I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1353 Technology Output

As the American spoke, the steam engine behind him had already heated the boiler, causing the cotton gin to slowly turn.

Two technicians poured large bundles of seed cotton, which are freshly picked cotton balls, into the feed hopper. Inside the machine, two rows of high-speed rotating comb-like metal teeth hooked the cotton fibers and sifted them through a narrow mesh into the drying chamber at the rear.

Because cotton seeds are relatively large, most of them are filtered out by the comb teeth. The few that slip through the mesh cannot pass through the sieve, so what enters the drying box is almost pure cotton fiber.

The hot air discharged from the steam engine is directed into the drying chamber to "blow" the cotton wadding dry.

When the technician opened the drying box, what was taken out were clumps of ginned cotton that had been deseed.

The whole process took less than ten minutes!
Count Elach was astonished by the efficient production process. It's important to understand that cottonseed is a major enemy of spinning; if cottonseed were removed manually, it would require seventy or eighty people to process such a large quantity of cotton.

He couldn't help but exclaim to Dorian, "This machine is amazing, it's like magic!"

His heavily accented German immediately drew a disdainful sidelong glance from the Italian next to him.

The latter muttered to his companion in French, "Making a fuss over something like this, what a country bumpkin..."

Count Elach, being a nobleman, naturally understood some French. He immediately blushed and was about to protest when he heard another Italian say, "Yes, they only stole Baron Whitney's patent."

"It is said that Baron Whitney has invented a new cotton gin that uses something called 'centrifugal separation technology,' which is more than twice as efficient as this machine, and the cotton produced can be directly fed into the spinning machine."

"Now, he has licensed the new machines to two companies in the Louisiana colony, leading many American farms to choose to ship their seed cotton to New Orleans for processing."

Well, with the excellent research environment of the French Academy of Sciences, Whitney just casually tinkered with things in between developing high-precision milling machines and invented a new generation of cotton gins.

Currently, this machine brings him 20,000 to 30,000 francs in licensing revenue each year, while the two companies in Louisiana earn millions in processing fees from American farmers.

Upon hearing this, Count Elach was stunned, feeling as if he were truly a country bumpkin who had never even seen an outdated machine.

He tugged at his mistress, pretended nothing had happened, and turned to leave the American exhibition area.

Ahead was the Parma booth. Count Elach felt a little relieved. After all, Parma was a traditional agricultural country, mainly producing wheat and cheese. There shouldn't be anything here that could make him feel inadequate.

However, as soon as he stepped over the fence of the Parma exhibition area, he could faintly hear the roar of steam engines again.

Dorian pointed to the huge, slowly rotating "iron plate" in the center of the exhibition area and asked curiously, "Darling, what is that doing?"

"Ahem..." Count Elach had no idea and coughed awkwardly, considering whether he should run away.

Fortunately, an explanation from a Parma official nearby solved his problem: "Everyone, please look, this is the world's most advanced cheese production technology! It's a patent from the Palace of Versailles!"

Yes, it's actually Joseph's patent licensing—in order to help his sister improve Parma's economy, he had some gadgets designed for her based on later models. However, he stipulated that Parma must not disclose the patent holder's information.

A Parma official pointed to a huge iron jar: "This is the mixing vat."

"Using the technical authorization from the French Brewing Technology Association, our milk can be easily kept fresh for a month."

"Dairy farmers from all over the country transport their harvest to the factory, where coagulants, baking powder, salt and seasonings are added and the mixture is stirred by a steam engine."

"It only takes 30 minutes to mix several tons of milk evenly."

Count Elach's eyes widened again.

Bern also has a dairy industry, so he knew very well that churning was the most labor-intensive and time-consuming step in cheese making—usually, a horse could only churn less than 300 pounds of milk in half a day. This machine, running for half an hour, was equivalent to the work of more than a dozen horses!
He sighed inwardly, thinking that if he hadn't decided never to return to Switzerland, he would have definitely suggested that the parliament buy a few of these machines; otherwise, it wouldn't be long before the Swiss were all eating Parmesan cheese.

However, Parma officials continued to "attack" him: "Look, that 'disc' in the back is the press, which can process 4 tons of curdled milk per hour."

During the cheese-making process, whey needs to be extracted to obtain a firm solid texture and reduce water content, which allows for long-term preservation.

This is also an extremely labor-intensive process.

Count Elach was already somewhat numb; if this cheese-producing machine ran continuously, it might produce more cheese than most of Bern combined.

He instinctively walked forward, while several other Parma officials were introducing another, even larger machine: "This latest sausage-making machine not only produces sausages at an extremely fast speed, but it can also produce one and a half kilograms of sausages from one kilogram of meat!"

Count Elah immediately stopped in his tracks.

How can this be? !
Normally, it's considered lucky if one pound of meat can produce half a pound of sausage, but this machine can actually make more meat!

He hurriedly followed behind the Parma players, watching them put pieces of raw pork into the grinder. In less than ten minutes, fine minced meat was being fed into the mixing tank via the conveyor belt.

Then someone poured bags of white powder, which appeared to be flour, along with seasonings and spices, into the mixing bucket.

Then, the mixing tank began to rotate.

Parma officials explained, "Here, the heat is generated using steam engines, and the temperature is precisely controlled by instruments, making it better than the work of even the best sausage makers."

"Of course, this process will take a long time."

"So we prepared a finished product display for everyone over there."

Count Elach looked at the long table on the west side, on which were dozens of sausages, about the thickness of carrots, wrapped in thick oil paper and tied with rope at both ends.

A man dressed as a chef peeled off the oil paper in front of everyone, then used a knife to slice the pinkish-white sausage inside into thin slices, smiling as he gestured for everyone to taste it.

Count Elah ordered his servant to bring him a plate, picked up a piece with his fork, and put it in his mouth to chew.

It's not the traditional sausage flavor; it's moderately salty, has a rich meaty aroma, and a tender texture.

Dorian nodded repeatedly: "This tastes better than Mr. Seinster's cooking."

Seinster owns the most famous sausage shop in their town.

Someone nearby asked a Parma official, "Excuse me, why does this machine make more meat?"

The latter gave a mysterious smile: "I'm sorry, sir, this involves a series of patent restrictions that I cannot disclose. Oh, patents from the Palace of Versailles."

Count Elach marveled to himself, "France is indeed the most advanced and powerful country in Europe. It's incredible that they could invent such an amazing technology!"

Little did he know, the French crown prince was simply teaching the people of Parma how to make starch sausages, and that was the secret to making more meat.

However, since people's palates in this era have not yet been spoiled by all kinds of delicacies, as long as starch sausages are seasoned properly, they are definitely more satisfying than sausages with excessive salt.

(End of this chapter)