Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1137: Chapter 1043: Watt’s “Powder Keg

Meanwhile, manganese steel should still be used to make weapons.

Joseph vaguely remembers that the material of later cannon barrels seems to be manganese steel.

Before the steelmaking in a converter is resolved, we can only try using crucible steelmaking technology, plus refining with a reverberatory furnace, to produce a small amount of alloy steel.

The output will certainly be very small, but if it’s only used to meet the demand for Steam Engine pipes and cannon barrels, it should barely suffice.

At most, it’s just that the cost will be very high. Many times, military products cannot take price into consideration.

After instructing Wandell on the alloy steel experiment and repeatedly emphasizing the need for secrecy, Joseph rushed back to Paris — ten days later is the day this year’s Supreme Louis Award winners will be announced, and he needs to return to present the award.

Originally, he wanted his father to do it, but the latter clearly had a social anxiety attack, claiming that the research on the steam forging machine was at a crucial stage and didn’t want to be disturbed.

So Joseph had to take the responsibility himself.

When Joseph came out of the ironworks, he saw Le Roy quickly approaching and bowing to greet him.

Joseph was not surprised, as Eman had previously reported to him that the Academy of Sciences President had arrived in Namur at noon, probably afraid of affecting his inspection, so he’d been waiting outside.

“You must be here about the Supreme Louis Award, right?” Joseph nodded to Le Roy and pointed to the carriage, “Please get in.”

Moments later, the Crown Prince’s convoy headed south.

In the carriage, Le Roy handed Joseph a list: “Your Highness, this is the final list of this year’s ‘Supreme Louis Award’ winners determined by the judging committee.”

The Academy of Sciences President explained to the Crown Prince:

“The chemistry award is decided to be presented to our country’s chemist, Mr. Le Bon. You know, he not only successfully separated kerosene from coal tar but also theoretically explained the relationship between kerosene and coal tar.”

Joseph nodded and listened as Le Roy continued:

“The biomedical science award is decided to be presented to our biologist, Mr. Achard. His papers on the principles of biological heredity have caused a great sensation throughout Europe. Oh, yes, you are also the first listed author of the paper.

“But you ordered not to be awarded.”

Joseph looked towards the next line on the list and saw it read:

[Physics award: Charles Augustin Coulomb (France). Achievement – determined that the interaction force between two point charges in a vacuum is proportional to the product of the quantities of charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance.]

Lu Lun’s torsion balance experiment is very famous, opening up fertile ground for electrostatics.

Joseph was about to nod when he suddenly recalled Lavallette’s report last week on the latest progress of the “Gunpowder Initiative.”

Well, the so-called “Gunpowder Initiative” is Sandler and Frank entering the Bolton-Watt Steam Engine Company to guide it in a “special” way.

Currently, Bolton-Watt Company has received government investment as high as 800,000 pounds, and after deducting the bribe money, there’s still 710,000 left.

On Frank’s advice, the company used this money to build 5 top-tier production workshops and 3 research laboratories across England.

The number of workers employed by the company directly increased 8-fold, and wages across the board were raised by 25%, while management and technicians got a raise of more than 50%. Also, employee dormitories, cafeterias, and even tennis courts have already broken ground.

Meanwhile, the company’s planned annual output increased 6-fold. According to this plan, a large number of raw materials were continuously shipped to the company’s warehouses.

It’s all about “the money isn’t mine anyway, spend it however.”

In addition to a huge advertisement expenditure of 30,000 pounds, now everyone in Britain — nobles and commoners alike — is abuzz about “Europe’s greatest Steam Engine Company” developing a miraculous product with up to 180 horsepower. No other country can achieve the same technical level in 10 years.

As a result, the whole of Britain was entangled in steam engine mania.

According to Joseph’s arrangement, the next step is for the Bolton-Watt Company to make a grand debut on the London Stock Exchange, drawing a wave of investments from British shareholders.

Sandler and Frank still hold a large number of company stocks and plan to sell them at the peak, which would also mean a substantial income.

Joseph, looking at the “Supreme Louis Award Winners List” in his hand, couldn’t help but smile.

Why not add a bit more fuel to Bolton-Watt Company?

He turned to Le Roy and said, “The physics award needs to be adjusted.”

The latter hurriedly asked, “What do you mean?”

“Award it to James Watt.”

“What?” Le Roy’s eyes widened, “You mean that British steam engine technician?”

“Exactly.”

Joseph thought to himself, considering Old Watt’s contributions, receiving the Supreme Louis Award once was well-deserved. Well, it would also count as a little comfort for him before retirement.

“But…” Le Roy wanted to persuade further but saw the determined look in the Crown Prince’s eyes and quickly nodded, “Yes, Your Highness, I will notify the judging committee immediately.”

Joseph took out a memo and noted: Significantly raise Bolton-Watt Company’s rating. Boost the company’s stock price.

Two months ago, the Genoa United Credit Rating Agency officially launched.

Issues related to British companies should first be proposed by them as the most suitable. Then France’s International Standards Statistics and First Credit Rating Company should counteract by lowering Bolton-Watt Company’s rating.

After Genoa and Paris engage in a war of words for a while, the French rating agency “bows down,” acknowledges Genoa’s correctness, and follows suit to raise the rating.

The timing is right to do this three days before the company’s listing, maximizing the buzz.

Next, we choose the right time to ignite this pile of “gunpowder.”

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In scientific history, the ampere unit came before the coulomb unit, but in textbooks, “two types of charge” first introduce the definition of coulomb units, followed by the definition of current caused by the directional movement of charges, and then leading to the definition of the ampere unit. The ampere is a basic unit of the International System of Units. Original Definition: In a vacuum, two infinitely long parallel straight conductors one meter apart, through which equal constant currents flow, have an interaction force of 2×10-7 N per meter of conductor, each conductor has a current of 1 ampere. On November 16, 2018, the 26th International Conference on Weights and Measures passed the “Revision of the International System of Units” resolution, defining 1 ampere as the current corresponding to (1/1.602176634)×10^19 elementary charges passing through a conductor’s cross-section within 1 second. As for the coulomb, it derives from the ampere unit, where the charge passing through the cross-section of the wire at 1 ampere of current for one second is 1 coulomb.

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