The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Public Carriages and New Shock Absorption System

Talleyrand immediately displayed an expression of delight: "I will obey your orders, Your Highness."

Joseph nodded. "I hope you can serve as a diplomatic advisor and represent us in the United States."

"Good, good, I am willing to go! Thank you, Your Highness!" Talleyrand did not expect that, besides receiving the Queen's forgiveness today, he would also receive this unexpected reward.

At this time, France, after the suppression of the Jesuits, had seen the church completely transformed into the "Ministry of Education" and the "Civil Affairs Bureau," along with some relief efforts. Although the church was wealthy, it no longer held any real power.

Therefore, many clergy were eager to enter government positions, as that would be the true path to advancement. Among them, Archbishop Briand was one of the top contenders.

For Joseph to offer Talleyrand a position with real power was a significant promotion.

Of course, Joseph also valued Talleyrand's diplomatic skills. He needed someone with diplomatic experience to replace Vilrén once he was removed.

He gestured for Talleyrand to move forward. "I need you to go to the United States as soon as possible and join forces with them to fight the Barbary pirates."

"Of course, they will have to pay a certain fee for this."

Talleyrand immediately understood why the Crown Prince had said earlier that "fighting pirates will only make money."

Joseph continued, "They are currently paying more than a million livres annually to the pirates."

"Yes, Your Highness," Talleyrand quickly replied, "about 220,000 dollars."

At that time, the dollar was pegged to gold, and 1 dollar could be exchanged for about 5 livres.

Joseph nodded. "Add to that the ransom for the crew members of the merchant ships they have been capturing."

Talleyrand said, "It is said that last year they paid over 130,000 dollars to ransom captured sailors."

"That brings the total to over 1.7 million livres," Joseph clicked his tongue. "Let them pay one-third of that, 600,000 livres annually, as the cost for France's navy to assist them in fighting the pirates."

Talleyrand's eye twitched. Hadn't the Crown Prince just said he wanted to eliminate pirates? Why was it suddenly framed as helping the Americans?

But he immediately displayed the professionalism of a diplomat and nodded seriously. "This amount is very reasonable, Your Highness."

"Also..."

Joseph genuinely wanted to recover the millions of livres that Louis XVI had loaned to support the American War of Independence. However, this debt had an agreement, and the repayment period was far from over. With the loan and supplies from France, along with French military support, the Americans had defeated the British. But after gaining independence, they quickly turned to the British again, making France's strategy to weaken Britain significantly less effective.

Thinking of his father's wasteful generosity, Joseph couldn't help but feel frustrated.

He thought for a moment and said, "Have the Americans return the thousands of flintlock rifles we gave them back then. There was no agreement about these supplies, and we have the right to ask for them back. By the way, the accompanying powder and lead bullets must be returned as well."

The rifles given to the Americans at that time were the latest model, the Charleville 1763. These rifles could be worth something.

Talleyrand's eye twitched again. The Crown Prince should go into the lending business; he could make a lot of money.

Joseph continued, "Have the Americans ship the rifles directly to Russia. They will bear the shipping costs."

"Ah? Russia?"

Joseph nodded. "You will accompany the rifles to Russia. I will send senior diplomats to submit a note to their Empress, stating that we can join forces to deal with the Ottomans. You will assist in the diplomatic work to secure Russia's support for our actions in the Mediterranean."

"Oh, and these rifles will serve as a symbol of our sincerity in supporting Russia's war against the Ottomans. Of course, the Empress can express her gratitude with a few million pounds of potatoes. The shipping costs will be covered by Russia."

The Russo-Turkish War? The Mediterranean? Potatoes? Even Talleyrand, who was exceptionally clever, took a few seconds to make sense of the connections. His eyes were now filled with shock as he looked at the Crown Prince.

By combining seemingly unrelated world events, Joseph had turned them into his advantage, all without spending a single penny, while simultaneously pleasing the Russians.

What was even more unbelievable to Talleyrand was that, from the Crown Prince's tone, these diplomatic tasks would be carried out according to his wishes.

Could the Crown Prince have such great influence in the Cabinet?!

He quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness. I understand what to do."

Joseph smiled again. "If you prove your ability during this diplomatic mission, I will consider promoting you to a more suitable position."

Talleyrand immediately felt moved and searched for all the words he could think of to express his loyalty, promising to do his best to fulfill the Crown Prince's orders.

...

In a carriage manufacturing workshop in Paris, Joseph pointed to a semi-finished carriage lying upside down and told several craftsmen, "Leave one spring in place, and remove the rest."

A middle-aged craftsman immediately spoke nervously in a low voice, "Your Highness, this luxurious carriage must have good shock absorption. If we only use two springs..."

Joseph smiled. "It's fine. Just switch to leaf springs."

The middle-aged craftsman grimaced. "Your Highness, leaf springs are only used for ordinary carriages. They offer poor shock absorption."

"Are you referring to the kind of leaf spring?" Joseph pointed to a black carriage being assembled nearby. The carriage's underside was equipped with two steel bars nearly two meters long and the width of a palm, used to support the body of the carriage and provide shock absorption.

The craftsmen nodded in agreement.

Joseph took up paper and pencil, drawing as he explained, "That kind of leaf spring is too primitive."

"Like this—stack four steel bars of different lengths on top of each other, secure them, and then place the axle in the middle of the steel bars."

"Each wheel needs one of these sets of steel bars. Oh, and use medium carbon steel... that is, steel with a balanced hardness and toughness. Try a few types and decide which one works best."

The youngest craftsman showed a look of realization. "That's it! One steel bar isn't enough, so use four. Two sets aren't enough, so use four sets. This will give better shock absorption!"

The earlier middle-aged craftsman added, "We used to use leaf springs to support the body of the carriage, but we never thought about applying them directly to the wheels. That way, when the road surface is uneven, the two sides of the wheels can lift to different heights, reducing the tilt of the carriage."

Seeing that the craftsmen had generally understood the principle, Joseph gave further instructions. "Please finish making the entire leaf spring system as soon as possible. By next week's Paris Fashion Week, we must have this leaf spring shock absorption system installed on the public carriages."

The carriages were nearly finished, and changing the springs to leaf springs should be possible within a week or so.

Joseph added, "As long as you don't delay the public carriages, you will be rewarded with an additional two months of wages."

The craftsmen immediately became excited, each one slapping their chest to assure him that they would complete the carriage on time.

A few days ago, after Joseph came up with the idea of the carriage business, he immediately spent more than 100,000 livres to acquire a well-known carriage company in Paris.

The money came from the funds originally allocated for the armaments factory—Talleyrand had donated 200,000 livres to sponsor the King's factory in gratitude for the King's support in his promotion to Archbishop. Therefore, the funds originally allocated by Louis XVI were "reallocated" by Joseph.

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