Chapter 1400 - 1306: Steampunk Innovations

Joseph wasn’t surprised at all.

Previously, France was facing a full-scale war, and military expenses almost consumed the entire budget, naturally reducing allocations for new projects.

He comforted the director, saying, "After this World Cup, the financial situation will improve, and the Engineering Design Institute will receive funding as a top priority."

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Your Highness!" Cano quickly bowed, then hesitantly added, "It’s just that the Ministry of Industry is asking us to cancel nearly a third of our projects this month. You see, some of them are already close to yielding results..."

"Oh?" Joseph paused and frowned, "Why cancel so many? Is it because of funding?"

In accordance with France’s current administrative system, project reviews and funding approvals for the Engineering Design Institute are handled by the Ministry of Industry.

Cano nodded, but before he could say more, he saw Mirabeau and Theresa approaching quickly with a few subordinates.

Last night, Joseph confirmed with his father that the design and testing of the new steam forging machine were nearly complete and ready for mass production at any time, so he sent for the heads of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transportation to arrange it.

However, Eman reminded him that it was already half-past one in the morning, so they had to postpone it until early the next morning.

When Mirabeau and the others came forward and saluted, Joseph first brought up the matter of the institute’s projects: "The importance of technical research investment is second only to war. Even if funds are tight, projects should not be canceled lightly. Especially not a third of them at once, as this would severely impact our industrial development."

Mirabeau was so startled by the Crown Prince’s stern tone that cold sweat broke out, and it took him three or four seconds to react. He first gave Cano a hard stare and then hurriedly explained to Joseph:

"Your Highness, perhaps Director Cano didn’t make it clear to you. These canceled projects have all been thoroughly evaluated by the Ministry of Industry and will not affect industrial production."

He glanced at the brick-red workshop in the distance: "For example, the ’Underwater Walking Ship’ project has already cost 40,000 francs, but I swear that thing can only be used for circus performances."

Cano immediately retorted, "No, that kind of ship could potentially trigger a revolution in shipping!

"Your Highness, it is powered by a steam engine, allowing it to operate regardless of river conditions. It can continue to move during dry periods or when stranded, and even briefly traverse land between two rivers."

Joseph asked in surprise, "Is there such a project? What’s its current progress?"

"A model has been built, Your Highness." Cano pointed to the brick-red workshop, "It’s over there."

Joseph signaled to Mirabeau, "Let’s go take a look."

"All right, Your Highness, if you’re interested."

Minutes later, Joseph stood before the two-meter-long wooden steamship, his eye twitching involuntarily—

On either side of the ship extended four mechanical legs, driven by two steam engines through a series of linkages.

The four legs moved alternately, propelling the ship forward. As the steam engines belched smoke, the entire ship exuded a rich steampunk style. [Note 1]

Cano continued to extol its virtues: "Once such ships are in use, we can maintain shipping even during dry periods. You know, the nation’s rivers have an average of 27 dry days a year, which will bring immense commercial benefits..."

Joseph raised his hand to interrupt him: "How does it quickly adjust balance when the riverbed provides insufficient support?"

He recalled that robots in the future would topple when stepping into a pit despite being controlled by chips operating billions of times per second; resolving such issues in the current era was impossible.

Cano hesitated: "This... is indeed a problem..."

Mirabeau smiled and said, "Your Highness, in fact, I’ve had scholars from the University of Paris calculate that the water resistance of such mechanical legs is enormous. In three meters of water, it will exhaust all its coal after advancing just 2.6 kilometers."

Joseph exhaled, "All right, this project indeed should be terminated. Are there others?"

Mirabeau immediately replied, "Plenty more, Your Highness. For instance, the ’Automatic Playing Machine.’ It uses perforated paper tape to control a series of cams, gears, and bellows to play the flute."

Cano said, "It can play smoothly."

"Yes, but its ’beautiful’ sound would drive everyone insane."

Joseph silently nodded. Given that steam engines were the only source of power at the time, it probably sounded eighty percent like a steam whistle.

Mirabeau’s assistant leaned in to whisper a few words, and the former hurriedly said, "Oh, right, the most ’spectacular’ one is the ’Urban Sanitation Compressor.’"

Joseph looked at Cano: "What is that?"

The latter lowered his head.

Mirabeau said with schadenfreude, "Trust me, Your Highness, you definitely don’t want to see it."

This only piqued Joseph’s curiosity further: "Where is it, is there a prototype?"

"There is..." Cano murmured.

This time, it took a full twenty minutes for Joseph to see a dark machine in a small room corner of the design institute, along with a suffocating stench.

Mirabeau, pinching his nose, introduced it: "Your Highness, this thing is for processing ’backyard material.’

Joseph frowned. The so-called "backyard material" referred to feces, and no wonder it was so pungent.

Mirabeau pointed to the opening at the top of the machine: "First, pour those things in here, then close the lid. Then, under the steam engine’s power, this screw will continually compress the ’spice’ inside the iron can until you get a golden yellow ’wooden plank.’"

Cano argued, "Your Highness, the moisture in those wastes will be squeezed out, leaving material weighing only 30% of the original, and it will be compressed very hard.

"What originally required five carts to transport, after processing, needs only one cart. And the squeezed-out moisture can be poured on the ground, where it will dry quickly."

Yes, under the Beautiful Paris Decree, a large amount of excrement is collected daily and carted to the surrounding countryside. This invention seems somewhat useful.

But Joseph immediately face-palmed.

What an "heretical" technology...

Is this about compressing excrement? A complete urban sewage system is needed to handle it!

Mirabeau teased, "The farmers really like those dried liquids. Additionally, the compressed ’hardboard’ still needs to be manually broken apart, and its decomposition time is multiplied several times."

His assistant added, "The complicated process of transporting waste to the treatment plant and then feeding it into the machine for compression is no better than just carting it out of the city."

[Note 1] The "walking ship" actually existed in history, designed by an English designer in the early 19th century, but it was quickly proven useless. As with the other strange inventions mentioned later, they were all the imaginative creations of the nineteenth century.