I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 642: Revolution of Inland Waterway Shipping (asking for monthly pass at the end of the month)
Joseph was still staring at the paddle steamer not far away: "Can that ship sail?"

Borda said uncertainly: "Maybe it can be used. I remember Mr. Joffrey said it could be used, but he used a tugboat to bring it from the upper reaches of the Loire River to the shipyard, and then he left it there."

"Please send for Mr. Geoffrey to see me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

More than half an hour later.

Geoffrey, visibly nervous in the presence of the Dauphin, nodded and said, "Yes, your highness, it can run. I have driven it from Berry to Nantes."

"Very good." Joseph's eyes lit up. "Can you show me?"

"Well," Geoffrey said with difficulty, "Your Highness, there is something wrong with its steam engine. Once it is repaired..."

“How long will the repairs take?”

"Five days. But I don't have enough money for repairs. As you know, the price of LJ5H is very expensive, and the repair cost is even more expensive."

Joseph nodded: "I will help you pay for the repairs. So, is the design of this ship mature? Do you have the blueprints?"

Joffrey looked a little embarrassed. "Your Highness, I actually designed a steam-powered frigate, but it's not finished yet. And the navy doesn't seem to need that thing anymore. I mean, the 'Light of the Mediterranean' is much better than my design."

"No, no," Joseph said immediately, "I don't need a warship, I mean, the ship parked at the dock."

Joffrey was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly and said, "Yes, Your Highness, I have been perfecting the 'Boroskafi' for several years, and it is relatively mature."

France was now able to provide him with reliable steam engines, so he did not give up halfway as he had done in history, but instead successfully built the steam paddle steamer.

Joseph smiled. "This is the boat I need. Mr. Geoffrey, you have done a great job."

"But it is no match for the 'Light of the Mediterranean'..."

"The paddle steamer has a simple structure, is much cheaper to build than a propeller-driven ship, and is easier to maintain," Joseph said, "so it has its own stage. Oh, can you show me its design?"

Yes, steam paddle steamers dominated river transport in the 19th century. Even on the eve of World War I, there were still many cheap and durable paddle steamers running on rivers around the world.

Joseph originally planned to have someone design a steam paddle wheel-driven transport ship, but paddle wheel drive and propeller drive are two completely different technical routes. At present, the designers at the Brest Shipyard are busy designing steam warships, so the matter of the paddle wheel transport ship was temporarily put on hold.

But now Mr. Geoffrey has designed a paddle steamer on his own, which is an unexpected surprise.

Soon, the design drawings of the "Poloskafi" appeared in front of Joseph.

This is a ship with a displacement of 70 tons, a length of 32 meters and a width of 7 meters. It is equipped with a LJ26H steam engine and has a designed speed of 8.5 kilometers per hour. If its two small sails can be used, it can reach a speed of 9.2 kilometers per hour.

Joseph was an outsider, so he turned to look at the Navy Shipbuilding Director, Borda: "What do you think of the design of this ship?"

"Ah, to be honest, the overall design is a bit crude." Borda looked at the blueprint carefully, "But the structure is reasonable, and the power layout is also very creative."

Joseph said, "Then based on this, is it feasible to design a small transport ship?" "Yes, Your Highness, we just need to optimize the ship shape and adjust the cabin layout. It will be no problem to use it to transport goods."

"Very good." Joseph's expression was as if a pie had fallen from the sky. "Please send an experienced designer to help Mr. Joffrey improve the design."

"I will do as you ask, Your Highness."

Joseph knew that no matter how talented a civilian designer like Joffrey was, he would definitely not be able to compete with the top warship designers in engineering practice. The most efficient way was for the two to work together.

He looked at Joffrey again: "I hope to see a design that can be put into production within three months. Can you do that?"

The latter did not expect that his "useless" design would be favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Your Highness, I will do my best to do it!"

Joseph nodded and said: "If this ship satisfies me, I will invest 150 million francs to build a shipyard to produce this kind of ship.

"And you will get 10% of the shipyard's shares. Oh, and the patent for the new ship will still be yours."

Geoffrey was so excited that his breathing became rapid. The shares plus the patent licensing fee would be at least 20 francs, and he would become a wealthy man overnight.

He almost shouted: "I swear, Your Highness, I will not let you down!"

Everyone present was shocked at the Crown Prince's lavish spending of millions.

Borda hurriedly suggested: "Your Highness, this kind of boat only needs an initial investment of 200,000 or 300,000 francs. Do you think it's okay..."

Joseph shook his head decisively and said, "Thank you for your advice, but I need a very high output, maybe 150 million is not enough."

He was well aware of the huge shock that the introduction of steam paddle steamers into river transport would cause.

You know, inland river shipping is different from sea shipping, and there is almost no wind on inland rivers. So most of them are rowing boats, and some paddle boats, when encountering special river channels, they must be towed by trackers, which is not only very slow, but also has a high labor cost.

The steam paddle steamer solved these problems very well. The speed of 8.5 kilometers per hour may not seem like much, but it is much faster than human rowing, and it can maintain the speed for a long time, unlike the rowers who have to rest constantly.

In addition, steamships can get rid of the constraints of trackers. During the peak shipping season, other ship owners may have to wait for a whole day to wait for trackers, while the steamship has already arrived at the destination.

This allows steamships to make two or more trips in the time it takes ordinary paddle boats to make one trip. Although it will burn a lot of coal, it also saves the wages of rowers and trackers. All in all, the transportation cost of steamships will be reduced by half compared to the current level!
Once a large river transport ship equipped with a 52-horsepower steam engine and a displacement of more than 90 tons is designed in the future, the cost can be further reduced.

This is a complete dimensionality reduction attack.

It can be predicted that when the French steam paddle steamer comes into production, all ship owners engaged in inland shipping will have to replace their ships with new ones, otherwise they will not be able to compete with others.

Joseph did not waste a minute and immediately asked Borda to recruit professionals to start planning the shipyard.

Historically, building warships has always been a money-losing business, and only civilian ships can make money. Joseph thought that if the profits of the steam paddle shipyard were high enough, he could invest in and control the Brest Shipyard, and by expanding production, significantly reduce the cost of building warships.

(End of this chapter)