Train

"Ah, indeed. There's another official matter. After this trade fair in Paris, if Mr. Watt has the time, I would like to invite Watt to give a lecture at the University of Paris," Joseph added.

This was certainly a compliment, and Watt had no reason to refuse it. So he said:

"The University of Paris is the most prestigious university in the world, and being able to lecture there is my biggest dream in life (of course, this shouldn't be taken literally). Even if I don't have the time, I will definitely make time for it. Because compared to this, what else matters?"

Joseph said happily, "Mr. Watt, then it's settled. Hmm, that's wonderful. Oh, by the way, Mr. Watt, now that business is over, I have some personal matters I'd like to discuss with you."

Watt immediately perked up. He knew that while the official business was important, the personal matters below were probably even more pressing. In a sense, Joseph Bonaparte was now an idol in the Britain scientific community. Countless aspiring scientists looked up to Joseph as a role model. This was not only because he was arguably the most outstanding scientist of his time, but also because he was the most successful scientist in terms of wealth. Everyone knew that this great scientist was the head of the France behemoth known as the "Military-Industrial Complex."

Watt himself was a very successful scientist at making money, but he admitted that in this respect, the gap between him and Joseph was even greater than the gap in their scientific research. Considering Dean Bonaparte's influence in the business world, he probably contributed a great deal to this "Brazil Trade Fair." Now that he was talking about "personal matters," Watt felt that they were mostly related to the Brazil Trade Fair, or to put it more bluntly, to money. So, while official business was certainly important, these personal matters were probably more substantial.

Watt involuntarily leaned forward, shifting his buttocks slightly from the sofa towards the money:

"Dean Bonaparte, please speak freely."

"Ah, Mr. Watt, I know that you and your partner run a steam engine manufacturing company. And this company has a very extensive cooperation with Lorraine Steel Company. Well, Mr. Lavoisier and I are both investors in Lorraine Steel. We at Lorraine Steel are currently facing a problem, which is that our steel production has reached a bottleneck."

Mr. Watt, if you had visited the Lorraine Steel booth today, you would surely understand the sheer volume of demand for Lorraine Steel. We almost never worry about sales. In fact, a furnace of steel is often pre-ordered by our customers while it's still just ore and coal. Although our steel mills are operating at a high speed, orders are often pushed back several months in advance."

Watt nodded in agreement. The steel they had ordered from Lorraine Steel would also take more than a month to arrive, and it seemed that this wasn't even the last one.

"Why not build more steel mills? Wouldn't that increase production capacity?" Little Bolte, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but ask.

"Mr. Bolt, the problem now is not a lack of steelmaking furnaces, nor a lack of mining capacity, but rather that we cannot transport enough ore to the steel mill," Joseph replied. "Neither iron ore nor coal can be entirely transported by water, directly to the factory by ship. There is always a distance from the dock to the factory. Moreover, not all coal and iron mines are located near rivers. These things also have a considerable land route from the mine to the dock."

Mr. Bolt, Mr. Watt, you know that the wagons used to transport ore are all heavy-duty wagons, requiring many draft horses and special tracks. The tracks are not a problem, but the number of draft horses is a big problem. Moreover, raising a large number of draft horses also requires a lot of manpower and resources, and the cost is very high.

Therefore, I have an idea. Your company possesses a wealth of valuable technologies in steam power and transmission. We hope to collaborate with your company to develop a steam-powered transportation technology. To put it more clearly, we hope to cooperate with your company to develop a steam-powered rail transport vehicle to replace horse-drawn mining cars.

Mr. Watt, the steam engine has already been widely used in ship propulsion. In principle, it can also be applied to land transportation. Even just using it to transport ore would be of great value. In the field of steam power, there is no more experienced partner in the world than your company. Therefore, we very much hope to cooperate with your company to develop such a steam-powered vehicle."

Watt had actually seen similar ideas before. Several years earlier, someone had made a similar suggestion to him. However, Watt opposed the suggestion at the time. Because Watt, as a steam engine expert, objected, the idea came to nothing.

