He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 155

(155) Voltaic Pile Becomes the Goose That Lays Silver Eggs

Aluminum, the light, silvery metal primarily used in aircraft.

“What on earth is that?”

Ippolito asked, tilting his head.

As Eugene’s closest aide, Ippolito had been with him every step of the way.

But he had never heard Eugene mention aluminum, let alone bauxite.

In fact, it was only when Eugene saw the bauxite rocks before his eyes that he even thought of it.

Above all, this was an era when aluminum had never been produced as a pure metal.

So, it was no surprise that Ippolito, not a chemist and without higher education, wouldn’t know.

Even as the rocks brought from the [Bo] region were being piled up.

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

Another close aide, Major Tournay, the head of the guard who had transported the rocks, shrugged.

“I don’t know much about it either, but I heard it’s a substance that chemists found in alum [a type of chemical compound]? Colonel?”

“Alum? You mean the stone used to make dye?”

“Yes. Do you know anything about it, Monsieur Dupont?”

Dupont, who had recently been focused on gunpowder and fertilizer factories, also rushed to the garden of the San Giorgio Bank.

“Well, Lavoisier did some experiments with it.”

Still, Dupont knew a little.

“Alumina.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Alum is called [Alumen] in Latin. It’s like salt, but the ancients used this substance for dyeing. And some chemists claimed that there was a metallic component in alum.”

Dupont said, looking at the bright red rocks from Bo, which Eugene had named ‘bauxite’.

“That hypothetical component is called ‘alumina’. Fifty years ago, Andreas Marggraf was the first to separate this substance using potassium.”

Andreas Marggraf, not a famous name in modern times.

However, he was a very famous chemist in the 18th century.

Because Marggraf discovered a method.

Ippolito Charles, who was touching the bright red rock, widened his eyes.

“Oh, the guy who made sugar? I know him?”

“Colonel Charles, strictly speaking, Marggraf was the one who extracted sugar from sugar beets using alcohol. Sugar has existed since ancient times.”

“Ah, I know that much. Anyway, he’s the founder of the sugar factory, right? Wow, he did this too?”

Sugar, in modern history, is a very common sweetener.

But in the late 18th century, sugar was still a luxury.

Because it could only be extracted from sugarcane, which only grows in tropical regions.

Moreover, sugarcane requires a great deal of labor.

That’s why the slave trade became necessary.

So, the triangular trade flourished, with sugarcane grown in the New World, black slaves supplied from Africa to cultivate the sugarcane, and sugar sold back to Europe.

Because this complex process was handled through agriculture and long-distance trade, sugar was bound to be expensive.

But Marggraf replaced this entire process with a plant called [sugar beet], which is common in Europe.

He created a chemical process to extract sugar from sugar beets using alcohol.

As of 1796, the sugar factory built in Prussia was founded by Marggraf’s disciple, Franz Achard.

Of course, factory sugar beet sugar has not yet caught up with tropical sugarcane, which is mass-produced through agriculture.

However, by the end of the 19th century, sugar beets would account for more than 60% of the world’s sugar.

Marggraf is truly the chemist who changed the source of sugar on the table.

Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the 19th century was the age of chemistry.

“But Marggraf also failed to refine alumina into metal.”

“Oh, Lavoisier experimented with it, right?”

“Colonel Ippolito, not all of Lavoisier’s chemical experiments were successful. He also failed. However, he did manage to separate alumina itself.”

Suddenly, Dupont squinted as he looked at the bauxite.

“If we can separate alumina from that mineral, it will be a new era in chemistry. But where did Eugene Partonne learn this knowledge? Like fulminated mercury.”

Then Ippolito chuckled and replied.

“Some kind of Eastern secret, I heard?”

Of course, no one would believe such a joke.

Everyone chuckled and focused on carrying the bauxite.

But in fact, there is some truth to Ippolito’s joke.

Because the knowledge came from 19th-century records that Eugene learned in his previous life, in a country at the far end of the East.

***

So, how does this bright red rock, bauxite, turn into aluminum?

-Zap!

