Chapter 690 Claude Chap
Lord Marquis pointed at Bailly and said: "It is a coincidence that as soon as the sugar cane production in the Caribbean decreased, beet sugar production appeared on a large scale in France. Right?
“You must be planning to destroy the sugar supply in the Caribbean so that your beet sugar can be sold at a high price! Yes, a pound of sugar now costs 1 shilling and 4 pence! You made a lot of money!
“What else can you say to defend yourself?”
Bai suddenly laughed: “You are so funny, Mr. Special Envoy.
"Why don't you do the math yourself?
"Our country lost 50 million francs in Saint-Domingue, while our beet sugar production can only produce 2 million pounds per month, and the annual profit is less than 3 Ten million francs.
“Do you think that our country will be like a brainless bull, destroying everything just to make itself suffer losses?”
He is bullying other countries because of the unequal information.
First of all, France did not suffer that much loss in Saint-Domingue. The 50 million francs were calculated based on the fact that no sugar was produced. In fact, even if there was war damage, it would at least be as high as the previous three. 40% of the output.
Secondly, the scale of sugar beet cultivation in France is far from saturated. As long as profits are achieved, it will not be difficult to double the amount in the future. Moreover, the price of sucrose is still rising. Now the annual profit is 30 million francs. In a few months, it may be 40 million or 50 million francs.
In the end, Joseph’s biggest goal is actually the sugar franc! So even if you really lose some money, as long as it can significantly increase the influence and circulation of the franc, this transaction is definitely a good deal.
"This..." Lord Marquis was stunned.
The wind turned and representatives from various countries glared at him again.
Bay took advantage of the victory and pursued it: "In terms of losses, in order to quell the rebellion in Saint-Domingue, our country sent two groups of expeditionary troops, which cost a huge amount."
In fact, Joseph only asked the so-called "Expeditionary Force" to send equipment to Auger. There were only more than a thousand serious soldiers among them, so the cost was extremely low. The two "sending troops" only cost about 3 million francs.
In comparison, Britain sent Brand to lead an expeditionary force of 4,000 to the Caribbean, spending more than 400,000 pounds, or more than 10 million francs.
“Our country’s second expeditionary force had already stabilized the situation in Saint-Domingue. At this time, the British General Brand asked our country to mobilize Saint-Domingue’s army to help them calm it down. The Bahamas Rebellion. As a result, Auger took the opportunity to occupy the Magua Fortress as soon as our army left, causing the situation in Saint-Domingue to completely get out of control.
"I have reason to suspect that the British have always been with the Saint-Domingue rebels. There is collusion to destroy our colonies! "
"You, what you said is not the truth! "Marquis said angrily, "General Brand has found out that your Galissonnier colluded with the black rebels and exposed our army's flanks to the black devils, which ultimately led to our army's disastrous defeat! ”
With such a large battlefield and a war involving tens of thousands of soldiers, it is simply impossible to keep it completely secret.
Brand only captured a few black officers, and soon interrogated them and found out that they had all received orders not to attack the French army.
Only then did he realize that he had been plotted by the French.
Bay sneered disdainfully: "You are completely frivolous slander!"
Marquis waved his fist and said: "I have witnesses!"
"Who?"
"An officer of the Bahamas rebels!"
Before Bai could speak, representatives from other countries laughed.
Nigger’s testimony?
What a joke!
In their minds, niggers were barely even human beings. How could they use their testimony to accuse French officers?
Bayi waited for the surroundings to calm down and then continued: "As for our country's beet sugar production, it was a complete accident.
"Before, our country did not even know that this technology existed. It was a Bavarian scholar who came to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to sponsor his research, and then some were planted.
“The cost of refining sugar from beets is extremely high, and His Highness is still losing money to this day.” As for the specific cost of refining sugar from beets, only the French Minister of Agriculture has detailed data. At the moment, it is not possible to leave it to Paris. Yi said casually?
Marquez was completely confused.
The French are so insidious! He knew clearly that France was behind the scenes, but no one believed it. Instead, they all believed that the British were manipulating the abolitionist movement in Saint-Domingue. However, it got out of hand and eventually spread to the entire Caribbean.
Even the Dutch and Portuguese envoys looked at him with extreme dissatisfaction.
After all, these two countries also have colonies in the Caribbean, and this abolition storm also caused them heavy losses.
In the end, this massive "Special European Sugar Conference" failed to achieve any results and ended hastily.
In fact, Bailly drafted a statement condemning Britain, but only Spain was willing to co-sign. Considering the huge trade relations with Britain, other countries chose to forget about this matter, so they gave up in the end.
However, this special meeting was an excellent free advertisement for French beet sugar. Just one week later, trading volume on the Paris Futures Exchange soared 35%.
Even the sucrose futures contract one year from now is almost sold out.
The franc banknotes were also sought after by all merchants overnight - they were easier to carry than gold and silver coins, and they could be used to buy the in-demand cane sugar at any time. There was absolutely no reason not to accept them!
Under the influence of businessmen, ordinary people gradually began to accept the franc...
Palace of Versailles.
In the Crown Prince's study, Joseph frowned slightly while listening to Bayi's report on the meeting in Frankfurt.
He could predict that the increase in sugar prices would cause a huge blow to Britain.
If the UK currently wants to resolve this crisis, unless it takes the initiative to lower the price of sugar exports, they can only rely on launching a foreign war to divert the conflict.
Price reduction is definitely not allowed.
Right now is the period of rapid growth of the franc. Last month, the Reserve Bank of France exchanged tens of millions of francs in banknotes. All of this money went into the hands of foreigners, which is equivalent to allowing them to recognize the credit of the franc.
If you lower the price of sucrose at this time, wouldn’t this destroy the market enthusiasm?
So, it is estimated that the British will speed up the process of launching a war.
Anyway, this battle is inevitable.
After all, Europe can only have one overlord.
Britain, the current overlord, will never sit back and watch France challenge his position.
The huge profits earned from cane sugar this time will also increase France's chances of winning in future wars.
As soon as Bailly left with his front foot, Berthier came with his back foot.
Joseph smiled and greeted the Chief of General Staff: "I just wanted to tell you about accelerating preparations for war. Oh, what's the matter with you coming here?"
"Your Highness, Last time you asked me to try to use the 'ship owner communication mode' for military command matters," Berthier said, motioning behind him, "In fact, Mr. Claude Charp had already submitted a similar submission to the General Staff. invention, and its functions are more advanced.”
(End of this chapter)