Chapter 805: Chapter 713: Win-Win

“Me? A principal?” Perna sat up in surprise, repeatedly waving her hands, “No, no, this is such an important task, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to do it well…”

Joseph smiled and said, “Be confident, you are the most suitable candidate. At least in terms of modern medical knowledge, you are already ahead of 99% of doctors in France.”

Yes, he said “modern medicine.” Perna had only obtained her medical license last year–when the Physicians Association had just approved women to practice medicine–but under his long-term influence, her medical philosophy was even more advanced than her father’s.

For instance, she would now habitually diagnose and treat diseases from the perspectives of bacteria, cells, immunity, and so on.

Handing the Military Medical University over to her would be far better than leaving it in the hands of those medical dignitaries who were still pondering bloodletting and balancing bodily fluids.

Perna was still hesitant: “But I’m worried… You know, they might not take a young woman’s opinion seriously.”

Women’s status in this era was indeed quite low. Although she had published some very significant medical papers, such as “The Importance of Double-Blind Trials on the Effectiveness of Drugs,” she was after all only 19 years old, and it was normal for people to not accept her authority.

Joseph thought for a moment, and said, “I will have the General Staff send an assistant to you, hmm, how about Major General Martinola? I remember he was a military doctor when he was young. He can handle the managerial affairs for you.”

Perna’s beautiful eyes widened: “A Quasi-General? Is, is that appropriate?”

“I think, he would be very pleased,” Joseph smiled and nodded, “Furthermore, Dr. Lamarck has made a significant contribution to the development of antibiotics, and I will request His Majesty the King to promote him to Count Gai.”

Lamarck currently holds an Earl title, which doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade, but Gai is a major city in Lamash Province, and such a substantive noble title is much higher in rank than the “robe-wearing nobility” title he bought before.

Of course, according to the current noble system in France, a substantive title is also only representative of a noble’s status and does not grant actual possession of a fief.

Perna was moved and took the Crown Prince’s arm earnestly saying, “Thank you for your trust, I will definitely not let you down!”

She was very aware that if she had a father with a substantive noble title, those who did not respect her would immediately be halved.

His Highness was obviously giving her more confidence.

As the two were talking, their carriage had already entered the Palace of Versailles–now a wooden railroad had been directly extended into Versailles Palace Square, making the trip from the western suburbs of Paris only a 25-minute journey.

As soon as Joseph stepped out of the carriage, he saw Count Saigul, the assistant to the Foreign Minister, hurrying over to greet him with a bow and then gesturing towards the back, his voice lowered, “Your Highness, the Polish Envoy Mr. Raczewski wishes to see you.”

He had to be careful and cautious. At the moment, France had not declared its position on the Eastern European issue, and any diplomatic action related to Poland could trigger a chain reaction among the nations.

Joseph nodded, letting Perna return to the Palace of Versailles first, then signaled the envoy to follow him to the Royal Armory.

Moments later, in the second-floor office of the armory, Raczewski bowed solemnly to Joseph, saying, “Your Highness, I know my presence here may be untimely, but right now, my homeland is facing tremendous difficulties, and the only ones who can help us are you and the great nation of France.”

Joseph had been following the Eastern European conflict and now gestured to the sofa, “Please have a seat. I will try my best to provide assistance to Poland.”

“Thank you so much, Your Highness. You are the savior Jesus sent for Poland, bringing us the light of hope!”

Mr. Raczewski bowed again and then clasped his hands together, appearing very hesitant as he said, “The Military Committee sincerely requests your help to provide our country with some loans… roughly, we need about 5 million francs.”

Joseph asked with some confusion, “I remember that the Warsaw Armament Factory has enough raw materials to last until next April. And your food supply and troop recruitment are also sufficient, so what is the loan for?”

Raczewski quickly replied, “You know, the war is very brutal, and the number of casualties at the front is enormous.

“The money will mainly be used to purchase medicinal supplies, especially Medical Alcohol, which we truly consume in great amounts. In addition, we are considerably short on military tents and uniforms.”

Long before the war started, Poland had learned advanced battlefield medical techniques from France. Techniques such as alcohol disinfection, sterilizing medical instruments with fumigation, and consuming boiled water had been introduced to the Polish military.

Once the war broke out, the Poles discovered that France’s battlefield medical experience was nothing short of miraculous; the mortality rate of the wounded soldiers had been reduced by more than half.

This achievement was made despite the fact that the Polish military doctors had not fully mastered the skills and the sanitary regulations were not thoroughly implemented, but it had already made the Polish military exceedingly happy.

Afterwards, Medical Alcohol became an essential item on the Polish battlefields.

But this item was incredibly expensive–the technology for industrial production of alcohol was not yet proficient at the time, so the method of producing Medical Alcohol was basically the same as that for producing drinking alcohol, and a concentration of 75% alcohol required repeated distillation to achieve. This made Medical Alcohol even more expensive than regular drinking alcohol.

Currently, the Polish Army consumes over 800,000 francs worth of Medical Alcohol per month, all of which needs to be imported from France.

As for tents and uniforms, Poland can produce some on its own, but not nearly enough to keep up with the speed of recruiting new soldiers.

Joseph fell into deep thought.

France could afford to pull together 5 million francs at the moment, but making a national loan during wartime would pretty much amount to taking a stand.

With France potentially facing war with England, it absolutely could not afford to get entangled in the diplomatic disputes of Eastern Europe.

He suddenly recalled a report that Lavoisier submitted not long ago–the Paris Gas Industry Company had completed the technological development of extracting Phenol from Coal Tar, but since the purity of the produced Phenol was not sufficient, it had not been sold on a large scale.

And Phenol was the epoch-making disinfectant that sparked the 19th-century healthcare revolution.

Since it was extracted from Coal Tar, a waste material, the cost was extremely low, almost negligible compared to the expensive Medical Alcohol.

Considering Poland’s current situation, they certainly wouldn’t care about the purity issue of Phenol–a little odor and impurities are minor issues if it can perform disinfection and save the lives of wounded soldiers.

After the Paris Gas Industry Company receives such a large order for Phenol, it would establish a positive cycle of production and capital recovery and continuously optimize the process until the purity issue was resolved.

It could be said to be a win-win situation.

He looked at Mr. Raczewski, “I can offer you an alternative disinfectant that is even more effective than Medical Alcohol, and the price is only 6% of that of alcohol.”

The latter’s eyes widened immediately: “Oh, Jesus, that cheap!”