Chapter 576: True Sugar-Coated Cannonball
"Your Royal Highness, it is undeniable that sugar beet processing is indeed a very novel technology."
Mathurin Jacques Brisson, a judge for the Supreme Louis Prize in Biomedical Sciences and a renowned French biologist, weighed his words. "However, it is also a useless technology."
Next to him, another judge, Guillaume Bosquet, added softly, "It might even be harmful."
"Yes, even harmful," Brisson nodded, continuing, "In fact, two years ago, when I was in Bavaria studying birds, I heard about Mr. Achard's technique. Using this method to extract sugar from beets, one franc's worth can yield about 1.2 pounds, whereas sugarcane from the Caribbean Region can produce 1.9 pounds. Oh, and this is after what Mr. Achard calls 'large-scale' production; initial costs would be even higher. In other words, producing sugar from beets only leads to financial losses. Furthermore, our sugarcane plantations in Saint-Domingue generate tens of millions of francs in profit annually. If sugar beet production were to impact sales there, it would be detrimental to the national finances."
Joseph nodded slightly, knowing that these biologists were correct. However, he looked at them and said, "Gentlemen, if France and Britain go to war, and the British Navy cuts off trade routes in the Caribbean Sea, even if Saint-Domingue produces vast amounts of sugar, it cannot be transported to Europe for sale. In such a scenario, how much would we have to pay for sugar?"
Brisson and the others were instantly taken aback. While the French dependence on sugar was far less severe than the British, sugar remained a very important daily commodity for people, with nearly a fifth of dietary calories coming from white sugar. Therefore, if sugar from Saint-Domingue could not be shipped, France would have no choice but to purchase high-priced sugar from Britain.
What Joseph did not tell them was that historically, Napoleon had been forced to promote sugar beet production at a loss due to the British naval blockade. Although he eventually managed to alleviate the sugar shortage on the European continent, he also lost a considerable amount of money in the process.
Of course, Joseph would never repeat Emperor Napoleon's old path, especially with his mind filled with 21st-century knowledge.
"But, Your Highness," Bosquet stammered, "we are not at war with Britain..."
"Oh, yes, Your Highness," Le Roy, the second president of the talent committee, eagerly replied. "He and several Bavarian scholars are staying at the Old Eden Inn. I will go and fetch him immediately."
Joseph nodded, then turned to Eman. "Have President Le Roy use my carriage."
His emphasis on Achard was only partly driven by the need to counter a potential British naval blockade. Sugar beet production was also a potent weapon that could deliver a devastating blow to the British economy. If managed properly, it could even generate significant profits.
It was well known that Britain was currently the world's largest producer and consumer of sugar.
People knew the British loved tea, but in reality, it was more accurate to say they loved sugared water. They would generally refuse to drink tea without a substantial amount of sugar in it.
British industrial workers endured extremely demanding labor, so sweetened beverages—including tea, coffee, and cocoa—became their sole pleasure in life. These drinks also had stimulating effects, helping them cope with their arduous work.
As for the British aristocracy, they had elevated tea-drinking into a ritual.
Moreover, the British were notoriously bad at cooking, so their chefs would also add copious amounts of sugar to their food to make it palatable.
Consequently, British society as a whole was heavily reliant on sugar, spending a staggering 100 million francs on sugar annually!
It could be said that whoever controlled the sugar industry effectively held Britain's economic lifeline in their hands.
Unfortunately, in this era, the sugar industry was largely controlled by Britain.
The British produced and consumed their own sugar; the more they consumed domestically, the more profit they made. They also exported vast quantities of sugar to Europe, America, and Central Asia, making it a crucial pillar of their economy.
Currently, global sugarcane cultivation was mostly concentrated on islands in the Caribbean Sea. Apart from Saint-Domingue, which was under French control, most of these islands were occupied by Britain—there was simply no competing with the powerful British Navy, which held an unrivaled advantage in controlling islands.
