Chapter 607 Thunder, exploded
For the French Trade Minister, what he saw was that exports continued to surge at a rate of more than 10% per month.
Those French factories affected by the previous order scam have basically suffered no losses after receiving subsidies and selling most of their inventory.
But the extra workers they hired and the machines they purchased in order to complete the order were still a headache.
With the recent rise of smuggling trade with Britain and Portugal, most factories have put their vacant production capacity into operation, and there is even a slight shortage of supply.
At the same time, as the number of goods shipped to the Southern Netherlands continues to increase, the construction speed of Wallonia has also increased several times compared with before - wherever money flows, it will naturally be richer.
For the convenience of freight, the smugglers even raised their own funds to extend the wooden track originally planned by Joseph from Hennegau to Ostend, all the way to Luxembourg, and finally to Verdun and France. Wooden track connection.
Ostend went from being a small seaport that no one cared about to becoming extremely prosperous in a few months.
A large number of residents of northern France, the French-speaking population of the Southern Netherlands, and even a large number of Italians gathered here to earn high salaries in the "special trade".
Even because there were too many sailors looking for work, the salary was reduced from 100 francs to 80 francs per month. But even so, this is an extremely attractive high salary.
And these people always need food, clothing, housing and transportation, and their salaries must have somewhere to spend their money. As a result, more masons, carpenters, shoemakers and even "women who lost their feet" followed.
A large number of houses, shops, and entertainment venues have popped up around the port like mushrooms after the rain.
The population in Ostend has rapidly increased from more than 4,000 to more than 50,000, and it is still rising.
The Austrian government originally had little control over the Southern Netherlands, and the tens of thousands of French-speaking people ignored Brussels’ decrees. However, the influence of the Walloon Chamber of Commerce has gradually expanded to the Southern Netherlands. Northwestern Lanzhou.
It can be said that if Joseph had not considered irritating Austria, all the areas south of Brussels would have been included in France immediately. This was an unexpected gain that he had never expected before.
Some are happy and some are sad. Just when Ostend's maritime trade is in full swing, London is facing a terrifying "earthquake."
In a cafe in Thames Harbor, Mesmer, dressed as a scholar, looked reluctantly at the distant London city and sighed with regret:
"I'm sure that Sir Enfijip has become very interested in the prospect I described. In three days, at most, he will invest 50,000 pounds in corporate bonds."
He looked at Carlo who was sipping coffee. Na:
“But you didn’t give me these three days.”
Kalona ignored him, and Styler, the general manager of Lightning Company with two mustaches on his side, whispered in a low voice:
"That Baron Mordaunt has been questioned in parliament, and there is really no way to delay it any longer." "
As the London gas street lighting project has been delayed one after another, Councilor Mordaunt, who pushed for this matter, was exploited by his political opponents and suffered a huge loss of face.
So Mordaunt went to the Mayor of London and strictly ordered him to produce results "enough to silence Parliament" before the end of this year.
The latter immediately agreed.
He is very confident because London's gas street lights are 80% complete and only require ventilation testing before they can be put into use.
This ratio has almost covered the whole city. I believe that when London lights up in the night, the gentlemen of the Parliament will definitely smile.
Yes, Lightning Company told Mayor Herbert that the London gas street light project is nearing completion, and the latter has no doubt at all - the streets and alleys of London are now lined with street lights, and the elegant The shape and sturdy bolts are all full of industrial beauty.
However, what Herbert didn’t know was that these street lights were only aesthetically pleasing.
All street lights are manufactured and installed by subcontractors in strict accordance with Lightning Company's drawings. Not only are the pipe joints unable to be sealed, there are no necessary valves, and even the materials of the air ducts are very "fine" and are guaranteed to corrode within a year after being buried.
In this way, even if the British invest a large amount of money and find someone to continue this "unfinished project", they will have to dig out all the pipelines by this time next year. That would cost even more than laying pipes from scratch. Afterwards, Herbert asked the Lightning Company to put the completed street lights into use.
For the sake of Councilor Mordaunt's future, he also directly issued an announcement to hold a grand ceremony to light up London gas street lamps at the end of the year.
Of course, the street lights cannot be lit at all. So after discussing it, Kalona and Styler decided to run away.
Moreover, we have really made enough.
Just a few hours after the ship on which Carlona and others left Thames Harbor, the Mayor of London, Baron Mordaunt and a number of officials appeared at the ceremony.
But when Herbert heard the assistant whisper in his ear, he looked a little sullen. None of Lightning Company's general manager or senior executives were present, and these people could not be found anywhere.
Herbert glanced at the thousands of people and large groups of reporters at the scene, and felt a bad feeling in his heart. But when he caught a glimpse of Lightning Company technicians and company bosses involved in the gas street light project standing not far away, he felt relieved again.
As long as there are technicians around who can light up the street lights, the rest will be settled with Styler later.
The sun began to set, and after the congressmen, mayor and others gave wonderful speeches, the sky just turned dark.
Baron Mordaunt excitedly raised his hand and said:
“Let us use light to dispel the darkness of London!”
Dozens of lamplighters immediately dispersed, each opened the glass lampshade, and put one end of the lamp on the lampshade. The flaming slender rod poked into the streetlight.
Then they all looked surprised and began to check the valves individually, and then lit the lamp again.
The night is still as dark as before.
People who lit the lamp quickly tried other street lamps, but they still couldn't light up.
Full half an hour later, news was sent from all over London, and not a single lamp could be lit.
Herbert glared fiercely at the Lightning Company technician, who explained with a busy face:
"My Lord Mayor, it seems that the gas is not coming through. I have asked someone to check it. "
However, the examination yielded no results. After another hour, Herbert announced with a gloomy face:
"Due to a technical failure, the lighting ceremony was postponed."
In the early morning of the next day, he led a group of officials to the Lightning Company to question the charges.
Style and others still did not show up. A technician reported to the mayor tremblingly:
"I checked the main output pipe, and there is indeed no gas there."
"Then go inspect your distillery!" Styler said angrily.
The technician lowered his head helplessly and said:
"But, Mr. Mayor, only the chief technician can go in there..."
(End of this chapter)