Around the tall "Pantheon" is a wide square. Like the road from which we came, the floor of this square is also paved with cement. It is also embedded in the cement with small stones of various colors to form a picture. Most of these drawings are of ancient Greek and Roman themes, such as the captives and the fairies of Linquan, such as the shepherd prince and the three goddesses, such as Minerva and the owl, and Augustus and Cleopatra.

In this square, there are a number of iron shelves, which are covered with a layer of oiled canvas - this is probably the so-called "semi-open" booth. At this time, the exhibition has not officially started, but there are already many people busy here.

Watt looked around again and saw two small houses at the entrance to the square, with signs on them that read the same in French, German, Italian, Russian and English: "Exhibitors' Reception". It's just that one hut is marked "Peace Palace" and the other is marked square.

"Mr. Watt, according to the exhibition instructions, we have to register at the reception over there, and then the relevant staff will lead us to see our booth." William Murdoch pulled out a small notebook, flipped it open and looked at it, and then said to Watt as he put it away.

"Alright, let's go over." Watt said with a wave of his cane.

So several people walked towards the reception of the "Peace Palace" together. As soon as they reached the door of the reception, they were greeted by a waiter.

"Gentlemen, are you here to exhibit?" The waiter said in French with a courteous smile.

"Yes, we have an invitation." William Murdoch greeted him. In this era, French was a very common language, and William Murdoch could too, but his spoken French was not very good and he spoke a little stumbling.

"Sir, what country are you from?" The waiter asked.

"We're from England." William Murdoch said.

"On behalf of France, I would like to welcome you." The waiter immediately changed to English and replied, "Please come with us." ”

A few men followed them into the room. Inside the room was a long table, and a clerk sat in the back. The waiter walked over with Murdoch and said to the clerk, "These are guests from England." ”

Murdoch handed the invitation in his hand to the clerk, who glanced at it, nodded, picked up an official seal next to it, stamped it on the invitation, and then took out a small bag, stood up, held it in both hands, and handed it to Murdoch with a smile.

"Your booth is in position eight. This is the precautions for exhibiting, you can take a look at it first and understand it. The clerk also said in English.

Murdoch took the bag and asked, "Where is our booth, can I go and see it and make some preparations?" ”

"Pierre, who brought you here, will take you there, if there is anything you don't understand, you can ask him directly." The clerk replied.

"Gentlemen, please come with me." The waiter, Pierre, spoke.

"A clerk, or even a waiter, can speak several languages. This is really ......" Watt was a little surprised, so he followed Pierre and asked him, "Young man, have you read a lot?" ”

"Monsieur Watt," Pierre already knew at the time of registration, "I am now studying at the Business School of the University of Paris, and our professor Pénondot said: 'It is not enough to have knowledge in books, you must also participate in more economic activities in society in order to be truly successful.'" So he helped us find things to do here. He said that we can gain a lot of knowledge here, which will be very good for our future development. ”

"So that's the same with the person in charge of registration there just now?" Little Bolton asked.

"Yes, that one of my classmates just now." Pierre replied.

"Good, good." Watt nodded. His own achievements were mainly achieved in various practices, and now that he heard that the professor of the University of Paris attached such importance to the practice in society, he felt that he had gained a soulmate, so he smiled at Pierre and said: "Young man, when will you graduate?" ”

"Probably next summer." Pierre quickly replied.

Watt took out a business card and handed it to him: "If you are interested in our business at that time, you can come to our branch in Paris." Our company has a lot of operations in France today and is in need of people like you. ”

Pierre quickly took the business card with both hands, thanked Watt, and then led Watt and his party to the Pantheon, which was named the "Peace Palace".

