Of course, not only was William Mauser surprised, but everyone present was amazed at the generous reward given to William Mauser, and some even envied him for being appreciated by Jerome Bonaparte.

However, what Jerome Bonaparte said next was enough to drive everyone present into a frenzy.

"Moreover, I can assure you! If any one of you develops a weapon that satisfies me, the Northern Industrial Company will personally invest to help you establish your own company! You will hold decision-making power in this company by means of technical equity, and the Northern Industrial Corporation will not interfere unless your company faces the risk of bankruptcy, at which point the corporation will step in to help you overcome difficulties!" Jerome Bonaparte said in a calm tone, as if he were mentioning a trivial matter.

In Jerome Bonaparte's view, those who possess a technology ought to receive the treatment they truly deserve, and the best treatment the Northern Industrial Company could offer them was to help them establish a company of their own.

The role played by the Northern Industrial Company was akin to that of an angel investor in later times.

However, what seemed a justified means to Jerome Bonaparte was a blessing to everyone present.

In the era when savage free capitalism was still on the rise, patents and technology owned by individuals without capital were merely a one-time deal, as capital could not afford opportunities for individuals to gain long-term profits.

If anyone tried to use their patents to negotiate with investors, the result would be a lawsuit dragging the investors to court, with investors hiring the most professional legal teams to confront you in court while unabashedly infringing on your patents.

An ordinary person without power simply could not contend with investors, eventually having no choice but to accept a settlement.

The future famous "King of Inventions" Edison exploited the backing of JPMorgan Chase to relentlessly squeeze his employees, gaining scientists' patents in the lab with minimal wages.

Finally, Edison met his match in the AC vs. DC debate with an unyielding opponent, Tesla. The result was that Westinghouse Electric triumphed over General Electric, and Mr. Edison was subsequently ousted from General Electric's decision-making because he refused to heed Morgan's arrangements, starting from then on, he was swept out the door.

However, even victorious Tesla didn't earn a fortune from that technology, as his patents were generously given to society, or more accurately, to General Electric, which had transitioned to alternating current.

In this era, to rise as an ordinary person, luck and opportunity are indispensable.

The people in the research laboratory were evidently much more fortunate than the vast majority of entrepreneurs because they could present a satisfactory result to Jerome Bonaparte and, naturally, receive investment by becoming technical shareholders.

Therefore, after Jerome Bonaparte's announcement, all the researchers present could no longer remain calm, eager to develop a new rifle and gain investment, thus reaching the pinnacle of their careers.

"Alright! That's all I have to say! Does anyone have anything to add? Or perhaps someone has a different idea from William Mauser that they wish to express?" Jerome Bonaparte handed the draft papers back to William Mauser and asked.

The surrounding researchers remained silent for a while until Alfonso Chasiepo quietly raised his hand.

"Alright, Mr. Chasiepo, what would you like to add?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Alfonso Chasiepo with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I too believe that the Dreiser Rifle itself does not have any major problems, especially its bolt-action design, which we should certainly retain when designing a new rifle..." Alfonso Chasiepo explained the bolt-action advantages of the Dreiser Rifle to Jerome Bonaparte.

For the firing mechanism, Alfonso Chasiepo believed that the striking mechanism should be changed to a firing pin, and the primer of the Dreiser bullet should be placed behind the propellant, igniting the propellant when struck by the pin, thereby firing the ammunition. (William Mauser also agreed and modified the drawings!)

To reduce gas leakage, Alfonso Chasiepo also suggested trying a rubber ring for sealing while using a metal cartridge (an idea he considered worth trying after hearing William Mauser's thoughts), which would more effectively solve the leakage problem. (This method seemed somewhat superfluous in Jerome Bonaparte's eyes, but he did not oppose Alfonso Chasiepo because of it.)

