I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1428 An Unprecedented Factory

Joseph continued to ask:
"How are the preparations going in Basel?"

Berthier immediately replied:

"Your Highness, all the aid from Württemberg arrived in Basel three months ago. Currently, the Basel Parliament has used these supplies to train more than 800 militiamen and to build a defensive line on the north side of the Jura Mountains."

After expelling the "Committee of Seven," Freno and other "Stuttgart faction" members of parliament—whose core proposition was for Basel to join the Stuttgart Trade Agreement—joined the Basel Chamber of Commerce and several noble families to reconvene parliament, announce legislation to secede from the Swiss Confederation, and form a militia for self-defense.

"As for Augsburg," the Chief of the General Staff said, his tone clearly showing dissatisfaction, "although the mercenaries were assembled as planned, they have been unable to send out suitable officers."

Joseph gave a soft snort:
“Tell the Augsburg council that if they hesitate, they can simply withdraw.”

Augsburg, having been a vassal state of Austria for centuries, naturally harbored some fear of its overlord.

Berthier glanced at Lavalette.

The security chief quickly added:
"Your Highness, as a backup plan, we have found a retired captain named Clement Pellegrini in Montpellier."

"He served under General Massena and participated in several battles in Switzerland. He was quite capable. If he hadn't been injured and retired, he would probably be a major now."

Joseph frowned:
"His pension should be enough for his retirement."

Lavallet explained:
“Indeed, Your Highness. He bought a vineyard in his hometown. He simply doesn’t like a mundane life and wants to achieve something he can be proud of to his children.”

Joseph's expression softened. Withholding soldiers' pensions had always been the thing he hated most—it was tantamount to embezzling the lives of his Bourbon family.

He then instructed Berthier:
"We also need to prepare contingency plans in advance to prevent the Basel team from collapsing quickly."

"Yes, Your Highness. In fact, a 'paving team' from Württemberg has already set off for the southern border."

"Very good. The publicity efforts also need to keep up..."

As dusk approached, the senators finally ended their "farewell" and got out of their cars to return to Versailles.

Since no railways had been built in the provinces west of Paris, the Crown Prince's entourage could only travel slowly by horse-drawn carriage.

It took us seven or eight days to get past Cherbourg—we were still nearly a third of the way to Brest.

Queen Mary, having just heard her son recount the spoilers for the final installment of "Puss in Boots," looked wearily out the window:

"What a wonderful story, darling, I have no idea how you came up with such interesting stories..."

"To be honest, I haven't been sleeping well these past few days."

Joseph hurriedly asked with concern:
"Why? Was the journey too bumpy?"

“No, not at all,” Queen Mary waved her hand. “It’s just that I’m used to the clanging and banging in the royal workshops, and now that it’s suddenly so quiet, I feel a little uneasy.”

The Petit Trianon is a kilometer away from the royal workshops, and you can rarely hear any sounds from there unless the forging machines are in use.

Joseph knew that the novelty of her going out had worn off, and she was starting to miss her father.

This is understandable, though, as she married into Versailles before she was 15 and had almost never left her father since, developing a strong psychological dependence on him.

Just then, I heard Emmanu knocking lightly on the carriage beside me.

Joseph opened the car window and saw Emmanuel riding a white Gallic horse, bowing towards them and saying:

"Your Highness, we just received a message from Brest that strong winds have been blowing in the Brittany Sea since yesterday, and it is estimated that they will not stop for at least a week."

"The Marquis Hector and Mr. Vauclere both suggested that the maiden voyage ceremony of the 'Final Battle' be postponed until the beginning of next month."

“Then let’s do as they suggest,” Joseph nodded. One was the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, and the other the Director of the Brest Shipyard; their expertise was beyond question. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Joseph closed the car window and turned to see his mother's worried face. He then thought about how to distract her.

He suddenly remembered the report he had read a few days ago about the successful expansion of the Saint-Malou cannery, so he smiled and looked at his mother and said:
"As you can see, it's not possible to go to Brest for the time being."

"But if you really miss the clanging and banging of the machines, we can take this opportunity to visit a place. I guarantee it's much more 'lively' than the Royal Workshop."

When Queen Mary heard the word "lively," she immediately thought of a ball. She leaned back from the armrest and asked:

"Where exactly are you talking about?"

"Saint-Malou Coast Cannery".

"A cannery?" Queen Mary's interest vanished instantly. "The place where canned goods are produced?"

Although she had never eaten canned food at Versailles, she had seen it a few times.

Joseph smiled and said:

"Believe me, that's definitely not an ordinary factory."

As he spoke, he rolled down the car window again and gestured to Emmanuel, who was traveling in the car with him:
"Please instruct everyone to turn towards Saint Malou."

noon the next day.

As the motorcade turned from the King's Road into the hills south of St. Malou, Queen Mary indeed heard a clanging sound of metal clashing.

But her attention was completely elsewhere; instead, her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the massive complex of buildings below the hills—

The gray-black factory buildings lay haphazardly beside the harbor, but they were not royal workshops at all; they were larger than the entire Palace of Versailles!
Numerous chimneys stand on the east and west sides of the factory, with thick smoke billowing into the sky.

From another factory building further away, steam railcars—or trains, too far to see clearly—would occasionally speed by, puffing out white smoke. Soon, cranes would begin unloading boxes from the carriages.

Next to the dock to the north, there were several "coal mountains" piled up, taller than all the factory buildings, which were probably the fuel needed by these factories.

Countless workers moved back and forth in the factory buildings, making the place resemble a giant anthill, busy yet extremely orderly.

The cannery workers only received news of the Crown Prince's impending arrival this morning and were caught off guard with little preparation. Upon seeing the convoy, General Manager Delat immediately signaled for music to be played, and he led over a hundred factory workers, along with local officials, to greet them.

Queen Mary, dressed as a guard, stood beside Joseph and asked in a low voice:

"Such a large factory, is it just used to make canned goods?"

Joseph nodded:
“Yes, Mother. This factory can process all the cod caught along the entire coast of Amor into canned goods!”

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(End of this chapter)