Electricity sparked from the copper mixed in the electrolyte solution.

The so-called first battery, the [Voltaic pile], was completed.

It was a moment of clear historical significance.

Originally, the man demonstrating this experiment in front of Napoleon, Alessandro Volta, looked at Eugene.

“I have succeeded in making a battery like this, General Eugene Bonaparte.”

Eugene looked at the Voltaic pile placed in front of his office and clapped his hands.

“Amazing. This alone is a discovery of the century.”

“But I don’t know what we can do with it. We need power for future research.”

“How about this?”

At Eugene’s gesture, Ippolito and Tournay brought in a huge bowl, sweating profusely.

-Bubbling, bubbling, bubbling.

Volta frowned as he looked at the solution with something boiling in it.

“What on earth is this?”

Eugene quietly watched the boiling solution and replied.

“Bauxite.”

“Bo, what did you say?”

“It’s a rock compound from the Bo region of France. If you put this rock compound in a solution heated with a mineral called [cryolite], it dissolves very well.”

Originally, aluminum has a fairly high melting point.

However, the melting point is lowered by using a mineral called [cryolite], which is mainly found in Greenland, Denmark, Spain, and Quebec, Canada.

However, there is one problem with this process.

Cryolite was introduced to academia in 1798.

However, the Greenlanders, a Danish colony, have known about the existence of cryolite since the early 1700s.

Furthermore, Danish scholars have been studying this mineral since the 1790s.

So, with a little effort, Eugene was able to obtain cryolite.

That’s what Volta, Ippolito, and Tournay are seeing now.

Volta, who is also a chemist, quietly looked at the solution presented by Eugene and asked.

“It seems to be a substance that combines well with each other. But shouldn’t we call in a chemical expert for this? Like Lavoisier.”

Eugene turned to Volta and said.

“There is a chemist named Andreas Sigismund Marggraf in Prussia.”

“I think I’ve heard of him. Isn’t he the one who discovered how to make sugar from sugar beets? Making it cheaper and producing more than extracting it from sugarcane.”

“He discovered something else too.”

Just then.

“Alumina. But what about it? General Eugene Freischütz?”

A man with a plump wig strode in from outside the door.

Lavoisier, the chemist famous for discovering the law of conservation of mass.

Eugene welcomed Lavoisier and greeted him in his office.

“You’re early, Monsieur Lavoisier.”

“Dupont has been taking care of all the work in Paris anyway. I’m just doing the final check, so I was free.”

“Good. Then, you’ll see a historic moment?”

Eugene’s eyes sparkled.

“The moment alumina is born as a metal.”

In a situation where everyone was dumbfounded, Eugene picked up the copper wire of the Voltaic pile.

“Now, I’m going to put the Voltaic pile in here.”

Volta was surprised and tried to stop Eugene.

Because there was a risk of electric shock.

However, Eugene, who already knew about batteries, was wearing rubber gloves.

Eugene, who wrapped the copper wire with an insulator, put the copper wire into the boiling solution.

-Sizzle!

How much time had passed?

After a long time, precipitates began to form in the direct current electricity caused by the two copper wires being inserted.

A very small but silver-colored lump.

Volta only blinked, not knowing what it was, but Lavoisier was different.

Because Lavoisier had already done a similar experiment to the one Eugene had done.

“What is this!”

Eugene announced loudly.

“Congratulations, everyone. You are seeing the first aluminum metal ever born in the world.”

“What is this? Is it really alumina!”

“Yes. To be exact, it’s aluminum. The lightest metal like silver.”

At that moment, Eugene’s eyes flashed.

“If I had to say, it’s [white silver] drawn from clay.”

September 1796.

Aluminum was born for the first time in the world through the cryolite electrolysis method.

***

The first person to recognize the value of aluminum was, of course, Collot.

“This method must be kept secret! My God, to extract silver from clay! And it’s lighter and more dazzling than silver!”

Collot jumped up and down, looking at the aluminum lump.

In fact, the method Eugene demonstrated is not as simple as it sounds.

First of all, in terms of electricity, the Voltaic pile has weak electrical power as the world’s first battery.