Watt opposed the idea at the time, not for any particular reason, but simply because he said, "I don't think it's a good idea." However, some believe that Watt opposed it because conducting research in this area would hinder their negotiations with John Steed regarding the purchase of his crankshaft patent. Ultimately, Watt's assistant, William Murdoch, invented a device called planetary gears, successfully circumventing the patent.

But after that, no one brought up that suggestion again.

Now, someone brought up the suggestion again. But this time, the person making the suggestion was no longer an unknown figure, so Watt couldn't simply dismiss him with "I don't think that's a good idea." He thought for a moment, then asked:

"Dean Bonaparte, as far as I know, the Military-Industrial Complex has also done a lot of research on steam engines, especially for ships. Since they can be used on ships, it's not impossible to use them on steam-powered vehicles."

"Ugh, don't even mention those guys. They're all clueless about the cost of living. They use whatever materials are expensive. The only things they can afford are warships used for fighting wars and ships transporting highly profitable illegal goods. And lately, they've run into a series of technical problems, and they've been stuck there burning through my money for two months with no progress whatsoever," Joseph complained.

Joseph wasn't lying; those guys were indeed burning through money every day, and after more than two months, they'd made almost no progress. However, Joseph wasn't as dissatisfied as he seemed, because this slow progress was entirely expected. After all, what they were developing was the true, perfect form of the steam engine—the steam turbine. And precisely because of this, they encountered a host of difficulties during the process, but this was all part of the plan.

Moreover, even if the research were ultimately successful, steam turbines are still more suitable for use on ships or power plants than on trains.

Of course, Joseph did consider skipping the steam engine or even the internal combustion engine and going straight to the electric locomotive, but there were still a lot of skills that hadn't been unlocked yet. And it wasn't just the technology that hadn't been unlocked; even some aspects of science hadn't been developed.

Therefore, the fastest way now is still to collaborate with Watt to create a train based on a reciprocating steam engine—a train that is both traditional and brimming with steampunk and multi-riveted steel characteristics. Joseph even envisioned a future where Austria barbarians invaded Rome's borders, and Napoleon would command a long, steam-powered armored train with riveted armor, multiple carriages, and numerous turrets to wipe out those barbarians...

"I see." Watt thought for a moment and asked, "So, how should our benefits be distributed in this study?"

Then came the most crucial part. Joseph immediately perked up and began bargaining with Watt regarding the distribution of profits. Watt initially hoped to exchange his various patents for steelmaking or cement-making technology, but Joseph, of course, rejected this idea without hesitation—it was a completely unequal exchange. Did Watt really think Joseph was a fool?

Although he was rejected, Watt wasn't discouraged. Rejection was normal; if he hadn't been rejected, he would have been lucky. He then made a new proposal and demanded the exclusive distribution rights for Fortress Cement in the Britain...

They discussed it heatedly all night, until the sun rose in the east, before they barely reached a framework agreement. Watt and his team used technologies such as steam engines and planetary gears to obtain the exclusive agency rights for Fortress Cement in Britain and the priority purchasing rights for Lorraine Steel.

At the same time, for every steam locomotive produced by the Military-Industrial Complex that was not for its own use but was sold on the market, Watt and his associates had to pay a patent fee of three hundred pounds for each locomotive sold.

Finally, as Joseph left the villa where Watt and his companions were temporarily staying, bathed in the afterglow of the sunset, he couldn't help but complain, "That old man Watt is no charm at all. Mr. Lavoisier is much better..."

However, although Watt was much more cunning than Lavoisier, Joseph did not lose out, in truth. He successfully concealed his true objective and obtained a truly crucial patent at a relatively low cost: the patent for planetary gears.

Neither Watt, the patent holder, nor William Murdoch, the inventor of the technology, fully grasped the significance of planetary gears. In their view, they were primarily used to circumvent crankshaft patents. But Joseph knew that they were key to the crucial transmission systems in many future machines.

So, although Joseph was annoyed that he couldn't get the big advantage he had from Mr. Lavoisier, he wasn't actually the one who lost out.