Fox of France

After all-night negotiations, both Watt and Bolton Jr. were exhausted. After all, they are not too young. In later generations, people of Bolton's age are already in the category of not using ventilators, and Watt, even if they are plugged in, should be unplugged as soon as possible. of that category.

Of course, if in future generations, they are still as rich as they are now, then there is no need to worry about this kind of thing. After all, the rich uncle is the rule that has been followed since ancient times. Even His Majesty the Emperor said: "This is Life."

Joseph came to visit them at night, as he himself said, because he came here at night. As soon as he arrived here, he immediately came to visit, which of course reflected Joseph's respect for Watt, a scientific predecessor. However, Watt was a little suspicious. Joseph came to the door at this time, neither too early nor too late, and immediately negotiated business with him after he found him. Is it possible that he was trying to bully them for being mentally ill? How about taking advantage?

Thinking of this, Watt quickly grabbed Bolton Jr., and carefully studied the conditions that had just been settled, until both of them felt their heads hurt, and then they let go of the terms in their hands.

"Mr. Watt, I don't think there is any loophole. Although we didn't get much from Dean Bonaparte, we are definitely not losing money. This should indeed be a win-win cooperation. Moreover, my head is already dizzy, I think If you continue to study, there will be no more gains, so let's stop here." Little Bolton said.

"Yeah, yeah. I've got the same dizziness," said Watt. "Matthew, can you sleep now?"

"How is it possible?" Little Bolton said, "You thought I was still in my thirties. At that time, no matter what the time was, as soon as my head touched the pillow, I could fall asleep immediately. But now, it takes If you miss the point of sleep, no matter how sleepy you are, even if your head is as heavy as granite, you will not be able to fall asleep anyway. Well, Mr. Watt, how about you?"

"Me? I'm much older than you, of course it's been like this for a long time. Well, I can't sleep anyway, let's have a meal together first, and then go out for a walk together?" Watt said.

"Well," said Bolton Jr. "French breakfast, well, that's my second favorite place in France."

"What's your first favorite?" Watt asked.

"Good weather, always good weather," said Bolton Jr.

"Your opinion is basically the same as mine, but I need to adjust the order of first and second. Well, I'm already considering whether to fire that damn cook in our family."

The two had a breakfast that was far better than looking up at the stars, and then they came to the "Peace Palace" together.

It was sunny this morning, and from a distance, the Peace Palace covered with a layer of white marble was shining brightly. The two walked over and saw that there were many more people around the Peace Palace today than yesterday.

"It's opening tomorrow, no wonder there are so many people," Watt said.

"Would you like to go and have a look, maybe there are more new things." Little Bolton said.

"No," Watt said suddenly, "for us, we have already seen the most important things. And, more importantly, our money has been spent somewhere. The rest, even if we have seen it, we There is no more money to do it. And watching it now, it’s really boring to wait until the opening. Well, let’s go somewhere else first.”

"That's right. In fact, the main task of our trip has been completed, right?" Bolton Jr. said, "I have fought the good fight, I have run the full course, and I have done what I need to do. From now on, leisure time is reserved for me."

"Haha, Matthew, you messed up the Bible."

"No, Mr. Watt, I am paying homage to the Bible."

The two talked and laughed like this, and walked in the other direction...

But when the real opening ceremony started the next morning, both of them regretted it a little.

In fact, the opening ceremony was well done, referring to some activities of the opening ceremony in later generations, various group exercises, parade of floats, it was very lively. And for those who hadn't seen any entertainment back then, it was naturally even more joyful. But for an old man like Watt, Wei Wei is a bit too noisy.

But that's not a big deal. Although it was a bit noisy, it was still very happy, but later, Lucien's speech in person was really terrible. This guy was rambling on for a long time, comparing this event to the Dionysian celebration in ancient Greece, then Roman civilization, and common prosperity... He talked nonsense for more than an hour, saying Watt, who had to sit in the front row, couldn't help taking a nap, and Lucien finally ended his lengthy speech with this sentence: "I wish world peace!"

Then there was a salute, in order to wake up those who had been hypnotized by Lucien and let them spend money quickly.

