Chapter 173 Citywide Manhunt

Murdock stared at the dark machine in front of him.

Until Sandel's voice from the side came over the roar of the machine: "The pressure is normal! The throttle valve is normal!"

Murdoch suddenly showed ecstasy, shouted "release the steam", and then hugged the assistants next to him one by one in celebration.

A factory supervisor trotted into the test shed and shouted to Murdoch: "Mr. Murdoch, the Crown Prince is here!"

"Ah? Why didn't you tell me just now?"

"You said that during the test drive, unless God comes, I will never disturb you..."

"Except the Crown Prince and God from now on!"

"Oh well……"

After Murdoch and others saluted, Joseph smiled and asked: "I seemed to hear your cheers just now."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Murdoch pointed to the huge black iron lump in the test shed and said excitedly, "We succeeded! It was completely made by our technicians, with power, coal consumption and Watt Company's products Completely consistent.”

"You are definitely the best steam engine technician in Europe!" Joseph immediately praised, "It only took more than two months to build the world's most cutting-edge steam engine. Congratulations to you and your technicians!"

In fact, this steam engine is just a replica of the British product, and it also uses many parts that are easily available on the market.

However, this was a much higher performance than the best steam engine France had ever built, and it was accomplished by Murdoch and others while they were busy building the factory.

Murdoch and others excitedly started the new steam engine and showed it to Joseph.

Sandel said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, with the successful experience of this steam engine, we can start manufacturing a new high-pressure steam engine."

Murdoch echoed loudly from the side: "Yes! We must overwhelm Watt's products in one fell swoop!"

Joseph thought for a while, but shook his head and said: "The 15-horsepower steam engine can already meet most uses. Our goal should be how to sell more machines. After the product coverage is improved, we will consider technology upgrades."

Murdoch was slightly startled, then smiled and nodded: "Your Highness is right, cost recovery is of course the most important thing."

Joseph shook his head again: "It's not just to make money. The more important thing is to cultivate the market so that people can become familiar with the steam engine as early as possible and be more willing to accept it. High-performance but expensive products will always be chosen by only a small number of users. Only cheap and easy-to-use products will He is the main sales force.”

Murdoch and Sandor both nodded silently after hearing this.

Joseph continued: "Your main goal next is to improve the reliability of the steam engine, and then try to make the steam engine more compact and neat in appearance, making it easier to transport and install.

"In addition, various kits are provided, for example, they can be directly matched with existing waterwheels, automatic textile machines, etc. for modification."

He looked at the black machine not far away and asked, "Mr. Murdoch, how much does this steam engine cost?"

"It cost about 13,800 livres, Your Highness."

Joseph's eyes couldn't help but twitch when he heard this - it was indeed the cutting-edge technology of this era, and it was indeed expensive.

“How low can the cost be reduced after mass production?”

"It's probably around 11,000 livres."

Joseph nodded: "Then the price will be set at 13,000 livres."

"I'm afraid this is too low, Your Highness!" Murdoch immediately objected, "Look, the same type of steam engine from Watt Company can be sold for 17,000 livres."

Joseph smiled: "How many units can he sell every year?"

"Usually 20 to 30 units."

"If we can sell 80 units a year, or even more, what do you think of the selling price?"

Murdoch's eyes widened: "Your Highness, with all due respect, I'm afraid it's unlikely that this sales volume will be achieved..."

Joseph patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "If the wealthy parishes in France are willing to pool their money to buy a steam engine for irrigation, and some for pumping water in the mining area, plus the textile workshop in Lyon to drive the automatic loom , do you think you can sell 80 units?"

Murdoch hesitated and said: "Your Highness, those parishes have never bought a steam engine. As for the textile industry, you know, France has not yet built automatic looms..."

"Don't worry about this. The government will soon issue documents to the provinces to provide low-interest loans to parishes to purchase irrigation equipment. As for the automatic looms, I will have people get British goods and start imitating them immediately.

"If this still fails to achieve sales, we can adopt a leasing method and lend the steam engines to people for use first, and then slowly recover the cost."

Watt's steam engine did not spread on a large scale until the early 19th century, largely because of its promotion by his company.

But Joseph used administrative means as soon as he came up to help the French steam engine company open the market!

When technical capabilities are close, high sales volume will inevitably bring more technical feedback and promote technology iteration.

Government behavior pk company behavior, Joseph believed that it would not take many years before French steam engines would begin to be sold back to Britain.

…

Less than a day after Joseph's convoy left Nancy, he encountered a messenger coming from Paris halfway.

And there were two batches before and after, sent by Fouche and Brian.

The contents of the two letters are basically the same, that is, Necker has run away. Although no official arrest warrant has been issued against him yet - the evidence provided by Carlona is still on the way - the secret police, Paris police, police information Everyone was mobilized everywhere to hunt for Necker.

Joseph frowned immediately. He didn't expect that the arrangement was so strict that he could escape.

He thought for a moment and wrote a letter to Brian, asking him to order the governors of the border provinces to closely monitor exit routes, especially those going to Britain and Prussia.

A few days later, Joseph returned to Paris and saw Fouche already waiting by the roadside.

After Fouche saw the crown prince, he almost lowered his head to the ground and blamed himself desperately.

Joseph interrupted him with a wave of his hand and motioned for him to get in the car: "The tunnel must have been dug before you sent people to sneak into his house. It seems that he was ready to escape at any time, and you can't blame him entirely."

Fouche secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Highness."

Joseph asked again: "Are there any clues to find Necker?"

"Not yet..." Fouche shook his head in frustration and immediately added, "However, I sent people to set up checkpoints on all roads in and out of Paris, and also set up eyeliners in wastelands and bushes. Everyone is watching the farmhouse, and I believe Necker should still be in Paris now."

Joseph frowned and thought: "Or, let the secret police cooperate and search door to door?"

Necker's "worth" is hundreds of millions, which is definitely worth such a big fight.

Fouche remembered something again and said hurriedly: "By the way, Your Highness, in addition to the police intelligence department and the secret police, there is obviously another group of people looking for Necker. There is even news from the underworld that those people are offering a reward of 50,000 miles. Fu, come to inquire about Necker's whereabouts."