Life of Being a Crown Prince in France
Chapter 1128 - 1034: Business Acumen

Chapter 1128: Chapter 1034: Business Acumen

On the day of the government investment fund vote, Sea War Minister Admiral Kevis attended the voting site to observe and even gave a brief speech before the vote, emphasizing the importance of steam engines to the Royal Navy.

Well, he definitely did not accept bribes from the Bolton-Watt Company; he came purely on his own initiative.

It should be known that if the 180-horsepower steam engine is truly developed, it can be used to drive third-class battleships.

That is currently the core power in naval battles.

As long as 20 steam third-class ships can be equipped, plus the light steam warships currently under construction, not to mention the French-Spanish Combined Fleet, even if the world’s navies were combined, they would not be the Royal Navy’s match!

In fact, there was no need for him to support; Sir Malik had already made the arrangements long ago.

Soon, the management committee passed the 800,000 British Pounds investment smoothly with 10 votes in favor and 4 against.

The hall was immediately filled with applause and cheers.

Under this wave of publicity, high-power high-pressure steam engines had long become the focus of public opinion, and the passing of the vote was simply a natural conclusion.

The next day, Frank cooperated with Montes and others to start a dazzling operation.

First, Montes and two other members, along with Sir Malik, had each invested in three inconspicuous small companies half a month prior—one producing metal insulation panels, another producing hoisting equipment, with total stock prices not exceeding two thousand pounds.

After the 800,000 investment was approved, Chat Han Shipyard’s largest secondary supplier, the Seawest Shipyard Company, suddenly selected these three small companies’ products, deciding that the power cabin equipment for over a hundred steam warships following Chat Han would be supplied by them.

As for the operation status of these three small companies, Frank was not at all worried about any issues being discovered.

Seawest Shipyard Company would sell semifinished products to "traders," who would transport them to warehouses set up by the three companies in various locations.

The three companies would then bring these parts back to their London city factories under the guise of raw materials, start labeling them, and after completion, sell them to Seawest as per the order contract at a 17% markup.

This portion of the profit would be paid monthly to major shareholders like Montes and others, and within a year, Frank’s initial promised bribe would be paid off.

Anyone investigating would find the accounts of these three companies clean and clear unless a highly knowledgeable technician worked undercover for several months to possibly uncover discrepancies.

The reason Seawest Shipyard Company was willing to go along was that the Bolton-Watt Company promised them that the power cabin equipment contract from Chat Han Shipyard would undoubtedly be handed to them.

Because Bolton-Watt Company presented a technical report to the shipyard, proving that Seawest’s products were the most compatible with their steam engines, and not using their products would not guarantee the steam engines’ normal operation.

Of course, the markup part was compensated by the Bolton-Watt Company’s premium purchase of Seawest’s products.

Throughout the process, Montes and others only had indirect dealings with Chat Han Shipyard and had no contact with the Bolton-Watt Company, with the entire process being authentic business transactions.

No one investigating could possibly uncover any issues.

This was also the reason Montes and they dared to accept the money.

To put it simply, some companies’ "business acumen" in later generations exceeded the imagination of people from this era.

The most ingenious part was that once Frank’s promised bribe was "settled," these three companies would experience various accidents and successively go bankrupt.

Vanished without a trace, with no evidence left.

Only the British Government Investment Fund’s money was destined to be wasted.

But that was a matter for much later, by which time the Bank of England and a large number of British individuals who purchased the fund would naturally foot the bill.

...

June 11, 1795.

Southeastern North America, Mobile Port.

Father Vigne, with his small missionary group, walked down the gangplank of the "Rock Laurel" passenger ship, setting foot on the land of Spanish Florida.

Accompanying them were five Security Bureau agents and one Spanish official.

This was the entire team Joseph had sent to resolve the "New Orleans Port Crisis."

Their strongest weapon was an authorization document from Charles IV—it allowed the Florida Governor, Count Elcano, to fully cooperate with their actions.

Father Vigne looked at the desolate and simple town in front of him, recalling his mission, and couldn’t help but bow his head and make a cross on his chest, sighing inwardly: May Jesus forgive my lack of piety.

But then he thought of the reward promised by the Crown Prince, a position as Archbishop, and instantly became filled with determination again.

The group, even offering four silver coins, could not hire enough carriages and ultimately found a local guide, walking nearly two hours to finally reach Mobile City Hall.

After explaining their intentions, Mayor Garcia frowned slightly and said in French, "Reverend Father, those Kovita people might be hard to communicate with. The Creek people are more hostile to Americans, but their attitude towards us is not favorable either."

Both the Creek and Kovita are larger Indian tribes north of Florida. They are located in what is later the southern part of Alabama and the southwestern part of Georgia.

Father Vigne only insisted, "You just need to take us there, no need to worry about anything else."

The mayor then prepared enough horses for them and instructed the local sheriff to personally lead his men to escort these distinguished figures to see the Indians.

After three days of galloping between hills and plains, Vigne finally met the Creek Tribe’s chieftain, Chekilie.

From this name, it’s clear that this is an "enlightened" Indian tribe; otherwise, their names would generally be flora, fauna, or the like.

In fact, this Indian tribe had already been built very much like a small European town—with straight, rammed earth streets, flanked by wooden houses, and occasionally horse-drawn carriages passing through.

While the Creek Tribe did have some dealings with the Spaniards, they would sometimes raid each other, so the Indians were extremely vigilant towards the unexpected arrival of white people.

Vigne’s group surrendered their weapons and were then able to speak with Chekilie, even with several flintlock guns pointed at them.

"We come seeking cooperation," Vigne said in Spanish.

The priest behind him, who understood the Creek language, was about to translate when he heard the chieftain say in fluent Spanish, "Save your deceit, and leave our land immediately."

The North American Indians had been deceived by the Americans using various means, suffering greatly, and had now begun to build immunity.

Vigne hurriedly signaled the armed Indians to calm down, then said to Chekilie, "I am a Frenchman. I want to make a deal with you, offering 300 flintlock guns and sufficient ammunition."