Indeed, the brother and sister behaved too intimately, and they simply did not look like brothers and sisters of this age.

Agnes also had an older brother, and was very affectionate when she was a child, but when she reached a certain age, etiquette and education began to build barriers among everyone, and property considerations also eroded the relationship between brother and sister, and I don't know when her relationship with her brother became the kind of relationship common between the children of aristocratic families - polite, but lacking in enthusiasm.

She and her sister have always been very close, which is why she did those things after her death......

However, this brother and sister are very different, obviously the brother is married, but when the two of them hug each other, the younger sister's demeanor is still so affectionate, and she smiles so naturally and joyfully.

Should it be naïve, or is it something else?

Seeing her smile so happily, Agnes looked like the latter in any way.

It seems that what Charlotte said is really possible, and there may really be some personal feelings between the two brothers and sisters.

As soon as she thought of this, she suddenly felt a little throbbing in her heart, and looked at her nephew sadly.

Charles, why are you stupid enough to do such a thing, is your mind full of mush? Could it be that you, who have had a smooth journey, have finally been carried away by power and the flattery of others, so much so that you think that you will not be punished for what you do?

However, at this time, of course, the siblings could not feel their aunt's feelings. Like a boy showing his beloved toy, Charles stands beside his sister in high spirits, instructing her on every detail of this gun, introducing her to special bullets, and taking her to shoot targets with this gun.

He is satisfying the almost innate love for machinery in his body, although the two are very close to each other now, but they don't feel much ambiguity and **** from it.

Fran, however, was different, leaning next to her brother and listening attentively to each other's words, but as if she hadn't heard anything, she felt only full of joy and joy.

The two of them have regained the intimacy of the past, which is the best and best comfort for her.

I don't know if it was because of excitement or intentionality, she became more delicate than usual at this time, a rifle was like a thousand weights, trembling in her hand all the time, and she couldn't lift it, but in order to help her stabilize, Charles had to hold her hand in the back several times. With her back to her brother's chest, she was a little dizzy.

"Wow, this gun is so powerful, it feels like it can hit wherever it goes!" After firing a dozen shots, Fran looked at the target in the distance.

Fran hadn't practiced before, only occasionally playing an old-fashioned shotgun for fun, but after firing a dozen shots, she did feel the practicality and superiority of this new firearm.

That's right, with its rifled barrel and specially made bullets, this gun can already obsolete any standard rifle that is now equipped by armies of various countries, and Charles is not exaggerating in what he says.

"It's really revolutionary, the range is several times longer, and the trajectory is very stable." Charles raised an eyebrow, then put the gun back on the shelf.

"No wonder you're keeping this gun so secretive...... I understand that it is so advanced that it really should be kept secret so that our servicemen can maintain an advantage. ”

"Secrecy is only temporary, as long as we start equipping the army, then the armies of all countries will know that we are using this new weapon, and then they will find its superiority, and then they will seek imitation, we can only guarantee an advantage of two or three years at most - of course, two or three years of advantage is already very satisfactory, but this should not be a reason for us to stop improving, we will continue to develop new guns in the future, and strive to let the army always have more advanced rifles than other countries."

To tell the truth, he also knew that the rear-loading rifled rifle was the direction of development of future army weapons, and he also instructed his subordinates to step up research and development, but he still chose to make a large number of mini guns first to win orders from the army - this reason is very easy to understand, how can it be as easy and comfortable as making money twice from the army.

"These guns are very good, you can see that you have put your heart into it, thank you." After calming his sister, Charles walked over to De Smond's side, "Please continue to work hard in the future and make more contributions to the Imperial army." ”

"Your Excellency, this is what we should do." De Sensen replied with a straight back. "Please believe that every penny of our salary is worthy of the Empire."

"I believe in you." Charles smiled and nodded.

Then he looked back at the representatives of the army, and found that these people had also been inspecting weapons and inspecting the production process everywhere, and their attitude seemed to be quite satisfied.

With his network of contacts in the army, as long as the army is satisfied, then there will be a steady stream of orders in the future.

However, the relationship is a relationship, and there must be no ambiguity about the quality, which is not only about reputation, but also about dignity - in Charles's view, it is not an evil thing to seize an order by any means, but it is simply a shame to do not do well after winning an order, and he cannot afford to lose such a person.

It's still relatively easy to just build guns, but in the future, the challenge will get bigger and bigger, and you have to make all kinds of cannons and all kinds of new weapons...... All of this depends on uninterrupted investment, as well as disciplined management, and ...... Perseverance, continuous innovation, profundity.

