Nineteenth Century Medical Guide

Chapter 423 419. Special Exhibition

No matter how many twists and turns there are in its dark and damp corners, Paris is still the great city of light, at least on the surface, and the week-long jewelry show that begins on June 6 is a microcosm of this.

The value of jewelry is much higher than other exhibits listed in Group IV. Even the fur industry, which was once the most powerful, has to bow down to the dazzling and luxurious appearance of jewelry. Its high price is partly due to its rarity, and partly due to the influence of celebrities, and sometimes the latter is more important.

In Paris in 1867, the leader in the jewelry industry was not Queen Eugenie, nor Princess Mathilde, who was a big name in the art world, but an Italian noble lady, Virginia.

She also has another title, the mistress of Napoleon III.

Of course, Nasan has always been a playboy, and it was never Eugenie who controlled him, but his own body. He had countless mistresses and the number of his illegitimate children could not be counted even with two hands. But it is undeniable that this 30-year-old Italian woman is undoubtedly the most beautiful.

Her beauty won the favor of Napoleon III, who was eager to see her, and immediately grabbed her and swallowed her up. At the same time, Napoleon III's power became a tool for Virginia to use. Not only did she become the top of the Parisian social circle, but she also cleared the way for the unification of Italy.

However, due to unexpected events in the Austro-Prussian War and Italy's defeat as expected, Austria did not give up Venice, Italy, and even intended to reincorporate Lombardy, which had been lost in 59, into its territory.

Italy's unification may need to pause for a while.

Looking at the plaster statue in front of him, Kavey couldn't help but admire Virginia's beauty, but he was even more impressed by Carell Bellus's amazing sculpting skills: "It's really beautiful."

"This is a work that Master Carril-Berrus is very proud of - The Countess of Castiglione in the Costumes of an Etruscan Queen."

The young man at the side introduced in very standard French: "I remember that three years ago, not long after arriving in Paris, the Countess specially found Chaumet Jewelry Store to create a set of Etruscan-style gold jewelry in order to attend the ball hosted by Miss Melanie."

"Etter.?"

"It's the Etruscan ruins excavated in central Italy, where a lot of jewelry was unearthed. Their classical style is very special and very popular, so there is the Etruscan style."

"You know so much."

"The sculptures are also the treasures of this shop. Although I am not French, I am also in the jewelry industry. These are not secrets, so I naturally know some of them." The young man said with a smile, "The Countess will attend the exhibition later, and this year's most popular jewelry styles will also be released."

Kavi has no interest in jewelry or beauties; he comes here for business related to the experiment.

He looked at the young man and quickly changed the topic of the conversation back to his profession: "By the way, how is your father? I haven't had much time to visit him since he was discharged from the hospital after the operation."

"It's fine." Little Schmidt unconsciously touched his lower right abdomen. "When I showed him the worm, he was still screaming 'Get out of here, Satan' in pain. Later, he went to see Dr. Ignaz several times, hoping to get the worm back, burn it in the stove and bury it."

“That’s really very much his style.”

"But this surgery still helped him get rid of many bad habits. He became very careful about what he eats and is very healthy now," said Schmidt. "Thanks to Dr. Kavey for insisting on doing that surgery, our family is very grateful to you."

"As long as you are healthy."

Schmidt and Kawi were of similar age, and they had met when Father Schmidt was performing surgery, but that was just an acquaintance. The young man was in good health, and Kawi had no desire for material things, so the two had no intersection.

But this time it's different.

Kavey needs to come here to meet some people and find out their preferences. And little Schmidt needs Kavey's help to give him some ideas and help him solve the problems at hand.

But both of them seemed very reserved and didn't know how to start. After chatting for a long time, it was Kavi who broke the silence first, or rather, led the topic from jewelry to his own profession, and then firmly led to the target: "I heard that Ottoman officials will also come here."

"He is a distinguished guest here, he will definitely attend." Although Schmidt is introverted, he reacts quickly. "Doctor Kavi wants to see him?"

"Well, I want to talk to him about some urban construction." Kavi did not hide anything and asked directly, "I heard that he did jewelry design here at the beginning of the year, and you have been the one who contacted and helped to communicate and adjust the details. You should be familiar with him, right?"

