Chapter 438: Catherine II's Reward
Second Floor of the Tuileries Palace
Joseph looked over the statistical report on the World Expo that Bailly had just compiled and couldn't help but smile.
Initially, he had intended to use the World Expo, along with the installation of gas streetlights in Paris, as a way to promote France extensively. However, even before the Expo had ended, the total value of commercial orders had already reached over 6 million francs.
Moreover, this was just the number of orders signed in the business hall. According to Bailly's estimates, including private transactions, the total could exceed 10 million francs.
Of these, nearly 70% were orders for French products. As the host country, France had the most prepared and well-promoted exhibits, so it was no surprise that they attracted the most buyers.
Although not all of these orders would necessarily be fulfilled, even if 60-70% were completed, it would significantly boost the sales of French industrial goods.
It's important to note that this was just one expo, and buyers were still in the testing phase. Once these products entered markets across Europe, gained acceptance, and created stable demand, that would be the moment when French industrial goods would truly explode in sales.
Thanks to the Eden Treaty with Britain and the Rhine-Seine River Treaty with several German states, these goods would face few obstacles when entering those countries.
Once the funds began to flow back, creating a positive cycle of production, sales, capital, and research, and with Joseph's guidance on industrial development, it was foreseeable that France had a very high chance of winning the competition in the First Industrial Revolution.
However, Joseph also observed from this expo that other European countries were increasingly focusing on industrial development. Not just Britain, the leader in the Industrial Revolution, but also the German states and several Italian countries were turning their attention to coal and steel industries and starting to explore steam engine technology.
There's no helping it; Europe is such a close-knit circle that whenever one country develops something innovative, others quickly follow suit. Historically, after Britain sparked the Industrial Revolution, other major European powers quickly followed suit. Even Austria, the slowest mover, was only about 20 years behind Britain.
Thus, Joseph knew he could not afford to relax in promoting French industrial development.
In this era, the world follows the law of the jungle—strong nations have no mercy for the weak, especially with Britain, a country with sabotage practically embedded in its genes, as the strongest nation.
France needed to become strong enough to counter the hostility and subversion that Britain would inevitably impose. Therefore, the pace of industrialization needed to be accelerated.
Joseph handed the statistical report from the Expo back to the Minister of Commerce and instructed, "Please do everything possible to support the factories involved in these orders, especially those in the textile, steel, and chemical industries. If any difficulties arise, report them directly to me."
"Yes, Your Highness," Bailly replied.
After a brief discussion about the Expo's closing ceremony, Bailly took his leave.
Bertier, who had been waiting for some time, nodded to the Minister of Commerce and then quickly entered the Crown Prince's office. He bowed to Joseph and reported, "Your Highness, we received news from Vienna at noon. General Lefebvre's corps has arrived in Brno. The Royal Guard is expected to complete its assembly in Silesia within five days."
Joseph nodded. "Please pass on my orders to the Guard: the entire army is to rest in Austrian territory for now. I will head to Silesia immediately after the Expo ends."
Bertier was surprised. "Your Highness, you're going to Silesia?"
After all, in his mind, France's involvement in Silesia was mostly a gesture to Austria, and there was no need for the Crown Prince himself to be present.
"Yes," Joseph confirmed. "There will be some intense battles there, so I must be at the front."
Seeing the confusion in Bertier's eyes, Joseph smiled and explained, "Currently, the Prussian-Austrian border is almost unchanged from before the war. This makes it easy for them to negotiate a ceasefire."
"But if Prussia loses part of Silesia, do you think they would accept that outcome?"
Bertier suddenly realized something and quickly replied, "Your Highness, in that case, we will be facing 120,000 Prussian troops."
"You must have confidence in the soldiers of France," Joseph said. "Besides, we will eventually face such large-scale battles. It's beneficial for the army to gain experience early on."
Joseph knew that as long as the German states could not unite, Britain alone could not pose a serious threat to France on the European continent. Therefore, the hotspot in Silesia needed to remain hot.
Russia. St. Petersburg.
Catherine II looked at the French Foreign Minister in surprise. "You say that France will make significant investments in Donbas and send people there for development?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Talleyrand replied with a bow. "This is a plan personally devised by the Crown Prince. Three companies have already confirmed their investments, including the Hilk Steel Company, currently France's highest producer. You may have heard of it."
Catherine II had been waiting for a response from her ambassador in France regarding the proposed Franco-Russian marriage alliance. She had assumed that France would maintain some distance from Russia, but she hadn't expected the French Crown Prince to immediately offer such a grand gesture.
Could it be that the French were not satisfied with Alexandra's lineage but still wanted to strengthen ties with us?
Setting aside these thoughts, she asked Talleyrand, "So, what does the Crown Prince hope to receive in return?"
Talleyrand smiled sincerely. "Your friendship is the greatest reward for France."
"Oh, the Crown Prince does believe that the Donbas region is likely to contain coal or iron ore, so developing it would be of great benefit to both our countries."
Joseph knew that real diplomacy could never be like what you see on TV, where someone buys a piece of land cheaply in another country, quietly discovers resources, and then secretly ships them home. That would only make the other party feel deceived, and the enormous profits from the resources would inevitably lead to broken agreements and hostility.
Instead, it's better to be upfront from the beginning—telling Catherine, "I believe Donbas has coal and iron ore. Let's negotiate a price for it now, and don't feel cheated if we find resources later."
The Russian Empress smiled and nodded. "I can grant 20,000 Russian acres of land in the Donbas region for development as a gift to the Crown Prince in response to his goodwill."
A Russian acre is slightly larger than a hectare, making 20,000 Russian acres a vast area.
(End of Chapter)
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