Fox of France

The speed of electricity entering life is indeed very fast. After the opening of the "Moulin Rouge", within a few days, the library of the University of Paris was first lit up.

As a result of turning on the lights at the University of Paris, in addition to allowing the library to be open at night, it also allowed the police to do one more thing along the way the cable passed: to catch the thief who dug the cable.

Due to the lack of transformation technology, the power loss is huge during the transmission process. In order to reduce the loss of electricity during transmission, there are currently only two means available. The first is to build a power plant nearby.

Paris relies on the Seine River, which has plenty of water and no drop. This is ideal for shipping, but not for hydropower. So in Paris, it is impossible to build hydropower, and the only solution is thermal power. But in doing so, there will be a series of troubles.

The first problem is the source of coal. The coal from the Saar coal mine had to be transported to Paris, and there was no suitable waterway (there was no canal across the river basin at that time). Coal was transported to the docks of the Seine, and on to Paris; but the heavy draft horses of France were not sufficient. And it will take time to lay a track from the Saar coal mine to the Seine.

But if international trade is taken into account, coal can be imported directly from the UK, loaded on a ship, and then transported directly to Paris along the Seine River. In terms of freight, it is even lower than transporting coal from the Saar Coal Mine. . Therefore, at present, many power stations in the coastal areas of France use British coal.

Taking into account the unstable relationship with Britain, Napoleon also built coal warehouses in various coastal ports to store some coal to increase hedging capacity.

Of course, one of the consequences of building a thermal power station in Paris, and more than one thermal power station, to meet the gradually increasing power demand of the entire Paris is that it will inevitably cause serious pollution in Paris. If it's not done well, Paris may compete with London for the title of fog city in the future.

In addition to building a thermal power station nearby, we can only make a fuss about the wires. Generally speaking, the thicker the cross-section of the wire, the lower the resistance. Therefore, although the power load at this time is actually not particularly large, the cables for power transmission are all made very thick.

Thick, copper cables, plus the price of copper is not low, which naturally attracted the coveted of many people. As the saying goes, "Cables have copper. Stealing them is useful." Stealing cables has also become a new criminal activity. Especially for some part-time workers who don't know how to work, and who will never work part-time in this life, stealing cables has become a common means of maintaining their lives. Although it is not uncommon to be electrocuted for stealing cables, this kind of criminal activity is still rampant. When electricity was used to pump water in rural areas, the cables had to be supervised by someone. Once a stranger appears, everyone will be vigilant and pay attention to whether it is a thief who has come to steal the cable.

In Paris, the police now have an additional task, which is to prevent thieves from stealing cables. The "Moulin Rouge" side is okay. There are not many poor people in the entire Montmartre area, and the space there is spacious, and the power station can be arranged in a relatively suitable downwind position.

But the University of Paris, it's different there, where the electricity comes from the power plant that supplies the factories in Paris. These factories are all in poor areas like the Saint-Antoine district, where the law and order has not been very good. It’s okay to supply power to factories, because most factories are directly next to the power station. The cables go out of the wall of the power plant, cross a narrow road, and go directly into the factory. The space left for those thieves is really very limited.

But the University of Paris is different here. There is still a little distance between the University of Paris and the poor districts, but the construction of a black-smoky power plant in the University district is unbearable for both Joseph and Napoleon-these places, they want to I often install a 13. Among the brothers, only Lucien and Louis felt indifferent.

So, the cable is long, and a long stretch of it goes through the Saint-Antoine district!

The drudgery of protecting this cable was directly left to the Ministry of Public Security. Of course, the Ministry of Public Security has received a special allocation every month for this purpose, although the money is not particularly large. After receiving the money, Minister Fouche immediately ordered that the length of the cable pass through the area be multiplied by a security maintenance difficulty coefficient, and then the money be distributed to the police stations in the area in proportion.

Fouché ordered: "If there is no problem with the cable in your area this month, this money will be your monthly bonus. If there is a case of cable damage in your area this month, then the money will be gone, and the money will be gone." Proportionately distributed to other police stations on this line that have no problems."

