Chapter 1355: Light of Technology
The French official standing by the drilling machine gestured with a smile towards a middle-aged man in the crowd. "First, allow me to correct a point: the name of this machine is the 'Multi-functional Integrated Lathe'."
"Secondly, if I may be so bold as to ask, where are you from?"
The middle-aged man hastily replied, "Munich, I am a Munich native."
The French official immediately pointed with an elegant gesture towards a row of tables on the north side. "Bavaria has a patent agreement with our country. Therefore, you only need to register and pay a deposit at the service desk over there to secure a production slot for the new equipment. Oh, the patent for this machine belongs to the Namur Royal Mechanical Equipment Company."
The middle-aged man was overjoyed. Just as he was about to turn around, he suddenly paused. "Uhm, excuse me, how much does this 'multi-functional thingamajig' cost per unit?"
"That depends on the configuration you choose, roughly between 20,000 and 40,000 francs."
Hearing that figure, the middle-aged man was instantly elated. Throwing out a quick "Thank you very much," he rushed towards the service desk.
Yes, the price was significantly lower than he had expected, especially since the attached steam engine alone would cost six to seven thousand francs. And from the demonstration, he could tell that the machining precision of this machine was two orders of magnitude higher than existing equipment.
In other words, parts produced by the machine could be used directly, without needing craftsmen to manually polish them afterwards, as was previously the case.
Coupled with the machine's astonishing processing efficiency, the workshop's output would undoubtedly increase significantly, perhaps recouping the cost within two years.
Spurred by his enthusiasm, several other factory owners involved in mechanical processing immediately decided to purchase a unit; after all, the price was quite favorable.
This was Joseph's marketing strategy—the company made less than 2,000 francs profit on each lathe sold, practically giving them away for free.
But once the machines were operational, drill bits, cutting tools, bearings, and even lubricants would all need to be continuously purchased from the Royal Mechanical Equipment Company; that was where the real money was made.
If the equipment encountered any malfunction—there was no concept of warranty back then—simply replacing a few parts could cost thousands of francs.
Count Erlach, wide-eyed, watched the factory owners furiously buying machines worth at least 20,000 francs as if snatching up discounted bread, feeling a momentary sense of unreality.
It wasn't until Dorian urged him on that he continued moving forward.
The French exhibition area was truly immense, roughly three times the size of the previous largest, the Genoa section—the latter's exhibit even featured a real ship.
Rounding the lathes, Count Erlach was blocked by two massive metal tanks.
A French official, pointing to the black liquid flowing from a glass tube at the bottom of the left tank, announced in a loud voice, "...After coal is dry distilled, the gas is piped to illuminate the city's gas lamps.
"The resulting coal tar is collected here. After filtration and pre-heating, it is then pumped under pressure into a fractional distillation column.
"Of course, what you see now is just a scaled-down model; a real fractional distillation column is seven or eight times taller than this.
"...And after a series of alkalization, washing, and reduction reactions, we can obtain large quantities of phenol for daily disinfection...
"Now, the Paris Gas Industry Company has also adopted the 'integrated processing method,' directly continuing processing after the coal tar treatment equipment to directly produce 'Mystery Black'.
"That's right, the price of black clothing has become increasingly affordable over the past two years, thanks to the improvements in this technology."
The so-called 'Mystery Black' was actually Aniline Black. To make it harder for the British to imitate, its chemically structured name was never publicly revealed.
Compared to traditional dyes extracted from plants and minerals, industrially mass-produced Aniline Black cost only about 20% of the original price and was more resistant to fading, immediately monopolizing the black dye market upon its introduction.
Currently, aniline purple was still being synthesized in the laboratory. If industrial preparation was completed, the profits would be more than ten times higher than for black!
And it wasn't just about profit; the entire textile industry's landscape would undergo massive changes as a result. Currently, purple dye could only be extracted in small quantities from madder root, making it the most expensive color of the era, madly sought after by all nobles.
The French official continued, "The pipeline on this side leads to another processing unit for the integrated method, where coal tar 'impurities' will be refined into an 'anti-moth agent'."
He was referring to 'naphthalene,' which was now widely used as a leather preservative, capable of extending leather life and providing excellent moth-proofing.
"And over here, we have synthetic fragrances..."
Count Erlach didn't understand any of it; he only knew that these things were incredibly advanced.
He continued his dazed stroll and saw a gigantic steam-powered rail crane—operated by just three workers, it effortlessly moved a boulder weighing at least tens of thousands of pounds.
Next were medical devices shrouded in mystery, some of which were said to instantly fill the dying with strength, others could help doctors prevent major hemorrhages during surgery, and there were means to entirely ward off smallpox...
'Hmm,' he thought. 'They were, in fact, syringes, hemostatic forceps, and vaccination tools.'
After he bought Dorian a hat costing over 700 francs and a folding fan priced at more than a thousand francs at the 'Paris Angel' luxury goods stand, the sky had gradually darkened.
Crisp bell chimes echoed around the exhibition area, as servants, carrying long lighting poles, lit up the gas lamps one by one.
Karlsruhe did not yet have gas streetlights installed; this gas was supplied from storage tanks.
The center of the entire exhibition area now concentrated the most lights, drawing everyone's attention.
Count Erlach also pulled Dorian and squeezed into the crowd, just as several servants were pulling back a huge canvas, gradually revealing the gleaming black metal leviathan beneath.
"It's a train!" someone recognized the object.
"I rode it in Paris during the World Cup! It felt like riding a dragon at full gallop!"
"They say this thing can transport over two thousand people at once, I wonder if it's true..."
"Absolutely true, I rode a train with over two thousand people last time..."
Count Erlach wasn't unfamiliar with trains. After all, the Bern Parliament had been planning to build a railway, and he had read many related news reports.
A band nearby struck up an impassioned tune, and a French official declared in a resonant voice, "Look everyone, this is the greatest invention in history, the magic of steel and coal—the train!
"It is destined to change our world!"
After he provided detailed information about railways and trains, it was already dinnertime.
Just as Count Erlach was starting to feel bored and was about to head to dinner with Dorian, the Frenchman's voice suddenly rose:
"So that everyone can enjoy this magnificent invention, and allow trains to carry people across the world, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has made the most selfless decision—to publicly release all technologies related to railway construction, and train manufacturing and operation, to all member states that have signed the Iberian-Apennine Common Market Agreement or the Stuttgart Trade Agreement!"
Including Count Erlach, the thousands of people around them seemed as if enchanted, falling silent instantly.
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