After listening to Alfonso Chasiepo's explanation, Jerome Bonaparte nodded in satisfaction. He glanced at both Alfonso Chasiepo and William Mauser, saying, "Wonderful! Mr. Chasiepo, if your design concept is combined with William Mauser's, I believe the result will be even better!"

Having said that, Jerome Bonaparte immediately awarded Alfonso Chasiepo five thousand francs as encouragement.

Alfonso Chasiepo immediately expressed his heartfelt thanks to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Is there anyone else?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired of the surrounding engineers once more.

"Your... Majesty, may I..." Just as Jerome Bonaparte inquired if there were any others, William Mauser timidly responded.

Having just been "instructed," Anderson Mauser no longer chose to intervene.

"Of course, you may!" Jerome Bonaparte immediately replied, "I believe that age has never been the standard for measuring a person's ability. Geniuses do exist in this world, and I believe that genius is among you!"

"Your Majesty, you just talked with my brother about the issue of shell extraction! I was wondering if we could preset a hook-like device that locks after the bullet is pushed in..." William Mauser shared his sudden idea with Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte thought for a moment, shrugged, and said, "If you can create the thing you mentioned, I will give you a corresponding reward! Unfortunately, you haven't made it yet!"

"I see!" William Mauser was a bit disappointed, feeling that his idea was not being taken seriously by the Emperor.

"However, I can advance you 1000 francs! As long as you can create the mechanism you spoke of, I will give you the remaining 4000 francs!" Based on trust in the historical William Mauser, and his own sharp intuition, Jerome Bonaparte decided to reward William Mauser in advance!

As expected, after hearing about the reward from Jerome Bonaparte, William Mauser regained his spirits and promised Jerome Bonaparte that he would make something that would satisfy him.

Subsequently, encouraged researchers successively shared their immature rifle design ideas with Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte evaluated their design ideas one by one. Of course, there were inevitably some "heretics" who hoped to change their thinking and design lever-action (typical lever-action rifle is the Hall rifle) rifles.

As for these "heretics," Jerome Bonaparte did not give any criticism nor encouragement. He only responded with a simple "hmm."

Somewhat smarter individuals all understood that Jerome Bonaparte was not fond of lever-action rifles, so this group gave up their thoughts on lever-action rifles.

After most researchers reported their ideas to Jerome Bonaparte, he once again inquired if anyone present was interested in creating a rapid-fire weapon powered by a hand crank, with multi-barrels, and mechanically completed automatic loading that could shoot hundreds of bullets in a second.

"Your Majesty, firing so many bullets in such a short time could easily cause logistical issues!" Anderson Mauser quietly reminded, limited by historical context.

"Rather than have my soldiers fight the enemy with bayonets, I prefer to eliminate the enemy in the fastest time possible!" Jerome Bonaparte decisively said, then added, "I also hope you aim for multi-shot designs when designing rifles!"

Historically, the foolish French Army's high command used the equally foolish Lebel rifle, inflicting extremely severe damage on the French military. Jerome Bonaparte did not want his army to "repeat the same mistakes."

Even though Jerome Bonaparte was not sure if he would still be around by then, he had to reverse the damn heretical thoughts of the French Army.

All fear of the unknown stems from a lack of firepower!

As long as Jerome Bonaparte had enough semi-automatic rifles and Gatling machine guns, matched with steel breech-loading cannons and a million-strong army, even if a fool were in his position—as long as this fool did not interfere recklessly like a pig mounted on the Emperor—could win a war.

In the context of total war, as long as their strength had not plummeted to the bottom like in WWII France, victory would certainly belong to France.

From this perspective, Jerome Bonaparte was undoubtedly fortunate, as the French Army of this era was still a fighting force that dared to take on challenges and was highly motivated.

This fighting spirit allowed them to disdain all opponents, and even in peril, they would not surrender to those "weaker" than them.

Such an army, combined with highly destructive weapons, would undoubtedly bring tons of damage to the enemy.

Finally, the task of researching rapid-fire weapons was passed to Alfonso Chasebo.

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