Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

“Oh, Holy Mother Mary! So many!”

Queen Mary instinctively wanted to cover her mouth with a fan, but when she raised her hand, she realized she was holding a gun belt, which made her feel a bit awkward.

As they were speaking, the welcoming crowd surged forward.

Led by the Mayor of Saint Malo, the Speaker, and Manager Delate, over a hundred people bowed excitedly in salute, even though they hadn’t rehearsed, causing their voices to be somewhat jumbled, “Long live the Crown Prince!”

“Thank Jesus for bringing you to Saint Malo…”

“Your radiance shines upon us…”

Joseph nodded and smiled at the crowd in greeting: “I happened to be passing through here, so I decided to come and see.”

Delate was immediately overwhelmed with honor: “Allow me to explain, esteemed Crown Prince. Oh, as per your instruction, the workers do not know you’re here, and they are working as usual.”

“Very well, then it’s up to you.”

Joseph turned to his mother and whispered, “The truly breathtaking scenes are inside the factory.”

Delate then took the Crown Prince and his party to tour the warehouse, sorting workshop, cleaning workshop, and slaughtering workshop, and they finally reached the steaming workshop at 3:30 PM.

Actually, after the expansion, each previous process now has four to seven workshops, densely packed like a small town. The entire factory occupies nearly one-third of Saint Malo’s area.

Delate eagerly pointed to a few pots in the center of the workshop, each over a person tall and nearly 2.5 meters in diameter, exclaiming excitedly, “Your Highness, these are the newest Papin pots, completing the fish sterilizing process in just 20 minutes. In fact, I’ve had technicians test it, and with just 10 minutes of heating, the canned products don’t perish.”

The “Papin pots” he mentioned are somewhat similar to later pressure cookers, but due to limited machining precision and the lack of rubber seals, they can only achieve a pressure of less than two standard atmospheres.

But this is already enough to significantly increase cooking efficiency.

Delate continued, “We can stew over 50 tons of cod here every day, then can them in the eastern workshop.”

Joseph nodded and asked, “How much fish can the Saint Malo fishing boats catch every day?”

The Mayor of Saint Malo hurriedly stepped forward, “Three years ago, it was less than 40 tons, Your Highness.

“Later, because of the canning factory, more people came to settle and fish, and now it’s nearly 70 tons.”

Joseph frowned, “So, are many fish still going to waste?”

Delate grew a bit tense, “Frankly, yes, Your Highness. But you know, the factory faced some trouble the year before last, it was the issue with the solder…

“Fortunately, someone invented the ‘crimping method,’ saving the factory. Now we’re working hard to increase production, expecting to handle an average of 65 tons of fish per day by next spring.”

Joseph knew the “solder issue” he mentioned was about the excessive lead content in the can’s soldering, which caused him to halt all tin can factories nationwide.

Later, canneries had to revert to using glass jars, and some small factories couldn’t sustain and closed down.

Fortunately, at the beginning of the year, a technician from Bavaria finally made a usable tin crimping machine, solving the canning solder problem—actually, with Joseph’s overview and France’s excellent precision machining foundation, resolving such machines was only a matter of time.

Thanks to this, many coastal cities in France rich in fishery resources, like Marseille, Calais, and even Tunis, have started large-scale construction of canning factories.

The fish that were previously caught and treated like garbage have now become treasures—

Just like Saint Malo, the high-quality cod produced here can sell for 1 franc per kilogram in Paris.

The odorless sea fish are luxury items on the nobles’ dining tables!

This year, the 2.7-kilogram cans of cod that flooded the Paris market cost only 1 franc 3 sous and are flavored, cooked, and guaranteed to taste no different from fresh catch from the sea.

Now, a popular dish among Paris’ middle-class families is pan-fried cod from these cans, with the broth from the cans combined with some potatoes, artichokes, and tomatoes, making a pot of delicious soup.

And this is without the railway being completed.

Joseph estimated that once the railway from Brittany, Calais, and other places to Paris is established, fish prices would reduce by at least one-third further.

Meanwhile, cheap beef and pork from Italy and the Rheinland can also be canned, enriching the tables of residents in Paris and other big cities.

In reality, for ordinary people, having more fresh meat is the most direct experience of national prosperity.

Delate pointed north: “Your Highness, we purchased three crimping machines earlier this year, they are right there, producing up to 12,000 empty cans daily.”

Joseph followed his finger and for the first time noticed that most of the metallic clattering noise in the factory was coming from there.

He glanced at his mother and gestured to the factory manager: “Let’s go see the crimping machines.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

The crimping machine was just over 5 meters long, driven by a small steam engine with only 12 horsepower, and the transmission belts and mechanical arms on it moved rhythmically back and forth.

Dozens of workers moved tin cans filled with fish meat to the workbench, carefully arranged them at the feed entrance of the crimping machine, and secured each can with an iron clamp.

As the main spindle of the machine rotated, the tin cans were lifted one by one, and from the other side of the machine, a round disc for crimping was precisely placed on the can lid—someone was specifically tasked with ensuring alignment.

The edge of the tin lid was first pressed into a 90-degree angle, then two ingeniously designed inclined rollers on the machine pressed down, rotated around the tin lid, and firmly sealed the lid.

A wedge-shaped projection moved over, folding the lid’s edge downward.

The two rollers then made another round to completely secure the can lid. All these processes were extremely precise and harmonious, like the magic jointly performed by mathematics and machinery.

Workers skillfully removed the cans from the clamps, sending them for secondary heating to sterilize.

Joseph picked up a tin bucket from a small transport cart and shook it beside him, “This is a well-sealed can container, without a trace of lead.”

Queen Mary, however, wasn’t listening, her eyes fixed on the crimping machine. At that moment, she suddenly understood why her husband was so infatuated with these steel structures.

Anyone who creates such artistically inspired machinery would have enough to savor for a lifetime.

The Mayor of Saint Malo chimed in again, “Your Highness, to ensure factory production, the City Council has decided to reduce the fishing tax by one-third and expand the dock to encourage people to increase fish catching.

Attracted by the canning factory, the population of Saint Malo has increased by over 40% compared to two years ago, and it’s still continuously rising.

Now, even the woods in the south of the city have been cleared and many simple houses have been built.