"About that, you have talked about the industrial revolution that swept over Europe in the mid and late nineteenth century," Napoleon recalled.
Napoleon II simply nodded. "That's right, industrialization is what's going to keep us ahead of our enemies father, not us conquering their lands. I have some drawings on my bag that I would show you since imagining it would be difficult with only concepts. In my timeline, it was the British that spearheaded the Industrial Revolution," Napoleon II continued. "They mastered machines powered by steam, automated weaving looms, improved iron production, and built factories that changed the world. Their rise in industry became more decisive than any battlefield victory. That, father… is where their true power came from."
Napoleon's expression tightened.
"The British? More powerful than France because of… machines?"
"Machines, factories, coal, railways, systems of mass production." Napoleon II crouched beside his satchel, pulling it open with clumsy toddler fingers. "And we must begin now, before they widen the gap."
Napoleon stepped closer, folding his arms, watching with curiosity as Alfred laid out several thick sheets of paper.
"First is the steam engine," Napoleon II said, flattening the largest sheet of paper across the map.
Napoleon leaned forward, studying the crude diagram. A metal cylinder. A piston. A boiler. Pipes. Valves.
"This," Napoleon II continued, tapping the sketch, "is the heart of industrialization. Everything else, machines, factories, railways, exists because this engine can turn heat into motion."
Napoleon's brow furrowed. "Explain."
"Coal is burned to heat water. The water becomes steam. The steam pushes a piston. That piston turns a wheel." He pointed at the simple gear diagram beside it. "Once you can turn wheels with steady, constant force… you can power anything."
Napoleon straightened slightly.
"Anything?"
"Pumps, hammers, looms, mills, even ships. Anything."
The Emperor folded his arms. "How powerful are these engines of yours?"
Napoleon II smiled faintly. "Father, one steam engine can do the work of a hundred men. And it never tires."
That made Napoleon pause.
His fingers tapped thoughtfully against his sleeve.
"One engine… a hundred men…"
Napoleon II continued, seeing the spark in his eyes.
"We start with the most basic application: pumping water."
"Pumping water?" Napoleon repeated, unimpressed.
"For mines," Napoleon II clarified. "Right now, our coal and iron mines flood constantly. Miners must haul water out by hand or with primitive pumps. But with a steam engine, we drain mines quickly, allowing deeper shafts. That means—"
"More coal," Napoleon finished quietly. "More iron."
"And speaking of coal," Napoleon II continued, "we are going to need it. A great deal of it. Steam engines run on coal, factories run on coal, and early railways depend on it. Without coal, industrialization doesn't move."
Napoleon nodded slowly. "And France has coal… but not as much as Britain."
"That's why the Frankfurt Proposal is a win for the French Empire," Napoleon II said. He pointed to the western border of the map, along the Rhine, the Saar, the Moselle. "Because we secured the Rhineland. And the Rhineland has coal. Iron. Mines ready to be expanded. That region alone can support decades of industrial growth."
Napoleon's expression changed, sharper, more calculating.
"So the allies, in forcing us back to our natural borders, actually handed us the very resources we need to surpass them?"
Napoleon II grinned. "Exactly. They think they weakened you, father, but they accidentally gave France the perfect heartland for industry. And it is also the reason why in my timeline, the German Empire rose to rival Britain."
"I see… so we must control them at all cost then."
"Yes father, sending troops there would be necessary to strengthen our position there. I know there is a treaty but since it is a treasure trove, you can't be too careful. Once we secure the coals and modernise the way of mining, I can design the machines where steam engines would be implemented."
Napoleon simply nodded, absorbing his words like a lecture.
"Okay, what's next?"
"The next is steel," Napoleon II revealed, sliding out another sheet, thicker, darker pencil lines, circles, arrows. "Well… iron first, then steel. But steel is what truly transforms a nation."
Napoleon leaned in. "Explain."
Napoleon II tapped the sketch of a furnace.
"At present, France uses small blast furnaces. It is slow, efficient, and expensive. They produce iron but not in the quantities a modern industrial nation needs. What we require is an improved smelting method. Something that lets us make iron faster, hotter, and purer."
Napoleon frowned slightly. "And you know how to do this?"
Napoleon II nodded. "Enough to point the way. The British, in my timeline, created what was called the Bessemer process."
Napoleon lifted a hand. "Bessemer?"
"A man who has not yet been born in this world," Napoleon II said, waving it off. "But the principle is simple enough that we can begin experimenting long before he exists."
