I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1035 Business Wisdom
On the day of the government investment fund vote, the Minister of Naval Warfare, Admiral Keeves, came to the voting site to observe, and even gave a short speech before the vote on the importance of steam engines to the Royal Navy.

Well, he definitely did not accept bribes from Bolton-Watt Company. He came here purely with his own money.

You know, if a 180-horsepower steam engine is really developed, it can be used to drive a third-level battleship.

That is the most core force in the current naval battle.

As long as they can be equipped with 20 third-class steam ships, plus the light steam battleships that are currently being built, let alone the Franco-Spanish Fleet, even if the navies of the whole world are tied together, they will not be a match for the Royal Navy!

In fact, there was no need for him to come to the platform, as Sir Malik had already made the arrangements.

Soon, the management committee successfully approved the huge investment of 10 pounds with 4 votes in favor and 80 votes against.

There was immediate applause and cheers in the hall.

Under this wave of propaganda, high-power high-pressure steam engines had already become the focus of public opinion, and the passage of the vote at this time was simply what everyone wanted.

The next day, Frank cooperated with Congressman Montes and others to start a dazzling operation.

First, Montes and two other MPs, as well as Sir Malik, had invested in three inconspicuous small companies half a month ago - some produced metal insulation panels, and some produced lifting equipment, with the total share price not exceeding two thousand pounds.

When the 80 investment was approved, Syvest Shipbuilding, the largest second-tier supplier under Chatham Shipyard, suddenly selected the products of these three small companies and decided that they would supply the power room equipment for the hundreds of steam warships to be built in Chatham.

As for the operations of these three small companies, Frank is not worried at all about being discovered.

Sylvester Shipping would sell the semi-finished products to "traders," who would ship them to warehouses owned by the three companies in various locations.

The three companies then brought these parts back to their respective factories in London in the name of raw materials and started to put their own labels on them. After completion, they sold them to Sywest Company at a 17% markup according to the order contract.

This profit will be paid monthly to major shareholders such as Congressman Montes, and the bribe amount that Frank originally promised will be paid off in less than a year.

No matter who checks, the income and expenditure accounts of these three companies are all clean. Unless there are very knowledgeable technicians who go undercover in the company for several months, it is possible to find any clues.

The reason why Syvest Shipbuilding was willing to do this was because Bolton-Watt had promised them that the contract for the engine room equipment at Chatham Shipyard would definitely be given to them.

Because Bolton-Watt Company issued a technical report to the shipyard, proving that Syvester's products were the most compatible with its own steam engines, and if they did not use their products, the steam engine would not be able to work properly.

Of course, the price increase was compensated by Bolton-Watt by purchasing Sylvester's products at a premium.

During the entire process, Senator Montes and others only had indirect dealings with the Chatham Shipyard and had no contact with Bolton-Watt Company at all, and all the dealings were formal business dealings.

No matter who comes to investigate, it will be impossible to find the problem.

This is also the reason why Montes and others dare to collect this money.

All we can say is that the "business wisdom" of some companies in later generations exceeded the imagination of people of this era.

The most amazing thing is that once the bribes promised by Frank are "settled", various accidents will occur to these three companies and they will go bankrupt one after another.

The news fell into oblivion and there is no evidence to prove it.

Only the money of the British government investment fund is destined to go down the drain. But that will be a long time in the future, when the Bank of England and the large number of British people who subscribed to the fund will naturally pay the bill.

……

1795 6 Month 11 Day.

Southeastern North America, Port of Mobile.

Father Vigne and his small missionary group walked across the gangplank of the passenger ship Rocky Laurel and set foot on the land of Spanish Florida.

They were accompanied by five security agents and a Spanish official.

These are all the people Joseph sent to resolve the "New Orleans Port Crisis" this time.

The most powerful weapon in their hands is a document of authorization from Carlos IV - it can enable Count Elcano, the Governor of Florida, to fully cooperate with their actions.

Father Vigne looked at the desolate and simple town in front of him, and thought of his mission. He could not help but bow his head and make the sign of the cross on his chest, and sighed in his heart: May God forgive my impiety.

But he immediately thought of the reward of the position of Archbishop promised by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and instantly became full of fighting spirit again.

Even though the group took out four silver coins, they were still unable to hire enough carriages. In the end, they could only find a local to be their guide and walked for nearly two hours before they finally arrived at Mobile City Hall.

After explaining the purpose of the visit, Mayor Garcia frowned slightly and said in French: "Respected Father, I'm afraid it will be difficult to communicate with those Coweta people. The Creek people are more hostile to the United States, but their attitude towards us is not very good either."

The Creek and Coweta were both large Indian tribes in northern Florida, located in southern Alabama and southwestern Georgia in the United States.

Father Vigne simply insisted: "Just take us there and don't worry about anything else."

The mayor prepared enough horses for them and ordered the local sheriff to personally lead his men to escort these bigwigs to find the Indians.

After three days of galloping across hills and plains, Vigne finally met the chief of the Creek tribe, Chekili.

From the name, we can tell that this is a "civilized" Indian tribe, otherwise their names are usually things like flowers, birds, fish, insects, etc.

In fact, this Indian tribe has built a town that looks very much like a European town - straight rammed earth streets dotted with wooden houses on both sides, and occasional horse-drawn carriages passing through the streets.

Although the Creek tribe had some dealings with the Spanish, they also often robbed the Spanish, so the Indians were extremely wary of the sudden visits of white people.

Vigne and his companions surrendered their weapons and were pointed at with several flintlock rifles before they were able to talk to Chechili.

"We are here to seek cooperation," Vigne said in Spanish.

The priest behind him who understood Creek was about to translate when he heard the chief say in fluent Spanish: "Put away your fraud and leave our land immediately."

The North American Indians have been deceived by the Americans using various means, and now they have become immune to it.

Vigne hurriedly signaled to the armed Indian to calm down, and then said to Chechili: "I am French. I want to make a deal with you. The reward is 300 flintlock rifles and sufficient ammunition."

(End of this chapter)