Perna's gaze met Marianne's smiling eyes, and she immediately stood up with an even redder face, shaking her head repeatedly in angry embarrassment:
"I... I don't understand what you're talking about... I haven't, I'm not, His Highness's mis-, cough..."
"Yes, I know." Marianne's smile brightened as she approached and embraced her somewhat flustered friend, whispering, "Dear, you are so beautiful, with a soul full of learning. No one can resist your charm..."
"Marianne, I think I have to go." Perna, like a child caught stealing sweets, stepped back and curtsied, stuttering, "I need to talk to the Crown Prince about Baron Lavoisier. That must be done as soon as possible..."
Marianne thanked her repeatedly, shoved the gift for the Crown Prince into her hands, and then watched her dash onto the horse carriage, smiling again and waving at her retreating figure:
"Perna, change out of that men's clothing, it's drowning your beauty!"
Perna crouched in the carriage, her heart pounding, feeling a mix of sweetness and sourness, with the phrase "Chief Mistress" flashing through her mind occasionally.
After a while, she suddenly remembered Marianne's last words and involuntarily looked down at her deep grey men's clothing, hesitating for a few seconds before nodding with determination as if making up her mind.
On the southeast side of the Palace of Versailles.
Inside the Royal Armory, Joseph looked helplessly at the head technician, Gaman:
"So you're saying that in the entire armory, only two technicians can master the rifling technique skillfully?"
"That's correct, Your Highness." Gaman bowed his head, "Even in Charleville, there are only six or seven technicians proficient in this. As you know, it's a very delicate and complex technique, rarely needed."
Joseph sighed and said, "Then we must immediately start training. How long would it take to train 100 rifling technicians?"
"This..." Gaman hesitated, "It depends on the apprentice's talent, Your Highness. Usually, a master can teach three apprentices. If they learn quickly, it will take two years for an apprentice to be fully trained, followed by another half a year to work independently."
"That long?!" Joseph calculated in his mind, and by the standard of learning "quickly," it would take five years to gather these 100 rifling technicians.
Gaman cast a nervous glance at Louis XVI, who was examining drawings nearby, and whispered:
"His Majesty the King took over nine months to master it..."
Joseph was relieved. If France's foremost craftsman took nine months, then the technique was indeed difficult.
In this era, rifling was done entirely by hand. Craftsmen used a hook-shaped tool to "carve" four spiral grooves of equal width, spaced perfectly apart, into the inner walls of an iron barrel about a dozen millimeters in diameter and one meter long. A deviation of merely 0.1 millimeters required discarding the work entirely and starting over, and only the most elite craftsmen could accomplish this.
Joseph then felt something was amiss. France was not short of genius craftsmen; even if they couldn't match his father, they shouldn't be so vastly outperformed.
He then asked the head technician, "Why do other apprentices take much longer than His Majesty?"
"Well, of course, it's mainly because of His Majesty's exceptional talent," said Gaman, "In addition, Mr. Larosiere has always been instructing His Majesty hands-on.
"Normally, whether it's an armory or Charleville's technicians, they can only spare two hours a day to teach apprentices, and that's to be divided among three people."
"Two hours?" Joseph asked, surprised, "Why so little time?"
"Your Highness, the technicians have their own work to do, which is the source of their income," Gaman patiently explained, "Thus, a craftsman usually only prefers to take on one apprentice and generally has the apprentice simply observe from the side, leaving them to figure things out themselves, and rarely offers guidance.
"That's why previously, it took an apprentice five to ten years to finish training. With your command, shortening it to two years is actually quite fast."
Joseph couldn't help rubbing his forehead. The apprentice system of this era was really poor. With such efficiency in nurturing talent, how could it keep up with the needs of industrial development?
He pondered for a moment and continued, "So, if the technicians spend all their time teaching apprentices and do nothing else, and I pay them, could they train faster?"
Gaman spread his hands, "Your Highness, even if they agree, they might still take on side jobs secretly.
"After all, they need to maintain their hands-on skills, or after teaching, they might no longer be among the top in their field."
Joseph nodded silently upon hearing this.
So, the root of all problems lay in the training mechanism.
For those craftsmen, their primary job was always the priority, and teaching apprentices was secondary, mainly as a means to have someone to assist with menial tasks. The fees for this era's apprentices were almost negligible, hardly worth their attention.
Thus, to solve the problem of industrial talent training, it was necessary to introduce a system for vocational technical training.
It would involve craftsmen teaching skills full-time, becoming professional teachers, and basing their compensation on the number of students they trained.
It was an opportunity to establish a number of vocational schools during the rifling technicians' training process, which would greatly support the industrial revolution in France.
One must be aware that the contribution of a professional technical craftsman to industrial development can sometimes exceed that of hundreds of ordinary workers capable only of repetitive labor. Vocational schools could enable France to gain such talents at a pace several times faster than other European countries!
Germany of the future would be supported by a large number of skilled workers and advanced manufacturing, with the vocational education even hailed as Germany's "secret weapon" for industrial success, highlighting its utmost importance.
Joseph immediately signaled Eman, who was standing by the door, "Please notify Count Mirabeau, Monsieur Laisonne, and Archbishop Beaumont..."
He paused at this point. Although France's education system had always been managed by the Church, he always felt it was somewhat incongruous for priests to oversee the construction of industrial vocational schools.
Eventually, it would be best to separate at least vocational colleges and universities from the Church, leaving them to manage basic educational programs in local parishes.
"And Mr. Denico, to come see me tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Joseph then turned to Gaman, "You and Manager Martinier come along as well."
The industrial, educational, and propaganda departments, along with the armory's two executives, would first set up a vocational college in the military industry, before gradually expanding to other sectors.
After arranging the vocational school matters, Joseph continued discussing the plans for batch production of the Auguste 1790 model rifled musket with his father until twilight, and only then, exhausted but excited, they returned to the Palace of Versailles, ready for dinner.