Little Schmidt understood what Kawi meant and knew that he had encountered trouble in communicating with this senior official: "Mr. Baron Osman is indeed very rigid, or rather, very serious. He does things in a methodical manner and will not change his mind unless it is necessary.

I remember designing a necklace before. We selected one model at the beginning and expected it to be delivered in two months. But a new model came out a week later. We all suggested that he make changes. Because his was the first batch of new models, it must be more prestigious. But he just refused and asked us to give a reason. "

Kawi basically understood his nature: "It's hard to give a reason for this kind of thing."

"Yeah, all the reasons we mentioned, such as price, shape, and color matching, are not real reasons in his eyes." Little Schmidt shrugged, with an expression of being unable to communicate.

"What happened next?" Kavi asked with interest, "How did you convince him? Or..."

"Of course he was convinced, but it wasn't my credit." Little Schmidt pointed to the door where people were talking. "Later, our sales queen stepped in and convinced him in just half an hour."

Kavi looked towards the door and became interested in the woman who was said to be the most beautiful in Italy. However, what he did not notice was that little Schmidt was pinching the corner of his clothes and muttering, "Sometimes women's charm is so strong that even the most determined and calm men will fall for it."

He stood aside, his eyes flickering constantly, his hands busy too. He touched the hair, the openings, the corners of clothes, the seams of pants, the brim of the hat, the short beard that was growing slowly, the nose, the corners of the mouth. He touched almost everything on the body that could be touched.

Even though Kavi didn't know much about psychology, he could tell that he was worried: "What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, no, it's nothing."

"Just say it if you have something to say." Kavi glanced at the door and saw several familiar faces. "If it's not convenient now, let's find a place to talk after the exhibition here is over. I have some time in the evening, what do you think?"

The right amount of time to buffer can stabilize emotions. Little Schmidt swept away the gloom just now and nodded repeatedly: "I'll wait for you in the exhibition hall."

"Well, see you there."

Kavi never thought that he would take the initiative to meet with a senior official of the Paris government because of an experiment gone wrong. At first glance, these two things are completely unrelated, but they are linked together because of the drastic infrastructure changes in Paris.

If it was just a simple request, Kawi could go to the president of the Surgical Association, Hott, the bank president, Slang, or the acting police chief, Henry. At worst, he could wait until Nasan was free and write to the French master. With Kawi's current network of relationships, there was nothing he couldn't handle as long as he didn't commit a crime in Paris or Vienna.

The water rights certification for the Ferrara quarry is a good example.

This small town is located south of Venice and north of Florence, right at the border of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Venice occupied by Austria. In addition, France has been trying to get its hands on it, making it very difficult to deal with.

But Gustav only showed Kavi's certificate of the Legion of Honor, and the French water rights certificate went into his pocket. Vienna was even simpler. The administrative officials received his telegram in the morning and gave the green light in the afternoon.

We learned the news on June 6rd, and on June 3th we had obtained all the documents required for the water rights certificate.

There is no complicated process as Dunant mentioned. There is no need for a mining certificate from the Kingdom of Sardinia, no need for experts to conduct on-site inspections one by one, and no need to pay a large amount of labor costs and time.

However, the same problem of water shortage was now falling on his head.

The jewelry exhibition was just an appetizer, a platform and opportunity to bring people from all parties together. Everyone gathered together and, at Virginia's instigation, chatted and laughed while buying new jewelry from Shangmei Jewelry Store. Then they followed the waiter upstairs to hold a meeting to solve the real big issues that needed to be solved.

The last of the private water concessions are being reclaimed.

Before Haussmann became a high-ranking official in the Seine, the water supply in Paris was operated by a bunch of private companies. The water flow was small, the pollution was serious, and there was even garbage mixed in. Because it was pressed into the pipes by steam pumps, the tap water was very hot in the summer. At the same time, the steam pumps and the pipes under huge pressure were also easily damaged, affecting the water supply of the entire city.

Compared with France, Austria, whose level of industrialization is far less than that of France, has planned to use aqueducts to bring pure water from the Alps to Vienna.

Haussmann was fully aware of this after he was promoted to a senior official in the Seine Department with the trust of François-Pierre. Despite tremendous public pressure, he demolished nearly 60% of the old buildings, expanded the urban area of ​​Paris, diluted the high-density residential areas in the center, and completely rebuilt the water supply system.

