A genius inventor

William Murdoch? Joseph seemed to have heard the name before, but he could not recall it just then. He was probably a British technician with some ability.

Since the man had been willing to travel all the way to France, Joseph had to show his appreciation. "You are most welcome, Mr. Murdoch. I look forward to seeing you put your talents to full use in France's steam engine project."

Seeing that DuPont had brought only Murdoch, Joseph had already guessed that things might not have gone very smoothly.

He invited the two men to sit and looked at DuPont with some anxiety. "What did Mr. Watt say?"

A look of shame appeared on DuPont's face, and he spoke with some difficulty. "Your Highness, I am very sorry. I failed to carry out the important task you entrusted to me. Mr. Watt declined my invitation."

Although Joseph had prepared himself for this, he still frowned at the news. "Was he dissatisfied with our terms?"

"No, Your Highness. In fact, he did not care about the terms at all..."

DuPont briefly explained Watt's circumstances, and Joseph could not help sighing. "Mr. DuPont, you have done your best. There is no need to blame yourself. I will think of another way."

Although Joseph appeared perfectly calm, inwardly he had already begun to worry.

He knew very well that if France wanted to establish a steam engine industrial chain in the shortest possible time, Watt was an absolutely crucial link!

Joseph was not so arrogant as to believe he could establish an entire industry all by himself. Although he had quite a few advanced steam engine principles in his head, those were still a long way from becoming machines that actually worked. After all, he had never built one himself.

Leaving aside the difficulty