The demonstration of the gas machine was a great success.

With the oxygen decomposed by the heated hydrogen peroxide and the powerful blowing of the steam fan, the gas engine miraculously operates.

Engines that did not rely on coal, were extremely quiet, and were naturally smaller in size than steam engines, were born.

The nobles looked at it with great interest for a long time, and then they were amazed.

And then...... There is no then.

There was no scrambling to hand over business cards, no fierce and crazy competition to hand over job offers, and no one was even more interested in the invention.

The gas machine ran for about a quarter of a quarter of a moment before it began to make a strange "poof" noise. Before Polina could stop the emergency shutdown, the gas machine stopped running on its own with the sound of a metal clashing bell.

Considering that the fuel used by the internal combustion engine was highly flammable, and that there was an ignition source and oxygen at the air intake, Dussart rushed to the fuel tank and screwed the valve with all his strength.

Remove the kettle to prevent the continued production of oxygen, and turn off the gas lamp to prevent the danger of oxygen combustion. From the beginning of the compulsory education stage, Dussand's awareness of safe operation norms that has been repeatedly cultivated by teachers has finally come in handy. There were no fires or other serious accidents at the ball.

The aristocrats politely applauded Polina and watched as the female inventor pulled away her great creation. No one cared what the point of her invention was – a machine that could only run for a few minutes had no practical value.

The ball begins, and as the waltz is played by the orchestra, Polina's dream of becoming a great inventor is shattered. She was alone in the break room, curled up barefoot on the couch, her head buried deep in the crook of her arm.

She had just disassembled the gas engine and carried out a preliminary inspection of the inside of the combustion chamber. There were traces of metal melting and cooling again on both the cylinder and the piston – and the connecting rod connecting the piston to the crankshaft was severely bent and deformed.

With such a big damage, the piston and cylinder must be completely scrapped. And once these two parts are scrapped, the whole machine is considered a pile of waste.

Although aristocrats have always been synonymous with stupidity, no matter how stupid the aristocracy is, it is impossible for them to invest a bunch of waste with the gold list.

It is necessary to find the cause of the damage of the component, improve the design and verify whether the improved design is reasonable...... It takes throwing piles and pounds of gold into the material and mechanical design and calculations before it is possible to smash a result.

And Polina has no money.

All she had now was two sets of clothes, and eight shillings in her purse, and about twelve pence in change. Combined, the money wasn't even enough to pay for her ticket back to Orin at the risk.

Polina was in a state of confusion. She didn't even know what she was going to do next.

The mechanical standing clock in the corner of the wall is "clicking" in a fixed rhythm. When the minute hand points to 0, an enamelled metal bird jumps out from the very top of the clock, opens its pointed beak and spews a burst of water vapor into the ceiling, accompanied by a short whistle.

The second whistle sounded, and Polina, who was curled up on the couch, suddenly heard the door open. Mixed with the sound of music in the ballroom, Dusand and Lorraine walked into the lounge together.

"I've been looking for you in the ballroom for a long time." Seeing Polina in the lounge, Dusand was a little relieved. Just after the presentation, he was forced to stay in the ballroom because he had to do his first dance with Lorraine. When the dance was over, he realized that Polina was gone.

Dussaint was worried. It's not that he thinks his gentle and kind old mother will feel embarrassed and throw Polina and her invention out of the manor in a fit of rage. He was more worried that Polina would completely lose confidence in the internal combustion engine this time.

The first pot of gold in his future life will depend on this beautiful female inventor.

Polina curled up in the couch, very depressed. She just lifted her head and smiled at Dussander that was uglier than crying.

Dussaint was about to say something, when Lorraine, who was on the side, suddenly spoke.

"Lord Dussand, please go out for a moment." Lorraine commanded with the resolute tone and non-negotiable momentum of the future hostess. At the same time, she began to untie the lace scarf around her neck, "Wait a little at the door and you can come in." ”

Dussand's request was a little incomprehensible, but after seeing Lorraine's eyes, he decided to do it first, and then come back in private to ask what was going on.

After watching Dusand leave the room, Lorraine walked to the door to make sure it was closed, and then walked quickly to Polina's side. Then she covered her feet with a lace scarf that she had already held in her hand.

"Although great technicians generally don't care much about appearance, as a woman, you still need to pay more attention to yourself." Lorraine frowned and unceremoniously reprimanded the female inventor, who was at least a dozen years older than herself, "How can you come to a nobleman's ball, how can you wear stockings with holes in your toes?" ”

Polina looked up, tried to cover her feet with the hem of her skirt a little crampedly, and then returned the expensive lace scarf to the pretty little girl in front of her.

"Alright, you just leave it at that." Lorraine's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, and she criticized again, "The dress you wore today is a mid-length style, and it is not suitable for an occasion like a prom at all." And you pulled the hem of your skirt to your feet to expose your chest completely? Put my scarf on your feet and don't move, Lord Dussaint will come in. ”

Polina opened her mouth, then said with a small movement, "Thank you." ”

"I am Lord Dusander's fiancée, and my name is Lorraine." Lorraine turned to her side and sat down on the sofa next to Polina in a very graceful position, "When Lord Dusart is going to have a private conversation with another lady, it is my responsibility as a fiancée to create suitable conditions for the conversation for both parties. ”

Polina opened her mouth slightly in surprise and asked, "Are you engaged to Lord Dussand?" ”

"At today's dance, we did our first dance together." "It's a tradition in Newsall – two years before the engagement is announced, ladies do their first dance with their fiancés at a ball at their future husband's house. ”

