"This gentleman is the founder of the 'Friends of the Negro Society.'" Talleyrand's expression was somewhat helpless. "You can tell by the name what it's for.
"He even traveled to the United States, intending to lead the movement to liberate slaves there. Of course, under the surveillance of the American militia, he returned without success and only wrote a major work titled 'Southern Black People Chronicles.'
"I believe that no one is more suitable than him for the mission in Santo Domingo."
Joseph had breakfast in a relaxed mood and then prepared to set out for Brittany.
Yesterday afternoon he had summoned Brisso. It's fair to say that sending this man to Santo Domingo would greatly increase the chances of success.
As Talleyrand mentioned, he is an extremely fervent abolitionist. After hearing Joseph's plan, he was so moved that he was brought to tears, and he expressed his willingness to personally contribute 30,000 francs to support this noble cause.
You should know, he's unemployed now; that money is pretty much all he had.
He also had a clear thought process and reacted very quickly, even making some additions to Joseph's plan on the spot. It seemed he had pondered similar matters before.
Nevertheless, to be cautious, Joseph still had the intelligence bureau send two people to accompany him to Santo Domingo.
Joseph's convoy had just reached Alansong when the intelligence bureau reported to him that Brisso and his team had already boarded a ship and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean.
As the last remnants of the sunset faded away, several individuals dressed in black uniforms and wearing felt hats raised long wooden poles with flames at the ends, reaching into the glass covers at the top of the street lamps.
In less than ten minutes, the area around London City Hall lit up with bright white lights, illuminating it like a ballroom venue.
The hundreds of onlookers immediately burst into cheers. "Oh, it's almost no different from daytime, it's magical!"
"I really hope the whole of London could have these street lamps."
"It will, it's been published in the newspapers. By the end of this year, the gas street lamp project should be completed."
"God, that's wonderful!"
Subsequently, London Mayor Herbert stepped forward before the crowd under the light of the gas lamps and began a spirited speech.
To his side, however, the manager of the Lightning Company, Styler, frowned and spoke softly to the nobleman beside him. "Honestly, Mr. Pearce, this isn't exactly what the Crown Prince commanded. He asked for us to spend as little money as possible..."
"This is a necessary expenditure." Under the black top hat was the face of Viscount Carolina, currently using the name Pearce. "If you want the donkey to keep moving forward, you need to let it see the carrot."
He pointed at the gas street lamps surrounding the city hall. "And this is that carrot. Besides, weren't these made by subcontracted companies? We didn't spend much."
Styler still expressed discontent. "But we bought the equipment at the other end of the pipe."
"It's just 50,000 francs." Pearce smiled. "It will quickly help us earn back millions of francs."
The London Mayor continued his speech, and the crowd cheered intermittently, but they had no idea that the huge distillation workshop of the Lightning Company, with its dry distillation retorts and other equipment, was just a bunch of empty shells made from sheet metal.
The real supply for these 30 street lamps came from a small cabin on the side of the workshop, where glassware and conduits bought from the University of Paris laboratories were located.
This experimental setup was connected underground to the gas street lamps, and 30 lamps were already at the limit of its gas supply. Moreover, unlike industrial gas production, this experimental setup could only dry distill refined coal, costing ten times more than industrial production.
However, it was enough to deceive the citizens of London.
From the outside, the distillation workshop was brightly lit, and the chimney spewed thick smoke, convincing everyone that it was continuously producing gas.
Styler shrugged. "Actually, this is also good; otherwise, I wouldn't know what excuses to use for delaying the completion."
According to the contract signed initially, the London gas street lamp project was supposed to have been delivered a month ago.
Nevertheless, from Congress to London City Hall, everyone pinched their noses and accepted it; the Lightning Company had been unlucky from the first day of work, and the deadline was extended to this December.
Of course, the Lightning Company would also pay a hefty penalty—as deductions from the final payment after the project ended.
Yet the successful lighting of the first batch of street lamps still attracted great attention in London.
All major newspapers reported it, even specially featuring illuminated illustrations in front of City Hall.
The topics of which street's lamps were fixed first and which came later were hotly discussed in every corner of the city. The citizens cherished these details.
Even London's housing prices began to rise.
In fact, more than half of this was the result of speculations orchestrated by Carolina. Journalists from the newspapers received bribes and just published the "pre-written articles" directly. At balls and salons, there were always people leading the conversation about the gas street lamps.
Just as the hype around the gas street lamps was growing, the Lightning Company suddenly announced that household gas lamps had been developed and, once street gas lamps were operational, citizens could apply to connect gas pipes to their homes.
Jim Hayman returned home, just as he hung his coat on the rack, his esposa came rushingSpain to meet him, shoving a paper into his hands.
"Dear, this is such a great deal, take a look!"
"What is this?" Hayman looked down, realizing it was an advertisement from the Lightning Company, and frowned at his esposa. "Did you buy a newspaper?"
"It was given for free." The mujer boasted. Paper was not cheap in this era, and no one ever gave away flyers. The Lightning Company was setting a precedent.
Hayman examined the flyer, which first introduced the various benefits of gas lamps and mentioned that, once gas was connected to the homes, it could be used for cooking, heating bath water, and warming the house, which was incredibly convenient.
He immediately became interested. "This is so convenient, how much does it cost?"
His esposa quickly flipped the flyer over. "Look, it's here.
"The Lightning Company is saying that there's a promotional event now. Buying a gas lamp will get a free connection to the home gas pipe, and even gas stoves can be used later."
"Buying a gas lamp?" Hayman carefully checked the price list, and his eyelids twitched—a gas lamp was 8 British Pounds!
His monthly salary was only 2 pounds and 5 shillings.
One lamp was enough for the family to save up for three and a half months without eating or drinking.
"That's too expensive!"
His esposa immediately complained loudly. "I heard Mr. Brooke say that installing the gas pipe might cost 10 pounds later. If we miss this chance, we might never get to use gas lamps in our lifetime!"