In history, European countries that had gone through the early stages of the Industrial Revolution and devastated workers' lives with excessive exploitation eventually recognized this issue and started taking asures.
As an industrial pioneer, England enacted the "Factory Acts" in 1802 to ensure the basic survival of workers.
So important provisions included:
— Factories were not allowed to employ child labor under the age of 9. Children aged 9 and older could work for 8 hours a day, and those over 14 could work for 12 hours a day.
— Workers were not allowed to start work before 6 in the morning, and their bedti could not be later than 2 in the morning.
— Factories were required to provide clothes that could cover the body, and during the first 4 years, they were obligated to ensure the workers received at least 2 hours of basic education daily.
— Factories had to ensure a minimum level of ventilation and install protective asures for dangerous machinery, among other things.
In the initial stages of the "Factory Acts," British companies complained heavily, but before long they discovered that the efficiency of workers had significantly increased and production costs were even lower than before the implentation of the "Factory Acts."
Especially as the quality of the labor force beca more abundant and recruitnt beca easier—this was because the basic survival environnt for workers was guaranteed, and the rates of disability, disease, and starvation decreased, allowing most to survive long enough to beco skilled workers.
As a result, Britain's industrial competitiveness significantly improved, further consolidating its global dominance.
Today, after seeing the appalling working conditions of the workers, Joseph decided to urgently push for legislation to protect workers' rights.
This would not only improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers in a major country, allowing them to sustain a basic living, but also increase the efficiency of industrial production in France. Moreover, labor protection laws could beco a powerful tool in France's arsenal.
In history, after England enacted the "Factory Acts," it imdiately beca the human rights standard in Europe and was praised by workers from all countries.
Technical workers from other countries flocked to England, bringing a large amount of talent and technology, which further advanced England's Industrial Revolution.
Then, other European countries realized sothing was amiss and had to issue similar laws, but they were already at a disadvantage, for once a standard is accepted by everyone, beliefs are not easy to change.
In this lifeti, Joseph intended to keep that halo of standards in France!
After returning, he would summon Mirabeau, Breti, and others to discuss the frawork of the regulations, aiming to submit them for review at the next Cabinet eting.
As he was pondering this, he heard Perna say beside him, "Your Highness, you just ntioned 'dical masks.' Do they also play an important role in dicine?"
Joseph nodded, "Indeed, masks can greatly reduce the likelihood of doctors being infected by patients during treatnt. Actually, the bird beak masks that doctors often wear have this effect."
But Perna seed surprised, "So scholars believe that bird beak masks are just ignorant superstitions which increase the risk of infection. My father never wears one."
Joseph, who had previously watched docuntaries on the history of European dical care, sighed and said, "That's because they rarely cleaned the masks, turning them into a breeding ground for bacteria... But masks are definitely useful."
As he spoke, he quickly reminded the manager Delas, "You should also frequently clean the masks here, at least once every 3 days, and it's best for each worker to have a fixed mask and not to share them."
Perna's eyes lit up, as if she had already seen another dical innovation.
She greatly admired His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's dical knowledge and firmly believed that if he said it was useful, it surely was. Previously, she had turned the knowledge about "double-blind experints" that the Prince had taught into a paper, which had earned her considerable prestige in the dical community. Naturally, the dical community generally believed it was a joint effort by the Crown Prince and her father Lamark...
She imdiately pleaded, "Your Highness, I would like to distribute so masks for field hospitals and later promote their use among doctors nationwide."
"Of course, that's a good thing," Joseph nodded. Then, considering the high cost of individually custom-made masks, he simply said, "Perhaps we could build a factory to produce masks.
"With just the demand from dical and industrial uses, we would need to use several tens of thousands of masks per month. It's necessary for a factory to produce them in large quantities."
"Several tens of thousands?" Perna asked, sowhat surprised, "Your Highness, there are only about 200 workers in the distillery factory, and even including all the nation's doctors, wouldn't that be too many?"
Joseph smiled and said, "Not just the gas distillery factory, but textile mills, mills, chemical plants, and even construction workers need these. I estimate we could definitely sell twenty to thirty thousand masks per month."
After discussing the masks, Joseph proceeded to tour the coal yard under the guidance of Delas, and along the way, started discussing with investors like Dupont about building new gas distillation plants in Nancy and Tunisia.
When an investor heard that even Tunisia was going to install gas lamps, with an investnt as high as 2 million francs, he expressed so uncertainty, "Your Highness, installing gas lamps in North Africa might carry so financial risks. Actually, Nancy doesn't seem very prosperous either..."
"You have to see the long-term benefits," Joseph said. "Gas lamps have a huge role in enhancing a city's appeal.
"The industrial developnt zone in Nancy is the most mature, and it will beco a densely populated city in the future. And with at least forty to fifty thousand immigrants moving to Tunis in the past six months, Tunis City is bound to beco the center of North Africa."
The investor nodded slightly but still whispered softly, "I an, with such a large investnt, perhaps we should be more cautious..."
Before Joseph could respond, Dupont imdiately interjected with a smile, "Mr. Rowland, you're being too cautious. There's a very promising future for gas streetlights.
"As far as I know, the British Parliant has already approved a grant of 300,000 British Pounds to install gas lamps in London."
The businessman nad Rowland's eyes widened—300,000 British Pounds, that's 7.5 million francs, the British were investing such a huge amount in gas streetlights! It seed he had been overly worried.
Joseph heard this but slightly furrowed his brow. There was a reason the British beca pioneers of the Industrial Revolution—not least their keen instincts which far surpassed those of their contemporaries.
Note 1: At the beginning of the 19th century, what was referred to as the "Factory Acts" in England was not the na of a particular law but referred to multiple related acts concerning factories. Among them, the most famous was the "Apprentices' Health and Morals Act," along with so other supplentary decrees.
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