I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1094 Strong alliance
Joseph nodded slightly as Philip spoke.

This is similar to the difference between using a kitchen knife and a craft knife when cutting paper. No matter how careful you are with the former, the paper will inevitably have burrs, while the latter can easily produce a smooth cut.

He immediately turned to Jacques Lenoir: "What is that hard material you discovered? Oh, and do you also own a laboratory?"

The latter waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, Your Highness, I am just a technician at the Namur Royal Ironworks, working in Mr. Vendall's laboratory."

"During an alloy steel experiment, due to the introduction of impurities, specifically trace amounts of silicon, I noticed that the resulting scrap was extremely hard, which reminded me of Philip's milling machine. In fact, he was using a patent license from the Royal Ironworks."

Joseph nodded with satisfaction. He had invested a great deal of energy and money in technological research and development, and had also made great efforts to attract foreign talent; now he was finally reaping the rewards.

An unexpected breakthrough in the materials laboratory led to the development of high-precision milling machines.

The latter, in turn, will significantly boost the power of steam engines.

Then the steam engine would drive everything, completely igniting the French Industrial Revolution!
Just now, at an equipment bidding conference, two milling machines that are among the most advanced in Europe emerged.

This is enough to show that France's high-tech research and development has entered a fast track.

The next step is to quickly transform the technology into national strength.

Philippe Lenoir cautiously inquired, "Mr. Depardieu, did my equipment win the bid?"

"I'm sorry, I can't reveal it yet, but your chances are very high..."

Joseph looked at the two brothers who were almost unable to contain themselves, and felt a little sorry for the previous "five-axis linkage machine tool", but its precision was indeed too poor.

Wait a minute. He suddenly realized something. The Lenoir brothers' milling machines were designed with a lot of clever tricks in mind, mainly relying on the advantages of materials to achieve high precision.

However, the "five-axis linkage" has an extremely ingenious design.

If you combine the advantages of both, it would be a monster in the industrial processing field!

Joseph thought for a moment and said to Philippe Lenoir, "Yes, you did win the bid. Only you met the accuracy requirements."

He made a downward pressing gesture, signaling the two brothers to calm down: "Now, I'm giving you two choices."

"First, we proceeded with normal mass production according to the bidding process and supplied goods to the United Steam Engine Company."

"Secondly, it's about the designer of that previous milling machine..."

Depardieu quickly whispered a reminder: "It's Whitney, Your Highness. Eli Whitney."

Joseph nodded: "Join Royal Precision Equipment Company along with Mr. Whitney."

The Lenoir brothers exchanged glances: "Royal Precision Equipment Company?"

"I don't think I've heard of this before..."

“Because it’s still in the planning stages,” Joseph said with a smile.

Half an hour later, in the conference hall of the Nancy industrial development zone, Joseph said to the Lenoir brothers and Whitney, "That's roughly it. The French Engineering Design Institute and the Industrial Development Fund will also invest, and there will be plenty of follow-up funding."

"In the future, the company's products will be used for far more than just processing steam engine parts; they will play a significant role in the production of textile machinery, carriages, ships, and firearms and cannons. Orders from the Royal Ordnance Factory alone will exceed 30 francs annually."

Philippe Lenoir's heart was pounding in his throat with excitement.

His Highness the Crown Prince just mentioned that the newly established Royal Precision Equipment Company will have an investment exceeding 180 million francs. After the Lenoir family's small factory is incorporated into the company, he will receive a 15% stake.

In other words, his factory, which was worth 7 francs, would immediately become worth nearly 30!
At the same time, Bryce Steel will be merged into the new company, bringing with it a complete steel smelting and equipment production capacity, with a production scale dozens of times larger than his family's small factory.

In retrospect, his decision to risk his entire fortune on precision milling machines was absolutely the right one!
Joseph looked at the designers from both sides: "I will have the Ministry of Industry send people to handle the merger. You can use the United Steam Engine Company's laboratory to begin the design work on the new milling machine as soon as possible."

The group bowed in unison and said, "We will obey your orders, Your Highness."

Whitney then cautiously asked, "Your Highness, um, I'm still a 'temporary talent,' so what do you think..."

Joseph turned to Emmanuel and said, "Please write a letter to the Talent Committee to upgrade Mr. Whitney to a Class D talent."

Whitney was overjoyed: "Thank you so much!"

Joseph smiled and said, "By the way, I guarantee that your cotton gin will be protected by French patent law."

He only realized it after Depardieu mentioned that Whitney had also invented the cotton gin. Wasn't that the one known as the "Father of American Technology"?
Historically, Whitney made significant inventions such as the cotton gin, the horizontal crankshaft milling machine, and the industrial standardization production model, making irreplaceable contributions to the industrialization of the United States.

For such outstanding individuals, providing them with some policy incentives is absolutely necessary.

Whitney was so excited she was almost crying, constantly swearing that she would get the new milling machine out as quickly as possible.

By 4 p.m., Joseph had roughly finished arranging things for the Royal Precision Equipment Company—the specific preparatory work would naturally be handled by the Industrial Development Fund and the Ministry of Industry.

He glanced at his pocket watch and was about to go back to the coal yard when a local official rushed over and handed Emmanu a standard document for the Shapu signal tower.

Because it was an unencrypted file, the latter read it directly, and then whispered to Joseph, "Your Highness, the Russian Tsar died ten days ago."

Joseph frowned. He had repeatedly asked people to remind Catherine II to drink less alcohol, eat less fatty meat, and exercise more, but her lifespan hadn't increased much. It seemed she hadn't listened.

Joseph knew that with Ye Er's passing, no one would be able to suppress the various interest groups in Russia, and a large number of internal problems in Russia would soon surface.

In particular, his successor, Paul I, was a complete idiot—cough, I'm sorry I shouldn't say that about my father-in-law—but he did indeed make a mess of domestic affairs, military affairs, and diplomacy, which further exacerbated the chaos in Russia.

His biggest concern now is when Paul I will withdraw his troops from the invasion of Persia. That would allow Britain to extricate itself from its predicament in the Middle East.

Joseph immediately instructed Emmanuel: "We shall return to Paris at once."

"Yes, Your Highness."

a few days later.

As soon as Joseph returned to Versailles, Alexandra came out to greet him with her maids and curtsied to him.

The little girl looked very haggard, clearly the news of her grandmother's death had been a great blow to her.

(End of this chapter)