"In the future, I hope that you will use the same depth to meet the new requirements of the Empire." Charles looked at each other solemnly, "The challenges are only going to get bigger, and the problems are only going to get bigger...... Of course, the remuneration will be more and more generous, Monsieur de Smond, you have proven yourself to be excellent so far, and I hope you will continue to do so in the future. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!" De Slime has a waist pole.

"Well, take me to the processing shop," Charles continued to order him.

"Yes, Your Excellency." De Sensen turned around and prepared to take him away.

However, in addition to Albert and a few other friends, Fran also followed.

"Miss Treville, don't you go...... It's humid and muggy, and it's really not a good place for you. De Smond hesitated and persuaded Fran.

"Let me go, sir, I want to see your career too." Fran hurriedly pleaded with Charles.

At Fran's insistence, Charles finally agreed. "Okay, then I'll take you there, it's just for a while anyway...... It's not a good thing for you to see our business and get a feel for my family's goals. ”

Then, at Charles's behest, de Smond led them through the narrow aisles until they came to a factory.

The factory occupies a large area and is built so high that it looks like a palace from a distance.

"It's huge!" Fran sighed.

At this moment, a loud "boom" suddenly reached their ears, and even the earth shook.

At first, Fran thought it was thundering in the sky, but when she saw that the sky was still so clear, she was not only a little surprised.

"It's a machine at work, miss." De-Sensen saw her abnormality, so he hurriedly explained.

What kind of machine has such power? Fran had some doubts in her heart.

Her doubts were quickly solved, and when she stepped inside, she found that there were many strangely shaped machines, made of steel, square in shape, divided into two layers, connected by copper pipes.

These machines are scattered all over the huge factory, especially the one in the middle, which is especially huge.

"It's a steam hammer," Charles whispered next to her, "it's a machine hammer propelled by water vapor, and the piston rod mechanism of the hammer head and cylinder moves up and down to hammer the forging. Many of the components on our trains and machines are directly hammered out of it, and it is extremely powerful. ”

In this era, with the progress of the times, people's means of transportation are getting bigger and more sophisticated, but after the volume of these means of transportation such as trains and ships reaches a certain level, many of their parts can not be moved by manpower, and no matter how powerful the blacksmith is, he can only look at the large piece of steel and sigh.

As a result, there was an urgent need for more powerful arms and hammers, as well as a new impetus to drive them. The invention of the steam engine provided a perfect solution to these two needs. In 1836, a factory owner named F. Carvey in Paris, France, had already made a steam hammer, but it was not very perfect, until 1841, the inventor James Nesmith created a more precise and powerful new generation of steam hammer, he invented a steam hammer is very perfect, forging ability.

At the World's Fair held in the United Kingdom, his new steam hammer was sent to the World's Fair to participate in the exhibition, and in the sound of the whistle, many large iron pieces were kneaded into various shapes under the forging of the steam hammer like plasticine in the hands of artists, which caused people to marvel.

Among the marveling crowd was Charles, who was visiting as a guest of the Queen. He had tried to hire James Nesmith as his engineer at a high salary, but he couldn't do so because Nesmith had to run his own factory, but he still spent a lot of money to buy his mature machine drawings and techniques from him, introduced the steam hammer to his own factory in France, and at his urging, his engineers also worked hard to improve it.

"Miss, this one you see is the 'monster', that's how we named it." "It's a monster, it's nearly forty tons, it's one of the largest steam hammers in the world today - it's our child, our pride, our monster!" ”

His almost ostentatious tone made Fran feel a little ridiculous, and Fran looked around, unable to find much beauty in these grotesque machines.

Charles and Albert were glad to be among the machines.

"Boom!" There was another loud bang that shook his eardrums.

As the steam hammer fell again and again, the hammered pieces of steel were transported out of the factory by the workers and became the original parts of the other factories.

"Charles, it's exciting...... You've done it! Albert exclaimed, "They can make you one of the greatest industrialists in France." ”

"It's just France. My friend, you see splendor, but also illusory splendor. Charles calmly replied, "The cost of our steel is too high, and we can't compete with the mills on the west bank of the Rhine if we don't protect it with tariffs." Do you know? The Krupp plant on the Rhine is now catching up with us, and perhaps soon they will be able to make equally good steam hammers and compete with us at a much cheaper price...... Their ingredients are much cheaper. ”

Yes, the coal in the Ruhr was so abundant that they were able to make cheaper coke, so that German factories could produce it at a cost that France simply could not match – something that could not be compensated for by effort.

"But isn't it a good idea to rely on tariff protection? The cost of people is lower than ours, so it can be sold in a simpler way, and we can only rely on the domestic market...... In the long run, we can't compete with them. After hearing Charles's explanation, Albert said with some depression.

"yes, so we'll have to do it by the necessary means when we need to do it - like destroying those factories?" Charles smiled and replied, "Or forced to buy them?" (To be continued.) )