I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 584: The Carrot Dangling in Front of the British (Additional Update for Zephiel)

"This gentleman is the founder of the Society of Friends of Black People." Talleyrand said helplessly, "You can tell what it does just by the name.

"He even set out for the United States, intending to lead a movement to liberate black slaves there. Of course, he returned empty-handed under the surveillance of the American militia, and only wrote a book called "Miscellany of the American Southern Negro".

“I believe that there is no one better suited to carry out the mission in Saint Domingo.”

……

The next day.

Joseph ate breakfast in a relaxed mood and prepared to set off for Brittany.

He summoned Brissot yesterday afternoon. It should be said that sending this man to Saint-Domingue would greatly increase the chances of success.

As Talleyrand said, he was an extremely fanatical abolitionist. After hearing Joseph's plan, he was so excited that he burst into tears and expressed his willingness to personally donate 3 francs to support this great cause.

You know, he has no job now, and this money is basically all his belongings.

At the same time, his thinking was clear and his reaction was extremely fast. He also made some supplements to Joseph's plan on the spot. It seemed that he had thought about similar things before.

However, to be on the safe side, Joseph asked the Intelligence Agency to dispatch two people to go to Saint-Domingo with him.

As soon as Joseph's convoy arrived in Alençon, the Intelligence Agency reported to him that Brissot and his party had boarded the ship and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean.

……

London.

As the last rays of sunset disappeared, several men in black uniforms and felt hats raised long wooden sticks with flames on them and reached into the glass cover on top of the street lamp.

In less than ten minutes, dazzling white lights lit up around London City Hall, making the place look like a ballroom dance.

Hundreds of people watching cheered immediately, "Oh, it's just like daytime, it's amazing!"

"I wish this kind of street lamps could be lit all over London."

"Yes, it's been reported in the newspapers. The gas streetlight project will be completed by the end of this year at the latest."

"God, that would be wonderful!"

Soon, London Mayor Herbert came to the front of the crowd and began a passionate speech under the light of gas street lamps.

Behind him, Lightning Company manager Styler frowned and whispered to the old noble beside him: "To be honest, Mr. Pierce, this is not quite the same as what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince originally ordered. He asked to spend as little money as possible..."

"This is a necessary expense." Under the black hat was Viscount Kalona's face. Pierce was his current name. "If you want the donkey to keep moving forward, you have to let it see the carrot."

He pointed to the gas street lamps around City Hall. “That’s the carrot. And it was all done by the subcontractors. It didn’t cost us much.”

Stellar was still dissatisfied and said, "We bought the equipment on the other end of the pipe."

"It's only 5 francs," Pierce smiled. "It will soon help us earn millions of francs."

The Mayor of London was still giving a speech and the crowd cheered from time to time, but they didn't know that the retorts and other equipment in the huge distillation workshop of the Lightning Company were just a pile of empty shells made of iron sheets.

The real fuel for these 30 street lamps is the glassware and tubes in the small room on the side of the workshop, which were purchased from the laboratory of the University of Paris. This set of experimental equipment is connected to the gas street lamps from the underground, and 30 street lamps are the limit of its gas supply. Moreover, unlike industrial gas production, these experimental equipment can only perform dry distillation on purified clean coal, and the cost is more than ten times higher than industrial preparation.

But it is enough to fool the citizens of London.

From the outside, the distillation workshop was ablaze with flames and thick smoke was coming out of the chimney. Everyone believed that they were the ones that were constantly producing gas.

Styler shrugged. "It's a good thing, otherwise I wouldn't know what excuse I could come up with to delay the construction."

According to the original agreement, the London Gas Street Light Project should have been delivered a month ago.

However, everyone from the Parliament to the London City Hall had to accept this. Lightning Company has been unlucky since the first day of construction, and the construction period has been postponed to December this year.

Of course, Lightning Company will also have to pay a high penalty for breach of contract, which will be deducted from the project payment after the project is completed.

However, the news that the first batch of street lights were successfully lit still attracted great attention in London.

All major newspapers reported the event, and some even included illustrations of the brightly lit front of the City Hall.

The issue of gas street lamps is a hot topic on the streets and alleys. Citizens know which street's lights will be repaired first and which street's lights will be repaired later.

Even house prices in London have started to rise.

In fact, most of this was due to the hype that Carlona had people do. The reporters at the newspaper received bribes and directly published the "press release". And at dances and salons, there would always be someone who took the lead in bringing up the topic of gas street lamps.

Just as the popularity of gas street lamps was growing, Lightning Company suddenly announced that gas lamps for personal household use had been developed, and after the street lamps began to be supplied with gas, citizens could also apply to have their homes connected to gas pipelines.

Jim Hyman had just returned home and had not yet had time to hang his coat on the hanger when his wife came to him excitedly and stuffed a piece of paper into his hand.

"Honey, this is such a great deal, check it out!"

"What is this?" Heyman looked down and found that it was an advertisement for Lightning Company. He frowned and looked at his wife, "Did you buy the newspaper?"

"It's free." The woman said proudly. Paper was not cheap in this era, and no one gave out flyers. Lightning Company was setting a precedent.

Heyman looked at the content of the flyer in surprise. It first introduced the various advantages of gas lamps, and then mentioned that after the gas was connected to the house, it could not only be used for lighting, but also for cooking, heating bath water, and heating. It was simply too cool.

He immediately became interested: "This is so convenient, how much does it cost?"

The wife immediately turned the flyer over and said, “Look, here it is.

"Lightning Company said they have a promotion now. If you buy a gas lamp, you can get a gas connection for your home for free, and you can also use a gas stove in the future."

"Buy a gas lamp?" Heyman looked at the price list carefully and his eyelids jumped - a gas lamp costs 8 pounds!

His monthly salary was only £2 5s.

The whole family had to save money for three and a half months without eating or drinking to make this lantern.

"No, no, it's too expensive!"

The wife immediately complained loudly: "I heard from Mr. Brook that it might cost 10 pounds to install a gas pipeline in the future. If we miss this opportunity, we may never use gas lamps in our lifetime!"

(End of this chapter)