Chapter 538 Joseph’s Vocational College
Perna’s eyes met Mariana’s smiling eyes, and she immediately stood up suddenly, her cheeks became even redder, and she shook her head repeatedly with an expression of shame:
"I...I don't understand what you are talking about...I don't have it. I am not His Highness's lover, ahem..."
"Yes, I know." Mariana smiled even brighter, stepped forward to hug her flustered best friend, and said softly, "My dear, you are so beautiful and have a soul full of knowledge. No one can resist it. Your charm..."
"Mariana, I think I have to go." Like a child caught stealing candy, Perna stepped back and saluted, then stammered, "I, I will go find His Highness and tell Lavoisier Regarding the Baron, this must be done as soon as possible..."
Mariana thanked her repeatedly and put the gift she was going to give to the Crown Prince into her hand. Then she watched her run into the carriage quickly, smiled again, waved at her back and said: "Perna, change it." Wear that men's clothing, it drowns out your beauty!"
"Well..."
Perna huddled in the carriage, her heart pounding. She felt sweet and sour, and words like "chief mistress" flashed through her mind from time to time.
After a while, she suddenly remembered Mariana's last words, and couldn't help but look down at the dark gray men's clothes on her body. After hesitating for a few seconds, she nodded vigorously as if she had made up her mind.
Southeast side of the Palace of Versailles.
In the Royal Ordnance Factory, Joseph looked helplessly at the technician supervisor Garman: "In other words, there are only two technicians in the entire ordnance factory who are proficient in rifling technology?"
"That's true, Your Highness." Garman lowered his head and said, "Even in Charleville, there are only six or seven technicians who know this. You know, this is a very delicate and complicated skill, and it is rarely used."
Joseph sighed and said: "Then train them immediately. How long will it take to train 100 rifling technicians?"
"This..." Garman hesitated, "It depends on the talent of the apprentice, Your Highness. A master can usually teach three apprentices. If he learns quickly, the apprentice can graduate in two years, and after another half a year of practice, he can process alone. ”
"So long?!" Joseph calculated in his mind that according to the standard of "learn quickly", it would take 5 years to recruit 100 rifling technicians.
Garman glanced nervously at Louis XVI, who was looking at the drawings next to him, and whispered:
"His Majesty the King took more than nine months of study to master it..."
Joseph was relieved. The top craftsmen in France have to learn it for 9 months, which shows that this technology is indeed not easy.
The rifling operation in this era was done purely by hand, using a hook knife to "carve" four spiral lines of the same width and exactly the same interval on the inner wall of an iron pipe with a diameter of more than ten millimeters and a length of 1 meter, with a slight offset of 0.1 mm in the middle. It would have to be scrapped and redone, and only the top craftsmen could complete it.
Joseph immediately felt that something was wrong. There was no shortage of talented craftsmen in France. Even if they were not as good as his father, they would not be so many times worse.
So he looked at the technician supervisor and asked, "Why do other apprentices take so much longer than Your Majesty?"
"Well, of course, it's mainly because of His Majesty's extraordinary talent." Garman said, "In addition, Mr. La Lossel has been guiding His Majesty step by step.
"Normally speaking, whether it is the ordnance factory or the technicians in Charleville, they can only spend 2 hours a day teaching apprentices, and they have to divide it among three people."
"Two hours?" Joseph asked in surprise, "Why do you only have so little time?" "Your Highness, the technicians have their own work to do, and that is the source of their salary." Garman explained patiently, "So craftsmen generally He is only willing to take one apprentice, and usually only lets the apprentice watch from the side and think about it by himself. It is difficult to get guidance once in a few days.
"So in the past, it took 5 to 10 years for an apprentice to graduate. With your instructions this time, it can be shortened to 2 years, which is relatively fast."
Joseph couldn't help but rub his forehead. The apprenticeship system in this era is really bad. How can it keep up with the needs of industrialization in terms of its efficiency in cultivating talents?
He thought for a while and continued: "Then, let the technician spend all his time taking care of the apprentices and not do anything else, and I will pay them a salary. Will it be faster?"
Gaman spread his hands and said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid that even if they agree, they will do it privately.
"After all, they have to keep their skills, otherwise by the time they finish teaching the apprentices, they may no longer be the top batch in the industry."
Joseph nodded silently upon hearing this.
So the root of all problems lies in the training mechanism.
For those craftsmen, their own work always comes first, and teaching apprentices is just to have someone to help them. Tuition fees in this era were extremely meager, and they basically looked down upon them.
Therefore, if we want to solve the problem of cultivating industrial talents, we must introduce a vocational technician training system.
Let the craftsmen who teach skills be completely out of work and become professional teachers, and the number of students they train will be used as the basis for remuneration.
Taking this training of rifling technicians as an opportunity to establish a number of vocational colleges, this will play a huge supporting role in France's industrial revolution.
You must know that the contribution of a professional and technical craftsman to industrial development can sometimes exceed that of hundreds of ordinary workers who only repeat work. Vocational colleges allow France to acquire such talents several times faster than other European countries!
In later generations of Germany, advanced manufacturing industries were supported by a large number of skilled technicians. Vocational and junior college education was even called the "secret weapon" for Germany's industrial take-off, which shows its high importance.
Joseph immediately signaled to Eman who was standing at the door: "Please inform Count Mirabeau, Mr. Jeansonnet, and Archbishop Beaumont..."
He couldn't help but pause when he said this. Although the French education system has always been managed by the church, he always felt that it was a bit inconsistent to let a priest preside over the construction of an industrial college.
In the future, we should separate the education system, at least vocational high schools and universities, from the church, and let them provide literacy education in local parishes.
"And Mr. De Nico, come to my place tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Joseph turned to Garman and said, "You and Manager Martinier should come too."
The industrial, educational, and publicity departments, plus the two executives from the ordnance factory, were basically enough to formulate the framework of a vocational college in the industrial field. As for other industries, they can use this as a model and slowly expand in the future.
After finishing the instructions for the vocational school, Joseph and his father discussed the plan for mass production of the August 1790 rifled gun until dusk, and then the two returned to the Palace of Versailles tired and excited to have dinner.
(End of chapter)