I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1305 Artifact
Although Prussia has now formally returned Poznan and Gdansk, which it had previously occupied, to Poland, this grudge is not so easily resolved.

The emcee on stage continued to receive small balls from Prince Charles, then opened them and announced: "The second group..."

"The third group..."

"Northwest Europe Division, Group 1 – Braunschweig, Hesse, Bavaria, Thuringia!"
"Group Two – Netherlands, Flemish, Oldenburg, Cologne..."

Yes, this seemingly random grouping was actually orchestrated by Joseph through some "backstage" intervention, with the main goal of ensuring that each group was full of interesting moments.

Either the two countries are sworn enemies, or it's a Catholic vs. Protestant conflict, or they just recently fought a fierce battle on the battlefield.

When Joseph and his entourage returned to Versailles after the lottery ceremony, it was not yet 6 p.m.

As Joseph stepped down from the carriage, he saw his father's attendant hurrying over, bowing and saying, "Your Highness, His Majesty the King is waiting for you."

“I’ll go right away.” Joseph nodded and started walking toward the main gate of Versailles.

The king's attendant quickly stopped him, saying, "Your Highness, His Majesty is at the Engineering Design Institute."

"Oh well."

Joseph turned his head again, but did not get into the carriage—there was a wooden track about a hundred meters west of the Marble Courtyard, where a small cart pulled by a steam winch could go directly to the design institute. This was for the King's exclusive use.

Well, the fact that the engineering design institute was located only two kilometers away from the royal palace was a unique feature of France in this era.

Joseph guessed what was going on and asked expectantly, "Has there been a breakthrough in steam forging?"

The king's attendant paused for a moment, then bowed and said, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, but His Majesty forbade me from telling you."

Okay. Joseph felt relieved; it seemed there was indeed progress on the steam forging machine.

Sure enough, when he arrived at the engineering design institute, Louis XVI eagerly led him into a workshop, pointed to a machine that was covered with tarpaulin and was as tall as three people, and excitedly said, "My dear Joseph, I have the best gift in the world to give you!"

Joseph quickly feigned surprise: "What is that, Father? I'm so excited!"

Louis XVI gestured to the technicians beside him, and several people immediately stepped forward and pulled back the tarpaulin, revealing the steel "beast" that gleamed with a black luster.

Louis XVI, showing no signs of social anxiety, pulled his son aside and exclaimed, "Look! It has a 7.2-ton steel forging hammer, controlled by two hydraulic rods, capable of striking 70 times per minute with an accuracy exceeding 0.8 centimeters!"

This time, Joseph wasn't just flattering his father; he genuinely said from the bottom of his heart, "You are truly great! This is what I, and France, need most right now!"

Louis XVI continued excitedly, "I'm glad you like it. Oh, and most importantly, its stability is no longer a concern. Extensive previous testing has proven that it can operate continuously for 40 hours without malfunctioning once."

He glanced at a high-precision milling machine in the corner: "It's all thanks to this 'gentleman's' excellent skills that the parts were processed exactly as I envisioned. Otherwise, this forging machine wouldn't be so reliable."

He suddenly remembered something and somewhat awkwardly gestured to the dozen or so technicians standing on the west side of the workshop: "Ah, of course, Mr. Noire and his colleagues also made outstanding contributions. Without them, there would be no forging machine."

Without hesitation, Joseph told the technicians, "I will have Mr. Cano award you double the bonus and the 'Medal of Merit for Service.'" Louis XVI then rubbed his hands together enthusiastically and said, "Let me demonstrate how this machine works. By the way, what would you like to forge? How about an anchor for a battleship?"

Joseph smiled and said, "Perhaps we can try forging a section of rail."

"Huh? Just the railway tracks?"

“Yes, the railway tracks.” Joseph nodded firmly.

He was well aware that the most important significance of the steam forging machine at present was that it was a magical tool for producing railway tracks!

The most advanced rail manufacturing process of that era was to use a water-powered forging machine to forge red-hot iron billets into strips, which were then finely processed by blacksmiths using hammers—because the precision of the water-powered forging machine was far from sufficient, the tolerances had to be handled by craftsmen.

Moreover, since hydraulic forging machines must be built near water and cannot be too close to the ironworks, the iron billets will inevitably have cooled down by the time they arrive at the forging workshop. Therefore, they need to be heated to a red-hot state again before forging can begin.

These problems do not exist in the face of steam forging machines.

First, steam forging machines have very high precision and can directly forge qualified rails without the need for secondary manual processing.

Secondly, the steam forging machine can be built right next to the crucible in the ironworks. Iron ingots produced here can be immediately loaded onto the forging machine, eliminating the need for a secondary heating step.

Furthermore, since there is no need for long-distance transportation, it does not even need to be cast into iron ingots, but can be directly cast into long strips, which greatly increases production efficiency.

In addition, the hammering speed of the steam forging machine is several times higher than that of the water forging machine, which increases the speed of rail production by more than four times!
Not to mention that hydraulic forging machines will simply "go on strike" during the dry season, while steam forging machines can produce continuously 24 hours a day.

With this revolutionary technology, the time and cost of laying railways in France will be significantly reduced. It will be difficult for them not to monopolize the European railway business now.

The forging workshop resounded loudly until late at night, but the King and his son of France were still enjoying themselves. A large pile of rails, as well as machined parts such as bearings, frames, and pistons, had been placed at their feet.

The next morning.

Joseph walked out of the engineering design institute's dormitory—where he had spent the night the previous night. His father was said to often stay there too—and saw the institute's director, Mr. Cano, waiting for him at the door with three officials.

After the men had bowed, Joseph asked, "What brings you here?"

Kano hurriedly handed over a document: "Your Highness, this is the reward plan for the members of the 'Steam Forging Machine Project Team,' which includes each person's different contributions. Please take a look."

Joseph glanced at the plan, smiled and nodded: "You've done a great job. Oh, is there anything else? Let's talk about it in the workshop."

He knew that Cano wouldn't have come so early in the morning just for something like this.

“Yes, Your Highness, there are indeed some issues.” The dean followed behind the crown prince, looking troubled. “As you know, the entire engineering design institute is facing a severe shortage of funds, except for the steam forging machine project.”

(End of this chapter)