The Talent Committee took barely two hours to complete its review and acceptance of Whitney's first-stage results, readily approving the second grant installment of 3,000 francs.
At the same time, Whitney's research site was moved to the National Laboratory under the French Academy of Sciences.
Hmm, there were even more security personnel here. Whitney even spotted guards wearing the crest of the French Royal Family.
At dusk the next day, Whitney and his assistants held a simple celebratory banquet. Slightly tipsy, he returned to his villa at Great Scholars Palace. The moment he entered, the maid Rene came up to greet him and gestured toward the drawing room. "Master, Master Perret has come to visit with these two gentlemen. I let them enter first."
By the time Whitney handed his hat and coat to Rene, Perret and the two men—one tall, one short—had already risen from the sofa and inclined their heads to him. More than ten minutes later, Whitney stared at the two unfamiliar men. Overwhelmed by both surprise and delight, he temporarily forgot what to say.
Perret had just told him that these two major shareholders of Blythe Steel Company wished to cooperate with him.
Specifically, they wanted him to use the new Milling Machine still under development as capital to acquire shares in Blythe Steel, then use the equipment to bid on the French United Steam Engine Company's Medium and Large Casting Precision Machining Project.
Yes, the Talent Committee did more than provide inventors with funding and laboratories. It also helped them connect with suitable large companies for investment. It was impossible for the French Government to invest in every production technology, and the government did not have that much money. Other than certain strategic technologies, the Industrial Revolution still had to be driven by private capital.