Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

After waiting for a long time, there was finally the sound of boiling in the reaction kettle.

Lavoisier just watched the technicians busy at work—he had already guided them through the production process repeatedly—and explained to the Crown Prince:

“Soon the solution will be distilled and then pumped into another reaction kettle to begin cooling and precipitating.

“Of course, there are other impurities in the product, but they only need simple treatment.”

He then pointed to the discharge outlet, where three workers were packing the damp, light yellow powder into burlap sacks.

“After drying, you can obtain potassium fertilizer with a purity of more than 97%. Currently, this factory can produce about 100 bags a day, which is 5 tons, if the raw materials are sufficient.”

“You have done very well.” Joseph nodded appreciatively, then asked, “So, if we want to increase production capacity a hundredfold, how long do you think that would take?”

A monthly output of 150 tons seems a lot, but for the entire fertilizer consumption in France, it’s like adding a spoonful of sugar to a swimming pool.

According to Joseph’s previous calculations with the Ministry of Agriculture, the country would need at least 200,000 tons of potassium fertilizer annually to see a noticeable effect.

Lavoisier hesitated for a moment and then deliberated: “Your Highness, for such a high output, factories must be built at salt mine sites.”

“Yes. I have already had people level the land and build residences near the salt mines in the Palatinate. You can host the factory construction there at any time.”

Lavoisier was already accustomed to the Crown Prince’s high efficiency, so he continued:

“If we produce at a daily rate of 500 tons, the apparatus for reaction and heating need to be redesigned. Hmm, the heating can use the coal there; I remember the Palatinate has coal mines.

“The crushing and rough screening processes also need improvement… Your Highness, I will strive to have it operational there within a year.”

Joseph was just about to say “that timeline is acceptable,” when he heard the father of chemistry express some difficulty: “Your Highness, it’s just that my wife is about to give birth… ah, the doctor said it will be the month after next.”

“Congratulations, Baron Lavoisier!” Joseph nodded and said, “I will send court nannies to take care of her, and you can visit home at any time. Although this may seem a bit insensitive, the farmers across the country really need you.”

Lavoisier sighed: “Your Highness, what I meant was, Marianne is my most important assistant. Without her help, my experiments would slow down considerably.”

“It’s truly difficult for you.” Joseph comforted him, “Don’t always think about work progress. There will be many things that need your attention in the future, discuss them when the child is older.”

Lavoisier promptly bowed and said: “Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. I think Marianne will be able to come to the Palatinate by early next year.”

Joseph suddenly thought that there would be more and more instances of women going out to work in the future, so perhaps kindergartens could be opened in places with a high number of workers.

——————

I’m not in good shape today, coding a bit slowly, it may take another 40 minutes to finish coding. Please bear with me.

When the city-states of Italy initiated the Renaissance, marking new history for Western civilization, the Ottoman Empire in the East blocked the traditional trade routes connecting the Western world to the East. Taking advantage of the liberation of thought, countries along the Atlantic simply explored westward, eventually achieving the brilliance of the Atlantic, while Italy, the cradle of the Renaissance, and the Mediterranean were gradually marginalized in this process. The balance of power in Europe, strong in the north and weak in the south, continues to this day, and although Italy is still a major economic power in Europe today, it is clearly weaker compared to Britain, France, and Germany. Fortunately, its history and culture leave other European countries in the dust, and economic weakness does not prevent Italy from continuing to be one of the countries in Europe with the most stories. Greeks and Latins, Italy is one of the earliest areas in Europe where human activity appeared. Around the 8th century BC, the Greeks began to establish settlements in the southern Apennine Peninsula, Sicily, and other places, forming a Greek network along the coast of the Mediterranean. The Etruscans (known as the Etruscan people, with the Etruscan language as an isolated language) living in the inland Tiber River Basin also created agriculture and city-state culture and engaged in trade with the Greeks in southern Italy. At the same time, a group of Indo-European-speaking people, the Latins, arrived in the area now known as Rome and, together with the local Etruscans and Sabines (another group speaking Indo-European languages), formed a series of clan settlements. Subsequently, the Gauls (Indo-European Celtic languages), Greeks also gradually integrated, promoting the formation of a new Latin nation. The Latin language, the Etruscan script, together created a new system of language and writing—Latin.

In 753 BC, the city of Rome was established; thereafter, Rome went through the monarchical, republican, and imperial phases, existing for a thousand years. During the Roman Kingdom period, distinctions between nobles and commoners began to emerge, and a governance system of king, Senate, and Curia meeting (tribal meeting) was established. In 509 BC, Roman nobles came to power and established the Roman Republic, forming a political structure with a separation of powers among the Senate, two Stadtholders, and the tribal meeting. After the establishment of the Roman Republic, it began a path of expansion, successively conquering other Indo-European tribes and the Etruscans, then moving south to annex the city-states of the Greeks and other indigenous peoples, expanding from one city-state to a major power covering the entire Apennine Peninsula. In 450 BC, Rome promulgated the Twelve Tables, marking the birth of Roman Law, a key milestone influencing subsequent Western legal systems. In 241 BC, Rome annexed Sicily, and in the 3rd century BC, Rome conquered the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula, including Greece, Spain, and other territories, and subsequently controlled other West Asian regions like Syria. In 146 BC, Rome completely conquered Carthage, and by the 1st century BC, Rome further incorporated Gaul (France) and Egypt into its territory. The Roman Republic developed into a great power spanning Europe, Asia, and Africa, turning the vast Mediterranean Sea into its own interior lake.

During the Roman Republic period, as conquests brought captives into the estates of Roman nobles, providing Rome with low-cost labor and agricultural products, the large estates continuously squeezed the livelihood space of native Roman farmers. The estates had sufficient financial power to buy up farmers’ land, forcing farmers to lose their land and become wanderers. The conflict between the nobles, represented by Senators, and the large landlords and small and medium farmers was thus exacerbated, leading to continuous domestic uprisings and rebellions. In 90 BC, the non-Roman citizens among the Latins rose in rebellion, known in history as the Social War, seeking to obtain citizenship. In 82 BC, the Roman Republic experienced military dictatorship for the first time. In 60 BC, Crassus, Caesar, and Pompey secretly allied to jointly control the Roman political situation, entering the period of the First Triumvirate, and by 43 BC, entering the period of the Second Triumvirate. In 27 BC, Octavian defeated the other two members and became “Augustus,” instituting the principate, marking the end of the Republic and the establishment of the Roman Empire.