I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 499: Doing business with the British and leaving them with no business to do

It is obvious that the British saw the sensational effect brought about by the installation of gas street lights in Paris. In just four or five months, they quickly finalized an investment of more than 700 million and prepared to replicate it in London.

It is enough to show how rich the British are. With such a start, they are probably about to start restoring the glory of the Eastern Roman Empire.

He suddenly thought of a question and looked at Dupont and asked, "Could it be that Britain has already mastered the technology of gas distillation?"

"This..." Du Pont lowered his head and recalled, "I don't think they mentioned this technology."

Joseph frowned: "So they are going to invest in gas street lamps?"

Murdoch shrugged and said helplessly, "Your Highness, the British are shameless in stealing technology. Everyone knows it."

He gestured behind him: "There should be industrial spies from them in the distillery right now. As long as there is enough funding, they can raid a gas distillery by next summer at the earliest."

He speaks fluent French and calls people "English" all the time, which shows that he is a real Frenchman. Well, his assets and business are all in France, and he was recently knighted in the Palace of Versailles, which means he has completely severed ties with Britain.

Joseph frowned again.

He knew that Britain and France had sent a large number of industrial spies to each other. If one side had something new, the other side would soon copy it. Historically, even a national treasure like the spinning jenny, France only took three to five years to "clone" it. It was only because of the domestic business environment and raw materials that it could not compete with Britain.

Moreover, the scientific research capability of the UK is already very strong. After all, it is the leader of this era, and Murdoch was actually trained by them. So as long as they are determined to do it, even if they don’t steal the technology, they will probably be able to develop it in more than a year.

Joseph was quite upset. He had spent so much effort and money on gas street lamps, but Paris hadn't attracted much talent and investment, and London was about to jump out and grab the market!
Also invested 750 million.

Is it a big deal that you British people are rich?

No! He secretly clenched his fists. He knew that the British would never be able to get the gas street lights so easily.

But how to stop the British?

It may not be that easy to catch industrial espionage. Should we assassinate the British technicians responsible for the counterfeit gas distillation?

He immediately rejected this idea. "Playing dirty" is always the worst option. The British could easily guess that it was France that did it, and it might even cause a diplomatic dispute.

But soon, a wicked smile appeared on his lips. Aren't the tricks of those American arms companies in the future applicable here?
The standard process is probably like this: first bid at a low price, get the military contract, squeeze out competitors at one time, and then start to increase the price while building by leveraging the monopoly position.

Of course, his goal was not to raise prices, but to squeeze out his British competitors and then run away.

Thinking of this, Joseph pulled Dupont away from the others and asked, "Since you were able to find out that Britain was planning to invest in gas street lamps, you must have some connections there, right?"

Dupont suddenly became nervous and waved his hand, saying, "Your Highness, I heard this from my business partner. It has absolutely nothing to do with the British government!"

Joseph smiled and patted him on the back. "I have full trust in you. But if I want to take over the business of installing gas lamps in London, can you find someone to help me?"

Dupont's eyes widened in shock, and after a long while he said, "Your Highness, are you going to sell the gas street lamp technology to the British?"

"Partly," Joseph nodded. "But given the special diplomatic relationship between Britain and France, you know, they may be more repulsive to French companies." "So, I need you to help me set up a company in the UK, or directly acquire one, then inject capital, and then come forward to contract the gas lamp project in London."

"I can help with that, Your Highness. But I'm not sure if I can reach an agreement with the City of London to build it."

Joseph smiled and said, “Do you think 30 francs can impress the Mayor of London and the project leader?”

Dupont was shocked again. The prince was obviously very familiar with the business practices and acted very decisively.

He thought about it and said hesitantly: "Your Highness, this matter may also involve the British Parliament. After all, the investment amount is huge..."

"Then add another 30 francs to make friends with the relevant parliamentarians." Joseph said without hesitation, "and give you another 10 francs as a reward for your hard work."

Dupont finally stopped refusing. He thought that he should be able to use 60 francs as a bribe.

He nodded immediately and said, "Your Highness, I will try my best. As for the hard work fee, I am very honored to be able to serve you, so I really don't need it."

Joseph said in a strong manner: "You don't have to refuse. I will have someone give you the 70 yuan as soon as possible."

"Please ask Director Fouché to come here," he told Emand, and then said to Dupont, "We need to discuss the details of this deal."

……

Indian Peninsula.

The outskirts of Srirangapatna, the administrative center of Mysore.

Lord Wellesley looked at the Mysore position in the distance with a gloomy expression, and asked his staff officer: "Where is my heavy artillery now?"

"General, due to the heavy rains in South Kannada, the ground is very muddy. The 12-pound guns can only move a few thousand feet a day. I'm afraid it will take another month to transport them."

Since arriving in India, Wellesley has been sweeping across the country, using the "piling up heads" tactic to resolve the Mysore fortress group in South Kannada and has pushed the front line to Srirangapatna.

He was promoted to brigadier general. Unexpectedly, his army encountered trouble in front of the city. Tipu Sultan always avoided a direct battle with him and used frequent harassment tactics to delay him until the rainy season.

"One month..." Wells scratched his shoulder vigorously. He was bitten by mosquitoes as big as green beans yesterday. It was itchy. "I wonder if the supplies from Cornwellis can last for two months."

Yes, only when the heavy artillery arrives can we suppress the cannons used for defense of Seringapatnam, and it will take at least another month to capture Seringapatnam.

Before that, his army was repeatedly harassed by mosquitoes, malaria, dysentery, and sneak attacks by the Mysore people. He really doubted that the morale of the army would collapse before the logistical supplies were exhausted.

Since the rainy season began, his and Cornwallis's logistical supplies had been almost cut off, and a large number of warships carrying supplies were anchored at the port of North Kannada, but could not be brought in. The Mysore people seemed to have been prepared, and the city was very well stocked with ammunition and food, which was completely different from their previous style.

(End of this chapter)