I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1429 Dining Table Upgrade
"Oh, Holy Mary! There are so many!"

Queen Mary instinctively tried to cover her mouth with her fan, but when she raised her hand, she realized she was holding a gun sling, and she was immediately embarrassed.

As the two were talking, a crowd of people surged over to greet them.

Led by the mayor and speaker of the council of Saint Malou, and Manager Delat, more than a hundred people bowed excitedly. However, due to the lack of time for rehearsal, their voices were somewhat disordered: "Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Thank God for sending you to St. Malou..."

"Your brilliance shines upon us..."

Joseph smiled and nodded to the crowd, saying, "I just happened to be passing by, so I came to take a look."

Delat was immediately flattered: "Please allow me to explain, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Oh, as you instructed, the workers are unaware of your arrival and are working as usual."

"Very good, then thank you for your hard work."

Joseph turned to his mother and whispered, "The real shock is inside the factory."

Delat then led the Crown Prince and his entourage on a tour of the warehouse, sorting workshop, cleaning workshop, and slaughtering workshop, finally arriving at the cooking workshop at 3:30 p.m.

In fact, after the expansion, each process previously had four to seven workshops, with the densely packed buildings resembling a small town. The entire factory occupied nearly one-third of the area of ​​Saint Malou.

Delat pointed eagerly to the several large pots in the center of the workshop, each more than a person tall and nearly 2.5 meters in diameter, and said excitedly, "Your Highness, these are the latest type of Parpin pots. They can sterilize fish in just 20 minutes. In fact, I had the technicians test them, and the canned goods produced will not spoil after only 10 minutes of heating."

The "Paping pan" he mentioned is somewhat similar to the pressure cooker of later times, but due to limitations in processing precision and the lack of rubber sealing rings, it can only reach a pressure of less than two standard atmospheres.

But this is enough to significantly improve the cooking efficiency.

Delat continued, "More than 50 tons of cod can be stewed here every day, and then canned in the workshop on the east side."

Joseph nodded and then asked, "How many fish can the fishing boats in Saint Malou catch each day?"

Mayor San Malou, who was standing nearby, quickly came over and said, "Three years ago, it was less than 40 tons, Your Highness."

"Later, with the establishment of the cannery, more and more people came to settle down and fish, and now the amount is close to 70 tons."

Joseph frowned: "So, a lot of fish will be wasted?"

Delat said somewhat nervously, "To be honest, Your Highness, it's like this. But as you know, the factory encountered some trouble the year before last, namely a problem with the solder..."

"Fortunately, someone invented the 'rolled edge sealing method,' which saved the factory. Now we are working hard to increase production, and we estimate that we will be able to process an average of 65 tons of fish per day by next spring."

Joseph knew that the "flux problem" he was referring to was the excessive lead content in the solder used for canning, which had led him to shut down all the tin can factories in the country.

Later, the cannery had to revert to using glass jars, and some small factories couldn't survive and went bankrupt.

Fortunately, at the beginning of this year, a technician from Bavaria finally manufactured a usable tinplate edge-rolling machine, solving the can welding problem. In fact, with the general direction pointed out by Joseph, coupled with France's excellent mechanical precision machining foundation, the solution to this problem was only a matter of time.

For this reason, many coastal cities in France rich in fishery resources, such as Marseille and Calais, and even Tunisia, have begun to build canneries on a large scale.

Fish that were once considered garbage after being caught have now become treasures – for example, the high-quality cod from Saint-Malou can sell for 1 franc per kilogram in Paris.

Sea fish that don't smell bad are high-end items that are only available on the tables of the nobility!
This year, however, a large quantity of 2.7-kilogram canned cod has flooded the Paris market for only 1 franc and 3 sous, and it's already seasoned and cooked, guaranteed to taste no different from cod freshly caught from the sea.

Nowadays, a very popular dish in middle-class Parisian families is pan-fried canned cod, and the broth from the can, when combined with potatoes, artichokes, and tomatoes, makes a delicious soup.

This was before the railway was completed.

Joseph estimates that once the railway connecting Brittany, Calais, and other places to Paris is completed, the price of fish will drop by at least another third.

Meanwhile, cheap beef and pork from Italy and the Rhineland can also be canned, enriching the dining tables of residents in major cities like Paris.

In reality, for ordinary people, being able to eat more and fresher meat is the most direct way to experience a country's strength.

Delat then pointed north: "Your Highness, at the beginning of the year, we purchased three edge-rolling machines, which are located there and can produce 12,000 empty cans per day."

Joseph turned his head following his finger and noticed that most of the metallic clanging sounds in the factory came from there.

He glanced at his mother and gestured to the factory manager, "Let's go take a look at the edge-rolling machine."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

The edge-rolling machine is only a little over 5 meters long and is driven by a light steam engine with only 12 horsepower. Several conveyor belts and robotic arms move back and forth rhythmically.

Dozens of workers carried tin cans filled with fish to the workbench, carefully stacked them at the feed inlet of the edge-rolling machine, and secured them with iron clamps.

As the machine's main shaft rotates, the tin cans are lifted one by one, and a folded disc comes from the other side of the machine and is accurately placed on the mouth of the can—a person will be responsible for watching to ensure that it is aligned.

The sides of the metal cover are first pressed to a 90-degree angle, and then two cleverly designed tilting rollers on the machine press down, circling the metal cover to compact it.

Another wedge-shaped protrusion extends outwards, folding the edge of the cover downwards.

The two rollers then turned another full circle, completely sealing the can lid. Everything was incredibly ingenious and harmonious, like a magic spell cast by mathematics and mechanics.

The workers skillfully removed the cans from the iron clamps and sent them for secondary heating and sterilization.

Joseph picked up a tin can from the delivery cart and shook it to his side: "This is a well-sealed canning container, without using a single bit of lead."

Queen Mary, however, was not listening. Her eyes remained fixed on the edge-rolling machine. At that moment, she suddenly understood why her husband was so obsessed with these steel things.

Anyone who creates such an artistic machine would find something to cherish for a lifetime.

Mayor San Malou then chimed in, trying to get attention: "Your Highness, in order to ensure the factory's production, the city council has decided to reduce the fishing tax by one-third and expand the docks to encourage people to increase their fishing volume."

Attracted by the cannery, the population of Saint Malou has increased by more than 40% since two years ago, and continues to rise.

Now even the woods south of the city have been leveled and used to build a lot of makeshift houses.

(End of this chapter)