With machinery running at such high speed entering the United Kingdom,

Remember the principles I gave.

Once the United Kingdom MPs left, Lightning Coal Company's research and development department instantly ceased its busy activity, and the "technicians" began chatting or enjoying tea.

These 30-plus people were all sent by the French Intelligence Bureau. They had memorized a lot of technical terms beforehand to make a good impression.

The remaining workers were locally recruited on a temporary basis; their job was simply to clean the Machines and move documents, and appear busy.

A few days later, MP Mordaunt shook his head as he walked out of the workshop of Andrew Chemical Company in London, muttering to himself:

"They're not even wearing shoe covers; the Machines here must not be precise enough..."

The Company Manager, with a fawning expression, escorted him to the door and cautiously inquired:

"Baron Excellency, as you can see, our company's distillation equipment will be ready for use by the end of the year. We hope you can allow us to undertake the production of Coal Gas."

Mordaunt suddenly recalled his previous visit to Lightning Company and immediately said in a detached tone:

"Excuse my bluntness, but your company can't even manage the granularity of alignment, let alone require the workers to understand the underlying logic and form a closed loop. I don't think you're suitable to undertake this highly sophisticated project."

"W-what did you say? Granularity... what do you mean...?" The Company Manager was completely bewildered.

Mordaunt held his head high and smiled smugly:

"These are all essential for successful companies. I suggest you learn them carefully."

Once seated in the Carriage, he glanced at the dilapidated gate of Andrew Company and couldn't help but shake his head.

During this time Mordaunt inspected all the companies interested in participating in the Gas Streetlight project, and finally found that only Lightning Coal Industry was the most outstanding. He had already decided to let them undertake the project.

He even felt that even without the Pound Sterling 10,000 kickback from Lightning Company, he should still entrust the Gas Streetlight project to them.

Subsequently, the British Parliament held two consecutive discussions on the Gas Streetlight project, and Mordaunt and his faction consistently supported Lightning Coal Company to take over the project.

However, there are always different factions in Parliament. After some members proposed alternative solutions, Mordaunt threw Lightning Company's promotional materials on their desks.

Then, the voices against him disappeared—judging from those exquisite brochures, Lightning Company was at least 10 years ahead of its competitors!

On August 3, London City Hall signed a contract with the little-known Lightning Coal Company, which will be responsible for the overall construction of Gas Streetlight in London for a period of one year and a total amount of Pound Sterling 260,000.

Yes, in order to ensure that he beat all the competitors, Joseph specifically instructed Styler to lower the offer to 260,000.

He wasn't really planning to go all in anyway, so even if the price dropped to 200,000, he wouldn't care. But for other companies, that price wouldn't leave them with any profit margin.

Three days after the contract was signed, in a club in the Southern Suburbs of Paris, more than a London factory owners and Company Manager gathered in the spacious concert hall, discussing in hushed tones:

"I thought it was just our company, I didn't expect him to invite everyone?"

"What is that guy trying to do? To humiliate us?"

"Perhaps it's because Lightning Company stole our business and they want our forgiveness."

Shh—he's coming.

The concert hall doors opened, and Styler walked in with a broad smile. He greeted everyone one by one, then ascended the stage and announced loudly:

"Gentlemen, as you have all heard, our Lightning Coal Company has just won the contract for the London Gas Streetlight."

Someone said coldly, "You didn't call us here just to show off, did you?"

"Oh, you misunderstand." Styler waved his hand, his expression sincere. "Our company will be expanding in London in the future, and that requires dealing with everyone."

The dozen or so people present stared at him silently—they were all companies that had previously competed for the Gas Streetlight project, and naturally, they were not happy about having their business snatched away.

Styler continued, "Therefore, I want to share the profits with everyone, so that you can all benefit as well."

Everyone was quite surprised to hear him say that.

What are your plans?

"Subcontracting," Styler said with a smile. "You see, for such a large project, there are many aspects that our company is not particularly good at, such as making Coal Gas pipelines, excavation and landfill, and even the Gas Lamp casings, we need to buy new Machines to produce them."

"So I'd like to delegate these tasks to you all. Oh, please rest assured, you won't be taken advantage of in terms of price."

"This way, everyone benefits equally, and we hope everyone will continue to support Lightning Coal Company in the future."

Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed, never expecting that the stolen Cake would be returned. They immediately rushed to say:

"Mr. Styler, our company can produce Gas Lamp housings. London is planned to install 20,000 streetlights; could you possibly...?"

"Our Soya-River Hill Company has the best excavation Craftsman, capable of undertaking pipeline laying work at very low prices."

"If you need Coal Gas pipelines manufactured, our company can help. You should have heard of our products..."

"And us..."

Styler made a downward pressing motion and smiled:

"Okay, okay, Lightning Coal Industry is very sincere and will do its best to subcontract the work to you all."

He immediately confirmed subcontracting agreements with several companies, then returned to the stage, cleared his throat, and said:

"However, as you all know, this project involves a huge sum of money, and we don't know when the City Hall's initial payment will arrive. Therefore, for the subcontracted work, we need you to advance the funds for the time being."

The group exchanged glances and unanimously indicated that they could accept it.

While no company wants to advance funds, it's not uncommon. Moreover, the Gas Streetlight project is so large that missing out on it due to reluctance to make advance payments would result in significant losses.

In the following week, Lightning Coal Industry signed numerous subcontracting agreements with the United Kingdom companies, covering everything from road excavation to coal storage construction, from manufacturing dry distillation still shells to street light covers.

At this point, if a company were to look through the contracts in Styler's Safe, they would find that more than half of the work on the Gas Streetlight project had been subcontracted, but all the connections between the various stages remained in the hands of Lightning Coal Industry.

Joseph's goal was not only to stall the London Gas Streetlight Project, but also to stall the United Kingdom companies capable of doing it, lest the London City Hall realize something was wrong and painfully cut ties, then invest in setting up a new project.

India.

Mysore.

Inside the Seringapatam Palace, Tipu Sultan coldly observed Sir Xili, the United Kingdom negotiator, before suddenly glancing at the vizier of Hyderabad and saying:

"We can relinquish Vijayanagara, but he must submit to Hyderabad."

Vijayanagara is the northernmost city of Mysore. It was occupied by the English Army six months ago and is definitely not going to be taken back. However, as instructed by the Marquis de Lafayette, he should try his best to use it to win over Maratha and Hyderabad, the two United Kingdom vassals.