The Fox of France - Chapter 266: The Toothpaste Cannon

The central exhibition halls were almost fully arranged. Although the trade show had not officially begun, there were already many people exploring the exhibitions. Some were interested in the models of the products displayed in the halls, while others focused on the exhibition’s layout.

Setting up exhibition halls and arranging products was not Watt and Little Bolton’s responsibility. In fact, it didn’t even require their input, as William Murdoch was already directing others to prepare the exhibition spaces.

Since there was nothing for them to do at the moment, Watt turned to Little Bolton and said, “Matthew, shall we go take a look?”

Naturally, Little Bolton agreed, nodding and saying, “Certainly, Mr. Watt.”

Then, he turned to Pierre and asked, “Oh, young man, I completely forgot to ask your name.”

“I’m Pierre Abélard. You can call me Pierre,” Pierre quickly replied.

Little Bolton nodded and said, “Very well, Pierre. Mr. Watt and I would like to explore around. Could you be our guide?”

“Mr. Bolton, that’s not a problem. Serving you is my job,” Pierre quickly responded.

So, guided by Pierre, the two of them headed towards the brightest area in the center.

“Mr. Watt, Mr. Bolton, there are three main exhibition halls here: Lorraine Steel, Fortress Cement, and Mr. Bonaparte’s Armaments Factory. Which one would you like to visit first?”

“Well, let’s start with Lorraine Steel,” Little Bolton said. They had some business dealings with this company, making them more familiar with it. The others had no objections, so the group headed to the Lorraine Steel exhibit.

Lorraine Steel’s exhibit was quite spacious, and the most eye-catching feature was a massive model of the framework of the Palace of Peace.

The highest point of the model reached over three meters in height, all made from steel bars. Watt examined the model closely. Since the exhibition had not officially begun, there were no staff members available to explain. So, Pierre stepped in as an impromptu guide.

“Mr. Watt, Mr. Bolton, this is a scale model of the ‘Palace of Peace.’ If we were to remove all the bricks, cement, and stone materials from the actual ‘Palace of Peace,’ what you see here is an identical framework. Just like the human body is supported by its skeleton, the ‘Palace of Peace’ has its own skeleton buried within the concrete, which is made of steel.”

“This structure, this construction method, can be applied to other large buildings,” Watt said. “Lorraine Steel is truly making a profit.”

“They currently have the technology for low-cost steel production. With this technology, they can make money even while lying in bed,” Little Bolton marveled.

Watt nodded and added, “It’s a pity they are unwilling to share this technology, but if we were in their shoes, we wouldn’t want to either. Only a fool would be willing.”

As they continued their conversation, the group circled around the massive framework model of the Palace of Peace. Then, a smaller model of a bridge, also constructed using robust steel supports, came into view.

“Pierre, what bridge is this?” Watt asked.

“This is one of the proposed designs for a new bridge on the Seine River, although such a bridge doesn’t exist in the world right now,” Pierre answered.

“If this bridge were to be built for real, it would likely require a lot more steel, wouldn’t it?” Little Bolton interjected.

“Most likely. That’s why I heard that Lorraine Steel is preparing to build an even larger steel plant,” Pierre replied.

“Well, Matthew, do you know what? If we were to build a bridge like this in London, your father’s favorite song would be difficult to realize,” Watt joked.

In addition to the framework models, Lorraine Steel’s exhibition featured various metal blocks, each accompanied by brief technical descriptions. These included various cast iron products and steel with different properties. Watt and the others had seen these products in their dealings with Lorraine Steel.

Leaving the Lorraine Steel exhibition hall, Watt’s group proceeded to the Fortress Cement exhibit. At the center of the Fortress Cement exhibition was a large cement block. This block had many pits and craters, and these marks had been circled with white paint, accompanied by short explanatory text.

“Twenty-four-pound cannon, one hundred meters away,” Little Bolton read the text as he examined one of the smaller craters on the cement block. “It’s hard to imagine that a twenty-four-pound cannon, at this range, only leaves such a small dent. Mr. Watt, is this for real?”

“This is definitely real,” Watt confirmed. “Not to mention twenty-four-pound cannons; even larger ones don’t pack as much punch as you might think. The wooden hulls of warships are often sufficient to withstand their fire. The main issue with these cements, when facing cannon fire, isn’t about their hardness but rather whether they’ll shatter. I suspect these cement blocks contain a steel framework. With that, there’s not much a cannon can do. Well, their company is called Fortress, and this stuff is indeed perfect for building fortifications.”

Coming out of the Lorraine Steel exhibition hall, Watt and the others moved on to the Fortress Cement exhibition. In the center of the Fortress Cement exhibition stood a large cement block, pockmarked with craters and dents. These had been outlined in white paint, and nearby were short descriptions.

