The Shadow of Great Britain

Because of this, the Troughton & Simms Company became the instrument supplier for the Royal Society. Moreover, they also provided several renowned astronomical telescopes for the Royal Greenwich Observatory, including the first equatorial telescope in history.

As for the Peter Dolonde Optical Instruments Company, this old establishment founded in the 18th century is currently the leader among global optical instrument manufacturers. Their sextants and other nautical instruments are highly trusted by the Royal Navy, and many prominent British astronomers are loyal supporters of their company.

The British astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Uranus, and his son John Herschel particularly favored the products of the Dolonde Company.

Additionally, the legendary cartographer Eld Carter, known for his rigor and seldom praise, once praised the instruments of this company.

According to Mr. Carter, the improved sextants from Dolonde Company are a hundred times better than traditional sextants in latitude positioning.

Though Krupp did not want to admit it, as a small steel mill in Prussia, he certainly knew that he could not compare with these two British giants in scientific instrument manufacturing.

The office administrator, seeing him remain silent, snorted again: "Perhaps such standards are too high, but if you can produce the quality like Lerebours & Secretan Company, I think Mr. Gauss and the others might not be too concerned."

Arthur couldn't help but laugh: "Carl, you're being too sarcastic. The products of Lerebours & Secretan Company are not inferior to those of the former two companies, their status in the French instrument manufacturing industry is just as significant. When I previously visited the Paris Academy of Sciences, half of the precision instruments there were manufactured by them."

If I remember correctly, there should be a refraction telescope produced by them in the school observatory. And that spectrometer in the optical laboratory, it seems to be from their company too, right? I heard Mr. Gauss saying that those two are old antiques bought during the Napoleonic Wars?"

The office administrator pursed his lips: "Sir, your memory serves you well. But now isn't the time for a history lesson. You don't understand, if I don't speak decisively, this guy won't give up. These salespeople always do this: before placing an order, they can boast about the product sky-high, but once the goods arrive, they vanish without a trace."

Krupp's face was flushed and his neck stiffened as he heard this.

He had long known that getting an order from Göttingen University was by no means easy, after all, it's one of the top universities in Germany, and their procurement orders are the choice meat that major European instrument manufacturers have their eyes on.

Anyone who could secure Göttingen's order would have enough to live off for several years without opening up shop again.

After all, whether it's astronomical telescopes, spectrometers, electrostatic machines, or biological microscopes, none of these instruments come cheap.

If Krupp could secure this order, even just a bite, it would be sufficient to bring his struggling steel plant of 60 people back to life.

In other words, if Krupp wasn't facing a financial crisis, he wouldn't bother coming to Göttingen to try his luck.

Arthur did not know what Krupp was up to, though he didn't mind tossing a few orders to him, the prerequisite was that the other's product quality must meet the standards.

After all, purchasing scientific instruments is unlike the Italian Revolution. Mazzini and Garibaldi could not guess how much funding the British Foreign Office allocated to them, but Gauss and Weber these scientists could instantly tell whether an instrument was workably good.

In terms of instrument procurement, Arthur would rather spend more money to buy a reliable product, he didn't want Gauss and the others to jump ship during his tenure as academic director.

Though young, Krupp inherited the steel plant management at 14, and he's been in the industry for eight years already.

He quickly caught the key information from everyone's words. That annoying administrator old man talking badly about him was not important at all. The real influential person in the school seemed to be the young guy, and according to the old man's words, that young man seemed to be nobility?

Krupp stepped forward, blocking Arthur and the administrator, asking with a smile: "I forgot to ask you just now, who are you?"

Arthur took off his hat and smiled politely: "Arthur Hastings, Göttingen University Supervisor."

"Supervisor?!" Krupp seemed to have grasped the core of the matter in an instant, he quickly took hold of Arthur's extended hand and shook it vigorously: "Pleasure to meet you! I am Alfred Krupp, operator of Friedrich Krupp Company, very glad to know you, Mr. Von Hastings."

"No, no, no." Arthur shook his hand repeatedly, "No Von, just Hastings, I'm not a German."

Krupp's smile was radiant, as if he had guessed something: "Ah! A foreigner! Damn, I should have thought of it earlier! It seems like Hanover, like Prussia, loves to seek talented foreign aristocrats to hold office."

As he finished, Krupp looked behind Arthur at Disraeli: "And this gentleman is?"

Arthur casually introduced: "This is my friend, also a foreigner, Mr. Benjamin Disraeli."

Krupp greeted Disraeli warmly: "Hello! Mr. Di Israel, just hearing your name I can tell you're Italian."