Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 525 - 436: Paradise of the European Continent

Schmidt strolled along the brightly lit streets of Paris until half past two in the morning when overwhelming fatigue finally subdued his excitement, urging him to return to the hotel to rest.

That night, he bought an untold number of fashionable clothes, health products, and crafts. His servants were already exhausted from carrying large and small packages, so they had to hire a boy over ten years old to help carry the items.

The "Royal Palace Gardens" hotel where Schmidt stayed was extremely luxurious. The suite was equipped with gas lighting that shone as bright as the sun. Just for that fact alone, he felt spending an extra three florins to stay there was the right decision.

Gazing out the window at the Parisian streets sprinkled with countless stars, he couldn’t help but think that this place was in a completely different world from Munich.

He thought of the neat and bright streets, the bustling crowd, especially the stylish and beautiful French ladies, and the array of exquisite goods in the shop windows, his mouth savoring the fresh flavors of shrimp, oysters, and mixed nuts—that was the North African-styled feast he had just enjoyed.

His servant dumped a heap of items on the table, rubbing his cramping arms, and with a look towards the bustling city’s night view outside the window, he couldn’t help but exclaim loudly, "Oh, I think heaven might just look like this?"

Schmidt didn’t mock his servant for being inexperienced as usual, but subconsciously nodded in agreement.

At six in the morning, having only slept for a little over three hours, Schmidt was awakened by the knocking of the hotel’s waiter: "Mr. Schmidt, you asked me to remind you in the morning. It’s six o’clock now."

"Oh, yes, thank you."

Schmidt had a hard time getting out of bed, quickly freshened up, and then rushed out the door with his servant to the Royal Palace.

Several people from the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce were already waiting at the entrance of the Royal Palace. Schmidt hurriedly went up to these familiar faces and greeted them politely.

Moments later, music filled the air, and Minister of Industry Mirabeau gave another lengthy speech. Then, accompanied by the release of white doves, the grand doors of the Royal Palace slowly opened up.

Armed with a VIP invitation, Schmidt didn’t queue up like other visitors; instead, he entered the Royal Palace through a special passage.

When the gardens of the Royal Palace appeared before him, his eyes widened instantly.

He had attended some fairs and exhibitions before, like those Austria regularly started hosting over ten years ago, titled "European Expositions," and England had organized similar events, but those were more like slightly more luxurious country fairs.

Workshops and merchants displayed some nice goods and enthusiastically hawked their wares. The government would organize for nobility and the wealthy to visit, followed by some banquets and dances, and finally, the events would close successfully.

But what lay before Schmidt now was not some "country fair," but extremely grand pavilions from various countries, separated by tall wooden walls or horticultural divisions.

From the nearby Austrian Pavilion, he saw miniature versions of the Hofburg Concert Hall, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and other iconic buildings. Next to it, the North African Pavilion was decorated like a Mediterranean port scene, with a model of the Roman Colosseum partially hidden from view[Note1].

Once he and other dignitaries entered the Austrian Pavilion, what was presented before them was the signature industry of Austria—glassware.

Unlike the simple display of goods in the past, what was exhibited here was a complete set of glass production process models, along with several craftsmen performing demonstrations for the audience.

When he saw the creation of a colorful glass wine jug after an extremely complex process, he felt instantly that the object seemed as though it had been endowed with a soul.

Following that were exhibits of industries such as leather tanning, iron smelting, and more....

In the past, when Schmidt attended these kinds of exhibitions, he would glance over the exhibits casually, at most complimenting the craftsmanship of a particular item.

But today, he spent over an hour just at the Austrian Pavilion, until the general visitors began to pour in, before reluctantly following the signs to the adjacent Dutch Pavilion.

Here, Schmidt was quickly captivated by the shipbuilding process demonstration, and when he saw the new inland cargo ship designed by the Dutch, his eyes lit up immediately.

As the second-ranked shipping operator in Bavaria, he realized immediately that this kind of ship could significantly reduce his costs.

He hurriedly went forward to inquire with those at the Dutch Pavilion about the address of the factory that manufactured these ships and other information, planning to buy several of them after the exhibition was over.

However, an exposition staff member standing nearby heard his words and immediately smiled, gesturing to him that there was a business hall on the second floor of the Royal Palace, where detailed information about all exhibited items was available, and transactions could even be signed directly.

After paying a small deposit, a waiter led Schmidt to the business hall. He immediately saw lawyers and bank employees waiting to serve at any moment....

Before lunchtime, Schmidt had signed a letter of intent to purchase with the shipyard and paid a small deposit in the presence of a lawyer. And all this money was directly transferred to the Netherlands through the Bank of France, which was extremely convenient.

When Schmidt returned to the main venue of the exhibition at the Royal Palace Gardens, he couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart, "So exhibitions can be run like this!"

At the same time, in every pavilion of the Royal Palace, visitors from different countries were expressing similar amazement, "So exhibitions can also be like this."

"Absolutely brilliant!"

"It was absolutely worth coming to Paris this time; it has been an eye-opening experience."

The astonishment of the people was entirely within Joseph’s predictions. Kidding aside, various commercial activities and exhibitions of the 21st century were already mature. Just by casually copying some of those exhibitions he had seen, for an age where the World Expo would only appear half a century later, it was like a dimensional strike.

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In this exhibition, from the layout of the pavilions of various countries to the content of the demonstrations and the creation of the models, everything was carried out under his direction, so naturally, nothing was lacking.

It was only because the preparation time was relatively tight; otherwise, if he had added national costumes, dances, and even cuisines from various countries, the impact of the exhibition would have been even more sensational!

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The next day, when Schmidt finally made his way to the French Pavilion, he was astonished on the spot—

The visitors were sitting in tour carts pulled by steam engines, traveling automatically along the rails that encircled the pavilion.

Inside the vast pavilion, from high-pressure steam engines to new types of automatic looms, from luxurious and comfortable carriages to modern synthetic panel furniture, from gas street lamps to advanced steel smelting...

The abundance of novel inventions was dazzling, and all kinds of products were not only beautifully made but also exuded a high-end feel. Just a few hours of visiting significantly elevated France’s image in his mind!

[Note 1] The Colosseum mentioned here refers to the El Jem Colosseum built during the Roman rule of Tunisia, located in the far suburbs of Sousse.