Make France Great Again-Chapter 883 - 874: Candidates

Bashirio took the telegram, swiftly glanced through its content, then looked up at Jerome Bonaparte.

"You don’t need me to teach you what to do next, do you?" Jerome Bonaparte said calmly, his tone even.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!" Bashirio promptly assured Jerome Bonaparte, "I will find suitable personnel for them as soon as possible!"

"Hmm!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded slightly, his tone normal as he said, "I’ll leave this matter to you!"

As soon as Jerome Bonaparte finished speaking, Bashirio took his leave from Jerome Bonaparte.

After Bashirio left, Jerome Bonaparte quickly opened the lower drawer of his desk, took out an unassuming notebook from the bottom of the drawer, and opened it, murmuring to himself, "I remember I noted it down back then!"

After flipping through a few times, Jerome Bonaparte finally found the page he was looking for.

The page was filled with densely packed simplified Chinese characters, which even the current Qingguo scholars could only partially guess and understand.

"Gabon! Gabon!" Jerome Bonaparte’s finger kept sliding over the page, and he quickly found what he needed, exclaiming excitedly, "That’s it!"

The line Jerome Bonaparte pointed at read: "Gabon, rich in petroleum, timber, and manganese resources, as well as iron ore, gold, and other scarce resources."

"I wasn’t mistaken after all!" Jerome Bonaparte muttered to himself while closing the notebook and placing it back into the bottom drawer.

If Jerome Bonaparte guessed correctly, the open-pit mine Jerome Patterson spoke of was likely a manganese mine.

There’s no need to send specialized personnel to gold mines; the colonists can easily assess the gold content.

If confirmed to be a manganese mine, the price of France’s steel will drop another notch from its original level.

Moreover, those manganese resources can not only satisfy domestic production needs but also earn France some foreign exchange.

As for the current Europe, which country isn’t using the "Bonaparte Converter" Jerome Bonaparte "personally" designed for steelmaking?

Manganese iron desulfurization is essential for them, so they must purchase a large amount of manganese ore from France.

Of course, Jerome Bonaparte’s actions will also lead to a problem.

That is, European countries, especially the Kingdom of Britain, will focus their attention on Central Africa earlier than history records.

Those countries that originally held certain advantages in Central Africa (such as the Kingdom of Portugal) will feel threatened by Britain’s entry, prompting them to accelerate their expansion.

In short, Central Africa will become the focus of contention among nations in the near future.

However, considering the harsh environmental conditions in Central Africa and the Kingdom of Britain’s imminent need to suppress India in the next year or two, they are unlikely to make a move on Central Africa within that time frame.

This means that France’s short-term competitor remains only the Kingdom of Portugal.

Thinking about the difficult situation the Kingdom of Britain might face in the next year or two, Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but smile. He shook his head and murmured, "I really hope the Kaijia Dynasty can hold on for a while! If they can hold out until the great uprising in India, then the Kingdom of Britain will truly be in crisis."

He paused, sighed, and said, "Alas! This is just my wishful thinking!"

With that, Jerome Bonaparte lowered his head and resumed his work.

Meanwhile, Bashirio, entrusted with an important task by Jerome Bonaparte, did not disappoint and personally went to École Polytechnique to invite the geology professors, promising that if they were willing to go to Libreville, they would receive treatment no less than that of the school.

At the same time, the Paris Northern Industrial Group would also reward them with a sum of money.

Although Bashirio had resigned from the position of general manager at the Northern Industrial Group, his influence within the Northern Industrial Group hadn’t diminished.

Many people were still willing to obey Bashirio’s orders and report their work to him.

The reason being, Bashirio was transferred from the Northern Industrial Group to the Tuileries Palace, which was considered a promotion.

Since Bashirio was promoted, there was no reason for his loyal followers to betray him.

After all, although Bashirio wasn’t in the same system as them, he interacted more with the Emperor, and the Paris Northern Industrial Group was a private property of Jerome Bonaparte.

Therefore, Bashirio could still exert some influence over the Northern Industrial Group.

