I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 315 Textile Industry Revolution

In the Royal Square, everyone suddenly looked at each other.

They had originally planned that after the Crown Prince came to Lyon, he would first attend a banquet and then a dance, so he could not start talking about business until tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, His Highness didn't do anything. Instead, he said something as explosive as "Lyon is going to be finished."

However, most people here are engaged in textile-related industries. Although they all feel that the Crown Prince has gone too far, it is an indisputable fact that the industry will face brutal competition from the British.

Joseph paused and pointed to the automatic loom specially placed there beside him: "The only thing we can compete with the British right now is production efficiency!
“Everyone should have heard that the weaving speed of this kind of automatic loom is more than ten times that of a manual loom. With continuous improvement in the future, the efficiency will continue to increase.

"This means that factories using automatic looms only need to hire one-tenth of the workers before!"

He actually had some sneaky ideas here. Although automatic looms are highly efficient, they still require a large number of workers to operate them. At most, they can reduce the number of workers by a quarter. Of course, the output of weaving would increase dramatically.

Joseph continued: “Only in this way will it be possible for our textiles to approach the cost of the British.

“However, the British had already started using automatic looms years earlier.

What he did not say is that when automatic looms are widely spread, it will also promote the improvement of steam engines and form a positive cycle.

"In other words, their costs will be even lower in the future, and our products will be completely cut off from sales!"

He looked behind him: "It is difficult for most people here to come up with such a large sum of money. And even if you raise money to buy a loom, if there is some problem with the raw materials or market links, resulting in poor sales, the previous huge amount will be lost." Investment will quickly bankrupt the factory..."

"This is what I just called 'the last chance'.

Seeing that the atmosphere was almost heated, Joseph changed the topic: "The good news is that there are not many automatic looms in the UK at present, and they are all driven by water power.

The British automatic loom is a commercial secret, and the French side does not know the specific situation. At this time, hearing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say this, everyone suddenly became nervous.

Joseph nodded slightly when he heard this. He knew that what Boyer was talking about were very real issues.

In the eighteenth century, the use of new technologies was extremely risky due to insufficient technical validation, incorrect information, or lack of supporting policies.

The factory owners present discussed in low voices for a while. Boyer, the president of the Lyon Chamber of Commerce, stood up at the request of everyone, stroked his chest and saluted Joseph: "Your Highness, in fact, everyone knows that the automatic loom has advanced performance. , it’s just... this thing is too expensive.

In fact, Mirabeau's people had promoted automatic looms to them before, but they didn't "knock hard" like Joseph, so no one cared at all. Only now did they realize that the situation was already very serious.

"If Lyon starts to use automatic looms on a large scale from now on, coupled with our latest model of high-pressure steam engine drive, it can surpass the UK in production efficiency and regain the market we deserve!"

"The loom and supporting steam engine cost more than 1 livres. To achieve scale, you have to purchase at least three looms. There are also training of workers, trial production and other aspects, which all cost a lot of money."

Even in Britain, the birthplace of new European technologies, it took more than ten years to popularize automatic looms, and they were still driven by waterwheels. Automatic looms driven by steam engines did not become popular in Britain until the 19th century.

In a similar situation, it has been nearly ten years since Watt completed the improvement of the steam engine, but the annual sales volume is less than 20 units.

In France, it was all thanks to Joseph's use of small parish banks to provide loans to rural areas to buy pumps for irrigation, which promoted the sales of steam engines. Otherwise, Murdoch’s technology iteration would not be so fast. However, as a person who has experienced the capital era in later generations, Joseph already has mature countermeasures for this.

He raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and said loudly: "The government has made preparations for everyone's concerns.

“That’s the investment insurance business!”

The people in the square looked at each other again. They understand the word "insurance", but if "investment" is added in front of it, no one knows what it means.

Although the insurance industry has already appeared in the 17th century, until now, there are only a few types such as navigation insurance, fire insurance and life insurance.

Joseph smiled at everyone and explained: "The French Commercial Insurance Company can accept insurance for investment in automatic looms. After that, the company will verify the factory's funds and operating conditions, and send salesmen to supervise production.

“Once an insured factory goes bankrupt, the insurance company will check the factory’s operations and account status. As long as there is no fraud, investors will be compensated for 80% of the investment amount.

"Of course, the corresponding assets of the factory will be taken over by the insurance company."

To be honest, this kind of insurance is extremely risky for insurance companies, but Joseph has full confidence in the automatic loom. As long as the factory operates normally, there should be no bankruptcy.

Taking a step back, if the business collapses, he can also recover the factory assets as an insurance company, merge it into a large-scale textile company, and continue to operate under the government investment model.

For the technological revolution in France's textile industry, the risks involved can only be borne by the newly established French Commercial Insurance Company under the French Reserve Bank.

The factory owners present immediately began to whisper excitedly, "If you only lose 20%, you can give it a try."

“It’s really helpful that there is such insurance.”

"I just don't know if the insurance company can afford to pay if something goes wrong..."

"I heard Mr. Varenne mention that this is a company in which the Reserve Bank of France has a stake. There should be no problem with funding."

"That's great! I've long wanted to buy some automatic looms to try. Do you want to partner with me?"

Joseph struck while the iron was hot: "Perhaps you have heard the news that we have signed trade agreements with Austria and the six South German countries.

"In the future, textiles from Lyon can be sold directly to South Germany through the Rhine River. The tariff will be at least the same as that of British goods, and even lower in countries such as Baden."

A burst of exclamations instantly erupted in the square.

Being able to enter a market as large as South Germany is definitely a major benefit to the French textile industry, and future sales are likely to increase significantly.

Joseph continued to "stimulate" everyone: "In addition, we have obtained a new source of wool in the Pacific. The production can reach more than one million pounds, and it will even exceed two million pounds next year. The price is only half of the wool currently on the market!"

In fact, he said it a bit modestly. New Zealand is a paradise for sheep herders. If the number of sheep flocks increases, the output can even be higher than that of the United Kingdom!
(End of this chapter)