I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 978: Dazzling Birthday Gifts

After the church's blessing ceremony in the morning, Paris entered a festive state.

The sound of music was deafening everywhere. People put on makeup and wore all kinds of exaggerated and gorgeous costumes. They gathered around carriages wrapped in large amounts of flowers and ribbons, dancing slowly as they passed through the streets.

People on both sides of the road shouted, "May God bless our king."

"Long live His Majesty the King!"

"Praise the 'Savior of Suffering'!"

The development of France in recent years has been obvious to all. Although everyone knows that most of the credit goes to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they also strongly support His Majesty the King.

Of course, on the other hand, people have some extra money and are willing to seize the opportunity to have some fun.

Well, the Labor Protection and Safety Law stipulates that all factories across the country must be closed on the King’s birthday.

A large number of celebratory teams gradually gathered towards the Palace of Versailles, where various performances are held every year, including traditional sword-fighting competitions and singing and dancing competitions among nobles. Not only are they very interesting to watch, but you can also bet on the winners and losers in each game, which is the highlight of the King’s birthday celebrations.

Another highlight is of course the national lottery. The prize amount was raised to 4 francs the year before last, and the winner, a dyeing factory worker, later bought the factory where he worked and became the boss.

Of course, the new districts from the old town of Paris to the Palace of Versailles are filled with all kinds of delicious food, which is also very attractive to people.

A skewer of tornado potato tarts for 1 sou, a glass of beet apple juice for 2 sou, and a grilled fish for 2 sou are all so delicious that you can’t stop eating them.

Another difference between this year's birthday celebration and previous years is that thousands of nobles from various Italian countries came to Paris to attend the event, mainly to make themselves known to the French royal family.
Oh, this does not include the delegations sent by Modena and Parma, the two "relatives", otherwise we would have to add 300 people.

Today's protagonist, Louis XVI, was also quite satisfied with the celebration arrangements.

In the past, on his birthday he had to spend the entire day dealing with envoys from various countries, attending several banquets, and giving a speech in front of the public every time.

Now that everyone is busy partying, he has a lot more free time.

In the VIP seats of the fencing competition stands on the Square of Versailles Palace, Louis XVI looked at the birthday present given to him by the Dauphin and simply couldn't let it go.

That is Leonardo da Vinci's original design of the robot.

His Majesty the King is already thinking about whether it can be made. It is said that this thing can raise its hands and shake its head as long as you blow wind on it. It is very flexible.

Louis XVI was fiddling with Leonardo da Vinci's manuscript when he suddenly thought of something. He leaned over to his son's ear and said, "My dear lion, when can you give me the design of the new gun you mentioned before?"

After Joseph defeated the Duke of Brunswick in Luxembourg, Louis XVI began to call him the Lion. Although Joseph felt awkward, he accepted it because his father was happy.

Joseph patted his forehead and smiled helplessly: "You see, I really don't have much free time, so I haven't finished the painting yet..."

Well, actually he was so busy that he forgot.

Louis XVI was a little disappointed, but still curiously asked: "Then you can always tell me what kind of gun it is?"

The two types of firearms he designed are now the main equipment of the French army and played an unparalleled role in the war against the anti-French alliance. So much so that he is now recognized as the chief firearms master in Europe.

"Of course." Joseph nodded, "I call it a revolver - it uses a revolving mechanism to load 6 rounds of bullets at a time.

“After firing once, you can fire again by simply moving the cylinder with your thumb and pulling the bolt.

"I've estimated that a skilled gunman can fire six rounds in three seconds." He was talking about the famous Colt Walker revolver, the world's first practical muzzle-loading revolver, which was widely used by the US military half a century later.

In fact, after France was able to produce fulminate of mercury flash hiders, the prerequisite technology for this type of gun was basically developed.

However, the structure of this thing was too complicated, and Joseph had only seen the cross-section diagram a few times in his previous life, which resulted in him never being able to draw it accurately.

Louis XVI was as excited as a child seeing a new toy, and asked hurriedly: "Tell me quickly, what kind of ingenious design can achieve such a high rate of fire!"

Joseph asked the guards behind him for his short-barreled percussion cap rifle, pointed at the middle of the gun and said to his father:
“The general principle is to hollow out a piece of this place.

"Another wheel is installed here. There are six circular holes on the wheel, in which gunpowder and projectiles can be loaded, and the percussion cap is installed at the back.

"Then turn the wheel to align the next round hole with the barrel and continue loading ammunition until it is full.

"When launching..."

Louis XVI's eyes lit up, and he said first: "When firing, it is just the opposite. After firing a bullet, aim the next round hole with gunpowder at the barrel.

“Oh my God, this is a miraculous invention!

"Joseph, my lion, you must have received a revelation from God!"

Joseph nodded, thinking that since you are stealing my lines, I don't have to act mysterious.

Louis XVI rubbed his hands excitedly: "You must draw the design as soon as possible. No, you go to the royal workshop tonight and we will make a wooden model directly..."

Joseph smiled and shook his head: "Dear father, I actually have another wonderful idea, maybe you will like it."

Louis XVI did not expect there would be another surprise, and hurriedly asked: "What is that? God, tell me quickly!"

"Steam forge."

Unexpectedly, after hearing these words, Louis XVI shook his head in disappointment and said, "Let's continue talking about the revolver."

The hydraulic forging machine in Europe has been used for more than 300 years. In his opinion, it is just replacing the water wheel with a steam engine at most, nothing new.

Seeing that he was not very interested, Joseph immediately added: "The steam forging machine I'm talking about can generate an impact force of more than 10 tons."

Louis XVI still had no reaction. The giant hydraulic forging machine could barely reach this level.

Joseph continued: "It can forge more than 30 times per minute."

His Majesty's eyes widened instantly. A 10-ton hydraulic forging machine can strike once every two minutes, and that's only when the water is turbulent.

Joseph said: "And the impact force can be adjusted between 100 kilograms and 10 tons. The error is no more than 1 centimeter."

Louis XVI could no longer remain calm and exclaimed: "How is this possible?!"

Yes, this is the miracle brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

In fact, Joseph was being conservative. A mature forging machine can adjust the output between 10 kilograms and 10 tons, and the accuracy can reach the millimeter level.

(End of this chapter)