I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1032: The Blocked British Chemical Technology Tree

The gentlemen on the management committee all knew how well the steam paddle steamers from the Brest shipyard in France were selling.

At present, 30% of the ships on the Rhine-Danube route are of this type - this is an achievement achieved in less than two years, and the remaining 70% of the paddle boats have been accumulated over several decades.

The Mediterranean is also full of steam paddle steamers. Although their proportion is not as high as that of river shipping, their absolute number is actually greater due to the huge volume of trade in the Mediterranean.

Under the pressure of steamships, the freight rates of old-fashioned paddle boats continued to decline. It can be predicted that in a dozen years at most, the inland shipping market will be completely unified by steamships.

Such a huge market has already been seized by the French, and Britain must catch up as soon as possible.

What impressed the management committee most was that Chatham Shipyard promised to make the price of its steam paddle steamers 15% lower than that of French products of the same level within two years.

In other words, they will occupy the entire inland shipping market by then!

Even according to the most conservative estimate, there will be a profit of 20 pounds per year.

Of course, the promise of "costs significantly lower than French goods within two years" was something Frank insisted Hope add - he guaranteed that by then he could reduce the price of steam engines provided to the shipyard by 40%.

Well, after being in charge of the sales business of Watt Steam Engine Company for a year and a half, this agent has fully understood the true meaning of "deception".

Anyway, he will definitely return to China in two years. What does it have to do with him whether Chatham will be held accountable?
Immediately, Sir Malik loudly announced the voting results: "12 votes in favor, 2 votes against, the application is approved!"

The two committee members who voted against the proposal simply thought that the investment amount was a bit too high and hoped that it could be divided into two installments of 25 pounds each.

In the VIP seats on the second floor of the hall, Lord Starr, assistant to the chairman of the British Trade Committee, who was listening in, nodded repeatedly and said to the assistant beside him: "This is the industrial rising star we really need! Report to me regularly every month on the progress of the Chatham Shipyard."

He had previously advocated that the "government investment fund" should be copied completely from France and was very opposed to voting to decide the direction of investment.

But soon, after Malik put the plan of "investing 110 million pounds in coal and iron mining, 70 pounds in iron smelting, and 50 pounds in chemicals" on his desk, he finally realized that this would not work.

The industrial conditions of Britain and France are completely different. The industries that France invested in were already already available in Britain, but France did not invest in industries that Britain lacked.

The “homework” is different, and you will definitely get zero points if you copy it.

After today's voting began, Lord Starr suddenly realized that this model seemed to be good.

The officials on the management committee have rich experience and accurate judgment, and open voting can also avoid corruption.

Malik's assistant's voice came from the stage again: "Next. London Garywell Coal Company, applying for a project to lay gas street lights in the west of Chelmsford, with an investment of 20 pounds..."

The whole hall fell silent in an instant.

The gentlemen of the management committee looked at each other quietly, their eyes filled with tension and anxiety.

Yes, the collapse of Lightning Coal Company led to the bankruptcy of more than 20 British companies, thousands of workers lost their jobs, hundreds of people committed suicide, and four members of Congress stepped down.
The French even made a joke about this incident and mentioned it whenever they had time.

So since then, "gas street lights" have almost become a taboo that the British cannot touch.

The Garywell Coal Company was one of the few survivors of the "Gas Streetlight Incident". It gritted its teeth and invested tens of thousands of pounds and finally developed coal distillation technology. However, it found that there was no city in the whole of Britain willing to lay gas streetlights.

After the company paid a large sum of money as a bribe, the mayor of Chelmsford reluctantly agreed to install gas streetlights, but in order to avoid risks, he asked the company to advance the money first, and the city hall would sign a contract to pay after the streetlights in the west of the city were completed. 20 pounds is not a small amount, so Garywell Coal Industry thought of the government investment fund.

Half a minute later, Malik announced loudly: "0 votes in favor, 14 votes against, the application was not approved!"

The gentlemen on the management committee breathed a sigh of relief.

Several spectators whose relatives committed suicide as a result of the "Lightning Coal Industry Incident" slowly opened their clenched fists.

Only Lord Starr on the second floor frowned.

As an official in charge of industry, he was well aware that Britain was in urgent need of gas street lamps.

Urban lighting was still secondary. It was mainly because of the gas street lights that large-scale coal distillation could begin.

Only with coal distillation can we produce huge amounts of coal tar, which can then be used to refine cheap phenol and synthetic dyes, and even promote the development of the entire chemical industry.

The French are already making millions of pounds a year from these things, while the British are still not making any moves.

Synthetic dyes, in particular, may also affect the textile industry in the future.

But Starr had no choice.

If he dared to push for gas street lights, he might be fired the next day.

He could have skipped the streetlights and just carried out coal distillation, then developed chemical technology, but the products produced in this way would have been dozens of times more expensive than French products.

Coal tar in France is considered "waste". The money for distilling the coal has already been paid by people who use gas lamps. Everything else produced afterwards is extra profit. The cost is simply incomparable.

Starr sighed and comforted himself in his heart: Once the steam paddle steamer industry makes money, it can be used to subsidize the chemical industry.

The voice reading the investment application came from the front: "Next. Leeds Miracle Textile Factory, applying for the steam automatic jacquard machine project..."

……

In the garden of Versailles Palace, Joseph basked in the warm sunshine and listened to Lavalette's report on the events caused by the trial voyage of the British steam battleship.

"This Lieutenant Porter is indeed a talent in intelligence." He smiled and nodded, "His plan is very clever. So, what is the result?"

The security chief said hurriedly, "It went smoothly, Your Highness. Jervis terminated the investigation, and then the British Fund Management Committee approved the application of Chatham Shipyard by 12 votes to 2..."

"Wait a minute," Joseph suddenly raised his hand and said, "You mean, the British decide on investment applications by voting?"

"It is like this, Your Highness. The British Parliament suddenly decided earlier this month."

After Joseph learned about the latest operating model of the British "Investment Fund", he couldn't help but smile: "We can't miss such a good opportunity. Please inform Mr. Hart and ask him to immediately arrange for Bolton-Watt to apply for government investment.

"The project is called 'Latest 180-horsepower steam engine project', and the investment is 50 pounds, no, 80 pounds."

(End of this chapter)