Orders for weapons, apart from the Polish ones, are not too many, especially for the French army. Although Kano tried very hard to give the order to Joseph and them, but now Kano's status is far less than before, even if it is a matter of the army, he can't have the final say.

However, the original Naval Research Institute, because it was far away from Paris, Joseph started quickly and got it before others, so some of the key technologies of this research institute were not lost. As a result, at least for the time being, in all of Europe, only they can build them.

During this time, the advantages of clippers in smuggling have been fully demonstrated. Since the clippers were put into service, until now, not a single clipper has been caught.

Although the carrying capacity of the clipper ship is not ideal, after calculating the shorter round-trip time due to higher speeds, everyone finally came to the conclusion that the transportation efficiency of this cargo ship is actually a little higher than that of conventional cargo ships of the same size. As a result, more orders for clippers flew to Joseph's hands.

Joseph deeply felt that the production capacity of the shipyard attached to the institute was far from sufficient, so the expansion of the shipyard began to be put on the agenda. It's just that the shipyard is a big project and requires a lot of money. Joseph did not have enough money.

Of course, at least for the time being, the Bonaparte family was in a fairly healthy financial situation, almost all of their businesses were making money, and Joseph was getting more and more money. At that time, most people who were accustomed to slowly building up an industry over several generations seemed to be making money very quickly. But in the opinion of Joseph, who came from later generations, the pace of expansion was unacceptably slow.

"There is a real lack of reliable financial means in this era." Joseph couldn't help but say this to himself. In this era, the funds that banks can provide are quite limited, but the interest rate is surprisingly high, and the annual interest rate of 20% is considered friendship interest. And the general economic growth of this era is only a little more? Even in peacetime, not even one percent is not necessarily the case. Most businesses can't support such interest rates. Even though the profit margin of Joseph's business was very good, but he was accustomed to the interest rate of later generations, and he still felt that he had such a good project in his hands, but he still had to borrow a loan with an interest rate of up to 20%, which was really a loss.

If you don't borrow, you can only attract more investors. But this meant a dispersion of shareholdings, which Joseph could not bear. Therefore, the expansion of production has become a headache.

"It seems that we can only oppress users." That's the only way for Joseph for the time being.

At the beginning, because the performance of the "clipper boat" was not widely known, in order to win over customers, when selling the boat, Joseph adopted the method of installment payment. But now it seems that this method can also be completely changed, well, just change to prepay in full.

Of course, high-quality customers can still get certain discounts, for example, Joseph even plans to set up a "Bonaparte shipping bank" to provide loans for the purchase of ships, and high-quality customers can get a friendly interest rate for the purchase of ships from him.

However, the profits of the clippers will not last long, because the technology of the clippers is basically in the appearance, so it is almost impossible to keep it secret for a long time. Perhaps it will not be long before other countries, especially the British, will be able to master the technology of making clippers.

At the end of December, the clipper Black Pearl completed a full round trip from Marseille to New York in just one month and three days, with an average speed of more than 10 knots at sea. This round-trip speed was more than double that of an ordinary cargo ship, and the ship became a legend at once.

Black Pearl came to France from the United States, and in addition to various goods that France desperately needed, there were also several Americans.

As soon as these Americans arrived in Marseille, they came to the Bonaparte Institute's investment office in Marseille.

The Bonaparte Institute's attraction office was different from the rest of the world, with a large counter in the shape of a curved ruler on the street, on which were placed various short muskets and related accessories, as well as some models of cannons and ships. On the wall behind the counter, there are rifles and bunches of small melons. There are usually one or two pretty female clerks sitting at the counter, as well as two or three big men with three big shapes.

Many times, when a smuggling boat docked, a merchant on the ship came slowly, asked for a few boxes of "small melons" and some other things, laughed with the female clerk by the way, and then simply paid the money neatly, and called a few people to pick it up on the ship.

If it was the big boss who bought the boat, a female clerk would lead them to the upstairs reception room, pour them freshly brewed coffee smuggled from Turkey, and then the manager would come and talk to them slowly.

