"A model? What does that mean? Napoleon asked.

"I've seen reports of that cute 'madman.'" "There's enough information in there. Well, suspended under water at a certain depth, in the event of an impact, it will explode...... Hehe, when I see this description, I roughly know what it's all about. It's very simple, and it's not difficult at all other than creativity. And this creativity is directly manifested in the appearance. Knowledgeable people, just look at the appearance and know what it's all about. Or do you have a pen and paper here? I can draw one for you right now. ”

Napoleon took out a piece of paper and handed over a charcoal pen for sketching. Joseph took the pen and paper, brushed it twice, and drew a sketch.

"It's ugly!" Napoleon frowned, "When it comes to painting, Lucien is much better than you." Plus, it's ugly enough. ”

"Napoleon, you see, there is an anchor chain underneath this thing, and to hide it in the water, it is enough to adjust the length of the anchor chain. The sphere itself is a pontoon filled with explosives, and these tentacle-like bumps are used to trigger the fuse. Well, this fuse is also quite simple. ”

"Fairly simple?" Napoleon said, "I remember that not long ago you postponed the development of the trigger fuse indefinitely because of the difficulty in developing the trigger fuse and its poor reliability. Now you say it's easy to trigger a fuse? ”

"That's because we just postponed the trigger fuse for the cannonball, can these two things be the same thing? This trigger fuse, if placed in the shell, is enough to explode in the barrel of the cannon just by the acceleration when it is fired. Can this be a thing? I can draw a trigger fuse like this in less than a minute.

Well, you see, this antennae, it's made of lead on the outside, it's relatively soft, and when it's hit violently, it's bent and deformed. And inside this tentacle is a glass bottle filled with sulfuric acid. Underneath the glass bottle is a set of batteries lacking electrolyte, and its positive and negative electrodes are connected to a set of electric detonators. As soon as the tentacles are hit, the lead casing will bend and deform, the glass bottle inside will shatter, then the sulfuric acid will flow out, and then the battery will generate an electric current, and the current will drive an electric detonator, and then it will cause an explosion - it's just too simple. ”

Napoleon was not surprised that Joseph was able to come up with such a problem-free scheme so quickly, because he knew that the research institute of the military-industrial complex had previously conducted some feasibility studies on the triggering fuse, and although this feasibility study did not continue, in the process, a series of problematic designs must have been shot. And now, the fuse scheme drawn by Joseph in two strokes should be a certain plan that was shot before, and at most it should be slightly changed.

"Well, you get the model out as soon as possible, and then we'll figure out a way for the British spies to take a look at it......," Napoleon said.

"Where is the need for such trouble?" "Isn't the Ministry of Foreign Trade organizing the first Paris Import and Export Commodities Fair?" Just drag it there and put it on display and sell it with other weapons. ”

"Well, that's a good idea." Napoleon said, "I hope this thing will calm the British a little." ”

"Napoleon." Joseph looked at Napoleon in astonishment and said, "I thought you were looking forward to a war?" ”

"War is only a means to glory, not an end." Napoleon said, "As long as peace brings us glory, then I do not necessarily have a special love of war." ”

Of course, Napoleon said this, but Joseph knew that Napoleon's love for peace today was due to the bumper harvest of last year, which allowed Napoleon to gain wider support from the peasants. And if peace continues this year, with the improvement of the water conservancy system, this year's bumper harvest can be expected.

The bumper harvest has given farmers a better life, and workers in the cities have more and cheaper bread, which is bound to further increase his approval ratings. Now in France, more and more people are chanting long live to him. As long as this trend does not change, how could Napoleon not love peace?

Speaking of the Paris Import and Export Commodities Trade Fair organized by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, preparations have been underway for several months, and the venue has been chosen in the direction of Versailles outside Paris. This area, which was originally the property of the aristocracy, was confiscated by the revolutionary government during the revolution.

In the original history, in order to claim the title of emperor, Napoleon tried to compromise with these old nobles, allowing them to return to their homeland and return a part of their property to those who had returned. But in this plane, Napoleon's line did not need to compromise with these people at all, so the land was still publicly owned by the government.

