I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 498 Factories Act

Historically, after experiencing the devastating exploitation and oppression of workers in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, European countries gradually discovered this problem and began to try to take measures.

As an industrial pioneer, Britain was the first to enact the Factory Act in 1802 to ensure the basic survival of workers. [Note 1]

The more important provisions include:
——工厂不得雇佣9岁以下的童工。9岁及以上的童工每天可以工作8小时，14岁以上每天可以工作12小时。

- Workers must not start work before 6 a.m. and must not go to bed later than 2 a.m.

- Factories need to provide workers with clothes that can cover their bodies, and during the first four years after entering the factory, factories are obliged to ensure that they receive at least 4 hours of basic education every day.

——Factories must ensure minimum ventilation and set up protective measures for dangerous machines, etc.

In the early days of the implementation of the Factory Acts, British companies complained a lot, but before long, they discovered that the workers' efficiency had increased significantly and production costs were even lower than before the implementation of the Factory Acts.

In particular, high-quality labor has become more abundant and it has become easier to recruit workers - this is because the workers' basic living environment is guaranteed, the disability rate, death from illness, and starvation rate are reduced, and most of them can live to become skilled workers.

The result is that Britain's industrial competitiveness has been significantly improved, further consolidating its position as a world hegemon.

Today, after seeing the workers' poor working conditions, Joseph decided to push for legislation to protect workers' rights as soon as possible.

This will not only improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers in the big country and allow them to live a life that can at least be sustained, but it will also improve France's industrial production efficiency. Moreover, the labor protection law can also become a powerful weapon in France's hands.

Historically, after the enactment of the Factory Act, Britain immediately became a benchmark for human rights in Europe and was praised by workers in all countries.

Upon hearing the news, skilled workers from various countries flocked to Britain, bringing with them a large number of talents and technologies, further promoting the development of Britain's Industrial Revolution.

Later, other European countries realized that something was wrong and had to introduce similar laws, but they were already in a passive position. After all, once a benchmark is recognized by everyone, it is not so easy to change the concept.

In this life, Joseph will leave the halo of this benchmark in France!
After returning, he will call Mirabeau, Breteuil and others to discuss the framework of the regulations, and try to submit it for review at the next cabinet meeting.

While he was thinking secretly, he heard Perna say:

"Your Highness, you just mentioned 'medical masks'. Does this kind of thing also have an important role in medical treatment?"

Joseph nodded:
"That's true. Masks can greatly reduce the possibility of doctors being infected by patients during treatment. Oh, in fact, the bird-head masks that doctors often wear during surgery have this effect."

Perna was a little surprised:
"But some scholars believe that bird-head masks are just ignorant superstition and increase the chance of infection. My father never wears one."

Joseph had seen a documentary about the history of European medicine before, and he heaved a sigh of relief and said:
"That's because they rarely wash their masks, and they become a petri dish for bacteria... But masks are definitely useful."

At this point, he hurriedly reminded Manager De Las:
"You should also wash the masks frequently, at least once every three days, and it is best for each worker to use a fixed mask and not cross-use them."

Perna's eyes lit up when she heard this, as if she had seen another medical innovation. She admired the medical skills of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and firmly believed that as long as he said it was useful, it would definitely be okay. Previously, she wrote a paper on the knowledge of "double-blind experiments" taught by His Royal Highness, which earned her considerable reputation in the medical community. Of course, the medical community generally believed that it was something that the Crown Prince and her father Lamarck had figured out...

She immediately pleaded:

"Your Highness, I would like to distribute some masks to the field hospitals as well, and then promote them among doctors across the country."

"Of course, this is a good thing." Joseph nodded, and then thought of the high cost of custom-made masks, so he simply said, "Or, we can build a factory to produce masks.

"In the future, tens of thousands of masks will be consumed every month just for medical and factory needs, so it is necessary for factories to produce them in large quantities."

"Tens of thousands?" Perna asked in surprise, "Your Highness, the distillery only has more than 200 workers, plus all the doctors in the country, they shouldn't need that many, right?"

Joseph smiled and said:

"Not only gas distilleries, but also textile mills, mills, chemical plants and even construction workers need this stuff. I estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 masks can definitely be sold every month."

After talking about masks, Joseph, led by Delas, visited the coal crushing yard. Along the way, he talked with investors such as DuPont about the construction of new gas distillation plants in Nancy and Tunisia.

When an investor heard that even Tunisia was going to install gas lamps and the investment was as high as 200 million francs, he said uncertainly:
"Your Highness, is there any risk in the profitability of laying gas lamps in North Africa? In fact, Nancy does not seem to be a very prosperous place..."

"You have to look at the long-term benefits," Joseph said, "Gas lighting has a huge effect on improving the attractiveness of the city.

"Nancy's industrial development zone is the most mature, and it will be a densely populated city in the future. Tunisia has added at least 40,000 to 50,000 immigrants in the past six months, and Tunis will surely become the center of North Africa in the future."

The investor nodded slightly, but still whispered:

"I mean, with such a large investment, maybe we should be more cautious..."

This time, before Joseph could say anything, Dupont smiled and said:

"Mr. Roland, you are too cautious. The future of gas street lighting is very good.

"I understand that the British Parliament has approved a grant of £30 for the installation of gaslight in London."

The businessman named Roland's eyes widened immediately. 30 pounds is 750 million francs. The British actually invested so much in gas street lamps! It seems that he was really worrying too much.

Joseph frowned slightly when he heard this. Historically, it was not without reason that the British were the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution. Their keen sense of smell far surpassed other countries of the same era.

【Note 1】In the early 19th century, the so-called "Factory Act" in the UK was not actually the name of a law, but a general term for a number of factory-related laws at the time. The most famous of these was the "Apprentices' Health and Morals Act", and there were also some fragmentary supplementary laws.

(End of this chapter)