At this time, these Americans walked into the investment promotion office and came to the front of the large counter.

"I heard that it is possible to order a boat here?" A middle-aged man in his forties and fifties at the head asked in a Bordeaux dialect. He was a little bit of a loser, perhaps because he often ran at sea, so his face was black and red.

As soon as they heard that it was a big customer who was planning to order a boat, the two female clerks stood up.

"Sir, we do take on the business of ordering ships, and we can build all kinds of the fastest ships in the world. If you have such a need, come to us, it is the right thing to do. Sir, please come upstairs with us and have a detailed conversation. ”

Two female clerks led the Frenchmen to the upstairs reception room. One of the clerks poured them coffee, while another brought in the manager of the business, Du Thier.

Du Thier came to the parlor with a young clerk, and he and the young clerk sat down on the couch in front of the Americans: "Hello gentlemen. I am Du Thier, manager of the investment office of the Bonaparte Institute. Is there anything I can do for you? ”

The middle-aged man glanced at the young Du Thier and said, "I'm Stephen Girard, an American trader." We came here from the United States, of course, to buy ships - clippers. I am very interested in this fast merchant ship. If you can meet my request, maybe I will buy seven or eight boats in one go. But I didn't want a clipper the size of today's Black Pearl. A ship of that size is too limited to be used, and in terms of cost of use, it is only suitable for transporting some high-value cargo, and I need a larger clipper, some clippers that can be used to transport general cargo. I wonder how big your clippers can be? ”

"Sir, at the moment, we have made clippers that are a little bigger than the 'Black Pearl'. For example, the 'Flying' class clippers have nearly twice the cargo capacity of the Black Pearl. Don't know if it fits your needs. Du Thier asked.

"Only twice as big as the Black Pearl?" Stephen Girard shook his head, "It's still too small. Isn't there a bigger one? Or can't you build a bigger clipper than this? ”

"I'm sorry, I don't know, but I think it'......" Du Thier was about to try to convince the Americans, but he didn't want the young clerk next to him to suddenly interject: "It is not a problem that we can build a bigger clipper, even the size of a battleship." ”

Stephen Girard glanced at the clerk with interest, and he noticed that when the clerk interjected, Du Thier, as the manager, did not react at all.

"Generally speaking, managers don't like a paperwork that interjects in a negotiation. But the clerk interjected at will, and the manager didn't react at all. It seems that the identity of this young clerk is not simple. ”

"Sir, you say that clippers can be built very large?" Stephen Girard asked.

"Theoretically, nothing is wrong, at least that's what my brother said. Of course, he had never built such a large clipper, and there may have been something to study in terms of technical details. The big problem should not be, though. Well, Joseph said that the main problem is that money is needed. The young clerk replied.

"Ah, I may venture to ask, who is your brother?" Stephen Girard asked.

"Oh, my brother is Joseph Bonaparte, owner and controller of the Bonaparte Institute, the speeder of light, the inventor of the clipper and the little melon. I am his brother Lucien. It's a pleasure to see you all here. ”

During this time, Lucien was assigned some social practice tasks by Joseph, one of which was the Provincial Investment Promotion Office, where he worked as a clerk for the manager to increase his social experience. So he happened to meet Stephen Girard and his party, who wanted to buy a large clipper.

"It turned out to be Monsieur Bonaparte." Stephen Girard hurriedly saluted, "When I was in the United States, I heard all kinds of stories about your brother. Can you introduce me to me? I want you to talk to your brother about building a large clipper. ”

Lucien thought for a moment, and he thought that there should be nothing wrong with this, and it was not a secret that the clippers could make them bigger. And if this Yankee can really buy seven or eight boats in one go, then he can be regarded as helping Joseph make a lot of money.

"Well, Joseph should thank me for that." Thinking so, Lucien replied, "Of course, but you may not know what he's been doing lately, and I don't know when I'll see him when he's been spending all day in the lab." Maybe you'll need to wait here for a day or two. ”

"Thank you, I think Black Pearl has saved me a lot of time. And we're going to buy something else. Waiting a day or two is not a problem for us. ”