Novels online

Chapter 1464: Krupp's Soaring Rise

What the Queen of Prussia had not expected was that after she brought the grand blueprint for the development of the steel industry back to the City Palace, several reformist ministers remained incredibly cautious.

Left with no choice, Louise arranged a meeting between Baron Stein and Baron Trudaine, hoping her lover could persuade the hesitant statesman.

On a snowy afternoon, inside a villa on the western edge of Potsdam, the Governor of Essen reclined lazily on a sofa. He gestured for a servant to bring hot coffee and candied fruits to his distinguished guest.

Baron Stein exchanged brief pleasantries before quickly cutting to the chase. "Governor, I must be frank. For an expansion of this magnitude, I must first ensure a stable and sufficient supply of coal.

"As you know, the previous incident with the Hibbert Coking Plant has forced me to be much more prudent."

Baron Trudaine gestured toward the coffee on the table. "Please, have a taste.

"This is my business now, and I have no intention of taking unnecessary risks with it."

"But if something happens that even you cannot handle—oh, I do not doubt your capabilities, but unexpected events are everywhere."

Baron Trudaine calmly recited the script prepared by the Prince Regent. "If you are worried about accidents, then an insurance company is undoubtedly your best option.

"We will still establish several companies registered in France, located in cities like Cologne and Paderborn. Yes, the model is the same as the Hibbert Coking Plant, but these will be more dispersed.

"Then, these companies will sign contracts with the Anzin Coal Company and the Carmaux Coal Company, and an insurance company will underwrite those contracts. The insurance terms can specify that as long as the contract cannot be fulfilled, regardless of the reason, the insurance company must pay out the claim.

"Of course, the premiums might be slightly expensive, but if an accident does occur, Prussia's steel mills will receive at least tens of millions of francs in compensation. Both the Anzin and Carmaux companies are French enterprises that own the primary coal mines in the Westphalia region."

Baron Stein recalled that French insurance companies did indeed offer a type of policy called "Commercial Contract Insurance," which had seemingly appeared late last year. Given the financial strength of French insurance firms, paying out tens of millions of francs should be well within their means.

Furthermore, those shell companies responsible for transferring the coal would certainly be owned by the Industrial Reform Committee, meaning the insurance payouts would be funneled directly back into the country. Such a massive sum would be more than enough to keep Prussian steel mills running until a new source of coal could be found.

Even in the worst-case scenario where cheap coal remained unavailable, the money would be sufficient to recoup the capital invested in building the factories. Prussia would effectively suffer no loss.

At this thought, he couldn't help but nod slowly. "That is indeed a sound approach."

Baron Trudaine added with a smile, "If you are still uneasy, we can invite foreign journalists to report on the signing of these insurance contracts. That way, unless the French insurance companies wish to destroy their own reputations, they will certainly honor the claims as agreed."

"I did not expect you to consider everything so thoroughly."

The Prussian Chancellor could no longer see any flaws in the plan. He offered Trudaine several rounds of heavy flattery before turning to the next issue. "The coal supply is now guaranteed, but if we expand the scale of the steel mills as rapidly as Her Majesty the Queen requires, we may soon face the problem of having no market for our products."

Baron Trudaine waved his hand dismissively. "You must have confidence.

"In the short term, we certainly cannot compete with French goods in South Germany, but here in North Germany, we can leverage our proximity to capture a significant portion of the market.

"Furthermore, our steel mills will soon lead Austria in both cost and technology. When that happens, a vast quantity of steel products will flow from Silesia into Austria, and perhaps even as far as Poland and Russia.

"Currently, every nation in Europe is frantically laying down railways. The market for steel is absolutely larger than you can imagine."

He wasn't bluffing. With French technology and coal from Westphalia, Prussian steel products would inevitably crush those of Austria, to say nothing of Russia.

In history, this was exactly how the Germans built the most advanced industrial base on the European continent, dumping their products into Austria-Hungary.

In truth, Joseph also intended to use Prussia's ambitions to grind the Austrian steel industry into dust.

Baron Stein shifted back into a steady nodding motion.

The Governor of Essen continued to paint a beautiful vision of the future. "Also, I would like to remind you that Prussia's current railway plans are still a bit too conservative. If you can persuade His Majesty the King to double the total mileage of the tracks, it would absorb a massive amount of the steel mills' output."

"As you know, our country's financial situation..."

"And that is exactly where the advantages of issuing banknotes become apparent."

In Brandenburg, in north-central Prussia.

Dressed in men's clothing, Helene Amalie Krupp stood atop a newly erected wooden scaffold. Looking out over the construction site of the new factory, which was buzzing with activity, she felt a slight sting in her nose.

If her husband were still alive, he would surely be ecstatic over the rapid development of the family business; it was a dream he had never managed to realize in his lifetime. Indeed, after signing procurement contracts with the Prussian government for 350,000 Thalers' worth of iron rails, gun carriages, and axles, the Krupp family had successfully secured a low-interest loan of 200,000 Thalers from the Royal Bank.

Helene, the current head of the Krupp family, had used this money to invest in the construction of two large-scale workshops and began training over five hundred workers ahead of time. Because the funding was so abundant, these two factories would be able to start production in less than half a year.

This meant that by then, the Krupp Cast Iron Foundry would be capable of producing 23,000 tonnes of bar iron and nearly a thousand tonnes of steel annually.

This figure was higher than the entire output of Prussia for the previous year!

In reality, the Krupp Cast Iron Foundry was currently only capable of smelting pig iron to produce things like hoes and iron pots; they couldn't produce high-end goods like iron rails or gun carriages at all.

However, Helene was not worried in the slightest.

Last month, she had signed a secret agreement, trading an 8 percent stake in the family business for advanced French technologies, including coke blast furnaces and refined wrought iron.

The chimney-shaped structure in the distance was the newest type of blast furnace. It was said that the pig iron smelted with this furnace could rival the performance of the steel previously produced in Prussia.

Furthermore, there were advanced technologies for molds and forge-grinding. Over ten days ago, a group of French technicians had arrived in Brandenburg, and they were currently responsible for training the workers.

Indeed, everyone at the Krupp Cast Iron Foundry had begun using French standard units like the "tonne" and "meter."

As for French-produced firebricks, blowers, and steam engines, and even tools like pliers and wrenches, they were piled up everywhere across the construction site.