I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 70: Lithographic Printing

Versailles Palace is west of Paris, while Saint-Antoine is to the northeast. To avoid shuttling back and forth—mainly because he couldn't stand the bumpy carriage rides—Joseph spent the night at the Paris Chamber of Commerce president's residence. The next morning, he headed directly to Saint-Antoine.

This small suburban town near Paris is somewhat like a "special economic zone," being the only area around Paris not controlled by various guilds. Artisans can find work here without having to join a guild.

Because they could save on guild fees, the artisans here would accept slightly lower wages. Many workshops, eager to cut costs, had established themselves in this town.

Over the years, Saint-Antoine had grown into a town teeming with workshops, housing thousands of artisans and their families.

Joseph had Emond find a guide to take him around and inspect the town's various paper mills, but as he visited each one, his brows furrowed more deeply.

The small mills lacked the resources to experiment with new papermaking techniques.

The largest mill had over two hundred artisans and was quite sizable, but the owner, Réveillon, was reluctant to try new papermaking methods.

After all, new technology required a significant investment in production experiments, and the outcomes were uncertain, making the risks too high.

Joseph considered gritting his teeth and buying the mill himself, but he ultimately decided against it.

Réveillon's mill was worth at least 500,000 livres, and the trial production of cheap papermaking would require additional investment.

Due to his frequent displays of "financial power," Joseph's wealth, which had once been over 230,000 livres, had now dwindled to just over 70,000.

If he spent all of that on the paper mill, he would be in a tight spot if any other needs arose.

So, after careful consideration, Joseph decided to temporarily shelve the idea of cheap papermaking until he had more financial flexibility.

However, the outcome was not entirely unexpected. After all, industries like papermaking, which are large-scale and high-value, cannot undergo a technological revolution overnight.

It's worth noting that if the paper industry could be upgraded and rolled out nationwide, it could even provide a significant boost to the French economy.

When Joseph returned to Versailles, the three plate engravers from the Paris Commercial News were already waiting for him.

Seeing the heavy toolbags on their backs and the hammers of various sizes at their waists, Joseph glanced at the marble floors of his palace, which were polished to a mirror-like shine, and quickly dismissed the idea of teaching them lithographic printing techniques here.

Emond suddenly approached and bowed. "Your Highness, the chalkstone slabs you requested are still on the carriage. Where should we unload them?"

Joseph frowned. It would be great if I had a workshop, he thought.

As the word "workshop" crossed his mind, a place suddenly popped into his head, bringing a smile to his lips. He turned to Emond and said, "Let's move everything to His Majesty's workshop."

"This... Are you sure?" Emond asked, surprised.

"I'll talk to His Majesty," Joseph replied. He then gestured to the three artisans. "Please follow me."

Ten minutes later, in King Louis XVI's well-equipped, spacious, and bright workshop, the King of France curiously observed the chalkstone slabs and the roughly dressed artisans before him.

Joseph began by sincerely thanking his father for the enormous contribution he was making to France's publishing industry. He then adopted a serious expression as he addressed the three artisans:

"What I'm about to teach you is highly important. You must not reveal it to anyone without my permission, or..."

He paused, considering the most severe penalty he could threaten them with, before adding, "It will be considered treason."

The presence of the King and the Prince in the royal workshop, with the imposing palace guards standing outside, was an intimidating sight for the artisans, who were trembling with fear. They dared not even raise their heads, continuously swearing that they would never speak a word of it to anyone.

Emond then brought out prepared confidentiality agreements, which the artisans signed one by one.

Joseph knew that, given the lack of patent laws at the time, the technology couldn't be kept secret for long. He intended to eventually spread lithographic printing throughout France.

However, for now, it was his key to victory and had to remain a closely guarded secret. For the time being, he would have these three engravers closely watched, at least until he could control the narrative in Paris.

After completing the confidentiality process, Joseph began the formal introduction to lithographic printing.

He had one of the artisans secure a polished chalkstone slab on the table, then brought out the prepared printing ink, mixing it with some wax and rosin.

Once the additives had fully dissolved in the ink, Joseph dipped a brush in the ink and wrote on the chalkstone slab, "In honor of His Majesty the King."

An hour later, after the ink had mostly dried, Joseph used a brush to apply a diluted nitric acid solution over the slab twice.

The areas covered by ink were unaffected, while the other areas were slightly eroded by the acid.

"The plate is complete," Joseph casually remarked as he applied a thin layer of water over the stone and then brushed on the printing ink.

He couldn't help but reminisce about the month he had spent volunteering as a teacher in a remote mountain village, helping the headmaster use a mimeograph to print exam papers. Little did he know that this small skill would come in handy here.

Now, the areas of the stone that had been eroded by the acid absorbed the water, preventing the ink from sticking, while the original inked areas were covered with fresh ink.

Joseph then pressed a sheet of paper onto the stone, applied gentle pressure, and carefully lifted it off. The paper now bore the words "In honor of His Majesty the King," though they were mirrored.

The three artisans exchanged glances, seeing shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

Though the words were simple and not perfectly aligned, the entire process from plate-making to printing had taken just over an hour! This had completely overturned their understanding of printing.

Louis XVI, who had been watching with interest, finally asked, "Was there something special about the printing process?"

The oldest of the three artisans, seeing the King's genuine curiosity, bowed in reverence and explained, "Your Majesty, the Prince's technique could render all current printing methods obsolete!"

Another artisan added excitedly, "Previously, we had to first coat a copper plate with wax, then cover it with paper and carve away the parts of the image we didn't need.

"The pen would remove the wax from beneath the paper. Once the image was complete, we'd place the copper plate in an iron acid solution, where the areas not covered by wax would be etched away. After that, we'd remove the wax, apply ink, and print.

"Just carving the wax took a long time, and etching the copper plate took most of the day. It usually took two or three days to complete a single plate.

"But the Prince's method involves drawing only the parts you need, which is far simpler than carving away what you don't need!"

(End of chapter)

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