I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 991: French Industrial Development Plan II
As early as when France first took control of the Rhineland, Mirabeau began to formulate a coal and iron mining plan here according to the requirements of the Crown Prince, and several versions have been revised to date.

He immediately bowed and said:

"Your Highness, the Cologne coal mine has completed its share offering, and the supporting cleaning, crushing, and transportation equipment have also been purchased in advance. Production will be possible within a month or two.

“However, the coal mines in Aachen and the iron ore mines in the Hunsrück Mountains have not received sufficient investment and cannot be mined in the short term.

“This is especially true for iron ore. Because most domestic investors choose to open iron ore plants in Wallonia or Luxembourg, the iron ore mines in the Palatinate have only attracted 22% of the investment so far.”

Joseph couldn't help but frown slightly.

He had expected that there might be insufficient investment. After all, it was a large coal and iron mine on the edge of the Ruhr area, second only to Westphalia in size, and the amount of capital required for mining was very huge. But only one-fifth of the investment was attracted, which was really too little.

Mirabeau explained:
“Your Highness, our country has already put into production a large number of coal and iron mines in Wallonia and Alsace-Lorraine, which has led to the current low coal and iron prices. Investors are generally not optimistic about the profitability of coal and iron mines in the Rhineland.”

Joseph nodded.

It seems that although the Italian and southern German markets have been integrated, the coal and iron production in Wallonia and Alsace-Lorraine alone has basically saturated the consumer market before the railways, a major iron consumer, came online.

This is even the case when the two areas mentioned above are not fully exploited.

But he knew better that once a breakthrough was made in high-power steam engines, trains would soon be developed. By then, the whole world would be building trains and laying rails, and you would be able to consume all the coal and iron production.

According to the research and development progress of the French Union Steam Engine Company, steam engines with more than 100 horsepower will only be available in the next two years.

If we hastily expand coal and iron production capacity by then, it will not only slow down the progress of railway construction, but the cost will also be much higher than it is now - in the era of trains, all coal and iron-related tools, equipment and even talents will inevitably increase in price significantly.

The best strategy is undoubtedly to invest in building a factory now and carry out small-scale production, so that you can immediately increase production capacity when necessary.

Therefore, the current problem is how to solve the saturation of coal and iron markets.

Joseph recalled the relevant cases in later generations and said slowly:
“Then we try to increase demand.

"It is possible to plan several new iron bridges over the Seine and Loire."

Infrastructure has always been the best means to stimulate production at the national level.

Steel bridges were still cutting-edge technology in this era, but more than ten years ago, the United Kingdom had successfully built an iron bridge across the Severn River, thus proving the feasibility of the project.

The iron bridge has much better traffic performance and load-bearing capacity than the traditional wooden bridge, and the construction speed is much faster than the stone bridge. It belongs to the technology tree that must be lit up.

It is a good opportunity to build a number of iron bridges while the price of iron is relatively low, and to familiarize oneself with engineering technology at the same time.

In addition, the steel bridge looks very impressive and is likely to become a new landmark building. These are all things that can enhance France's soft power.

Mirabeau hurriedly wrote it down in his notebook, and then asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, what is the cost of building these bridges?"

"The French Reserve Bank will lend a small amount to start the project, and then raise funds from where the bridge is located." Joseph immediately came up with a very mature infrastructure plan in later generations, "and then repay it with the bridge fees."

As long as the location of the bridge is chosen appropriately, people will definitely be willing to pay a small fee to cross the bridge, which is at least much less than the cost of taking a boat.

Mirabeau and Brian looked at each other and nodded slightly. The model the Dauphin described seemed simple, but it was very feasible. Both of them were very impressed.

However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had so many strange ideas before that they were already used to it, and soon turned their attention back to the Crown Prince. Joseph thought about it and continued:

"The steam engine market in Italy is also very large. We can follow the domestic model and cooperate with Italian banks to provide loans to Italian rural areas to purchase water pumps.

“Even farm tools can be purchased with loans. The quality of plows and hoes produced in Lorraine is much better than that of local Italian products, so the demand should be high.

"Oh, and coal. The hard coal produced in the Rhineland can be used as fuel for daily heating and sold domestically."

The so-called hard coal is anthracite.

Because there are no anthracite mines in France, people use firewood for daily heating and cooking.

In the past, Britain's coal industry was the best in Europe, largely because they had anthracite, which ordinary people consumed in large quantities in their daily lives, thus forming a positive cycle of production and sales.

Now that France has also obtained a source of anthracite, it will certainly also guide its domestic people to consume coal.

When it comes to burning coal for heating and cooking, Joseph immediately thought of another "magic weapon" - honeycomb coal.

He made a sketch on a piece of paper and showed it to Mirabeau:

“The coal is crushed, mixed with water and clay, and then pressed into this shape.

"After drying, it becomes 'honeycomb coal', which is very suitable for home heating. A bread oven can also be placed on top to bake bread, which is very convenient.

“Oh, this kind of coal also requires a special furnace.

"I will give you the design of the furnace later. The ironworks can start casting directly, and their sales will increase significantly."

Mirabeau nodded in confusion.

He hadn't realized what a great invention that thing the Dauphin had drawn was.

Due to the convenience and ease of use of honeycomb coal stoves, they will soon become popular across the country, thus setting off a consumption boom.

Joseph put down his pen, feeling that there was no other way to expand the demand for coal and iron. Then he thought that although the market demand was so small, he could still find ways to seize the market space of his competitors.

In terms of coal and iron production, the biggest competitor is naturally Britain.

To be precise, Britain is currently the largest producer of coal and iron. At least until the production capacity of Wallonia and the Rhineland is increased, France will not be able to shake Britain's coal and iron dominance.

Then, we can only surpass British products in terms of price and quality.

The quality of coal cannot be changed, but the quality of steel can.

Joseph had learned at the ironworks before that the current mainstream steelmaking technology is still the crucible steelmaking invented by the British, with the most added "stirring method".

Perhaps, the technicians in the ironworks can try to make steel using a converter.

Although Joseph only remembered the general principle of converter steelmaking, there are so many iron and steel mills in France now, so he would definitely be able to find technicians who could implement this technology.

(End of this chapter)