The father and son shared a knowing smile and promptly set out.
Upon leaving the workshop, Joseph headed towards the Marble Courtyard, only to see Louis XVI turn towards the tea room.
He quickly followed and asked in surprise, “Father, aren’t we going to the shooting range?”
“Indeed,” Louis XVI nodded. “While they prepare the carriage, we can have a cup of tea, some pastries, and change our clothes in the meantime.”
It then occurred to Joseph about Louis XVI’s super luxury carriage weighing 1.5 tons; with all his travel necessities, it would take no less than 40 minutes to prepare.
He eagerly caught up to Louis XVI, “Dear father, you’re going as a master gunsmith to inspect your work, there’s no need for such ceremony. Why not take my carriage instead?”
Louis XVI blinked, hmm, a master gunsmith, huh? That does sound interesting, very stylish.
He heeded the advice and after a quick change of clothes, he left the Palace of Versailles and climbed into his son’s grey-black carriage.
The King’s Guard saw their majesty’s carriage take off, exchanged perplexed glances, and hastily mounted their horses to follow in a fluster.
Shortly after leaving, Louis XVI started to grumble, “Joseph, this carriage is too bumpy… Had I known, I would have waited for mine to be ready.”
Joseph asked in surprise, “Isn’t your carriage bumpy?”
“Indeed, my carriage has over ten sets of springs installed under the chassis.” Louis XVI, the “tech geek”, proceeded to outline the construction of his carriage.
“Spring suspension?!” Joseph exclaimed in amazement. He had been mulling over inventing such a thing, and now someone else had already made it. “Who made your carriage?”
“The same workshop that manufactures carriages for the court.”
After inquiring in detail, Joseph learned that carriages with spring suspension had been around for decades.
However, these springs had to be manually coiled, resulting in low production and inconsistent quality. The springs used in carriages sold for 30 livres each, and they often broke, needing replacement every two or three months.
This meant that a carriage with spring suspension easily cost a thousand livres or more. The King’s custom model was even more expensive.
Of course, other than the cost, the fragility and maintenance issues also deterred people from using such carriages.
The price was so high? A smile crept across Joseph’s lips; truly, opportunities abound for the observant.
If leaf springs could simply solve the problem, why bother with coil springs? It seemed he could develop a new business in carriage making.
If only he’d known how valuable this was, he could have developed it sooner and saved his backside a few months of discomfort.
Southern Suburbs of Paris.
Inside the police training school, all the instructors and students were swept up in excitement and agitation, for the King had made a surprise visit.
Accompanied by the senior staff of the police school, Louis XVI nodded and smiled kindly at the students, then turned to Joseph and whispered, “I can’t believe you’ve built such a large military school!”
Joseph quickly corrected with a smile, “Ah, it’s a police school, for training policemen.”
Louis XVI gestured towards the neatly formed Bertier Regiment in the distance, “Aren’t those soldiers?”
Joseph didn’t hide it from his father, “Actually, I have trained an army to test some ideas for military reforms. They sometimes come here to train.”
“Military reforms?” Louis XVI said with a smile, “Like what the Marquis of Louvois did?”
Marquis of Louvois was Louis XIV’s Minister of War and had led the military reforms of the time, which significantly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the French Army. One could say that the Sun King’s fame was built upon the armies organized by Louvois.
However, Louis XVI didn’t truly believe that the fourteen-year-old Crown Prince could come up with any substantial military reform.
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All Joseph could do was vaguely respond, “Ah, somewhat similar, I suppose.”
“I am truly proud of you, my son!”
As Louis XVI was speaking, he caught sight of the target range not far away and his eyes lit up, with his pace quickening.
When he arrived behind a row of earthen walls hundreds of meters wide, instructors had already set up more than a dozen human-shaped wooden boards 40 paces away.
1.5 paces are about 1 meter. So 40 paces would be about 26 meters.
The instructor, knowing that it was the King himself shooting, naturally set the targets a little closer, so as to avoid embarrassment should His Majesty keep missing.
Under everyone’s watchful eye, Louis XVI eagerly took the Caplock Gun and cartridge bag from his attendant’s hand, immediately pouring in the gunpowder, ramming it down, then adding a lead ball, ramming it down again, and finally pulling back the firing mechanism and affixing a percussion cap onto the touchhole.
The entire sequence of actions was extremely smooth, showing that he had performed the loading and firing process too many times recently while designing this gun.
With a loud “bang,” the bullet shot forth, grazing the shoulder of a wooden target.
The instructors and followers around instantly burst into praise, while people like Frient and Dibowa were focusing on the odd firearm instead.
Joseph, noticing their hesitant expressions, smiled at Dibowa and said, “Major Dibowa, would you like to compare shooting speeds with His Majesty?”
Having served for over ten years, Dibowa was one of the fastest marksmen at the police school.
Seeing that Louis XVI was also eager to try, Dibowa respectfully bowed his chest and nodded, “As you wish, Your Highness.”
He picked up a Charleville 1776 Flintlock Gun and hung his cartridge bag around his waist.
Joseph then loudly declared, “Begin!”
The two competitors immediately sprang into action, with Dibowa’s movements clearly faster, pouring in gunpowder, drawing the ramrod to ram down, and loading the bullet. Meanwhile, Louis XVI had just managed to pour in the gunpowder.
Dibowa was leading all the way, tilting his powder flask to pour into the pan when Louis XVI had just finished ramming down the bullet.
However, as Dibowa pulled back the firing mechanism and raised the gun to aim, he heard the “click” of the King’s firing mechanism next to him.
He was startled, realizing that the King was less than two seconds behind him!
He had been practicing loading and shooting regularly since military academy, a routine he had performed for over a decade, to the point where he could do it blindfolded. And yet, the King, who usually only used a gun for hunting and even had servants to load it, was now only a little bit slower than him!
The two guns fired one after the other, separated by two seconds, causing everyone present, except for the King and his son, to stare in amazement.
Dibowa gave Louis XVI a chest bow and, while focusing on the gun in the latter’s hand, said, “Your Majesty, I beg your pardon, but may I have the honor of examining your firearm?”
“Of course,” Louis XVI passed the gun over, thoughtfully including a percussion cap and said, “You’ll need this to fire.”
Only then did Joseph pick up another Caplock Gun and began to explain to Dibowa how to operate it.
When Dibowa learned that the gun eliminated the step of pouring the priming powder and required three fewer actions than operating the flintlock, his breathing became rushed with excitement, “Your Majesty, may I please fire it once to try?”