Chapter 1065: Sasha Zoo
Before Alexandra could finish her sentence, a machine larger than three carriages combined rumbled past her window.
She then noticed a ten-meter-high wooden tripod attached to the rear of the contraption.
Sticking her head out of the carriage window in surprise, she saw a thick rope dangling from the top of the wooden frame, with a massive stone slab—at least two meters long—hitched to the other end.
Joseph noticed the young girl's fascination with the construction machinery and signaled Eman to bring the carriage to a halt.
About half a minute later, the massive machine let out a low, guttural roar as billowing black smoke erupted from the funnel on its left side.
It was powered by an LJ26H steam engine installed within the chassis.
As the engine's revolutions increased, it drove a winch and a complex series of pulleys. The rope on the wooden tripod began to retract, slowly hoisting the giant stone five meters into the air.
A man wearing a yellow, hemispherical wicker hat blew a sharp whistle. Immediately, twenty or so workers surrounded the machine, putting their shoulders into three long horizontal levers at its base.
With a rhythmic creak of grinding metal and wood, the machine groaned forward several meters, carrying the heavy stone with it.
The rails stretched forward, forming an elegant oval around the foundation of the Arc de Triomphe. On the western side of the tracks, another massive machine was busy hoisting stones.
The man in the yellow hat barked a command, and the steam engine roared once more. The stone at the top of the frame began its descent, settling steadily onto the summit of the rising monument. Several workers immediately swarmed the scaffolding, using crowbars to nudge the block into its precise position.
Alexandra pointed at the machine, turning to Joseph with an excited flush. "Your Highness, what is that thing?"
She had seen manual cranes before, but those were usually fixed to the ground, relying on the grueling labor of serfs straining against ropes to lift heavy loads.
If they needed to move a load to a different spot, the entire wooden structure had to be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere.
Furthermore, manual lifting was agonizingly slow; a stone of that size would typically take ten minutes or more to reach a height of five meters. This machine had accomplished the feat in mere seconds.
Joseph offered an explanation. "That is a steam crane. It is capable of hoisting two tons to a height of twenty meters."
Alexandra's eyes widened with awe. "It is truly miraculous, simply unimaginable!"
"It... it is like a giant, working tirelessly under a magical command to build the Arc de Triomphe."
"Your Highness, who designed this magnificent machine?"
"Three designers from the Engineering Technology Association, and myself."
Before the girl could cry out in further admiration, Joseph quickly added, "In truth, it still has many flaws."
"For instance, the boom cannot rotate, which limits its placement precision to about a meter. And for now, it can only lift objects to twenty meters."
Indeed, after the Arc de Triomphe project began, Joseph had found the efficiency of manual stone lifting to be intolerably low. He had proposed the concept for this simplified crane and handed it over to the Engineering Technology Association for detailed design.
Essentially, the device combined existing manual lifting gear with steam power, mounted on a chassis that moved along iron rails. The design wasn't overly complex; the first prototype had been produced in just over three months.
Even with such a rudimentary design, the overall construction speed of the Arc de Triomphe had more than doubled.
Joseph did not stop there. He had recently allocated another 100,000 Francs for the engineers to continue refining the crane.
This wasn't merely for the Arc de Triomphe, but rather to build a technical foundation for the future excavation of the Suez Canal.
Historically, when France dug the Suez Canal, they had forcibly conscripted over 600,000 Egyptian laborers to save on costs, digging the canal by hand and carrying the earth on their backs.
The result was no savings at all; a total of 450 million Francs was spent, and it took ten full years to barely complete the passage.
Moreover, because the laborers worked high-intensity shifts of over fourteen hours a day, the mortality rate reached a staggering twenty percent, sparking fierce resistance from the Egyptians and unanimous condemnation from the international community.
Toward the end of the excavation, France had been forced to introduce machinery like steam tractors and excavators, which finally saw an uptick in efficiency.
Therefore, Joseph was building his technical reserves now. He had no intention of reliving the nightmare of a 450-million-Franc price tag and a decade-long construction schedule.
Following the steam crane, the next step would be the development of a steam excavator—not the tracked version with a mechanical arm and bucket seen in later centuries, but a simplified device that used a steam engine to drag a massive steel shovel.
Once these construction machines matured, they would also prove invaluable on the battlefield—for raising breastworks or building bastions.
Joseph checked his pocket watch and looked at Alexandra. "If you are interested, I can bring you here specifically to watch another time. But for now, we have a gift to unwrap."
The young girl nodded enthusiastically.
To avoid the judgmental whispers of the arrogant French nobility, she usually stayed confined within the Palace of Versailles, having only accompanied Queen Mary to the theater twice. Consequently, even a construction site like the Arc de Triomphe felt incredibly novel to her.
'Paris is truly full of surprises,' she mused happily to herself.
Accompanied by the rhythmic clinking of stone carvers' chisels, Joseph's carriage continued its journey toward the southern outskirts of Paris.
Half an hour later, the carriage came to a stop once more.
Before Eman could open the door, Alexandra heard a chorus of laughter drifting into the carriage, much of it coming from children.
Joseph took her hand as they stepped out, gesturing toward the view ahead. "This is my gift to you—Sasha Zoo!"
Alexandra looked up and saw flower beds stretching for kilometers, surrounding vibrant, colorful walls. At regular intervals along the wall stood adorable statues of various animals.
Directly ahead was a gate shaped like a castle, topped with colorful onion domes that were strikingly reminiscent of the architecture from her own homeland.
Two clowns were performing energetically on a platform directly above the main gate. Between them hung a massive plaque painted in bright, multi-colored lettering.
The words read: Sasha Zoo.
"Sasha" was the affectionate nickname for her own name.
The girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "This... is this really for me?"
"Of course. All of this belongs to you."
Alexandra's eyes grew misty. She suddenly turned and threw her arms around Joseph's waist, burying her face against his chest. "Thank you so much! This is truly the best gift in the world! I love it so much!"
"It is nothing," Joseph said, gently patting her back before taking her hand to lead her toward the entrance.
"I promise, once you see what is inside, you will love it even more."
Clauzel, dressed as an ordinary minor noble, directed several guards to clear a path through the crowd, allowing the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to pass through.
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