Furthermore, the Portuguese colony of Brazil also produced abundant sugarcane, but Portugal was practically in lockstep with Britain, making it part of the British sugar industry system.
At the time, there were hundreds of sugar refineries in London, producing over eighty percent of Europe's sugar products.
Achard's appearance offered Joseph an opportunity to carve out an opening in Britain's sugar hegemony.
Achard, who had been strolling along the Champs-Élysées, remained in a daze until he entered the Tuileries Palace.
His mind still utterly blank, he then entered a room, made his bows, and sat on a sofa at the Crown Prince's enthusiastic invitation.
"So, you possess the complete production process for refining white sugar from sugar beets?" Joseph asked, smiling at him.
"Y-yes, Your Highness," Achard nodded eagerly, speaking in broken French. "This was actually invented by my teacher, Dr. Marggraf, and I have further refined it. Oh, in fact, my primary work has been cultivating a sugar beet variety with a higher sugar content."
Joseph immediately asked, "What sugar content have you achieved with your beets?"
At this, Achard's tension immediately dissipated, and he declared proudly, "It has exceeded eight percent, Your Highness."
Joseph praised him outwardly, but frowned inwardly.
'No wonder Emperor Napoleon lost money promoting sugar beet production; that sugar content is indeed quite low.'
He recalled that sugar beets in later generations had a sugar content of around 20%. Therefore, to truly compete with sugarcane from the Caribbean Sea, these sugar beets would need further improvement.
He looked at Achard and asked, "How long do you believe it would take to cultivate sugar beets with a 12% sugar content?"
The latter was silent for a few seconds, then adopted a determined look. "Your Highness, if you require it, I will stake my life to cultivate such sugar beets within twenty years!"
Chapter 576: Sorry, Mr. Mendel"Twenty years?!"Joseph's face instantly darkened. Twenty years from now, France and Britain would have already settled their struggle. What good would sugar beets be then?He immediately held up three fingers.Achard waved his hand, stating earnestly, "Your Highness, I'm confident it really won't take thirty years to...""No, three years," Joseph pressed, fixing him with a stare. "I'll give you three years, and all the support you need, to produce new sugar beet varieties for me!""This..." Achard looked troubled. "Your Highness, perhaps you're not entirely familiar with breeding techniques. It requires extensive trials and takes an extremely long time. Even if you provide me with twenty-five acres of experimental land and ample funding, three years is absolutely not enough."As he spoke, he looked imploringly at Brisson, the renowned biologist beside him.Brisson nodded, clearing his throat lightly. "Your Highness, even if Monsieur Achard is exceptionally lucky and produces high-yield sugar beet seedlings in the very first year, it would still take at least eight to ten generations of cultivation, perhaps even more, to stabilize their superior traits. During this time, there's always a chance of traits being lost, which would mean starting over from scratch."Therefore, I believe twenty years is indeed a rather reasonable estimate.""Wait," Joseph said, a touch surprised. "Are you saying it takes ten generations of breeding to stabilize traits?""That is correct, Your Highness.""No, you group seedlings with different traits, record the hereditary characteristics of the parent generation after cross-breeding, estimate the potential genetic combinations for the offspring, then cultivate them separately, observe their traits, and continue cross-breeding. Even considering recessive genes, you'd know if you've obtained the desired hereditary characteristics in at most two or three generations..."As Joseph spoke, he noticed the biologists' expressions change, as if they'd just been hit on the head with a rock.A pang tightened his chest. 'Damn it, Mendel hasn't even been born yet, and the theory of hybrid inheritance is nowhere to be found. No wonder they find cultivating new varieties so difficult.'Seeing him pause, Brisson quickly probed, "Your Highness, what is this 'inheritance' you just spoke of?"Achard had listened more closely, and had more questions."And 'hereditary factors,' 'recessive genes'—what do those mean?"Joseph took a deep breath, looked up at the sky, and made the sign of the cross over his chest, launching into his practiced "performance":"Thanks be to God for His revelation. All this is inspiration bestowed by the Lord."Once Achard and the others also made the sign of the cross, he continued, "The so-called 'inheritance' is when both