I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 899 The more you sell, the greater the loss!
Within three days, all the dozen or so senior technicians who were fired by Bolton-Watt were enthusiastically recruited by Lyon Machinery Manufacturing Company.

This Lyon company was very generous. Not only did it offer a salary that was too high to refuse, but it also promised to provide a high-end residence in Lyon, pay for the company to return to Birmingham to visit relatives twice a year, and even solve the children's education and work problems.

Although these technicians were among the best in Europe, their income was not high as they worked under Watt, a selfish and ungrateful leader.

Faced with such generous treatment and being unemployed, almost everyone accepted the invitation without hesitation.

Well, this Lyon Machinery Manufacturing Company was established with investment from the Industrial Development Fund at the request of Joseph. It mainly produces mid- and low-end steam engines. On the one hand, it allows the United Steam Engine Company to focus more on high-end, high-power steam engines. On the other hand, it can also prevent the United Steam Engine Company from dominating the market and forming a monopoly.

The company in Lyon was newly established and in urgent need of talent, so the British kindly "sent" people over.

In fact, the capabilities of these British technicians were not worth the price offered by Lyon Machinery Manufacturing Company, but in order to get them to leave Britain, Joseph didn't mind spending a little more money.

If the pace of Britain's Industrial Revolution could be slowed down by just a few months, the money could be earned back hundreds of times.

On the other hand, with tens of thousands of pounds spent on publicity, most of Europe heard that Britain had developed a new type of high-pressure steam engine at a very low price.

Soon after, a large number of salesmen trained by Fleck himself began to appear all over Europe.

Southern Austria.

The city of Pec in Baranya.

It has the largest coal mine in Austria, and the endless mines on the outskirts of the city supply more than 60% of Austria's coal consumption.

At this time, beside the Meiciek Mountain Coal Mine, a salesman from Bolton-Watt pointed to an advertisement for the Engine 52 high-pressure steam engine in the Hungarian Courier and said eloquently:
"It has a power of up to 52 horsepower, and only one unit can replace the three 3-horsepower pumps you are currently using.

"You only need three Engine 3s to solve the water problem in your mine. This will save you 52 technicians to operate the pumps."

The tall, bald mine owner waved his hand uninterestedly: "Let's talk about it after you bring the new pump."

"You see, this is the pre-sale period, and the company is offering a big discount to expand its influence. In a few months, a machine will cost you an extra £50, and there will be no free maintenance for a year."

The mine owner stopped walking, but frowned and said, "It will cost a lot of money to buy these machines, and it will take a long time to apply for a loan..."

"No need to bother," the salesman waved his hand. "You only need to pay one-tenth of the advance payment, and we will sign the contract. The remaining balance can be paid within six months after the goods arrive."

“That sounds good…”

Nottingham, England.

In the office of Arkwright Spinning Mill, the textile mill with the largest number of steam engines in the UK, General Manager Richard Arkwright looked at the salesman of Watt Company with a scrutinizing look:

“Using new steam engines can indeed improve production efficiency, but replacing so many machines that have not been field-tested is too risky for my company.”

The salesman immediately whispered, "To be honest, the Engine 52 was customized for warships by the Royal Navy. Its reliability is absolutely unquestionable! With your status, you will definitely be able to get information at the Chatham Shipyard."

He took out the draft sales contract:
"Moreover, our company will state in the agreement that if these machines have problems that cannot be repaired, the company will compensate you 10 times the purchase price."

Arkwright couldn't help but nod slightly when he heard this.

He had bought many steam engines from Watt before, and the quality was quite good. And from the high amount of compensation, it can be seen that Watt was very confident in this new steam engine.

He thought for a moment, picked up the contract and said, "I want to order 15 units, but can the price be lowered a little?"

The salesperson immediately said:
"You know, 500 pounds is a very low price. If you can order 18 units, I can suggest that the company extend your payment period to... two years."

Arkwright's eyes suddenly lit up. With such a long payment period, he could save a lot of money on interest alone.

He nodded: "If you are willing to add another half year of free maintenance..."

“I’m sure the company will agree.”

Similar scenes are playing out across Europe.

Stimulated by the unprecedented discounts and high compensation offered by Bolt-Watt, the company's salesmen have been receiving great success.

Except for France, which was unable to open its market due to a ban on purchasing British steam engines, pre-sale contracts for 133 high-pressure steam engines were signed in other markets in just one and a half months.

The company received tens of thousands of pounds in advance payments alone.

At the company's board meeting, Bolton praised Frank highly, saying that it was the latter's expansion proposals and sales plans that had enabled the company to achieve unprecedented development recently.

However, Bolt felt a little regretful that the original production plan of 200 units per year was too low. According to the current trend, 300 units can be sold out every year!
Then Bolt looked at Sandor again: "John, how is the test going on the Navy side?"

"Everything went smoothly." Sander said calmly, "Two prototypes have been installed on the Comet and have been running for 20 hours continuously several times without any malfunction."

The directors immediately cheered, "Great!"

"It looks like the Navy will be able to complete the acceptance soon."

"15 pounds! Haha, we will get that 15 pounds!"

Bolton asked hurriedly, "Did Sir Hope mention additional purchases?"

Thomas Hope was the general manager of Chatham Royal Dockyard.

"Yes," Sander nodded, "He is very satisfied with Engine52. After the trial is completed, he will probably order about 30 more."

Everyone cheered again when they heard this.

You know, the Navy's requirements for the reliability of steam engines far exceed those of civilian models. The main components will be reinforced and have redundant backups, so the price will also be much higher than that of civilian models.

30 steam engines can bring the company nearly 6 pounds in revenue!
But what Bolton and others didn't know was that the sea trial of Britain's new steam battleship "Comet" was in trouble.

They encountered the same problem as their French counterparts - severe vibration of the ship's axis, which led to deformation and even breakage.

With the industrial processing precision at the end of the eighteenth century, it was difficult to produce qualified ship shafts using conventional methods.

Fortunately, the British spies lurking in the Brest Shipyard in France finally figured out the French solution at the cost of more than a dozen people being exposed - to use a very special wood to make the ship's shaft. The name of that wood is guaiac wood.

(End of this chapter)