Joseph felt somewhat embarrassed by Besancon’s lavish praise. Ah, the wisdom of public restrooms, right?
However, he could understand, after all, if it weren’t for his intervention, Paris might have had to wait half a century before seeing its first public toilet.
He continued, “Oh, and trash bins. On the main streets of Paris, we’ll construct large stone bins every 200 to 300 feet for pedestrians to dispose of their rubbish.”
Besancon kept nodding, then another question occurred to him and he hastily asked, “Your Highness, constructing these public toilets and trash bins will cost quite a bit of money, and later on, quite a few people will be needed to manage them.”
Being the Director of Police Services, he immediately thought deeper on the subject. Joseph nodded, “The construction investment will come from the finance allocations, and for management, we can entrust it to your ‘Daily Affairs Squad’.”
“Hmm, as for carrying away things like human waste from the public restrooms, we can use them as fertilizer, and there should be people willing to do that voluntarily. The manpower from the ‘Daily Affairs Squad’ will just need to do some cleaning; that should be manageable.”
Besancon showed hesitance again, “Your Highness, the citizens might not be very cooperative…”
“You can have notices posted on the streets and I’ll also arrange for the newspapers to run a campaign,” Joseph paused to think, then added, “Let’s call it the ‘Beautiful Paris’ campaign.
“Oh, of course, the police will need to oversee it primarily. Those who litter or relieve themselves in public should be promptly reminded and warned, and repeat offenders can be fined to clean the toilets.”
After Besancon had left, Joseph, looking out at the empty streets from his window, muttered to himself, “Or perhaps we could also lay some wooden rails for some city rail transport. Hmm, with wooden rails, a two-horse carriage could possibly transport more than ten people. It would also get artisans accustomed to laying rails – that will be very useful in the future.
“Sigh, it all requires money… why does France have to be so poor?”
Eman’s voice came from outside the door, “Your Highness, Count Lamark has arrived.”
“Oh?” Joseph was a bit surprised and quickly said, “Please, have him come in.”
The door opened, and Lamark stepped forward with a smile, bowing deeply in greeting, “Crown Prince, I went to the Palace of Versailles to find you, but they told me you had moved here, so I came to see you. Seeing you’re in good spirits, I am relieved.”
“Please, have a seat,” Joseph bowed in response and said, “I owe much to Doctor Perna who regularly examines me.”
“That’s what she should do,” Lamark replied with a smile and nod, then took out a glass bottle, saying, “Look, this is the latest extracted tocopherol, it’s very pure now.”
Joseph took the small bottle and saw that inside was a light yellow powder, very fine.
“Your technique is truly exquisite,” he remarked.
“Oh, this is all thanks to the greenhouse with constant temperature you had built,” Lamark’s eyes unblinkingly stared at Joseph, as if to remind him of something.
“The greenhouse with constant temperature is finished?” Joseph asked in surprise.
“Yes, Your Highness. Actually, we had a failure midway, Mr. Laseny and I sought the help of the court’s artisans, and finally, it was a success. Now, we can keep the temperature within a 5-degree Celsius range, which greatly helps in the refining of tocopherol.”
He looked at Joseph with great expectation, “So…?”
“?”
Lamark urged, directly saying, “Your Highness, you said that with a greenhouse with constant temperature, we could produce a miraculous medicine capable of treating deadly diseases like pneumonia, puerperal fever, and the Black Death. Have you forgotten?”
“Oh, that’s correct, no mistake,” Joseph suddenly recalled, realizing Lamark was here for the penicillin. He had been so busy lately that he had completely forgotten about it…
He nodded eagerly, “Then, I will visit the pharmaceutical workshop tomorrow and tell you how to make it.”
Lamark stood up excitedly, placing his hand on his chest, “That’s wonderful! Your Highness, if this medicine can be successfully produced, it will save countless lives!”
Joseph warned him seriously again, “Doctor Lamark, this medicine is very important, it must be kept absolutely confidential! Of course, I will also send the guard to protect the medicine workshop.”
“Rest assured, I will not reveal a single word to anyone!”
The next morning, Lamark couldn’t wait to arrive at the Industrial Planning Bureau, obviously setting out before dawn.
Joseph had a quick breakfast, practically dragged onto the carriage by him.
He had spent the previous night working on the grain procurement issue, and his head was still filled with wheat and bread… There was no helping it, there wasn’t much time left for preparation.
Amidst the jolting of the carriage, Joseph remembered that the man sitting opposite him was France’s most formidable biologist, who might have a solution, “Count Lamark, is there a way to prevent crops from being destroyed by hail? Oh, hail this big.”
He said, lifting his fist.
Lamark frowned, “I’m afraid that’s impossible, Your Highness. With hail like that, even small trees might be damaged.”
Joseph sighed in resignation, only to hear Lamark continue, “Unless it’s potatoes, then there might be a chance to save some of the harvest.”
Joseph was suddenly taken aback, and his eyes gradually brightened.
That’s right! Why hadn’t he thought of that himself? The bulk of a potato is underground. Although July is not yet the harvest season for potatoes, by then they would have at least grown to seven or eight tenths of their size.
This was far better than having crops like wheat completely flattened!
Of course, there was a drought that year, so the potato yield might not be good, but by immediately promoting the planting of potatoes throughout All of France, it could to some extent alleviate the famine.
Lamark added, shaking his head, “But the French people don’t eat them.”
Joseph puzzled, “Why do you say that? I often see mashed potatoes and the like at the Palace of Versailles.”
Lamark laughed, “Only the nobility eat them, and that’s limited to Paris.”
“Ah?”
“Don’t you know?” Lamark spread his hands. “In the past, someone must have eaten potatoes with sprouts, leading to poisoning, so there began to be rumors among the common people that potatoes were toxic.
“Later on, people said that potatoes came from ‘the devil underground.’ Because they grow under the ground, they even got a name called ‘Ghost Apple,’ considered to be an omen of bad luck, and eating them would bring misfortune.
“As the rumors spread, people even said that eating potatoes could lead to stroke, lung disease, leprosy.
“Oh, those in the know understand it’s all nonsensical talk, but the ordinary citizens believe it. Back when Naples was going through a famine, people there would rather starve than eat potatoes.”
Joseph asked, “Then why do the nobles not care?”
Doctor Lamark explained, “All thanks to Her Majesty the Queen. Doctor Parmontier believed that potatoes were excellent food and recommended this plant to the Royal Family.
“The Queen liked potato flowers very much and wore them on her chest. She also tried eating potatoes. As you know, the nobles at the Palace of Versailles love to imitate Her Majesty’s actions.”