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Chapter 160: The Irresponsible Head of the Gunpowder Bureau

Chapter 160: The Irresponsible Head of the Gunpowder Bureau

Thinking about standardizing units of measurement, Joseph couldn't help but feel a bit wistful.

The French Academy of Sciences, at the suggestion of several leading academics, had long planned to establish a "Standardization Committee" to unify measurement standards. Indeed, the French scientific community was highly progressive, marking the earliest initiative for measurement standards in all of Europe.

However, hampered by the abysmal efficiency of the current bureaucracy, the Academy's funding application took several years to even be discussed, and the Standardization Committee ultimately came to a halt.

Historically, this matter was only implemented after the Great Revolution, with the support of the National Convention.

The efforts of the French Standardization Committee also propelled the development of the international metric system and paved the way for French industrialization.

But for now, the "Standardization Committee" was still just an idea. Joseph knew he would have to intervene personally, otherwise, standardized units of measurement might not appear for another decade or two.

'This cursed French bureaucracy,' Joseph shook his head inwardly. 'Once I have the chance, I must reform the civil service as quickly as possible!'

It wasn't until dinner time that Joseph finally managed to give the two armory managers a rough grasp of the concept of "standardized production."

Standardized production, in later generations, would be common knowledge, with even rural workshops adhering to such norms. Yet, in the late 18th century, it was an extremely advanced concept, and it was indeed not easy for the two managers to grasp.

Adding to their learning burden, Joseph also interspersed his explanations with business management techniques.

Joseph himself was utterly exhausted at this point, even drinking a large glass of water to soothe the discomfort in his throat from overexertion. The thought of continuing tomorrow brought on a wave of exasperation.

At this rate, it would take at least half a month to cover all the knowledge on standardized production.

'I've expended so much effort, yet only trained Garman and Martiniel. Isn't the return on investment a bit too low?'

'If I'm going to 'lecture' anyway, why not teach more people at once?'

He then realized that he could perhaps directly start a course on "Industrial Enterprise Management," which would certainly be more efficient than teaching them one by one.

So, who would be the first instructors?

As Joseph thought about enterprise management, Vergniaud's image immediately came to mind. Vergniaud had previously completed the potato promotion, reported back to him, and then stayed in Paris to enjoy Fashion Week. He hadn't returned to Bordeaux yet.

Vergniaud himself was an entrepreneur, managing a plantation, adept at public speaking, and possessed high enthusiasm for work, making him very suitable for disseminating advanced industrial management concepts.

Even his Girondin friends would be quite suitable for this task.

Initially, he could have them teach factory executives in the industrial development zones, and later, a course could be opened at the University of Paris specifically to train professional managers.

This would be far more scientific than traditional family-style management.

Perhaps France's industrial technology and production capabilities couldn't yet surpass Britain in the short term, but in terms of management, it could definitely achieve an early lead!

And optimizing management models often yielded greater improvements in production efficiency than new technologies.

With this thought, Joseph summoned Eman and instructed, "Please send someone to fetch Mr. Vergniaud tomorrow, the one who helped me promote potatoes in Bordeaux."

"Certainly, Your Royal Highness. I am quite impressed by Mr. Vergniaud."

"Oh, right, and his friend, Gensonné, I believe. Have him come along as well."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness."

Joseph was about to conclude the teaching session and return to Versailles for dinner when he suddenly noticed the armory manager recording the quality inspection requirements he had just discussed: all firearms must undergo at least five live-fire tests before leaving the factory.

He immediately thought of the production progress for the copper percussion caps, which were to be paired with the percussion cap muskets. He then turned to Martiniel and asked, "Mr. Martiniel, do you know the production status of the copper percussion caps?"

The latter promptly replied, "Your Royal Highness, I inquired at the Royal Gunpowder Bureau the day before yesterday. They said it would take about three or four months to prototype the first batch of mercury fulminate, before the copper percussion caps could be delivered."

The Royal Gunpowder Bureau was France's specialized department responsible for researching and producing gunpowder. Naturally, the production of explosive materials like mercury fulminate was entrusted to them.

"Three or four months? That slow?" Joseph heard this and instantly furrowed his brow.

Martiniel said, "They seemed to say they had attempted to prototype it several times, but all had failed."

"Alright, I understand." Joseph sighed helplessly. 'Mercury fulminate was a technology the British had perfected a decade ago. I had even introduced the Royal Gunpowder Bureau to the synthesis method for mercury fulminate, and they still couldn't manage it?'

The next midday.

In the Crown Prince's reception room at Versailles, the assistant director and production manager of the French Royal Gunpowder Bureau stood awkwardly before Joseph, their faces drawn, continuously explaining.

"Your Royal Highness, you did indeed tell us the synthesis method, but... the precise raw material ratios, processes, and so on, still needed to be slowly figured out."

The lean production manager nodded repeatedly. "That's right, Your Royal Highness. Experiments with such potent explosives required extreme caution. We even discovered that highly toxic gases were produced during the prototyping process. Fortunately, no one was injured."

Joseph, too, felt a measure of helplessness. He only knew that mercury fulminate was obtained by reacting mercury with nitric acid, requiring crystallization and cooling in between, but he had never personally made it. In his previous life, manufacturing explosives was a serious crime, punishable by three years to an indefinite sentence.

He just hadn't expected that, mobilizing the entire Gunpowder Bureau's research and development capabilities, they still yielded no progress after a month.

For anything else, he could simply buy the technology from the British, but they wouldn't sell technology related to military matters like mercury fulminate.

His face grave, Joseph looked at the executives of the Gunpowder Bureau. "Even so, it shouldn't take three or four months just to prototype it, should it?"

The assistant director carefully replied, "Your Royal Highness, if our director were here, it would probably take a maximum of one month."

"You see, he used to oversee all experiments for new explosives. However, he took an extended leave at the beginning of the year, so..."

'He took leave at the beginning of the year?' Joseph frowned. 'It's nearly April already! This director is truly quite relaxed. Does he not want to work anymore?'

He demanded coldly, "Who is your director? Tell him to come see me at once!"

The production manager mumbled quietly, "It's, it's Mr. Lavoisier..."

"Please wait, I'll go fetch him now."

"Wait!" Joseph hurried raised a hand to stop him upon hearing the name. "Are you saying, Mr. Lavoisier? Lavoisier, the one who discovered oxygen?"

The two executives exchanged a glance and nodded. "Your Royal Highness, our director indeed discovered oxygen."

"He also wrote 'Elements of Chemistry' and other great works."