ATPnovel Chapter 31 Robin Town
Chapter 31 Robin Town
Forty minutes later, Benjamin Franklin took his leave, and Chen Wenbin and Diana personally went out to see him off to his carriage.
"...My dear, do you really trust Mr. Franklin?"
As the carriage drove away, Diana looked up at her fiancé. She already knew that Chen Wenbin had entrusted Franklin with the entire process of applying for British patents and selling spinning machines in Britain, and she couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"...We have no better option right now."
Chen Wenbin took her hand and walked towards the villa, explaining, "He's a Fellow of the Royal Society and has many connections within the Royal Society and the British upper class. With his involvement, obtaining the patent rights for the spinning machine will be easier, or at least the least costly!"
"……Honey!"
Diana stopped and looked at her man, saying earnestly, "I can write to Uncle John; he has a lot of influence in the House of Lords..."
Seeing how adorable she was, Chen Wenbin couldn't help but kiss her forehead and chuckle, "My dear Diane, strictly speaking, we're not officially engaged yet, nor do we have your family's blessing. How could I possibly ask your relatives for help?"
"But I'm willing!"
The blonde girl said anxiously, "Uncle Stephen has already given us his blessing, and my dad and Uncle John will definitely agree!"
Chen Wenbin nodded noncommittally. It was just a niece, and the deed was already done. The Spencer family would most likely not refuse the engagement.
After all, Mr. Chen was a colonial upstart with a net worth of tens of thousands of pounds, the chief director of Providence United Industries, a great scientist, a great inventor, the world's number one doctor, a future Fellow of the Royal Society, and an exiled nobleman from the East (self-proclaimed). So they were a good match.
However, it would be too reckless to ask the Baron to help with the operation just because of this relationship.
That's not how you use personal relationships and connections!
All mentally mature adults know that using any personal relationship other than that of one's parents comes at a price.
Is Chen Wenbin really going to give up a portion of his shares to the Spencer family in order to obtain a patent that he is likely to acquire?
This is completely putting the cart before the horse, and once Baron Spencer's "help" is accepted, there is a risk of being infiltrated and becoming his vassal.
Chen Wenbin believed that Diana, with her intelligence, would definitely have thought of this. The reason she made this suggestion was either because she was too concerned or because she was cunning enough... He was willing to believe it was the former, but he was not afraid of the latter.
"...Alright! Let's talk about these things after we get to England!"
He didn't dwell on these things. Instead, amidst Diana's exclamation, he swept her up in his arms and strode towards the villa next door!
As for the VIP patients who are still waiting for him to see them... Dr. Chen has important business to attend to, so he told them to wait!
……
A month passed by in the blink of an eye.
The residents of Providence have experienced tremendous changes in the past month that have been hard to come by in previous years.
First was the Jenna Spinning Machine, invented by Dr. Robin Chen.
Despite its high price, it completely transformed the textile industry due to its twentyfold increase in efficiency and quickly entered 351 Providence households!
The first group of housewives who successfully placed a group order have already earned an extra £1.5 to £3!
After the wheat harvest is completed in late August, many families often work together day and night using the Jenna spinning machine to spin cotton yarn in order to maximize the machine's efficiency.
The wealth demonstration effect brought about by the first wave of pioneers is rapidly spreading from Providence to more distant cities such as Boston, Connecticut, New York, and Philadelphia.
As ship after ship of cotton and wool arrived from Virginia and New York, merchants, sensing a huge business opportunity, flocked to the area.
The large number of orders they brought forced the Riverside Spinning Machine Factory to expand its factory twice within a month to increase production capacity, but it still could not satisfy the merchants' appetites.
As a result, Providence Associates had to collect half of the deposit in advance to secure the order and then deliver the goods according to the order sequence.
Meanwhile, Jenna Model Textile Factory, also under the same company, is a paradise that hundreds or thousands of new immigrants yearn to enter.
Working ten hours a day, with dormitory and three meals provided, a minimum basic salary of £2 per month plus piece-rate wages of no less than £1... this offer is incredibly attractive to new immigrants who have just arrived in North America!
Within a month, the textile factory recruited 265 rigorously selected workers and put them into production with extremely high efficiency.
The first batch of cotton yarn, produced by Jenna Model Textile Mill and more than 300 families, was loaded onto a merchant ship and sailed to Britain two weeks ago.
Accompanying him was Benjamin Franklin, the European regional president appointed by the shareholders' board of directors of Providence United Industries, and the 500 Jenna spinning machine components he was responsible for escorting.
At that time, almost all the citizens of Providence came to the dock to see off the fleet. People believed that these cotton yarns and new spinning machines from the New World would bring shock and awe to Britain.
Compared to these economic and lifestyle changes, the addition of a new town called Robintown to the Rhodes Island colony did not attract much attention.
After all, once the population of a settlement in a New World colony exceeds a certain number, perhaps a thousand or a thousand five hundred, it can apply to build a new town, establish a town council, and elect a town executive committee and other officials, as well as constituency members to attend the colonial council.
Without a doubt, Robin City is a new town established because of Chen Wenbin!
From the initial spinning machine factory, to the Jenna Model Textile Factory, then to Providence Science School, Robin Steelworks, Robin Chemical Plant and Machining Plant, as well as the already built Robin Estate and the recently moved Robin Hospital.
More than 1200 people are now working, studying and living in the factories, schools and estates established by Chen Wenbin!
This settlement, located north of Providence, met the minimum standards for establishing a new town in the Rhode Island colony.
At the suggestion of Governor Hopkins and Reverend Jason, Chen Wenbin, as the main employer and landowner of the new town, formally submitted an application to the Rhode Island Colony Council three days ago to establish the new town.
The application met all the requirements and was backed by the powerful Providence United Industries, so the colonial council passed it without any obstacles and asked Robintown to elect an executive committee and district councilors as soon as possible.
With the big boss Chen Wenbin personally participating in the elections for councilors and municipal administrators, no one else had any chance.
Therefore, Boss Chen added two new titles—Administrator of Robin City, Rhode Island Colony, and Member of the Robin City Constituency of the Rhode Island Colony Council.