Chapter 438 The Return of Catherine II
The second floor of the Tuileries Palace.
Joseph looked at the statistical report on the World Expo that Bai had just compiled and couldn't help but smile.
He originally just wanted to take advantage of the World Expo and the installation of gas street lights in Paris to promote France.
Unexpectedly, before the World Expo ended, the current volume of various commercial orders had reached more than 6 million francs.
And this is the number of contracts signed in the business hall. According to Bayi's estimate, including private transactions, the total should exceed 10 million francs.
Among them, nearly 70% are orders from France. After all, France is the host country, the exhibition hall is also the most fully prepared, and the promotion of products is very successful, so it is not surprising that it attracts a large number of buyers.
Although many of these orders may not actually be completed in the end, as long as 60 to 70% can be implemented, it will greatly promote the sales of industrial products in France.
You know, this is just an expo, and buyers still have a trying attitude towards the products.
When these products flow into the markets of various European countries and are recognized by local people and form stable demand, that will be the moment when the sales of French industrial products explode.
Thanks to the "Treaty of Eden" signed by France and the United Kingdom, and the "Treaty of the Rhine-Seine" signed with half of the German countries, these commodities will not encounter much obstacles when entering the above-mentioned countries.
After the funds are withdrawn, a positive cycle of production-sales-funding-research and development will be formed. Coupled with Joseph's guidance for France's industrial development, it can be predicted that France will have a very high probability of winning the competition in the first industrial revolution.
However, Joseph also saw from this expo that other European countries are also paying more and more attention to industrial development. Not to mention Britain, the leader of the Industrial Revolution, both German and Italian countries have set their sights on the coal and steel industries and begun to come into contact with steam engine technology.
There's no way around it, the European community is so big, and if anyone comes up with something good, other countries will immediately follow suit. Historically, after the Industrial Revolution was launched in the UK, other major European powers also started the process of industrialization. Even Austria, which was the slowest, was only 20 years later than the UK.
Therefore, Joseph did not dare to relax at all in promoting the development of French industry.
The world in this era follows the law of the jungle—strong countries will never show any mercy to weak countries. Especially the most powerful country at the moment is the UK, a guy who has trouble engraved in his genes.
France must be strong enough to cope with the hostility and subversion that the British will definitely carry out, so the pace of industrialization must be accelerated.
Joseph handed the statistical documents of the World Expo back to the Secretary of Commerce and warned:
"Please try your best to provide support to the factories that place these orders, especially those involving the textile, steel, and chemical industries. If you encounter any difficulties, please report them directly to me."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Bai bowed slightly, discussed some things with Joseph about the closing ceremony of the World Expo, then stood up and left.
Berthier and the Minister of Commerce, who had been waiting for a long time, nodded and quickly walked into the Crown Prince's office, bowed to Joseph, and then said: "Your Highness, I received the news from Vienna at noon. The Lefebvre Corps has arrived in Brünn and it is expected that all the troops of the Royal Guards Corps in Silesia will be completed within 5 days.”
Joseph nodded: "Please convey my order from the General Staff to the Guards Corps. The entire army will temporarily rest in Austria. I will rush to Silesia immediately after the Expo."
Berthier was a little surprised and said:
"Your Highness, are you going to Silesia?"
After all, in his mind, France's battle in Silesia was mainly a gesture to Austria, and there was no need for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come in person.
"Yeah," Joseph nodded, "We're going to have some serious fighting there, so I have to be on the front lines."
Seeing the confusion in Berthier's eyes, Joseph smiled and said: "The border lines between Prussia and Austria are almost the same as before the war. This way they can easily negotiate a truce.
"And if Prussia lost part of Silesia, do you think they would still accept the result?"
Berthier suddenly realized something and hurriedly said:
"Your Highness, if this happens, we will face 120,000 Prussian troops."
"You have to have confidence in the French soldiers." Joseph said, "Moreover, we will face such a war sooner or later, and it is also beneficial for the army to accumulate experience as soon as possible."
Joseph knew very well that as long as the German countries could not form a joint force, Britain alone would not be able to pose a serious threat to France on the European continent. Therefore, Silesia must continue to be a hot spot.
…
Russia.
St. Petersburg.
Catherine II looked at the French Foreign Minister in front of her in surprise:
“You mean, France will invest heavily in Donbass and send people to develop there?”
"Yes, Your Majesty." Talleyrand leaned forward and said, "This is a plan personally formulated by His Royal Highness the Dauphin. Three companies have already confirmed that they will invest, and one of them is the Silk Steel Company, which has the highest output in France. Maybe you Heard about it."
Catherine II had not waited for the reply from the ambassador to France on whether France approved of the French-Russian marriage. She originally thought that France would pursue a policy of keeping a certain distance from Russia, but she did not expect that the French Crown Prince immediately sent a Big gift.
Could it be that the French are not satisfied with Alexandra's blood, but still want to strengthen relations with us?
She put aside the thought in her mind and asked Talleyrand again:
"So, what does His Highness the Crown Prince hope to receive in return?"
Talleyrand smiled extremely sincerely:
“Your friendship is the greatest reward to France.
"Oh, actually His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believes that coal or iron mines are likely to be found in the Donbass area, so development there will be of great benefit to both our countries."
Joseph knew that real diplomacy could not be like in the TV series. You go to someone else's house to buy a piece of wasteland at a low price, quietly dig out the resources, and then secretly transport them home.
In that case, others will only feel that they have been deceived, and at the same time they will covet the huge benefits of resources, which will eventually lead to breaking up the agreement and turning against each other.
And if I had told Ekaterina from the beginning, I was convinced that there were coal and iron mines in Donbas, but it is still a wasteland. You can set a price and don’t feel that you will suffer a loss if you actually dig out resources in the future.
The Russian Tsar smiled, nodded and said:
“I can respond to his kindness by gifting the mining rights to 20,000 acres of land in the Donbas region to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
One dessiatine is more than one hectare, and 20,000 dessiatines is definitely a very vast area.
(End of chapter)