Chapter 533 His Majesty’s Patent
Joseph continued to read the document about the verdict of the Paris High Court against Lavoisier, and then he exhaled - fortunately, 15 years in prison was not directly sentenced to death like the Jacobins.
Lavoisier's crime did not meet the standards of beheading. At that time, France had a strict death sentence because there were only two sentencing methods: "not guilty" and "death". The father of chemistry unfortunately died.
Joseph weighed it awkwardly. Lavoisier could not go to jail now. The soda ash factory and coal tar refinery were still waiting for him to take charge of the work. If he was put in jail, these projects would have to be stopped.
It seems that he can only be released on special bail. Joseph looked at the fine amount of the judgment, which was as high as 1.2 million francs.
He frowned immediately. After this punishment, Lavoisier probably wouldn't be able to get enough bail money. In this case, he can only ask his father to grant him amnesty.
This great scholar has a net worth of over one million, so why should he be greedy for more?
At this moment, Emman whispered outside the door: "Your Highness, Baron Breteuil wants to see you."
"Please let him in."
Immediately, the Minister of Justice pushed open the door and walked in, followed by a middle-aged man wearing glasses.
After saluting, Breteuil gestured to the person who came with him and introduced Joseph: "Your Highness, this is Joseph Ignace Guillotin from the Paris Judicial Prosecutor's Office.
"In fact, he has been committed to improving the efficiency of executions. After his unremitting efforts, he finally invented this new type of guillotine."
Hearing this, Guillotin took a few steps forward, opened the box he was carrying, and took out an exquisite guillotine model. He smiled and explained to Joseph diligently: "Your Highness, our current beheading is very troublesome. , low efficiency, and the criminals will suffer a lot. At the same time, the executioner's salary is also very high, even close to that of the municipal commissioner.
“So, I found a German craftsman who had experience in this field and worked with him to invent this decapitation machine.
"Oh, a large number of beheadings are being carried out in the Louvre Square these days, and this new machine can be used. It can increase the execution efficiency several times.
"Allow me to show you how it works."
Joseph looked at the guillotine with a "door"-shaped frame on the table and a sharp blade hanging in the middle. He sighed in his heart that the inertia of history is really stubborn. What should have come has come.
However, he remembered that Guillotin had presented this new invention to Louis XVI in history, but he did not expect that it would be sent to him in this life.
This is understandable, after all, Baron Breteuil was raised by himself, and the entire judicial system is also under his management. There are epoch-making inventions in the judicial system, so naturally they come to you first.
Yes, in this era where beheading all over the world relies on the executioner and a knife, a fully automatic decapitation machine is simply equivalent to the invention of high-precision CNC machine tools in later generations. It is an epoch-making high-precision technology. You have to take credit from the "big boss".
Guillotine has skillfully lifted the blade on the model and placed a cucumber at the gap of the wooden shackle to simulate a human head.
Immediately, he pulled the wrench on the model, and the blade fell down, cutting into the cucumber with a "click".
However, embarrassingly, the blade got stuck two-thirds of the way through the cucumber and failed to cut it.
Guillotin wiped his sweat, hurriedly pulled up the blade again, smiled apologetically to Joseph: "Ah! Your Highness, it was just a small accident, please give me another chance..."
Joseph glanced at the blade. It had a flat blade and was obviously an unimproved version. It was not surprising that the blade would get stuck.
He was about to propose an improvement plan for the classic beveled blade and complete the "Daqing style guillotine", but he was suddenly startled when the words came to his mouth.
This opportunity to show his face should be given to Dad. After all, it is originally his patent, and it can also increase Dad's sense of participation in governing the country. There are not many opportunities for him to participate, so don't take it yourself. So, he said to Guillotin: "His Majesty the King has unique research on mechanical equipment. Maybe he can give you some useful suggestions for your machine."
It's also a good time to ask Dad for a copy of Lavoisier's pardon.
More than an hour later.
Louis XVI looked at the guillotine model, rubbed his chin and thought for a while, then suddenly grabbed a pen and paper and started writing and drawing.
After several revisions, a drawing of a slanted guillotine appeared in front of Guillotin.
The latter's face was suddenly filled with shock, and he praised and complimented His Majesty the King.
In fact, it cannot be regarded as flattery. He sincerely admires His Majesty the King.
This is equivalent to a future generation of experts who saw a high-precision CNC lathe for the first time and directly modified a new generation version for you.
It’s okay not to accept it.
Guillotin also received a grant of 50,000 francs from Louis XVI to build several prototypes of improved guillotines.
Breteuil immediately said that the prototype could be taken to the Louvre Square for testing.
After the Minister of Justice and Guillotin left happily, Louis XVI chatted with his son, whom he had not seen for a while:
"Joseph, I heard that you have arrested many illegal tax collectors this time?"
"Yes, father." Joseph was a little surprised. His father, who spent all day in the workshop, was still paying attention to current affairs. "These guys are heinous and seriously endanger the development and stability of France. You can watch them beheading them. How excited the crowd was, you know how many bad things they did.”
He originally thought that Louis XVI wanted to intercede for those big tax collectors. After all, he was a soft-hearted man. If a tax collector could ask for help from him, he would probably find it hard to refuse.
Unexpectedly, Louis XVI patted him on the shoulder hard and said with a very proud expression:
"My Joseph has grown up. He presided over such a big thing as the tax reform and dealt with the evil tax collectors. He really made outstanding contributions to the country and the people. I bet that there is no crown prince in the whole of Europe who can Better than you. You are so proud of me and your mother!”
Although he is not good at handling government affairs and is quite playful, it does not prove that he is a fool. On the contrary, he is very smart. Whether what his son does is beneficial to the country, he can understand it with just a little thought.
He paused and then continued: "Well, my improved guillotine can help you deal with those villains more effectively, so I also contributed to this tax reform."
Joseph smiled quickly and said: "Yes, your invention is of great significance."
He secretly thought in his heart, but it might not play such a big role in history.
After talking about the abolition of the tax farming system for a while, Louis XVI suddenly remembered something, pulled Joseph towards his workshop, and said excitedly:
"I have already made a sample of the rifled gun you mentioned before. Now, can you tell me how to double its rate of fire?"
(End of chapter)