The money is not much. But this is not much for the big shots. Moreover, when appropriating the money to Fouché, according to the custom, the government honestly considered the "fire consumption" of the money when it was operated in the Ministry of Public Security. As for Minister Fouché, he would not be too concerned about it. It doesn't matter if your subordinates take "fire loss", as long as they don't take too much and take more than the general rules. However, Minister Fouché himself did not take the "fire consumption". In this way, the small money fell to the specific police station, and the result was not small.

So the small policemen naturally mustered up their strength and kept spinning along the cable from morning to night every day. And some small gangs nearby have been warned: "I don't just mean that you can't do this kind of thing, but that as long as something happens in this place, I will lose money and be punished. You go to make meritorious service and recover the loss!" As a result, the criminal gangs who are going to stay here for a long time even become the protectors of the cables in a sense.

Under such measures, the cable leading to the University of Paris has never been a problem. However, this is the result of concentrated power. If electricity is to be widely spread, it is obviously impossible for the police department to have such power to protect the entire city. By then, crimes against the power system may still be difficult to contain.

"But in the long run, power transmission technology has become a bottleneck that restricts us. If we want to promote electricity throughout the city in the future, the amount of copper used for cables will make people feel hopeless." In the analysis meeting of the "City That Never Sleeps" On, Joseph said.

"Fortunately, the army doesn't need copper much anymore." Napoleon sighed, otherwise, it would be really embarrassing for the spectacle and the army to compete for resources.

"By the way, last time you told me about the heating of resistors, didn't you say that you were working on a machine that can increase the voltage? How is the progress?" Napoleon asked.

"Some progress, in fact, is going quite well. But there are still some experimental processes to be completed. At present, the experiments are being carried out in the south, you know, where the hydraulic resources are abundant, but other conditions are average, there are not many factories, and some power stations are actually There is no full-load operation. So the experiment is arranged there. An experimental power line has been erected, and if there are no major problems, we will be able to get the results in a few days at most..."

"And then it will take half a year to switch to industrial production, right?" Napoleon asked.

"That's right. My brother, don't always think that as soon as you open your eyes tomorrow morning, you can see the completion of the spectacle. Think about it, the Pyramid of Khufu, the Pantheon—which spectacle does not take time?" Joseph said .

"Actually, I think 'Moulin Rouge' is already a spectacle." Lucien interjected, "And it's also a spectacle that can keep us making money. It can increase smiling faces and gold coins. It's really perfect... ..."

At the same time, in the south, the new experimental transmission line is also under construction. The workers erected a very tall electric pole on the ground at intervals, and hung a string of ceramic bowl-like things on it. Today, the poles have been installed, and now the workers are hanging new wires on the poles under the guidance of engineers and technicians.

Compared to common arm-thick cables, this wire is much thinner, not even much thicker than a thumb. In addition, this kind of wire is also very special. There is a steel wire in the middle of this wire, and copper wires are wrapped around it. There is also a very strange place, that is, this kind of wire is not wrapped with insulating material, but is completely bare wire.

Unlike ordinary cables, these wires cannot be directly installed on the poles, but must be hung under the string of "porcelain bowls". A string of "porcelain bowls" is hung on the left and right sides of each telegraph pole, and a wire directly exposed to the air is hung under the string of "porcelain bowls".

This wire extends to a nearby strange machine, and then two thick, insulated cables branch out from there. There is no plastic in this era, so the insulation of wires is generally of composite structure. The innermost part in direct contact with the metal is a layer of asbestos. This kind of thing was banned by most countries in later generations because of its strong carcinogenicity, but at this time, no one cared about it at all.

On the outside of the asbestos, there is a layer of thick oil paper, and on the outside is a layer of asphalt.

In charge of the experimental task here is Joseph's student Andre Ampere. At this time, he was making final preparations before the experiment.

He checked the condition of the transformer. The iron core and coil, as well as the cooling oil soaking them, are in good condition. He checked the other equipment carefully, and then said to the people around him: "Okay, let's start the experiment now..."