walking at this point, and the elevator is largely a gimmick. With such a large flow of people and a lot of goods to load and unload at United Power Department Store, not many people have the opportunity to use the elevator.

The main reason for making the event so grand is for publicity.
At that time, John Sina's daughter, Kelly Sina, was in charge of the operation and management of United Power Department Store.

Unfortunately, Franz didn't want to do it this way either, but the nobles of the Austrian Empire were simply hopeless. They were either rampant with corruption or were irresponsible managers. Several problems kept recurring, giving Franz a huge headache. So he decided to let the professionals do the professional work.

After Kelly Sina took over, United Power Department Stores' performance improved dramatically, and the loss rate dropped rapidly.

However, this person is sometimes almost insane when it comes to sales, so her publicity and marketing methods are extremely ruthless, and even Franz has become her pawn.

Raul Clyde was so excited to see that his elevator was working perfectly that he even cried.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your support. I will continue to contribute to the cause of the Empire."

Franz shook the other's hand. "Congratulations, sir. Your invention will benefit the people of the empire."

Franz was so embarrassed by these clichés that he almost had a stroke, but there was nothing he could do about it; the process was practically fixed.

The most embarrassing thing was the constant barrage of camera flashes, freezing these moments in time. Franz was already starting to regret bringing up photographic technology so early.
At this time, the Austrian Empire had a large number of inventors trying to register patents every day, but most of them were insignificant inventions.

Of course, there are also some great inventions, but they are also very troublesome.

Werner von Siemens went to Vienna and registered a new patent for a new technology that could transmit signals in both directions simultaneously, meaning that it could at least double the speed of telegraph transmission at that time.

The French developed a new type of cable that could transmit signals faster, but the problem was that the telegraph transmission business of the Austrian Empire was developing too fast, and now telegraph lines had been laid in major cities.

If new technology is adopted, the existing lines will need to be re-laid, and all of your initial investment will be wasted.

But if Franz doesn't innovate technologically, he will soon be surpassed by other countries.

In fact, Franz could have maintained high profits and eliminated all competitors by relying on monopoly and trade protection.

The problem was that Franz didn't know when the telephone would be invented, and the entire Austrian Empire was in a terrible state of electrical research, with only military and metallurgical industries making decent progress.

In addition, Austrian electrical technology had a great influence on interrogation and torture. Austrian interrogators were obsessed with using electricity to break the will of prisoners, so prisons became major consumers of electricity.

Of course, due to humanity's fear of the unknown, these interrogators achieved remarkable results, leading to the further abuse of electrocution.

Besides being used for interrogation, some people believe that crime is actually a disease, so electric shocks can be used to treat it.

Franz had to stop this abuse of electricity; he was genuinely afraid that these people would unleash some kind of quantum ghost.

Franz ultimately decided to carry out a complete overhaul of the telegraph system.

There were naturally many opponents, after all, the Austrian Empire's telegraph industry at that time occupied almost 85% of the market share from Germany to Italy, and competitors could be wiped out in an instant with just a little effort.

But Franz still decided to spend the money, after all, there are countless examples in history of people missing out on the times because they could make money, such as Britain and France during the Second Industrial Revolution, or the West during the era of electronic payments.

Moreover, Franz's rivals were not only the German princes and Italian city-states within the empire, but also Britain, France, Russia, and the United States, all of whom were competitors of the Austrian Empire.

Of course, he still hoped to modify the original line. After all, it's better not to waste money. Although new gold mines were constantly being discovered, Franz was already feeling the strain as the economy continued to expand.

Werner von Siemens's registration of a patent in Vienna also sends a signal that a Siemens lieutenant loyal to Prussia could indeed become a German or Austrian.

At the same time, a massive amount of technology and inventions were constantly changing the entire Austrian Empire, and the industrial output of the Austrian Empire was breaking records at an unprecedented rate.

At the same time, the diffusion of technology is inevitable.

Britain and France mastered the technology of electrolytic aluminum almost simultaneously, causing aluminum prices to plummet. Although the Austrian Empire could still reap huge profits from its early advantage in electricity, Franz knew very well that these good days were coming to an end.

Once Britain and France also master generator technology, the profit margins of the aluminum industry will be drastically reduced. Moreover, lured by the enormous profits, Britain and France will inevitably invest heavily in research on generator technology in the foreseeable future.