Joseph did not make Lucien too tired this time. He just asked Lucien to sort out some of the family's current investments. This work really gave Lucien a more comprehensive understanding of Joseph's strategic concept.

"Joseph, what is this 'Zeus' plan? How did it squeeze out so much money? And it seems that the investment in it will be further increased in the future?"

"This plan," said Joseph. "This plan is a revolutionary plan, well, a revolutionary plan that is enough to lead others decades ahead of others. Its impact can be compared with Watt's steam engine, or even further."

In this era, Watt had completed his improvements to the steam engine. In 1776, Watt's improved steam engine had been put into the mines and used to drive water pumps. At that time, there were several Watt steam engines imported from the UK in the mine of the Duke of Orleans. Now, Watt's steam engines have been widely used in the textile industry. It has provided considerable help to British textiles gain an advantage in the entire world market.

However, the real potential of the steam engine has not been developed yet, and neither train nor ship has appeared. So when Joseph used Watt's steam engine as a metaphor, Lucien heard it, curled his lips and said disapprovingly: "Compared with the steam engine, there is nothing great."

"You are not a real scientist or a real industrialist. You can't see clearly the direction of things' development." Joseph shook his head, "You know, this thing is extremely important. Once it succeeds, it can almost bring all the existing methods of production into their graves and history museums for people to remember."

Lucien knew that Joseph was quite reliable in academics and he rarely brags about such things. So his curiosity was also triggered: "What is this Zeus plan? Tell me..."

"Your level of confidentiality is enough," said Joseph. "But after you hear it, remember not to mention a single letter to anyone else, especially your women who are not a single one!"

"I understand," said Lucien, "I want to brag with those women. Some of them can be bragged about. Who talks about academic issues with women? Ah... By the way, there is still one such weirdness in this world..."

"What do you know? She is willing to listen carefully when you talk to her about academics, which proves your charm." Joseph retorted.

"Okay, stop talking about this, for your self-esteem," said Lucien. "Let's go back to the point, what is this 'Zeus'?"

"Okay!" said Joseph, "Just after Mr. Lavoisier made out the electric detonator, we conducted an underwater explosion test. At that time, someone placed a compass next to the wire. As a result, I found that the pointer of the compass suddenly turned when the wire was turned on. Of course, this might be caused by wind and waves on the ship at that time. So I repeated this experiment in the laboratory, and I found that when an electric current flowed through the wire, it really brought about changes in the magnetic needle."

"So what?" Lucien asked.

"So what?" Joseph smiled, "Not what. I'll take you to the laboratory in the afternoon, and you can go see it yourself. Now let's deal with this problem first..."

"Hey, this question is just cumbersome and not difficult. Although it involves a little secret, Fanny should be able to get in touch with this level of secrets. Why do I have to do this kind of thing? Joseph, you are inhumane!"

After lunch, Joseph took Lucien to the new laboratory. The laboratory was a little far from Paris, so they arrived at the laboratory at dusk.

Joseph brought Lucien into a laboratory. On the table in the middle of the laboratory, there were two machines covered with wires, one of which had a shaker, the other machine was connected to a pump, and three wires were connected between the two machines.

"When I was shaking that handle," said Joseph.

So Lucien went forward and shook the handle.

"Shake faster, didn't you eat?"

"I really didn't eat, I was hungry!" Lucien complained while speeding up.

As Lucien shook, the machine connected by wires there also turned, and the pump also started to run, and the water began to flow out of the pump.

"How is this? Is this thing amazing?" Joseph said proudly.

"Well, it's very fun." Lucien replied while turning the handle hard.

"Do you understand its meaning?" Joseph asked again.

After hearing this, Lucien thought about it carefully, nodded and said, "This thing is better than a steam engine!"

