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Chapter 1044: Watt's Powder Keg

At the same time, manganese steel should also be useful for manufacturing weapons.

Joseph vaguely remembered that in the future, cannon barrels were often made of manganese steel.

Until the Bessemer converter process was perfected, he could only rely on crucible steel technology combined with reverberatory furnace refining to produce small quantities of alloy steel.

The output would undoubtedly be extremely low, but if it were only used for steam engine piping and cannon barrels, it should be just barely enough.

At most, the cost would be exceptionally high. In the arms industry, one often had to disregard the price.

After instructing Vendel on the alloy steel experiments and repeatedly emphasizing the secrecy requirements, Joseph hurried back to Paris without pause. In ten days, the winners of this year's Supreme Louis Prize would be announced, and he had to be there to present the awards.

Originally, he had wanted his father to handle it, but the King's social anxiety had clearly flared up. The older man insisted that the development of the steam forge was entering a critical phase and he didn't want to be disturbed.

Thus, Joseph had to do it himself.

As Joseph emerged from the ironworks, he saw Le Roy walking quickly toward him, bowing in greeting.

Joseph wasn't surprised. Eman had already reported that the President of the Academy of Sciences had arrived in Namur at noon. Fearing he might interfere with the inspection, Le Roy had been waiting outside.

"You must be here about the Supreme Louis Prize, aren't you?" Joseph nodded to Le Roy and gestured toward the carriage. "Please, get in."

A moment later, the Crown Prince's motorcade headed south.

Inside the carriage, Le Roy handed a list to Joseph. "Your Highness, this is the final list of winners for this year's Supreme Louis Prize as determined by the judging committee."

The President of the Academy explained the choices to the Crown Prince:

"The Chemistry Prize has been awarded to our own chemist, Monsieur Lebon. As you know, he not only successfully isolated kerosene from coal tar but also theoretically clarified the relationship between the two."

"Very reasonable."

Joseph nodded as Le Roy continued:

"The Physiology and Medicine Prize is awarded to our biologist, Monsieur Achard. His paper on the principles of biological inheritance has caused a sensation throughout Europe. Oh, and of course, you are listed as the primary author."

"However, as you instructed, the prize is not to be awarded to you."

Joseph's gaze shifted to the next line on the list:

"Physics Prize: Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (France). Achievement: Determining that the interaction force between two point charges in a vacuum is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance."

Coulomb's torsion balance experiment was famous, opening up a rich field for electrostatics.

Joseph was about to nod when he suddenly remembered the latest progress report on Operation Gunpowder that Lavalette had given him last week.

Operation Gunpowder was the mission where Sandel and Frank had infiltrated the Boulton-Watt Company to provide 'special' guidance.

Currently, Boulton-Watt had secured a massive government investment of 800,000 pounds sterling. After subtracting the funds used for bribery, 710,000 remained.

Under Frank's suggestion, the company had used the money to build five top-tier production workshops and three research laboratories across Britain.

The number of workers employed by the company had increased eightfold, with wages raised by twenty-five percent across the board. Management and technicians saw raises of over fifty percent. Employee dormitories, cafeterias, and even tennis courts had already broken ground.

Simultaneously, the company's planned annual output had increased sixfold. Vast quantities of raw materials were pouring into the warehouses according to this plan.

The guiding principle was: 'Since the money isn't mine anyway, I might as well squander it.'

Combined with a massive advertising budget of 30,000 pounds sterling, everyone in Britain—from nobles to commoners—was buzzing about how the greatest steam engine company in Europe was developing a miraculous product with an output of 180 horsepower. They claimed other nations wouldn't reach that technical level for at least a decade.

Consequently, all of Britain was swept up in a steam engine mania.

According to Joseph's plan, the next step was for the Boulton-Watt Company to have a grand listing on the London Stock Exchange, sucking up the savings of British investors.

Sandel and Frank still held a large number of company shares. Selling them at the peak would result in a massive fortune.

Looking at the list of winners for the Supreme Louis Prize, a slight smile played across Joseph's lips.

Why not add a little more fuel to Boulton-Watt's fire?

He looked at Le Roy. "The Physics Prize needs an adjustment."

The latter asked hurriedly, "What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"Award it to James Watt."

"What?" Le Roy's eyes widened. "You mean that British steam engine technician?"

"Exactly."

Joseph thought to himself that given Watt's contributions, a Supreme Louis Prize was well-deserved. 'Consider it a bit of consolation before his retirement.'

"But..." Le Roy wanted to argue further, but seeing the Crown Prince's certain expression, he quickly nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. I will notify the judging committee immediately."

Joseph took out his notebook and wrote: 'Significantly raise Boulton-Watt's credit rating. Drive up the stock price.'

Two months ago, the Genoa United Credit Rating Company had officially opened for business.

It was most appropriate for them to be the first to raise issues concerning British companies. Then, the French International Standard Statistics and the First Credit Rating Company would play the contrarian, deliberately lowering Boulton-Watt's rating.

After the two sides from Genoa and Paris bickered for a while, the French rating companies would 'bow their heads' and admit Genoa was right, following suit by raising the rating.

The timing would be set exactly three days before the company's listing, ensuring maximum public buzz.

Next, he just needed to find the right moment to ignite this massive pile of gunpowder.

The day of the Supreme Louis Prize ceremony.

In the grand hall of the Tuileries Palace, Le Roy announced with passionate energy:

"Next is the Mathematics Prize, which everyone has been eagerly awaiting!"

"This year's Supreme Louis Prize for Mathematics goes to—Monsieur Caspar Wessel!"

"As everyone knows, he was the first to propose the geometric representation of imaginary numbers, allowing us to see the wonders of complex functions..."

There were actually several candidates for the Mathematics Prize, as this was an era of mathematical explosion.

However, because Denmark had put in considerable effort in promoting the National Maritime Convention earlier, priority was given to Wessel.

After all, an international award like this could never be entirely free of ulterior motives.

When Le Roy finally announced that Britain's Robert Burns had won the Literature Prize for his "Auld Lang Syne," the ceremony concluded.