Chapter 713: Win-Win
"Me? Headmistress?" Perna sat upright in surprise, shaking her head vigorously. "No, no, I definitely can't do such important work..."
Joseph smiled faintly. "Be more confident, you're the most suitable candidate. At least in terms of Modern Medicine knowledge, you've surpassed 99% of doctors in France."
Yes, he said "Modern Medicine." Although Perna only received her medical license last year—the Physician's Association had just approved women practicing medicine then—under his long-term tutelage, her medical concepts were even more advanced than her father's.
For instance, she now habitually diagnosed and treated illnesses from the perspectives of bacteria, cells, and immunity.
Handing the Royal Military Medical University over to her was far better than entrusting it to those medical grandmasters still contemplating bloodletting and humor imbalances.
Perna still hesitated. "But I worry... you know, they won't take a young woman's opinion very seriously."
The status of women in this era was indeed quite low. Although she had published some highly significant medical papers, such as "The Significance of Double-blind Experiments for Drug Efficacy," she was, after all, only 19 years old, so it was normal for those below her not to respect her.
Joseph pondered for a moment, then said, "I'll have the General Staff Headquarters assign an assistant to you. Hmm, what about Brigadier General Martinola? I recall he was a military doctor in his youth. He can help you with administrative matters."
Perna's beautiful eyes widened. "A Brigadier General? Is, is that appropriate?"
Lamarck currently held a count title, so it might not seem like a promotion, but Guéret was a major city in La Marche province, and this type of granted peerage far surpassed the "Nobles of the Robe" title he previously purchased.
Of course, under France's current noble system, a granted peerage only signified high status and did not entail actual land ownership.
Perna, deeply moved, linked her arm through the Crown Prince's, saying very earnestly, "Thank you for your trust, Your Royal Highness. I promise I won't disappoint you!"
She knew very well that if she had a father with a granted peerage, the number of people who disrespected her would immediately be cut by more than half.
His Royal Highness was clearly boosting her confidence.
As the two spoke, their carriage had already entered the Palace of Versailles—wooden tracks had been laid directly into the Palace of Versailles square, making the journey from the western suburbs of Paris only 25 minutes.
As Joseph stepped out of the carriage, he saw Count Segur, the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, quickly came forward. He bowed first, then gestured behind him, lowering his voice slightly. "Your Royal Highness, Mr. Radziwiłł, the Special Envoy from Poland, wishes to see you."
He had to be careful. At present, France had not yet declared its stance on Eastern European issues, and any diplomatic action concerning Poland could trigger a chain reaction from other nations.
Joseph nodded, told Perna to return to Versailles first, then gestured for the Special Envoy to follow him to the Royal Armory.
A moment later, in an office on the second floor of the armory, Radziwiłł bowed solemnly to Joseph. "Your Royal Highness, I know my presence here may be ill-timed, but my homeland is currently facing immense difficulties, and only you and the great nation of France can help us."
Joseph had been closely following the war in Eastern Europe. He gestured to a sofa and said, "Please, have a seat. I will do my best to provide assistance to Poland."
"Thank you so much, Your Royal Highness. You are the savior God has sent to Poland, bringing us the light of hope!"
Radziwiłł bowed again, then clasped his hands tightly, looking very hesitant. "The Military Council earnestly requests that you, ah, provide our country with some loans... approximately 5 million Francs."
Joseph was somewhat puzzled. "I recall the Warsaw Armory has enough raw materials until next April. And your food and troop reserves are also quite sufficient, so what are these loans for?"
Radziwiłł hastily replied, "You know, the war has been extremely brutal, and there are a great many wounded soldiers on the front lines."
"This money is mainly for purchasing Medicine, especially Medical Alcohol, which is consumed in truly enormous quantities. Furthermore, military tents, uniforms, and similar items are severely lacking."
Poland had learned advanced battlefield medical techniques from France even before the war began. Technologies like alcohol disinfection, steam sterilization of medical instruments, and drinking boiled water were introduced into the Polish army.
Once the war started, the Poles discovered that France's battlefield medical experience was nothing short of miraculous, reducing the mortality rate of wounded soldiers by more than half.
This achievement was made even with Polish military doctors having incomplete training and hygiene regulations not being fully implemented, yet it had already overjoyed the Polish military.
After that, Medical Alcohol became an essential commodity for the Polish army on the battlefield.
But this item was extremely expensive—the industrial production of alcohol in this era was still immature, so Medical Alcohol and drinking alcohol were produced using essentially the same brewing methods. Achieving a 75% alcohol concentration required repeated distillation, which led to Medical Alcohol being even more expensive than drinking alcohol.
Currently, the Polish army consumes over 950,000 Francs worth of Medical Alcohol each month, all of which needs to be imported from France.
As for tents and uniforms, Poland could produce some itself, but it couldn't keep up with the rate of new recruit enlistment.
Joseph fell into thought.
5 million Francs could be provided at the moment, but offering inter-state loans during wartime would essentially be declaring a stance.
France constantly faced the threat of war with Britain and absolutely could not get entangled in the diplomatic maelstrom of Eastern Europe.
He suddenly remembered a report recently submitted by Lavoisier—the Paris Gas Industry Company had completed the research and development of technology for extracting Phenol from coal tar, but the Phenol currently produced wasn't pure enough for large-scale sales.
And Phenol was the epoch-making disinfectant that sparked the 19th-century medical revolution.
Since it was extracted from waste material like Coal Tar, its cost was extremely low, almost negligible compared to expensive Medical Alcohol.
'Given Poland's current situation, they definitely wouldn't care about the purity of the Phenol—just a bit of odor and impurities; if it could disinfect, it could save the lives of wounded soldiers.'
And after the Paris Gas Industry Company secured such a large order for Phenol, it could establish a virtuous cycle of production and capital recovery, continuously optimizing its process until the purity issue was resolved.
It could be described as a Win-Win.
Thinking this, he looked at Radziwiłł and said, "I can offer you another disinfectant, one that is even more effective than Medical Alcohol, and costs only 6% of its price."
The latter's eyes widened instantly. "Oh, my God, that cheap!"
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