Napoleon leaned closer to the furnace sketch. "Show me."
Napoleon II pointed to the arrows scribbled beneath the crucible.
"The idea is this, when molten iron is blasted with air from below, the oxygen reacts with the impurities, carbon, silicon, manganese, and burns them away. The process is fast. Minutes, not hours. And it produces large quantities of steel."
Napoleon blinked. "Air alone purifies the metal?"
"Hot air," Napoleon II corrected. "Forced through the molten iron. It is violent. The metal foams, glows, spits sparks. But when it calms… what is left is steel."
Napoleon studied the primitive drawing with renewed fascination.
"And what do we need to attempt it?"
"Thick walled converters. Strong turbines to push air. More skilled metallurgists. And a great deal of trial and error."
Napoleon exhaled slowly. "So nothing simple."
"No," Napoleon II said plainly. "But if we master it even ten years before the rest of Europe, France becomes the industrial center of the continent. No army could outproduce us. No navy could outbuild us."
Napoleon tapped the furnace sketch again, thoughtful.
"And can we begin now?"
Napoleon II nodded. "We already have ironworks in the Loire, the Moselle, and the Ardennes. Expand them. Bring in chemists, mathematicians, engineers. Tell them the Emperor wants results. They will work miracles for you."
Napoleon gave a small smile. "They always have."
Napoleon II shuffled through his sheets until he found another one. "The next one is fairly simple, it is electricity."
Napoleon blinked. "Electricity? As in… lightning?"
"In a way, yes," Napoleon II said with a small smile. "But controlled, predictable, domesticated lightning. What I am showing you here is the principle of generating electrical current."
Napoleon leaned in, eyes narrowing at the sketch. "And this contraption does that?"
"This is a dynamo," Napoleon II explained, tapping the sheet. "A machine that turns motion, usually from a steam engine, into electrical energy. Spin a magnet inside coils of wire, and it produces a current."
Napoleon raised a brow. "And what can this current do?"
Napoleon II held up his hand, gesturing for patience. "Early on? Not much. But the applications grow rapidly. Electricity allows us to power lights, telegraphs, machines, motors… eventually even vehicles."
Napoleon folded his arms. "Explain it to me simply."
"Electricity lets us transmit power over distances," Napoleon II said. "Instead of placing a steam engine beside every machine, you place one steam engine here," he tapped the map of Paris, "and run electrical wires to the machines there." He tapped Lyon. "Or there." He tapped Lille.
Napoleon frowned. "You are saying… one engine could feed power to many locations?"
"Yes," Napoleon II confirmed. "That is the long term vision. Early electricity will be primitive. Lamps. Signals. Small motors. But once we invest in understanding it… it becomes the backbone of modern civilization."
Napoleon slowly let out a breath, absorbing the implications.
"And no other European power has this?"
"No one is close, father. The British are experimenting with crude generators, but nothing more. If we take the lead early, if we fund scientists, if we build laboratories… France will leap ahead decades in innovation."
Napoleon stepped back, hands behind his back, pacing slowly around the map.
"So… steam engines to produce motion. Steel to build the machines. Electricity to distribute power. And coal to feed the entire system."
Napoleon II nodded. "Exactly. They all feed into one another."
Napoleon turned again. "What is required for electricity to develop? Men? Materials? Money?"
"All of the above," Napoleon II admitted. "But most importantly, vision. We must gather the brightest minds in France and Europe. Physicists. Mathematicians. Inventors. Men like Volta, Ampère, Arago. Give them funding, laboratories, assistants. Let them experiment freely."
Napoleon raised a brow. "Freely? Scientists often waste money."
"In the short term, yes," Napoleon II said. "But the discoveries they make will reshape nations. Electricity will someday power factories, street lamps, printing presses, telegraphs, and weapons. This is the future."
Napoleon turned toward the tall windows of the Map Hall, Paris glowing golden in the spring light.
"This… this is a new empire," he murmured. "One not won by conquest, but by innovation."
Napoleon II smiled faintly. "Exactly. Industrial power lasts longer than military victories. A nation that controls steel, coal, machines, and electricity controls the future."
Napoleon continued pacing.
"And you believe France can achieve all of this? Even after losing half her empire?"
Napoleon II nodded. "France did not lose her mind. Or her people. Or her land. And most importantly, we still have something no one else has."
Napoleon glanced back. "What?"
"You."