However, Bashirio wouldn’t use this influence openly.

Ultimately, Paris Northern Industry belongs to the Emperor and the House of Bonaparte, and Bashirio was only managing it on behalf of the previous general manager. Now, as the chief steward, he had even less reason to manage it.

If Bashirio interfered excessively with the personnel of the Northern Industrial Group, he risked being criticized by the Emperor.

By then, it won’t just be the Northern Industrial Group, even his position as Chief Steward of the Tuileries Palace may not be secure.

Bashirio had never forgotten that the titular Chief Steward of the Tuileries Palace was Vilnius; he was merely "assisting" Vilnius in managing the palace.

If there came a day when Vilnius, as the Royal Palace Chief Steward, no longer needed assistance, Bashirio’s role as "supervisor" would be at an end.

As for Bashirio’s statement about rewarding the geology professor on behalf of the Northern Industrial Group, he actually had no such authority.

But he was confident he could persuade the Northern Industrial Group to provide the money.

After listening to Bashirio’s promise, the geology professor was equally tempted.

Although educating students was his dream, if sufficient money were offered, that dream could be temporarily set aside.

"Professor, what do you think?" Bashirio asked the geology professor with a smile, his tone gentle.

"I..." The geology professor hesitated for a long time, unable to make a decision.

At that moment, a voice came from the doorway of the geology professor’s office, "The professor cannot go with you!"

The geology professor and Bashirio turned to look at the door, finding the department head of the École Polytechnique standing there.

"Hello!" Bashirio said courteously to the department head.

Bashirio maintained enough respect for everyone of culture and social standing.

"Chief Steward Bashirio, Professor Shire cannot leave with you!" The department head said to Bashirio upon entering the room.

"Why?" Bashirio questioned.

"Because Professor Shire is the most capable professor in our entire geology department! His departure would cause a significant loss to the entire department!" The department head responded earnestly to Bashirio.

"If I didn’t admire Professor Shire’s abilities, I wouldn’t have come here personally to invite him!" Bashirio replied to the department head, still smiling.

"Your Excellency, Chief Steward, may I ask what you are inviting Professor Shire to do?" The department head inquired of Bashirio again.

Bashirio hesitated for a moment before answering honestly, "We discovered a mine in the colony, so we want to invite Professor Shire to conduct guidance."

After hearing this, the department head responded sincerely to Bashirio, "Your Excellency, Chief Steward, forgive my bluntness! There’s no need for Professor Shire to intervene; any teacher, or even a geology graduate, could handle this task!"

"Really?" Bashirio looked suspiciously at the department head.

"Of course!" Seeing a chance, the department head quickly said to Bashirio, "Every graduate from our school is an outstanding talent!

Their understanding of minerals is no less than that of our teachers, and our teachers are also exceptional talents.

Mr. Bashirio, you absolutely do not need to have Professor Shire go.

If Professor Shire went, it would cause a significant loss of students for all of France."

"In that case, never mind then!" Bashirio shrugged, then said to Professor Shire: "I’m sorry for disturbing your time!"

"It’s nothing!" Professor Shire shook his head and replied to Bashirio, "Actually, I should thank you!"

"Thank me?" Bashirio was stunned for a few seconds, then asked, "Why thank me?"

Professor Shire took a deep breath and told Bashirio, "I should thank you for reaffirming my dedication to educating students! Just now, I almost agreed to go with you!"

"It’s not too late to agree now!" Bashirio said to Professor Shire half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Better to forget it!" Professor Shire shook his head and declined, "These old bones of mine are best left to continue working at school! Colonies really aren’t suitable for me!"

"There’s nothing I can do then!" Bashirio replied to Professor Shire.

Subsequently, on the recommendation of the department head, Bashirio "packaged" a geology teacher and several graduate students to take with him.

After a few days, the teacher and the graduate students took a train south to Marseille, where they met the messenger who had been waiting there.

After meeting each other, the messenger asked, "Is everyone here?"

The teacher and the graduates glanced at each other and nodded to the messenger, "Everyone’s here!"

"Good! Let’s set sail now!"