Chapter 698: 607 Retribution is Unsatisfactory

Chapter 698: Chapter 607 Retribution is Unsatisfactory

After confirming that the top brass of the Lightning Company had all “disappeared,” the London Mayor ordered people to forcibly open the distillation workshop’s doors.

The place was brightly lit but devoid of any human shadow, leaving only the retorts and other equipment with their metallic sheen lying there.

“Get them to start up!” Herbert turned his head and bellowed at the technicians.

The technicians looked at each other but indicated they had no idea how to operate the contraption.

By noon, two scholars from the Royal Society of the United Kingdom arrived at the Lightning Company.

After repeated verification and attempted operation, the older of the two said to Herbert, “I’m afraid, Mr. Mayor, that this thing appears to be nothing more than an empty iron can.”

“It can’t even burn for an extended period,” the other scholar pointed at the furnace, “There’s only enough room inside for less than 50 pounds of coal, absolutely not enough to distill gas for the whole of London…”

Herbert, not giving up hope, had the scholars turn the Lightning Company upside down. Finally, it was confirmed that only the set of equipment in the basement could produce a small amount of gas—this was a mere “facade project” meant to maintain a few dozen street lamps around London City Hall.

Besides that, not even half a liter of gas could be produced.

Herbert stood stunned for several minutes before he finally realized that he had encountered a colossal scam.

No, it was not just him— all of London, even the entirety of England had been fooled!

That very night, the matter was reported directly to William Pitt Junior.

The young Prime Minister stared at the Duke of Portland, the Minister of the Interior, and furrowed his brow, “So, you’re saying that this Lightning Company also issued several hundred thousand British Pounds in bonds through the bank?”

The latter nodded, “Commerce Credit Bank, opened by the Godemid family. I’ve already sent someone to verify the total amount of the bonds, which is estimated to be at least 700,000 Pounds.”

Pitt felt a sudden dizziness.

700,000 Pounds—a number no doubt capable of creating an uproar in London. Keep in mind that the gas street lighting project’s funding was only 300,000 Pounds.

He hurriedly said, “What’s the relationship between Commerce Credit Bank and the Lightning Company? Freeze all their accounts immediately!”

“Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, I have done so,” replied the Duke of Portland, “The bank’s account only contains a little over 20,000 Pounds, other assets are still being tallied. As for their relationship, it now seems likely that they were accomplices.”

The funds British people used to buy the Lightning Company’s bonds had long been transferred; those 20,000 Pounds were merely the bank’s own deposits.

Pitt slammed his fist onto the table and asked subconsciously, “Is it too late to contain the news?”

“That might be difficult,” the Duke hesitated. “After all, too many are involved, and the street lamps on London’s streets haven’t been lit at all.”

Pitt inhaled deeply and commanded, “You go to the bank and Lightning Company immediately, try to find as many assets as you can to mitigate the impact of the event.

“Moreover, have Modant resign from his position as a member of parliament at once. As for Herbert… being the directly responsible party, we can only use him to quell the public’s anger.”

It was only at this point that he still treated the matter as an ordinary scam, albeit with a very large amount involved; hence, he was still contemplating how to reduce the impact and manage the aftermath.

In reality, compared to the several hundred thousand in company bonds, it was the subcontractors involved in the London gas street lighting project that were the most explosive bomb.

After the Duke of Portland had left, Pitt called in someone from London Lloyds, the strongest private intelligence agency in England, entrusting them with investigating the gas street lighting case.

Bad news always travels fastest.

By noon the next day, almost every Londoner knew that the gas street lighting was a mere hoax.

Atop the church bell tower, Sir Elvis stared vacantly into the distance.

He had put his entire fortune into Lightning Company’s bonds, and just yesterday, he was boasting about his investment talents, certain of a future soaring high, only to become a laughing stock today.

He was also reminded of his ingratiating behavior towards Baron Watson, even going so far as offering his sister to the man’s bed to facilitate that fellow swindling his money…

“You’re the biggest fool in the world!” he yelled at himself, “A fool doesn’t deserve to live!”

Having said that, he leaped from the bell tower.

Reality might seem harsh, but it is also fair. If Joseph hadn’t discovered the order fraud in time and managed to recover some of the losses, France would have no idea how many bankrupted factory owners would have opted for “the final leap” like Watson.

He who kills shall be killed in return. England should have known to expect ferocious retribution the moment it decided to target France’s industrial system.

In the following days, the situation in London continued to spiral downward.

First, dozens of subcontractors involved in the gas streetlight project demanded payments for their work from London City Hall, which naturally out and out refused them.

These subcontractors had signed contracts with the Lightning Company, and there was no way the London City Government would acknowledge those debts. Moreover, London City Government simply didn’t have that much money.

So it began with some subcontractors declaring bankruptcy.

After all, this involved a project worth hundreds of thousands of Pounds, and for the part of the work previously completed, like manufacturing lamps and laying pipelines, these companies had footed the bill, one larger than the previous, without receiving a penny in return.

The massive losses left them with no choice but to go bankrupt.

A bankruptcy crisis soon emerged, and within less than a month, nearly twenty subcontractors went under one after another.

Then the shockwave of the bankruptcies began to spread downstream.

Suppliers who had sold materials and equipment to the failed companies, unable to recover substantial debts, also started going bankrupt.

This was followed by mass unemployment among the workers hired by these companies, who swiftly converged in front of London City Hall to join the protest ranks of the subcontractors.

The City Hall’s windows were all smashed, and its external walls were splattered with filth, as officials were too frightened to come to work.

Finally, Mayor Herbert saw protesters setting fires outside City Hall and could no longer restrain himself, ordering the police to disperse the crowd.

Clashes between the two sides were inevitable, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of demonstrators and dozens of police officers injured that day.

And the more severe problems were just beginning to surface.

It all started when London City Hall needed to repair a problematic sewage pipe in a particular area and discovered it was impossible to find a contractor for the job.

An investigation ordered by Herbert revealed that almost all the companies involved in pipeline installation in London had gone under—back then, the gas streetlight project was too enticing, every somewhat capable company tried to get a piece of the action, and then they all met their demise in it.

In fact, it wasn’t just the pipeline installation industry; companies involved in pipeline casting, valve manufacturing, gas lamp producing, distillation equipment processing, and related industries were all wiped out.

One could say that the foundation of England’s gas street light industry had been thoroughly shattered…