parents blend their characteristics and pass them on to their offspring. Conversely, all traits possessed by the offspring must originate from their parents."Achard lowered his head and processed this for a moment, then immediately raised an objection: "Your Highness, but white sugar beets and yellow sugar beets can produce red offspring...""Precisely, and this is where the issue of 'recessive genes' comes in."Joseph picked up a pen and paper, had the three biologists gather around him, and began to recall his middle school biology lessons, silently apologizing to Mr. Mendel in his heart."This represents a hereditary factor, which should actually be called a chromosome. However, that's more complicated to explain, so let's just stick to hereditary factors for now."All living organisms receive half of their hereditary factors from each parent, and any trait an organism displays is determined by these hereditary factors."Some hereditary traits contradict each other. For example..."He pointed to Eman, who stood nearby. "Whether a person has double eyelids or single eyelids—they cannot have both."When both parents each give them half a single eyelid factor, they will certainly have single eyelids. The opposite is true for double eyelids."But if one parent gives half a single factor, and the other gives half a double factor, then it depends on which is the dominant gene and which is the recessive gene."I'll give you the answer directly: double eyelids are a dominant gene. So, in the situation I described, the child will definitely have double eyelids. This is because the dominant trait expresses itself, while the recessive trait does not."He scanned the bewildered and suspicious faces before him, then patiently started explaining the fundamental concepts of biological inheritance again. He continued until nightfall, finally returning to the topic of dominant and recessive genes.Achard, being the youngest, had a stronger ability to accept new ideas. He suddenly clapped his hands, exclaiming excitedly,"I understand, Your Highness! So, red is a recessive gene in sugar beets, and it's masked by the white or yellow genes."If white and yellow sugar beets carry half of the red gene, and during cross-breeding they happen to pass the red gene to their offspring, then red sugar beets will grow! And this also explains why the probability of red sugar beets appearing is the lowest!""You've understood perfectly."At this, both Brisson and Bosque dismissed their doubts. They began to apply the Crown Prince's theories to past dilemmas in their minds, finding that many previously unexplainable phenomena now had clear explanations.It was highly probable that this knowledge of "genes" and "recessive traits" was not merely the Crown Prince's fanciful speculation!Achard continued to extrapolate: "So, when I need yellow traits, I can't just cross two yellow sugar beets, because they might carry recessive genes. According to probability, I'd have to group the offspring into... Wait, I need to calculate..."He grabbed paper and pen, started scribbling, muttering, "No wonder it was so hard to stabilize traits before; recessive genes were mixed in..."He quickly finished his calculations, looked up at Joseph, his eyes filled with excitement. "Your Highness, with the aid of your theory, perhaps we truly can cultivate a sugar beet variety with 12% sugar content within three years!"Joseph nodded with satisfaction. "It's getting late. Let's go to dinner first. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the 'Law of Segregation' and the 'Law of Independent Assortment,' which might help you even more in breeding new varieties."...A week later.After a full day of intensive genetics study, Achard left the Tuileries Palace, feeling both exhausted and exhilarated.Equally exciting was the news he received that morning: President Le Roy had personally informed him that, following a re-evaluation by the Talent Committee, he would officially be invited, and his talent rating was D-class.It was well-known that for newly recruited talents who had made no prior academic contributions, D-class was essentially the highest possible rating.As he was about to step into the carriage assigned to him by the Talent Committee, he saw his fellow townsman, Auguste G. K. Batsch, jogging towards him, waving."What are you doing here?" he asked, bowing slightly in greeting. "Do you want to ride back with me?"Batsch hesitated for a long while, then finally said with a grimace, "I think you should probably find another hotel.""Did something happen?""Actually, Miss Marianne's brother left you an invitation at the hotel. His sister is getting engaged next week..."
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