“Twenty-four-pound cannon, one hundred meters away,” Little Bolton read the text as he examined one of the smaller craters on the cement block. “It’s hard to imagine that a twenty-four-pound cannon, at this range, only leaves such a small dent. Mr. Watt, is this for real?”

“This is definitely real,” Watt confirmed. “Not to mention twenty-four-pound cannons; even larger ones don’t pack as much punch as you might think. The wooden hulls of warships are often sufficient to withstand their fire. The main issue with these cements, when facing cannon fire, isn’t about their hardness but rather whether they’ll shatter. I suspect these cement blocks contain a steel framework. With that, there’s not much a cannon can do. Well, their company is called Fortress, and this stuff is indeed perfect for building fortifications.”

At the side of the cement block, there were smaller cement blocks of various colors, each with explanatory text, though the text was small enough that Watt had to take out his single-lens eyeglass to read it.

“The product line of Fortress Cement is quite extensive,” Watt commented, having read the introduction text. He then straightened up, placed the single-lens eyeglass back into his coat pocket, and turned to Little Bolton. “I believe this is something worth discussing with them. Even if we can’t get the technology license, securing the agency rights would also be excellent.”

However, the trade show had not officially started yet, and the temporary staff at the Fortress Cement exhibit could do little to facilitate Watt’s request to meet with the company’s top management. In fact, these temporary workers were not even aware of who the company’s top executives were.

“Matthew, some people earn money on their knees, others, who have better products, can stand and make money. Then there are some, like Lorraine Steel and Fortress Cement, who monopolize certain industries, essentially making money while lying down,” Watt couldn’t help but exclaim.

“I wonder how that ‘Bonaparte Armaments Factory’ makes money,” Little Bolton mused.

The Bonaparte Armaments Factory was quite different from the other two companies. While the quality of their products had been proven through Napoleon’s wars and the practical experience of “brave people seeking freedom” worldwide, their customer service was the best. Even though the official exhibition had not yet begun, the staff there remained welcoming and willing to provide detailed explanations of these indispensable tools for “home travel” and “fire setting.”

Moreover, they had some intriguing products that had not been seen elsewhere before, such as the steel rifled cannon.

In the center of their exhibit, a steel rifled cannon was displayed. Watt noticed that the labeling of this cannon was different from the previous cannons. In this era, cannons were generally labeled according to the weight of the shot they fired, but this cannon used caliber as its label. A sign next to the cannon read, “1800 Model 75mm Rifled Cannon.”

This was still a front-loading, recoil mechanism cannon, not because breech-loading cannons were too difficult to make. In fact, with the advent of steelmaking, the difficulty of breech-loading cannons had been overcome. The primary reason that the Bonaparte Armaments Factory still used this design was that, like many other technologically advanced companies, they suffered from what was known as the “toothpaste squeezing syndrome.” In other words, they had advanced technology but kept it locked away to maximize profits using slightly less advanced products.

The 1800 Model 75mm Rifled Cannon was a typical toothpaste-squeezing product, a compact cannon compared to bronze cannons. Despite being shorter than the regular six-pound bronze cannon, the rifled cannon had a longer barrel. Its barrel weight was slightly less than the six-pound bronze cannon, but its carriage weight was almost as heavy as that of a twelve-pound cannon.

Little Bolton asked a service staff member, “What size shot does this cannon fire?”

“This is a rifled cannon,” the staff member replied. “Rifled cannon shots are not spherical but closer to cylindrical. This cannon can fire various types of ammunition for different purposes, and since the ammunition varies in length and weight due to their intended use, it’s not easy to label the cannon by shot weight. That’s why we use the bore diameter for labeling.”

“I see that the caliber of this cannon is not very large, but the price tag is quite high, almost equivalent to the price of two six-pound bronze cannons. Is that not too expensive?” Little Bolton mentioned the price of six-pound bronze cannons, which had skyrocketed due to the copper shortage caused by the demand for electricity in Europe. Consequently, this toothpaste-squeezing cannon was indeed very expensive.

“Sir, we can price it this way because this cannon is superior to two six-pound bronze cannons. Firstly, because it uses rifling technology, our cannons have far greater accuracy than regular bronze cannons. For instance, even the best twelve-pound bronze cannon, under the control of the most skilled gunner, can accurately hit a windmill about a kilometer away. But with our cannon, a slight amount of training allows the gunners to accurately hit the window of that windmill.”

“In that case, can this type of cannon be sold to England?” Watt asked.

“Why not? We haven’t been at war with England, so why not?” the staff member responded, even though he personally didn’t think selling weapons to England was a good idea. However, the decision on this matter had already been made by those above.

“In any case, it’s just a type of outdated weapon with some new technology,” someone had said when persuading Napoleon to sell steel cannons to foreigners.