After the opening ceremony, Watt and Bolton Jr. wandered around the square outside the Peace Palace according to their original plan, looking at all kinds of exotic goods that they had never seen before. To say that even in the semi-open-air exhibition hall, you can see a lot of very novel and creative little things. For example, Watt found a product called " Typewriter" stuff is pretty darn good.

In fact, the design of this thing is basically not difficult, but it is quite easy to use. The typist who was doing the demonstration only took a while to type out a full page of text, which is much faster than handwriting. , but also to ensure that the font is clear and neat.

Watt immediately went up to inquire about the price of the thing and, by the way, implicitly asked if it was patented. However, he soon got a disappointing answer - this thing has already applied for a patent.

"This thing may not look simple, but it will sell well in the future." Watt said disappointedly to Bolt Jr., "It's a pity that we have no money and no manpower to do this business."

While the two were talking, they saw a familiar-looking person walking by not far away.

"Hey, I seem to have seen that person somewhere?" Watt said.

"Well, it seems to be, it seems to be in Foreman..." Little Bolt suddenly stopped talking.

The one who just walked over was Lieutenant Colonel Foreman of the British Navy. Watt and Bolt Jr. had dealt with him when the British Navy was developing steamships, but at this time, he was dressed in casual clothes and a businessman , I am afraid they are performing some secret mission.

Watt and Bolt Jr. knew that it was best not to intervene in such a matter, and just pretended not to see it.

As for Lieutenant Colonel Foreman, he just came out of the Peace Palace and was chatting with an Italian businessman beside him. Just now, he disguised himself as a Mexican businessman and talked about the sale of cannons with people from the "Bonaparte Arsenal", and took the opportunity to learn about the performance of this cannon.

If the guys from the "Bonaparte Arsenal" didn't brag, this kind of artillery is even more powerful than the 36-pound gun used by battleships, especially in terms of penetration. And this gun is so light. This made the officer of the British Navy very worried.

"It's just the orca we encountered before. If equipped with such a cannon, it can already penetrate the hull of our battleship at a normal combat distance. Considering the obvious speed advantage of the orca, This makes it sure to grab the T position when facing our battleships, so in the confrontation of a single warship, it can even fight against even a first-class battleship like the "Victory". This is terrible, It is a complete subversion of the way of naval warfare..."

At present, the British still have not been able to produce a steam warship comparable to the "Orca". They thought of many ways, such as placing the paddle wheel at the stern, such as increasing the aspect ratio... But their new steam warship still has a clear gap with the "Orca".

"In any case, even if the technology of the 'orca' cannot be obtained temporarily, at least we cannot be thrown too far by the French in artillery."

Lieutenant Colonel Foreman proposed to the French that he wanted to buy this kind of artillery—just buy one or two and go back to study it and see if it can be copied. It must be the best.

The French were very enthusiastic about his various inquiries before this, but after he made a request to buy two cannons, the French who was very enthusiastic a second ago immediately changed his face.

"Sir, we don't do this kind of petty business," said the Frenchman, his face full of contempt for the small businessman without money, and he seemed to blame himself for wasting so much of his time.

"So how many orders do you take at least?" Lieutenant Colonel Foreman asked.

"No less than 12 doors." The French replied simply.

Foreman calculated in his mind that the price had already exceeded the authorization he had obtained. So he tried harder to talk to the Frenchman, but at this time, an Italian businessman came over. This Italian came from the Papal State, and he was obviously very familiar with those Frenchmen. The Frenchman immediately left him to flatter the Italian.

Soon, the Italian was ready to place an order, a total of 48 cannons. No matter how well-equipped the Pope's army is, its combat effectiveness is still very limited. To a large extent, these purchases are nothing more than paying protection fees, just like the big dogs of later generations pay protection fees to the God Emperor.

Watching the Italian easily sign the purchase contract, Foreman suddenly thought of a way - the French only wholesale, not retail, but he can definitely buy one or two guns from the Italian back!

So he got up, walked over to the Italian, introduced himself to him, and then explained that he only had money to buy two guns, but the French would not sell them if they were less than 12, and then asked to buy them together with him. Two cannons.

"Sir," the Italian looked at him suspiciously, "I can see that you are a person who often makes a living at sea. You don't do that kind of business in the Caribbean, do you? However, I Don't care. God doesn't care, I suppose. But you want my help, and you have to show me a little sincerity."