Polina nodded slightly, and then showed a look of self-reproach, "I made a show at such an important ball, but it turned out to be a complete failure...... I'm really sorry. ”

"At such an important ball, my fiancé left all his guests behind and came to you to talk to you in detail. I also kicked him out and made some arrangements for this conversation. Lorraine straightened her back a little, smiled, and her eyes were glued to the door of the common room, "It would be a real faux pas if you were still prepared to speak to Lord Dusson with such an inappropriate expression and tone. ”

The oak door was slowly pushed open, and Dussand, half of his face peeking through the crack in the door, asked cautiously, "I...... Can you come in? ”

"Come in." Lorraine said, "Lady Polina was a little tired just now, but now she is much better. ”

Dussaint pushed the door open and sat down. He said to Polina very earnestly, "Your invention is working very successfully. ”

"The piston melted, and the walls of the cylinder were covered with traces of melted metal." Polina sighed, "This machine is completely scrapped - not even a little worth repairing. ”

"But that doesn't mean your invention is worthless." Dussander began his work of encouragement, "The internal combustion engine has many advantages that the steam engine simply cannot match, and your invention is consistent with your manifesto, and it is indeed the greatest invention of our time." ”

Polina smiled a little bitterly, though it was Dusand who was the first to point out that her design was seriously flawed, much to Paulina's displeasure. But now, Dussart is the only person in all of Newsar to praise her invention.

The feeling is mixed.

"Aristocrats tend to be more inclined to fund inventions that already have full prospects." "Your invention is epoch-making, but it's still a newborn – it's newborn, fragile and sick. What's more, newborns are certainly not as powerful as foals of the same age. ”

Seeing that Polina's expression softened, Dusund's continued to persuade, "You chose to come to Newsar, naturally you should have learned about the characteristics of this place, right?" Newsar's coal reserves are not large, but they are difficult to mine. And the quality of the coal itself is not very good. So in our case, the price of coal is very high. Internal combustion engines, which do not use coal as a fuel power source, have the best prospects here. ”

Polina really didn't know that. She's coming to Newsar simply because of that threat...... and tickets as "personal gifts" only.

"I'm very interested in this invention." Seeing that Polina's expression was becoming more and more soothing, Dussander felt that it might be time to make a suggestion. After a few seconds of pause, he leaned forward and said, "I'm willing to pay five hundred gold pounds to buy all the patented technology of your invention." I will set up a company for the development and production of internal combustion engines, and I will give you half of all the proceeds from the sale of internal combustion engines. ”

Dussaint continued, "Until the company is established and production sales begin, you can live on the estate as my personal tutor. You are paid at least one gold pound per week, and you are provided with room and board free of charge. Dusander, staring into Polina's eyes, said, "I can give you the check now, if you agree." ”

Polina didn't say a word for a long time, and Lorraine's eyes widened on the side. She winked at Dusand several times in quick succession, but never got a response.

So, Lorraine coughed lightly and reminded, "Mr. Lord, the five hundred gold pounds are the money that Lady Androni gave you to buy a good horse. By this time next year, the well-trained horses will be coming to Newsar – and if you use the money to cause the deal to go wrong, Lady Andronie will have to pay the dealer another two hundred pounds. ”

Lorraine was reminding Dusand that some money should not be tampered with. Moreover, the expenditure of five hundred gold pounds was not a small amount even for Lady Androni.

"I'm definitely not going to do that for other projects. But if you want to mass-produce such gas engines...... I think the investment of 500 gold pounds should be fully recovered within half a year. Dussaint was so confident in this that he even wanted to pull Lorraine in with him, "Do you want to come along?" I can set aside fifty gold pounds of shares for you. ”

Lorraine glanced at Dussand, ready to reject her fiancé's stupid idea outright. But as soon as the words came to her lips, she suddenly furrowed her eyebrows.

"I've never seen you take making money so seriously." Lorraine asked Dussander again, "Are you sure this thing is going to work?" ”

"A steam horse runs for four quarters of an hour, and it consumes at least two shillings worth of coal." Dussaint nodded and said, "And a can of gas that can keep a gas machine running for four quarters of an hour will cost at most one shilling." Running costs have been cut in half, and the load has been reduced by a lot – just replacing those steam horses is a lot of business! ”

There is also a reason to push the internal combustion engine to quickly replace the steam engine, but Dussander does not directly say it.

Coal prices in Newsar have been slowly rising. Last year, the housekeeper of the estate said that the price of coal in winter had risen to 28 pence a pound.

Such a rapid increase will inevitably make it difficult for more and more households to afford the price of coal. If a large number of steam engines can be replaced by internal combustion engines, then the demand for coal fuel will decrease, and the relative price will naturally fall. Merchants who had hoarded large quantities of coal to make a profit would inevitably throw away all the coal they had as soon as possible in order to reduce their losses.

Once the fall in coal prices becomes a climate, the burden of ordinary people buying coal will definitely be much reduced.

In this way, perhaps more people can afford coal in the winter.

But he really couldn't tell Lorraine directly about this reason.

Lorraine's parents were the largest importer and distributor of coal in the whole of Newsal. One could even say that......

The couple who spread rumors that the two were about to get engaged was one of the main reasons for the rise in the price of coal in Newsal.

Lorraine, who didn't expect this, frowned and pondered for a while, then stretched her brows and said, "That's it......"

"I'm not going to invest directly. But if the product is profitable, then I want 10% profit. ”

"If you don't make a profit, or you can't pay that five hundred gold pounds on time...... Then it is up to me to pay the compensation to the horse merchant to be paid by Madame Androni. ”