Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

In history, European countries that had gone through the early stages of the Industrial Revolution and devastated workers' lives with excessive exploitation eventually recognized this issue and started taking measures.

As an industrial pioneer, England enacted the "Factory Acts" in 1802 to ensure the basic survival of workers.

Some important provisions included:

— Factories were not allowed to employ child labor under the age of 9. Children aged 9 and older could work for 8 hours a day, and those over 14 could work for 12 hours a day.

— Workers were not allowed to start work before 6 in the morning, and their bedtime could not be later than 2 in the morning.

— Factories were required to provide clothes that could cover the body, and during the first 4 years, they were obligated to ensure the workers received at least 2 hours of basic education daily.

— Factories had to ensure a minimum level of ventilation and install protective measures for dangerous machinery, among other things.

In the initial stages of the "Factory Acts," British companies complained heavily, but before long they discovered that the efficiency of workers had significantly increased and production costs were even lower than before the implementation of the "Factory Acts."

Especially as the quality of the labor force became more abundant and recruitment became easier—this was because the basic survival environment for workers was guaranteed, and the rates of disability, disease, and starvation decreased, allowing most to survive long enough to become skilled workers.

As a result, Britain's industrial competitiveness significantly improved, further consolidating its global dominance.

Today, after seeing the appalling working conditions of the workers, Joseph decided to urgently push for legislation to protect workers' rights.

This would not only improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers in a major country, allowing them to sustain a basic living, but also increase the efficiency of industrial production in France. Moreover, labor protection laws could become a powerful tool in France's arsenal.

In history, after England enacted the "Factory Acts," it immediately became the human rights standard in Europe and was praised by workers from all countries.

Technical workers from other countries flocked to England, bringing a large amount of talent and technology, which further advanced England's Industrial Revolution.

Then, other European countries realized something was amiss and had to issue similar laws, but they were already at a disadvantage, for once a standard is accepted by everyone, beliefs are not easy to change.

In this lifetime, Joseph intended to keep that halo of standards in France!

After returning, he would summon Mirabeau, Breti, and others to discuss the framework of the regulations, aiming to submit them for review at the next Cabinet meeting.

As he was pondering this, he heard Perna say beside him, "Your Highness, you just mentioned 'medical masks.' Do they also play an important role in medicine?"

Joseph nodded, "Indeed, masks can greatly reduce the likelihood of doctors being infected by patients during treatment. Actually, the bird beak masks that doctors often wear have this effect."

But Perna seemed surprised, "Some scholars believe that bird beak masks are just ignorant superstitions which increase the risk of infection. My father never wears one."

Joseph, who had previously watched documentaries on the history of European medical care, sighed and said, "That's because they rarely cleaned the masks, turning them into a breeding ground for bacteria... But masks are definitely useful."

As he spoke, he quickly reminded the manager Delas, "You should also frequently clean the masks here, at least once every 3 days, and it's best for each worker to have a fixed mask and not to share them."

Perna's eyes lit up, as if she had already seen another medical innovation.

She greatly admired His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's medical knowledge and firmly believed that if he said it was useful, it surely was. Previously, she had turned the knowledge about "double-blind experiments" that the Prince had taught into a paper, which had earned her considerable prestige in the medical community. Naturally, the medical community generally believed it was a joint effort by the Crown Prince and her father Lamark...

She immediately pleaded, "Your Highness, I would like to distribute some masks for field hospitals and later promote their use among doctors nationwide."

"Of course, that's a good thing," Joseph nodded. Then, considering the high cost of individually custom-made masks, he simply said, "Perhaps we could build a factory to produce masks.

"With just the demand from medical and industrial uses, we would need to use several tens of thousands of masks per month. It's necessary for a factory to produce them in large quantities."

"Several tens of thousands?" Perna asked, somewhat surprised, "Your Highness, there are only about 200 workers in the distillery factory, and even including all the nation's doctors, wouldn't that be too many?"

Joseph smiled and said, "Not just the gas distillery factory, but textile mills, mills, chemical plants, and even construction workers need these. I estimate we could definitely sell twenty to thirty thousand masks per month."

After discussing the masks, Joseph proceeded to tour the coal yard under the guidance of Delas, and along the way, started discussing with investors like Dupont about building new gas distillation plants in Nancy and Tunisia.

When an investor heard that even Tunisia was going to install gas lamps, with an investment as high as 2 million francs, he expressed some uncertainty, "Your Highness, installing gas lamps in North Africa might carry some financial risks. Actually, Nancy doesn't seem very prosperous either..."

"You have to see the long-term benefits," Joseph said. "Gas lamps have a huge role in enhancing a city's appeal.

"The industrial development zone in Nancy is the most mature, and it will become a densely populated city in the future. And with at least forty to fifty thousand immigrants moving to Tunis in the past six months, Tunis City is bound to become the center of North Africa."

The investor nodded slightly but still whispered softly, "I mean, with such a large investment, perhaps we should be more cautious..."

Before Joseph could respond, Dupont immediately interjected with a smile, "Mr. Rowland, you're being too cautious. There's a very promising future for gas streetlights.

"As far as I know, the British Parliament has already approved a grant of 300,000 British Pounds to install gas lamps in London."

The businessman named Rowland's eyes widened—300,000 British Pounds, that's 7.5 million francs, the British were investing such a huge amount in gas streetlights! It seemed he had been overly worried.

Joseph heard this but slightly furrowed his brow. There was a reason the British became pioneers of the Industrial Revolution—not least their keen instincts which far surpassed those of their contemporaries.

Note 1: At the beginning of the 19th century, what was referred to as the "Factory Acts" in England was not the name of a particular law but referred to multiple related acts concerning factories. Among them, the most famous was the "Apprentices' Health and Morals Act," along with some other supplementary decrees.