Also, it is still difficult to collect cryolite in large quantities.

However, bauxite is much easier to obtain than silver ore, and mass production is not impossible if electrolysis is used.

Of course, one more thing is needed for this.

Above all, if mass production is achieved, there is one more problem.

If it becomes known that mass production is possible, the value of aluminum will drop.

Just like in the original history.

“It will change the history of chemistry, but keep it a secret!”

Lavoisier jumped up and down on the other side.

In fact, Lavoisier’s public claim also makes sense.

In the first place, aluminum is still a metal that no one knows about.

That means someone has to announce this metal to academia and the world to gain value.

In the original history, Danish scientist Ørsted first announced aluminum in 1825.

Since then, aluminum has become a sensation, trading at twice the price of gold.

Because it was so difficult to make.

So, Eugene was thinking of using the same method.

Eugene told Lavoisier.

“There is another way.”

“What?”

“It’s to synthesize alumina with a lot of sodium. I’ve already experimented with that, so I’ll let you know soon. Please announce this in your name, Lavoisier.”

Eugene turned his gaze.

“But we are mass-producing this aluminum using the cryolite electrolysis method. Of course, one more thing is needed here.”

Numerous bauxite are dissolved in cryolite solution and boiling.

On the other hand, thousands of Voltaic piles were literally made and deployed.

It’s a rather inefficient manual method.

The people carrying out the process are former Vendée soldiers.

All are devotees of Eugene and Napoleon.

The secret will definitely be kept.

As long as the soldiers are paid fairly.

Then, what compensation should be given to Volta, who created the battery?

At that time, Ippolito brought something to Eugene.

-Clunk, clunk, clunk!

What Ippolito dragged in was a strangely shaped disc-shaped device.

Everyone else blinked, not knowing what it was.

But only Volta frowned and muttered.

“Magnet?”

Eugene nodded.

“Yes. Two magnets, and a copper plate disc in between.”

“Wait, this is.”

“Volta, it’s an application of the battery technique you taught me, using magnets.”

Suddenly, Eugene put on rubber gloves and started turning the copper plate.

-Zap!

Instantly, a spark flew.

“What, what!”

“Spark? No, is that perhaps!”

“That, that, is that electricity!”

Collot, Lavoisier, and Volta shouted.

Only Ippolito was not surprised alone in this place.

Because he was already surprised once.

Eugene said to them.

“A machine that generates electricity, if I had to say, it could be called a [generator].”

This is actually a very early type of generator called the [Faraday wheel].

An invention created by Michael Faraday, the father of electricity, while studying electromagnetism in the original history.

It is an invention that appears in the world in 1831.

All modern generators originated from this.

However, Eugene created the generator after experimenting, not for the development or innovation of electromagnetism, but solely for one purpose.

With the single-minded determination to somehow mass-produce and possess a lot of aluminum.

Volta trembled all over and looked at Eugene.

“You’re going to mass-produce it with this. Aluminum.”

“The electrolysis method must be kept secret. Of course, you can announce this generator.”

“What?”

Eugene smiled, watching Volta.

“This generator will be the [Volta Generator]. How about it?”

This is the price given to Volta.

To bring electricity into the world in a very natural form.

Furthermore, Volta becomes the inventor of that electricity.

The moment Volta nodded in emotion, Collot suddenly said to Eugene.

“This will definitely sell for more than silver.”

“That’s right. Until the method is revealed.”

“Then, when will this method be?”

Eugene smiled brightly, looking at Collot, who hoped it would not be revealed, and Lavoisier, who hoped it would be revealed.

“I’ll let you announce it before you die. But not for 20 years. Because during that time, this will be our war fund.”

20 years.

The time it takes for Napoleon to rise to the top and fall in the original history.

The [white silver] that will change that history of time was boiling before Eugene’s eyes.

-Zap!

At the same time, the electric spark of the [Volta Generator] flashed dazzlingly.

The goose that lays money—copy, no, aluminum white silver, was born.

The generator that will change a corner of the world is a bonus.