I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 926 Development Plan
Historically, the industrial revolution in France started not much later than that in Britain, but its development progress always lagged behind Britain by nearly 20 years, and was even caught up and surpassed by Germany.

This was certainly due to the destructive impact of the Great Revolution on social production, but the core factor was France's lack of coal and iron ore, especially after the Alsace-Lorraine region was occupied by Germany.

The development of Alsace-Lorraine is now on the right track, but the main resource here is iron. Although there are coal mines, the veins are very scattered and the mining cost is relatively high.

The Cologne Coal Mine became the second largest coalfield in Germany in later generations.

The coal seams are shallow and very easy to mine, and after mining they can be directly loaded onto ships and transported along the Rhine.

The overall mining-transportation costs are ridiculously low.

Although a small amount of coal is currently mined in Cologne, the output is almost negligible because the industrial revolution has not yet begun in Germany.

If large-scale mining of the coal resources here begins, it is conceivable that Cologne's economic level will inevitably increase rapidly.

Although the coal mines in the Palatinate region are small in scale, they are also easy to mine and are closer to France. After development, they will also be able to significantly boost the local economy.

There are also rich salt mines and potash mines here, which are very valuable.

Therefore, Joseph wanted to completely integrate the Rhineland into France as a national strategy.

One is that France’s “natural borders” require the stability of the Rhineland.

The second is that there are extremely rich resources here.

Once the Wallonia-Rhineland-Lorraine industrial system is formed, France will have the richest coal and iron resources in Europe.

Coupled with the various advanced technologies and concepts he brought, France is bound to win in the competition of the European Industrial Revolution!

Archbishop Brian thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, then we can follow the Luxembourg model, with the Industrial Development Fund and local capital forming a joint venture, buying local coal mines, and building wooden tracks on a large scale. Then we can lead domestic factory owners to build factories and mine there?"

He is now familiar with the routine of developing mineral resources. After all, the Crown Prince has demonstrated it to him repeatedly in Wallonia and Luxembourg.

Joseph shook his head slightly: "The Rhineland is too large. If it relies entirely on investment from the Industrial Development Fund, it may lead to a shortage of domestic funds."

The scale of the Cologne coal mine alone is larger than the entire France and Wallonia combined. The scale of investment in the entire Rhineland can be imagined.

Of course, after Austria surrendered, war reparations could solve part of the funding problem, but it was still far from enough.

Therefore, it depends on the continuous development of the local economy and the continuous injection of mineral mining to form a spiral upward model.

Brian was stunned: "Your Highness, what should we do now?"

Joseph had a plan for this and said immediately: "The ownership of the coal mine must be purchased first. The coal mines in the Rhineland are currently all wasteland and the price is very cheap.

"But there's no rush to start mining for the time being. Wallonia still has just enough coal for the time being.

"The Rhineland can give priority to the development of industries such as potash mines, salt mines, basalt, and limestone."

These industries are closely related to people’s livelihood. More importantly, they have little to do with the Industrial Revolution, so they can be quickly monetized and improve the local economic level.

Among them, salt mines need not be mentioned. They are daily necessities, and salt taxes in various countries are the backbone of fiscal revenue.

The northwestern Palatinate has the fourth largest salt mine in Europe, second only to the mines in Russia and eastern Poland, and its purity is very high. Mining it casually can be exchanged for a large number of gold coins.

Basalt and limestone are important building materials. The Eifel volcanic belt from Cologne to Koblenz is rich in these materials. Whether it is urban construction or factory construction, these building materials are indispensable.

As for potash mines, they are Joseph's development focus.

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the three core elements of chemical fertilizers, and potash mines are the largest source of potash fertilizers, without a doubt.

In the past, France's chemical industry had not been developed, and there were no large potash mines, so even if Joseph had the intention, he did not have the resources.

But now both of these obstacles have disappeared.

Driven by the demand for coal tar, France's chemical industry has surpassed Britain and is now the leader in Europe. And judging by the development of British gas street lamps, France's advantage in this area will continue to expand.

The Palatinate also has the largest potash mine in central and western Europe. After the 19th century, it supplied more than half of Europe's potash fertilizer needs.

As long as there is a supply of cheap fertilizer, food production in the Rhineland could be greatly increased.

On the one hand, this can reduce the living pressure of the lower-class people here, and on the other hand, it can feed more people and thus attract more French people to immigrate here.

Currently, the Rhineland region has a population of more than 200 million. If it can attract 100 million French-speaking people to settle here, it will become an inseparable part of France.

Moreover, with the potash production in the Palatinate, the Rhineland region cannot digest it all, so a large amount can be shipped to mainland France.

France's agricultural reform has been going on for several years, with grain production increasing by at least 5% every year.

If potash fertilizers can be widely used, this growth momentum will surely continue for a long time.

Joseph knew very well that for the vast majority of ordinary people, the improvement in their quality of life brought about by the Industrial Revolution was mainly reflected in the fertilizer industry.

According to his plan, the "stone fertilizer" shipped from North Africa, that is, phosphate ore, will be industrially purified in the future. This will increase its fertility several times and reduce transportation costs.

The potash and phosphate ores can then be further processed to produce potassium dihydrogen phosphate.

Anyone who has farming experience knows that this thing is one of the souls of fertilizers in later generations.

The other major element is of course urea. However, the production of nitrogen fertilizer is too difficult, as it requires the preparation of ammonia, which is unlikely to be produced in a short period of time.

But potassium dihydrogen phosphate only requires some basic chemical equipment for large-scale production - just the raw materials and Lavoisier.

Moreover, the process of producing fertilizers can in turn promote the development of the chemical industry.

After all, with such a large industry scale, there will be tens of thousands of technicians employed in the industry.

As long as a few talented people emerge here, they might be able to develop the industrial manufacturing technology of ammonia in advance.

By then, France will have all five cornerstones of the modern chemical industry - three acids and two bases.

Later on, technology trees such as synthetic dyes, vulcanized rubber, and synthetic medicines will be able to be unlocked.

Until picric acid and nitroglycerin appear, no one will be able to shake France's advantage in the military field!
And it all starts with potash fertilizer production in the Rhineland.

(End of this chapter)