After following Joseph for so long, Lucien certainly knew the value of these two machines. When steam engines are used as industrial power to drive machines, they need complex transmission systems, clutch systems and speed-shift systems. In order to facilitate arrangement, people have to place multiple steam engines in places that are not actually suitable for the installation of steam engines. For example, in textile workshops, there should not be a steam engine for fire protection, but because the transmission shaft cannot be too long, the result will be that the textile machine and the steam engine are only a little more than one meter apart.

Moreover, different machines require different power and running speeds. The result is either one equipped with a steam engine or each working machine is equipped with a clutch and speed change system.

In this way, the entire machine system will be very complex. The more complex the mechanical system is, the more expensive and inefficient it is. However, the system shown in the laboratory that transmits power from one machine to another is obviously much simpler and more efficient. This advantage alone makes it more suitable for use in more places.

"If we use this machine widely to drive our various machines, our various productions will be greatly improved, and the costs will drop to unimaginable levels, and no opponent can compete with us... Well, Joseph, what's going on?"

"I discovered the law of the mutual conversion of electricity and magnetism," Joseph took the glory that should have belonged to Faraday without blushing. "This discovery, in a sense, is almost comparable to Sir Newton's discovery of gravity. But I have not disclosed this knowledge yet. The reason is just like the geometry of Mr. Monge's drawing method has not been disclosed. The machine you shake can turn external power into current, I call it a generator, and the machine on the water pump can turn electricity into power output, I call it an electric motor."

"These two things look very similar," Lucien said.

"Physically speaking, these two things are actually the same thing. They are mirror images of each other and are each other's reverse processes." Joseph said.

"So what are the main problems with the current plan?" Lucien asked.

"Problems? There are problems everywhere," said Joseph. "First of all, it's power source. I can't use you as a power source, right? It's good to use a steam engine, but it requires a lot of fuel. The coal mines in France are not under our control at present. And there are no particularly good coal mines in France at present. I have sent a lot of people to look for minerals on our newly acquired territory. If God bless France and let us find such places, we need a lot of money to buy them."

"Well, if there is, the expense is indeed worth it. We do have to make some financial preparations for this." Lucien thought for a while and nodded.

"Of course, I have a backup plan. You know, in the era when there was no steam engine, in order to drive the textile machine, the textile mill could only arrange along the river and use hydraulic power to drive the machinery." Joseph continued, "So, inspired by this, I proposed to build a river blocking dam to raise the water level on a river with a large drop, and then use the water flow to impact a water wheel to provide power, drive the generator, and then use wires to guide the power to the needed motor."

"This is not bad either!"

"It's good, but the current also has losses in the wires, which means that the machine cannot be too far away from the power plant. In addition, many of the things here are only in the laboratory stage and need to be practical. I really don't know how many problems will occur and how much money will be needed. So... Well, Lucien, do you understand why we need a lot of cash now, right?"

Lucien nodded: "This does cost a lot of money, but if it succeeds, it will be worth it. I understand, damn, there are so many places to use money... That bastard Napoleon, he actually got such a little money from Austria!"

Austria's compensation was handed over to the government, and Napoleon didn't get much from it. Although Napoleon swept across the Austrian countryside, Austrian tyrants had already prepared for a long time and would not be transported to the city for a while, gold, silver, jewelry and other things would not be left in the manor. Therefore, the income from fighting the tyrants was actually very limited.

"Austria and Italy are still incomparable," Joseph sighed, "especially the Pope's crown, what a good person... So now, we can only make as fast money as possible by ourselves. Damn peace! Well, what are the consequences of our recent contact with the Irish?"

"They have the desire to buy weapons. But... the Irish have no money." Lucien spread his hands.

It is indeed impossible for the Irish to have a lot of money. Since Henry VIII fell in love with the Holy See and established another Anglican Church in order to change his wife, the English have slaughtered the Irish people who insisted on Catholicism in Ireland. After more than a century of exploitation, the Irish people have become quite poor.

"The Irish have the same enemies as us," said Joseph. "The war between France and Britain continues. Shouldn't our government support the struggle of the Irish people for free? I think the government should bear the money for the Irish to buy weapons!"
Chapter completed!