Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Joseph had no idea that Queen Mary had set him up with a new "Matchmaking Scroll," and it was with a very young girl.

During the dinner, he cautiously prepared to continue dealing with his mother’s relentless matchmaking, but the Queen only occasionally gave him a knowing look and didn’t bring up the subject again. Instead, she mentioned some customs and cultures of Russia.

At the following ball, Joseph became the focal point of all the nobles’ attention.

A Crown Prince, not yet sixteen, personally led his troops to consecutive victories over the armies of Prussia and Hanover on the battlefield. This prompted the nobility to continuously compare him with the Sun King, Louis XIV.

Some even went so far as to say, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will surely surpass the Sun King."

Previously when Louis XVI mentioned commissioning a statue for the Crown Prince, some ministers disapproved, given that the King himself didn’t have an official public statue.

However, after the news of the Guard Corps’ defeat of Charles II reached Paris, no one raised objections anymore. Artists from all over were flocking to the Palace of Versailles, vying for the opportunity to sculpt a statue for the Crown Prince.

The ball opened with the spirited melody of "Triumph," and the music was all about war and victory throughout the event. The nobles also abandoned their usual refined elegance to perform military-style dances.

Midway through the ball, a well-known poet stood in the center of the Hall of Mirrors and recited a praise poem for Joseph that pushed the atmosphere to its peak.

Witnessing the fervor at the ball and the lavish praise from the nobles, Joseph could not help but reflect: Indeed, victories in foreign wars are the best stimulant for a country’s spirit. The previous dissatisfaction and opposition arising from the abolition of noble privileges had now largely subsided, at least on the surface; the nobles’ attitude towards the Royal Family had become very supportive. He hoped this would help reduce the obstacles from the nobility regarding the policy of land redemption.

The ball continued well into the night, and Joseph was only able to return to his quarters after, feeling more exhausted than if he had fought on the front lines for three days.

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Joseph had a simple breakfast and then, dragging his weary body, headed towards the Royal Armory next to the Sycamore Grove on the southeastern side of the Palace of Versailles.

The British Foreign Minister wouldn’t arrive in Paris until about a week later. Joseph wanted to take this gap to quickly finish the long-planned bulletproof inserts.

As he stepped out of his chambers, Joseph saw the broad corridors lined with nobly dressed young ladies. In an instant, bold, demure, and melancholic flirtatious glances attacked him from all directions, making his scalp tingle.

Eman whispered to him, "Your Highness, most of them have been waiting here since three or four in the morning. Some haven’t left since the end of the ball..."

Perna, who had just completed Joseph’s routine check-up, followed him out. The surrounding ladies’ gazes immediately turned cold and murderous, frightening her so much that she hurriedly bowed her head and fled back to the second-floor Imperial Physician’s office.

Joseph, however, ignored the stunning scenery along the way and briskly walked out of the Palace of Versailles.

Once in the square, he touched his stubbly chin and muttered to himself with clenched teeth: just you wait! Once I’m past my adolescence, I’ll be sure to pick a few and "slaughter" them thoroughly!

Martiniel, the head of the Royal Armory, had obviously anticipated the Crown Prince’s arrival, and had been waiting at the entrance with his management team since early morning.

Joseph nodded to the bowing group and then got straight to the point:

"Mr. Martiniel, have you prepared the items I asked you for previously?"

The latter hurriedly gestured towards a shed on the western side:

"Yes, Your Highness, everything is ready and placed over there."

When Joseph was in the Southern Netherlands, he wrote a letter listing the materials needed for making the bulletproof inserts and included simple manufacturing requirements, which he sent to the Royal Armory.

Upon entering the workshop, Martinier had people display boxes of iron plates, porcelain slabs, silk, and the like in front of the Crown Prince, and took the opportunity to say:

"Your Highness, look, I had the craftsmen make iron plates of different hardness and thickness for you to choose from. The porcelain pieces were custom-ordered from the two most prestigious workshops in Sevres, and I also had Quimper attempt a custom production."

Sevres is the sacred ground of porcelain making on the western outskirts of Paris. Those nobles who cannot afford Oriental porcelain and scorn British goods mostly choose the products from here. Quimper, on the other hand, is the center of colorful pottery in Brittany, mainly targeting ordinary households, but the workshops there also have many unique firing techniques.

Joseph nodded in satisfaction. After all, the Royal Armory was overseen by his father himself, and their work was quite reliable.

He then asked his most pressing question:

"And the adhesive? Does Mr. Lavoisier have any suggestions?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Martinier gestured toward a large glass jar on the table, "Mr. Lavoisier recommended this special casein glue."

"Casein glue?" Joseph looked curiously at the milky yellow viscous liquid in the jar.

"It’s an adhesive processed from milk," Martinier hurriedly explained. "First, ferment the milk to remove the fat, then add substances such as alkali, water glass, and slaked lime to encourage coagulation, filter..."

Joseph had never heard of an adhesive made from milk, but for now, he could only trust Lavoisier.

He immediately took out different specifications of iron and porcelain plates from the wooden box and summoned the craftsmen to prepare for a trial production.

Having previously seen a documentary about bulletproof inserts, he immediately instructed the craftsmen:

"Please stick together the iron plate, porcelain slab, silk, and another iron plate in that order. Be sure to press them as compactly as possible.

"Place the silk on the outermost part here, followed by the iron plate and the porcelain slab, with silk again at the very back.

"Use the iron plate for the outermost layer of this one, followed by silk..."

Uncertain about the effectiveness of these 18th-century alternative materials, he had the craftsmen come up with five different combinations to try. For each combination, they used plates of different thicknesses and applied varying amounts of adhesive, resulting in more than 40 test samples.

It was around 3 o’clock in the afternoon when a craftsman informed Joseph that the casein glue, which was treated by heating and drying, had dried.

Joseph took a piece that was about the size of a modern tablet, and tried to tear the iron and porcelain plates apart with force.

They did not budge; it was incredibly sturdy. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this milk-made adhesive was essentially serviceable.

He didn’t know much about adhesives. In fact, casein glue has high viscosity, quick setting time, and strong bonding strength, and it is still widely used in the 21st century.

Moreover, Lavoisier had made special adjustments to the manufacturing process according to his requirements, with the aim of maximizing the bonding strength. It definitely couldn’t be broken apart by hand.

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