Napoleon sold the land there at a low price to retired soldiers in order to gain control of the countryside. In this area, more land was set aside for the various facilities of the future "Roman Empire". The site of today's Paris Import and Export Fair is the location of the Civic Square that Napoleon prepared for the future "Roman Empire".

A few months ago, it was a wasteland. But with the introduction of two new technologies, the environment is changing rapidly.

The first technology is cement.

Cement technology was not first developed by the French, in 1756, the English engineer J Smitton discovered that in order to obtain hydraulic lime, limestone containing clay must be used to fire when studying the properties of certain limes hardening in water; The ideal composition of masonry mortar for underwater construction is hydraulic lime and volcanic ash.

On this basis, in 1796, the Englishman J. Parker fired the so-called "Roman cement" from marl. However, because of the high requirements for marl, it has not been widely used.

It wasn't until 1824, when the Englishman Joseph Asputin fired the so-called Portland cement (i.e., Portland cement) out of limestone and clay, that cement became widely used.

Now, however, with Joseph, who was determined to be hated by future generations of students, cement, a thing with limited technical content, but very versatile and very useful, of course, had to be introduced in France first.

Napoleon was also very fond of cement, because it could not only be used to build strong fortresses, but also to build wonders quickly and at a very low cost.

All the "great rulers" or "famous tyrants" with the atmosphere of the second in the middle, one counts as one, and they are all spectacle. Regardless of race, age, or culture. From Khufu in Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon; from the ancestral dragon of Great Qin to the pit father of the Sui Dynasty; From Suryavarman II of the Angkor dynasty to Emperor Shah Jahan of India. All lovers of spectacle. Of course, to varying degrees, they have verified a "famous saying" of later generations, Your Majesty, the spectacle misleads the country!

Although Napoleon also loved wonders, he was familiar with history, and naturally knew the rule that "wonders mislead the country". So I've been trying hard to restrain "let's hammer a spectacle".

During the wars against Britain, Prussia and Austria, Napoleon captured a number of cannons. At that time, Napoleon was eager to follow the example of the Rhodes and build a spectacle with captured enemy weapons that were melted down. However, this idea was ruthlessly destroyed by his eldest brother. Captured enemy weapons were melted down, but they were all turned into wires or something.

But the advent of cement allowed Napoleon to once again see the possibility of building a spectacle, and at a very cheap price. Think about it, those wonders of ancient Rome were built with huge stones, and each stone had to be excavated, cut, carried, and stacked, and I don't know how much manpower and material resources would be consumed. But if you change to cement, it is really much easier.

The second technology, of course, is steel. With steelmaking, there is rebar. Add to that the presence of cement, and the presence of reinforced concrete. Because the first mill was doing so well, the second mill of Lorraine Steel was soon put into operation. And then as long as the funds can keep up, there will be a third steel mill, a fourth steel mill.

After Joseph and Napoleon mentioned the advantages of reinforced concrete construction technology, Napoleon's dream, which had been temporarily dead in his heart, began to "spring breeze blowing and rebirth". It was only Joseph who kept emphasizing that steel could make money, and that it should be used where it could make money, that he temporarily held down the idea of Napoleon's hammer spectacle.

But later the Ministry of Foreign Trade's plan for this Paris Import and Export Commodity Fair allowed Napoleon to finally find a reasonable and legal opportunity to hammer the spectacle.

Napoleon personally took the lead, found a group of artists and architects, and designed a large market full of ancient Roman flavor - if there was no reinforced concrete, Napoleon estimated that the project would take decades to complete, but with these things, he calculated that if the supply of materials could keep up, the first phase of the project could be hammered out in a few months. Of course, more crucially, the matter of hammering this big market was unanimously agreed upon by Joseph and Lucien.

Now, the first phase of the Grand Market has basically ended, only the last decorations remain, and the first Paris Import and Export Fair will officially open here in a month.

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