Chapter 1465: Crisis in the Holy City
Helene was questioning the construction supervisor about the progress of the factory buildings when she saw a youth of about fourteen or fifteen, dressed in a tight-fitting jacket of coarse black cloth, running toward her. A gentle smile immediately spread across her face.
That was her grandson, Friedrich, a remarkably gifted child. At the age of thirteen, even without instruction, he had worked alongside the technicians on precision forging.
"Grandmother," Friedrich shouted excitedly from a distance, waving his hand. "The bending and forging test results for the latest batch of gray cast iron are absolutely outstanding!"
Helene was genuinely surprised. "Truly? Those Frenchmen have been here for less than ten days."
The boy nodded, panting for breath. "I supervised the tests myself. The bending performance is more than seventy percent better than our old wrought iron bars. According to the French technicians, the phosphorus content in the molten iron at the blast furnace outlet has been reduced by more than half."
Helene's eyes widened. "How did they do it? Did they improve the blast furnace?"
"You know there wasn't enough time for that. In reality, they simply used a new slagging agent. They also mentioned that once our new blast furnace is finished, the quality of the wrought iron bars will improve even further."
Helene suddenly had a thought. "Wait, if the improvement is that significant, we can definitely secure the Dutch order for ship chains!" Half a year ago, representatives from a Dutch shipyard had come to inspect Krupp's products but left unsatisfied with the metal's bending performance.
Now, with the support of French technology, they could certainly try again.
Friedrich nodded and then complained, "If we had collaborated with the French from the start, we would have far more orders than we do now. That British technology we bought at a high price was a complete waste of money!"
While the British technical assistance to Prussia was supposedly free, the Prussian government only distributed that technology to companies with proven capabilities.
Of course, the British provided previous-generation technology, but France was also sharing its own older methods.
However, in the field of steel smelting, because France had an overpowered individual guiding the overall direction, they had gradually developed a generational advantage over the British. Technologies that France had already mastered and put into mature use, such as the hot-blast furnace and alloy steel smelting, were still being fumbled with by the British. Meanwhile, the French Steel Technology Association was currently finalizing converter steelmaking, a move that would serve as a trump card in the industry. Thus, when France's "old" technology entered Prussia, it almost instantly displaced all British smelting techniques.
Accompanying this technology into Prussia were French standardized units of measurement, the Franc, and even their financial system.
A month later, the Krupp Cast Iron Foundry used its high-quality, low-cost products to snatch the ship chain order for the United Shipyards of Amsterdam away from British steel mills.
The shipyard even increased its purchase by another five thousand Dutch guilders for mooring bollards, railings, and other iron products.
At the same time, merchants from surrounding states like Oldenburg and Brunswick heard the news and flocked to the foundry. After confirming the quality of Krupp's products, they all signed contracts.
In the Prussian countryside, recruitment notices for steel mills like Krupp's were causing quite a stir as well.
With a full order book and rapid expansion, these factories offered very attractive terms, typically providing dormitories and a monthly wage of ten Thalers, which was roughly twenty-five Francs.
In Prussia, this was considered a high salary.
Consequently, many serfs who could not afford or were unwilling to pay the high land redemption fees chose to abandon their land—which was permitted under the latest reform decrees—and headed to the factories to make a living.
The sight of numerous newly built factory buildings and the steady stream of workers pouring into the cities created an image of immense prosperity for the Prussian steel industry. This finally convinced many nobles and investors who had been sitting on the sidelines to set aside their reservations. Capital began to flow steadily into the Prussian Iron and Steel Industry Fund.
January 21, 1801.
Taif, located dozens of kilometers east of Mecca in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula.
Rabi, the Sheikh of the Al-Dawasir tribe, turned to look at the vast desert behind him. He spoke to Saud with a hint of trepidation, bowing low. "Great Imam, are we truly going to launch an attack on the Holy City?
"We already provoked the Ottomans when we occupied Karbala. If we continue, it will surely draw the Turkish armies. With our current strength, we are not yet ready to face them..."
"Have you grown cowardly?" Saud bin Abdul-Aziz glanced at him, pointing his riding crop westward with pride. "Driving out the apostates and purifying Islam is the sacred mission of every Wahhabi.
"The Holy City should have always belonged to the Arabs. We cannot tolerate foreign ethnic groups continuing to occupy it.
"As for the Turks, their armies are all in Armenia. If they truly dared to fight a decisive battle with us, they would have come when we attacked Karbala."
Karbala was located in what would later be southwestern Iraq, a very wealthy region under Ottoman rule.
Fueled by religious fervor, the Emirate of Diriyah led by Saud had grown from a minor tribe into the most powerful military force on the Arabian Peninsula, beginning to eat away at the Ottoman Empire's sphere of influence.
Now, he had set his sights directly on the Holy City, a place of immense religious significance.
Several powerful tribal sheikhs around Saud immediately began to shout at the top of their lungs, "Expel the apostates!"
"End the decadent Ottomans!"
"Reclaim the Holy City!"
Rabi was startled for a moment but quickly joined in the chanting.
Three days later.
After the Saudi army slaughtered the Ottomans in Taif, they completely surrounded the city of Mecca.
At the vanguard were nearly two thousand camel cavalry. Behind them were more than five hundred elite Mujahedin horsemen.
On the flanks and in the rear were over ten thousand additional cavalry and infantry from various tribes.
In contrast, the garrison inside Mecca totaled fewer than six hundred men.
When news of the massacre at Taif reached Mecca, the Governor, Sharif Ghalib, abandoned the city and fled with his inner circle without a moment's hesitation. Months ago, he had sent several pleas for help to Kostantiniyye, but the Grand Vizier had shown no intention of sending reinforcements. He had no desire to die there.
The news of Mecca's fall quickly sent shockwaves through all of Kostantiniyye.
Paris.
In a drawing room of the Grand Trianon, Lavalette, the head of the Security Bureau, was delivering a report to Joseph.
"Your Highness, as of last Wednesday, 'Mr. Investor' has received a total of 1.63 million Thalers, with another 500,000 Thalers yet to be cleared." "Mr. Investor" was the Security Bureau's code name for Baron Trudaine.
Joseph looked at the reports in his hand. The various bribes Trudaine had received exceeded a million Thalers, followed by dividends from the Prussian steel mills and fees for the purchase of various equipment and raw materials.
One had to realize that items sold to the Prussians through illicit channels like Trudaine's were priced at least three times higher than they were in France.
Comments