I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1011 King of Egypt

"Really? That's great."

As soon as Dalson said this, he realized something was wrong and quickly coughed, "Hey, you are helping the Royal Guards to improve their prestige, how can you say you are helping me?"

Mohammed Ali stroked his coffee cup and smiled, “I heard that if Austria defeats the Prussians, they will soon be strong enough to seriously threaten France.

“And the latest war news shows that the Prussians are beginning to feel overwhelmed on the battlefield.

"If someone launches an attack on southern Austria at this time, it will tie up a large number of Austrian troops that can be deployed to the northern front."

Dalson was startled and was about to deny it when he saw Muhammad Ali wave his hand again:
"I don't really understand this. But Baron Maymark is my best friend, and he is also your friend, so I want to help you in any way I can."

"I would like to thank you on behalf of Baron Meimarck." Dalson hesitated and said, "But do you have enough troops? I mean, enough to affect the army in Vienna."

He judged from Muhammad Ali's attire that he was just a middle-level officer in the Guards and probably did not have much military power.

"There is a riot going on in Greece," said Muhammad Ali, "and I am the commander who is suppressing the rebellion. The Grand Vizier has given me 8 troops."

Dalson was about to say, "That's far from enough," when the junior officer said, "But I lived in Albania for a long time, which was also an important factor in sending me to Greece to quell the rebellion."

Albania is just to the north of Greece, less than 100 kilometers away.

"I have friendships with many tribes in Albania. As long as I can offer enough benefits, their soldiers are ready to follow me into battle at any time."

Dalson was overjoyed and asked hurriedly: "Then how can we 'impress' them?"

"Nine thousand Suetney gold pieces will probably buy me one thousand soldiers. That's fifty-four thousand francs."

Dalson was silent for a moment.

Given the Ottomans' combat effectiveness, they would need at least 5 troops to make Vienna nervous, and the Albanian force would probably be even greater.

In other words, he had to come up with 230 million francs, but Lord Talleyrand only gave him 80 francs and some political benefits.

He sighed and said, "But I'm afraid I can't afford so much money..."

The young officer spread his hands and said, "It's only one million francs. You may be able to borrow some from Baron Maymarck."

“100万？那就是1万8千多名士兵，加上您的部队，也只有2万6千人而已。”

Muhammad Ali shook his head again and again: "No, no, not that many, only 20,000 in total, and I have to save some money to buy logistical supplies."

Dalson shook his head: "But these few people are not enough to shake Bucharest..."

The young officer said confidently: "That's enough."

"Last time, Lord Mustafa led an army of 11 and was defeated."

Muhammad Ali stared at him and said seriously, "That's because I'm not the commander. Believe me, 20,000 people are enough to shake Wallachia.

"Of course, I would be more confident if you could provide me with seven or eight thousand flintlock rifles. You know, the Albanians are very poor and most of them don't have any decent weapons."

Dalson looked at him for a few seconds, and finally nodded and said, "I will try to prepare more guns. But it will take some time."

"I will leave for Greece in three days, Baron, we can meet in Lesh."...

Paris.

A wooden platform was set up on the Place des Tuileries with a red banner reading "Kerosene Refining Equipment Tender".

Below the wooden platform, dozens of people in different clothes were divided into four small groups, each discussing something in a low voice.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, Count Sharptal, the Deputy Minister of Industry, came over with a dozen officials. The crowd immediately quieted down and turned to look at him.

In a room on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph was also looking through the window at the bidding scene in the square.

Shaptall nodded to everyone, then walked to the wooden platform, took out a hardcover document and read it aloud.

That was the French Tendering Law that was passed just half a month ago. Joseph prepared it specifically for this tender.

In fact, more than a decade ago, the British Ministry of Supply had already begun to use the bidding model to purchase materials. However, their bidding was still in its infancy, the whole process was very simple, and the subsequent funding and acceptance were completely unregulated.

Historically, it was not until 1830 that the British began to standardize the bidding process and introduce corresponding regulations.

In fact, this model is the best way for the government to utilize private productivity. It not only allows private factories with technology and capabilities to obtain large orders, but also promotes fair competition among factories.

The most important thing is that collusion between officials and businessmen can be avoided from a system perspective - of course, it is impossible to completely stop such things, but at least it prevents officials from operating behind the scenes according to their own wishes, which is a huge improvement in administrative management.

Joseph copied the bidding system of later generations and formulated the first bidding standard in Europe.

Subsequently, Shapthar's assistant read out the bidding content, requirements, evaluation criteria, and core terms of the contract.

After a round of neat drumbeats, Shapthar announced the official start of the bidding.

A total of four factories delivered their bidding documents to the staff one after another, and then went directly to the "technical explanation of the bidding documents" session.

Generally speaking, after the bid is submitted, a review panel of experts is required to conduct a preliminary review and provide an explanation after having a general understanding of the technical specifications of the bid.

But Joseph had some understanding of the principle of extracting kerosene from coal tar, so he skipped the step of "reading the bid".

As the technicians from the first two factories left the technical briefing room one after another, Joseph, who was sitting in the last row, frowned slightly.

When it comes to this cutting-edge technology, these two factories are obviously just guessing and are not even close to it.

Especially the second one, which actually planned to use centrifugal separation for purification, which is in line with the habit of everyone's "brain-opening" in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.

Soon, the technicians from the third factory walked into the explanation room and began to give explanations.

Joseph looked at the information in the bid and learned that the middle-aged man on the stage was a chemist named Philip Le Bon, who was hired by the factory with a high salary to study the industrial refining technology of kerosene for them.

"After dehydration and desalination, the coal tar is injected into the distillation kettle for preliminary distillation at 170 degrees Celsius, mainly to separate components such as phenol and naphthalene. The specific technical details are..."

As Le Bon continued to talk, Joseph's eyes finally began to light up.

(End of this chapter)