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the main venue of this grand event, the 'Peace Palace', and everyone should be able to see that it is modeled after the 'Pantheon', but on a larger scale than the Pantheon. It is called the 'Palais de la Paix' because of the phrase engraved on the lintel of the main entrance," Pierre pointed to the Latin passage on the lintel, but explained in English, "'Free trade is the guarantee of world peace.'" Well, these are the words of the First Consul, Mr. Napoleon Bonaparte. ”

"Very good." Watt nodded, "I like that. ”

"Monsieur Watt," said Pierre, "and so are we, and there is no one who does not like 'free trade' if he is interested in trade. ”

While talking and laughing, Pierre walked into the "Peace Palace" with a few people. Just like the Pantheon, there is not a single pillar inside the huge hall. It's just that this hall is even bigger than the hall of the Pantheon.

Watt himself is an engineer, and although he is not a construction engineer, he knows how difficult it is to maintain such a large dome without installing a single column.

Like the Pantheon, there is a large hole in the center of the dome for lighting, but this hole is larger and glassed. Because of the existence of this skylight, coupled with the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows around the exhibition hall, the light conditions in the exhibition hall are quite good, even brighter than most houses.

Watt looked up, observing the dome and the structures that supported it, and mentally calculating its weight.

Generally speaking, there are many architectural precedents for making an oversized dome without letting it collapse, such as the Gothic church, which is a good example in this regard. These buildings often have a structure similar to an arch bridge, transferring the weight of the vault to the load-bearing wall next to it. However, the load-bearing walls of this structure are subject to a lot of stress. Therefore, this type of building tends to have a support structure perpendicular to the main wall on the exterior wall. But when they first came in, they didn't see such a structure.

Of course, the dome of the Pantheon did not use this pattern, and the dome was made directly from pozzolana cement. But this dome is much bigger than the one in the Pantheon, how do they support it? Could it be......

As if sensing Watt's doubts, Pierre added: "Monsieur Watt, you must have noticed this hall. The hall is 60 meters in diameter, much larger than the famous Pantheon. But in this hall, like the hall of the Pantheon, there is not even a single pillar. This is due to the fact that the entire dome is constructed with one of the latest construction techniques, reinforced concrete. The entire dome is made of high-quality steel welded into a single piece, and then poured with cement. Both the steel frame and the poured cement are thinner and thinner the closer to the middle, because the steel provides much higher strength than other materials, so the whole dome is much lighter than other similar buildings. ”

Pierre's explanation confirmed Watt's suspicion that the dome was indeed supported by steel.

"Not only the dome, but also the walls and the large pillars on the outside, are actually made of steel reinforced concrete. Although the 'Peace Palace' is built in the Romanesque style, its core is the most advanced modern technology. Pierre introduced in a proud tone.

"How much good steel does this consume? Wouldn't it be good to sell me this steel and make it into an advanced steam engine? Watt couldn't help but think, "But it seems that the French produce a lot of steel." ”

"Where's our booth, boy?" Although Bolton Jr. is a little Bolton, he is already fifty years old, and he has been a father to Pierre a lot. So he could just as well call Pierre "the lad".

"Ah, please come with me." In the hall, small spaces are divided by wooden boards. The middle ones have the most space and the best lighting. Watt, on the other hand, is a little bit off the beaten track of their number eight, but it's also in a very conspicuous place.

"Here it is, Mr. Watt, Mr. Bolton." Pierre brought them to the appropriate position, "This space belongs to your company during the exhibition." Your company may furnish it as it pleases, provided that it does not violate the rules of the Exhibitor Rules. The relevant regulations are in the document that was just given to you. Do you need me to introduce you gentlemen? ”

"No, no." Little Bolton shook his head, "We already have a copy of this document at your embassy in our country. In addition, in the newspaper "London Businessman", there is also an authoritative explanation of the document. We all know it well. ”

After he said this, he raised his head and looked around, and then asked, "May I ask, which manufacturers are in the middle of the position?" ”

"The middle ones are all owned by several enterprises of the military-industrial complex, such as Lorraine Steel, Bastion Cement, and the Bonaparte Arsenal." Pierre replied.

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