Rebuilding the water supply system certainly undermines the operating privileges of private water companies.

After all, the water diversion channel is often more than 100 kilometers long and the cost is very high. Once the water diversion method is changed, the tap water business, which has already had low profits, will inevitably suffer losses.

He had expected that the privileged private enterprises would not agree. Haussmann quickly stopped the private privileged enterprises from repairing the public roads on the grounds that the public roads could not be operated, forcing them to negotiate. After the negotiations, Haussmann began to issue public bonds to raise funds and bought the water franchise rights of these private enterprises at the same price as the original subscription of public water supply services.

Starting from the second year of his tenure, the franchises were gradually returned to the water department until only the last two were left this year.

One is the Vassalle Water Supply Company, and the other is the famous Perrier Brothers Water Company.

The former is a common Italian name, and the boss is naturally Italian. The latter company name seems to be from France, but in fact it was bought by the British half a century ago and is a veritable British company.

The fact that they could delay the repurchase for so long was similar to that of the stubborn tenants, who just wanted more benefits. Both companies sent a number of negotiators, including senior official Osman and water department head Belgrand, a total of 11 people crowded into a conference room.

"Why do I feel like there's an extra person here?"

Kavi was indeed redundant to the entire repurchase meeting, but Osman ignored these people and made a simple introduction: "Dr. Kavi Hines, recipient of the French Legion of Honor, Count of Austria, and guest of honor of the Three Emperors. His status and the degree of love he enjoys among the people of both countries are much higher than yours."

Kavi did not want to beat around the bush, so he directly submitted his application and stated his purpose: "Mr. Baron Haussmann, with all due respect, I am here to solve the water supply problem of the Medical School of the University of Paris."

Osman looked down at the water supply application and said, "I am not a real baron. I was given this title only because I am a member of the Senate. Although my grandfather was also a baron, this title was inherited by my uncle, so it is not formal. You can just call me sir."

"Mr. Osman"

"I understand your request, but I'm sorry I can't do anything about it," Osman said. "The water source for the Duy Valley has already been introduced, and the water transfer work for the Monsouli Reservoir has just started this year. I really can't make any changes."

Kavi's heart skipped a beat: "Didn't we successfully connect the water source of the Palace Hospital?"

"That's because the water pipe happens to pass by the street next to the hospital. As long as the hospital is willing to spend money to add pumps and filters, clean water can be introduced into the hospital area." Osman suddenly remembered this. "So it was you who submitted the water supply application for the Main Palace Hospital?"

"It's down."

"It seems that the Medical School of the University of Paris is not within the scope of the first phase of the water diversion project." Haussmann has memorized the map of Paris by heart. "I remember that there are still water pumps in use there."

"The canal water is too dirty. I need clean water for my experiments and surgeries." Kavi felt bad when he thought of the infected experimental dogs. "What if I let the medical school spend money to buy enough water pipes? Can I add a water channel for the medical school?"

Osman thought about it and shook his head: "It's a bit troublesome."

"What trouble?"

“Available funds are tight, and construction personnel are tight.”

Haussmann looked away and stared at the guys who were about to fight him on the negotiating stage: "Vassale asked for 460 million francs, and the Perrier brothers asked for even more, a full 600 million, 30% higher than other companies. There was no room for bargaining. The sewer has just been built, and there is still a whole set of sewage pipes to be built. Where is the money for other things?"

Of course, Kavi wanted to just wave his hand and say, "I'll pay for it."

Unfortunately, personal savings, scientific research grants and municipal funds are completely different concepts. Kavi is not qualified to say this, nor is he qualified to say this on behalf of Hott.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of what Schmidt had said to him before. Virginia successfully persuaded Osman to change his mind.

  What Virginia is to jewels, who is to water diversion systems?

No, that's not right. The key is not the water diversion system, but the money!

Kavi couldn't give so much money, so what about saving money? Help Osman save a lot of money, and then use part of this money to complete the small project of bringing water to the medical school?

Osman's life was monotonous and he was not interested in anything. Even Nasan could only restrict him from a general perspective and could not change the more detailed reconstruction plan. But those two companies were different. In business, they could be changed as long as they were persuaded with reason and emotion.