Chapter 146: Horse-Drawn Buses and New Shock Absorption Systems

Talleyrand immediately showed a look of surprise: "Everything is up to you, Your Highness."

Joseph nodded: "I hope you can serve as a diplomatic advisor and go to the United States."

"Okay, okay, I'm willing to go! Thank you, Your Highness!" Talleyrand didn't expect that today, in addition to gaining the queen's understanding, he would also have this unexpected gain.

At this time in France, after the "Society of Jesus" was banned, the church had completely become the "Ministry of Education" and "Civil Affairs Bureau", plus some relief work. Although it had considerable wealth, it had no real power.

Therefore, the priests all tried their best to enter the government, which was considered to be a real success. Among them, Archbishop Briand was the best.

And Joseph could give Talleyrand a powerful position, which was a great help.

Of course, Joseph also valued his diplomatic talents, and it happened that after overthrowing Vergine, he needed a diplomatic person to take over.

He motioned Talleyrand to move forward: "I need you to go to the United States as soon as possible to join them in fighting the Barbary pirates.

"Of course, this requires them to pay a certain fee."

Talleyrand immediately understood why the crown prince had just said "fighting pirates will only make money."

Joseph continued: "The tribute they pay to pirates every year should be more than one million livres."

"Yes, Your Highness." Talleyrand said hurriedly, "About 220,000 US dollars."

At this time, the US dollar was anchored to gold coins, and 1 US dollar could be exchanged for about 5 livres.

Joseph nodded: "Plus the ransom of their kidnapped merchant crew."

Talleyrand said: "It is said that they paid more than 130,000 US dollars last year to redeem the captured sailors."

"That's a total of more than 1.7 million livres." Joseph smacked his lips, "Let them pay one-third, 600,000 livres per year, as the cost of the French Navy to assist them in fighting pirates."

Talleyrand's eyes twitched. Isn't this the crown prince who wants to eliminate pirates? How come it suddenly became helping the Americans?

But he immediately showed his accomplishment as a diplomat, and nodded seriously: "This amount is very reasonable, Your Highness."

"And..."

Joseph really wanted to get back the tens of millions of livres loaned by Louis XVI to support the American War of Independence, but this money was agreed upon, and the repayment period is far from over. The Americans used the French loan and materials, plus the support of the French army, to drive the British away. But after they became independent, they turned around and flirted with the British, which greatly reduced France's strategy to weaken Britain.

Thinking of his father's generosity, Joseph felt a little disappointed.

He thought for a while and had to say: "Let the Americans return the tens of thousands of flintlock rifles that they assisted them with. There is no agreement on this batch of materials, and we have the right to ask for it back. By the way, we have to bring the matching gunpowder and lead bullets."

The latest model of Charleville 1763 was used to support the Americans. This batch of guns can also be worth some money.

Talleyrand's eyes twitched again. The prince should go into the lending industry, and he would definitely make a lot of money.

Joseph continued to instruct: "Let the Americans ship these guns directly to Russia. They will pay for the shipping."

"Ah? Russia?"

Joseph nodded: "You will also go to Russia with the guns. I will send another senior diplomat to submit a note to their queen, indicating that we can join forces to deal with the Ottomans. You will then assist in diplomatic work and strive for Russia's support for our actions in the Mediterranean.

"Oh, that batch of guns is used to show our sincerity in supporting Russia's war against the Ottomans. Of course, the queen can express her gratitude with millions of pounds of potatoes. The shipping cost will be paid by Russia. "

Russo-Turkish War? Mediterranean? Potatoes? Even though Talleyrand was extremely smart, it took him a few seconds to figure out the connection between them. He looked at the crown prince with shock in his eyes.

This set of operations connected the unrelated world situations together and became his help. He pleased the Russians without spending a penny.

What he found even more unbelievable was that from the crown prince's tone, these state affairs would be carried out according to his wishes.

The crown prince actually has such a great influence in the cabinet?!

He hurriedly bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness, I know what to do."

Joseph smiled again and said, "If you can prove your ability in this mission, I can consider promoting you to a more suitable position. "

Talleyrand was so moved that he immediately gathered all the words he could think of, saying that he would be loyal to His Highness and do his best to complete His Highness's orders.

...

In a carriage manufacturing workshop in Paris, Joseph pointed to a semi-finished carriage with its bottom up, and said to several craftsmen beside him: "Just leave one spring here, and remove the others."

A middle-aged craftsman immediately whispered nervously: "Your Highness, this luxury carriage must have good shock absorption. If only two springs are used..."

Joseph smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, just use leaf springs instead."

The middle-aged craftsman said with a bitter face: "Your Highness, leaf springs are only used in ordinary carriages. The shock absorption is very poor. "

"What kind of leaf spring are you talking about?" Joseph pointed to a black carriage that was being installed next to him. The bottom of the car body was equipped with two palm-wide and nearly two-meter-long steel bars to support the body and achieve the effect of shock absorption.

The craftsmen nodded one after another.

Joseph picked up a pen and paper, and explained while drawing: "That kind of leaf spring is too primitive.

“It should be like this, stack four steel bars of different lengths together, fix them, and then put the wheel axle in the middle of the steel bars.

“Add a set of such steel bars to each wheel. By the way, use medium carbon steel...ah, that is, steel with moderate hardness and toughness. Try a few and decide which one to use.”

The youngest craftsman showed an expression of sudden enlightenment: “Yes! If one steel bar is not enough, use four. If two sets are not enough, use four. This will achieve a better shock absorption effect!”

The middle-aged craftsman added: “We used to use leaf springs to support the body of the car, but we didn’t think that we should use them directly on the wheels, so that when the road surface on both sides is uneven, the wheels on both sides can be lifted to different heights to reduce the tilt of the body.”

Seeing that the craftsmen roughly understood the principle, Joseph ordered again: “Please make the entire leaf spring system as soon as possible. Before the Paris Fashion Week next week, this leaf spring shock absorption must be used on the bus carriage. "

The carriage has been basically built. If we just replace the spring with a leaf spring, more than a week should be enough.

Joseph added: "As long as you don't delay the public carriage, you will be able to get two more months of wages."

The craftsmen were immediately excited, and they all patted their chests and said that they would complete the manufacture of the carriage on time.

After Joseph thought of the business opportunity of the carriage a few days ago, he immediately spent more than 100,000 livres to acquire a very famous car dealership in Paris.

The cost was paid from the money for building a firearms factory - Talleyrand took out 200,000 livres to sponsor the king to build a factory in order to thank His Majesty the King for his support in his promotion to Archbishop. Therefore, the funds originally given by Louis XVI were "misappropriated" by Joseph.