I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 365 From Austria to Russia (Long Chapter)

Of course, Joseph would not tell the Holy Roman Emperor that among the enemy forces in Brussels, there were more than 1 Southern Netherlands troops with little combat effectiveness, including the remnants of Witte whose morale was broken by the Guards Corps before, as well as farmers and peddlers who were temporarily recruited.

Even the Dutch army was recruited during the uprising last year, and their combat effectiveness is basically not good.

The only ones who could really fight were the 1 or so Hanoverians, who had no cavalry or artillery.

However, the total number of 3 is all under the name of Charles II, which is scary enough.

Joseph's pen was still moving on the paper:

"In order to prevent the Southern Netherlands from falling into the hands of the rebels again, you need to send at least 2 soldiers here. And Prussia and Hanover may also send reinforcements here, so you'd better mobilize more troops to be safe.

Oh, there is one more very important thing, dear uncle. Due to the threat from the Prussian army in the direction of Liege, our army's logistics supply has encountered great difficulties. You know, vehicles transported from Luxembourg to Brussels must pass near Liege. This makes our army's logistics very vulnerable to attack. So I hope to collect military supplies locally in the Southern Netherlands, which can also save you some expenses. "

A large part of the French army's current military expenses in the Southern Netherlands is paid by Austria.

If the French army could "collect supplies locally", it would be equivalent to taking over the taxation of the Southern Netherlands. At the same time, some management positions would inevitably need to be set up to facilitate communication with the people and the transportation of supplies.

As for some "incompetent" Austrian officials, it became a natural thing for them to temporarily hand over their powers during the war.

At the end of the letter, Joseph stated righteously that France would give all possible support to its beloved Austria, and that preparations were already underway to send more troops to the Brussels front, so His Majesty the Emperor could rest assured.

He knew very well that Austria and Prussia were fighting fiercely in Silesia, and anyone who dared to retreat would bring devastating consequences. Therefore, Joseph II was eager to withdraw the Austrian troops from the Southern Netherlands and would never send another 2 soldiers here.

Then Austria only had two options left: 1. Abandon the Southern Netherlands. 2. Export benefits to France and let the French army help stabilize the situation in the Southern Netherlands.

In fact, there was no choice. If the Southern Netherlands became independent, not only would the empire lose face and morale suffer a heavy blow, but the Southern Netherlands National Guard and the Dutch Army would likely go to Silesia to reinforce the Prussians.

As one side gains strength while the other loses strength, Austria no longer needs to fight this war.

Joseph handed the letter to the courier, summoned a staff officer, and asked him to go to Luxembourg to deliver a message to the Austrian commander Leo.

As soon as he finished his work, Emmanuel entered the tent with the messenger from Paris.

The latter bowed respectfully to Joseph, then took out two letters from his suitcase and handed them to Emmanuel.

Joseph took the letter from the attendant and read it carefully. One was from Archbishop Briand, and it was probably asking for the opinion of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on important matters that had recently occurred in France, which was actually a work report.

The other letter was written by Queen Marie, and was followed by a "Plan to Promote Russian-French Trade" submitted by the Russian ambassador.

Confused, he opened his mother's letter first.

The first part was about how she missed her son so much that she had a headache, and then she was concerned about whether her son had eaten well in Luxembourg, whether he was sick, whether he was tired, and she scolded him for forgetting to bring a cook...

Joseph felt the deep love in the letter and felt warm in his heart. It seemed that he was still in Luxembourg when his mother wrote the letter. But it was nothing to bring a few royal chefs with you to the front line. They usually brought a few carts of kitchen utensils and food...

Joseph suddenly thought that he could let the royal chef cook nutritious meals for the wounded in the rear. On the one hand, the soldiers could feel the care and attention of the royal family, and on the other hand, his mother would not have to nag him every time because of this matter.

He continued to look down.

Queen Marie told her son in the letter not to go too close to the front line and to leave the fighting to the generals. France had so many generals.

Joseph couldn't help but feel a little emotional. In the eyes of a mother, everyone is always just a fragile child.

"Well, in that case, just give me the rank of general."

He curled his lips and turned to the second page of the letter.

Queen Marie finished her chatter and mentioned an interesting incident she had encountered not long ago - Count Stroganov, the Russian ambassador to France, was obviously drunk and said that their emperor admired France's "Swedish plan" and supported our claim to the Low Countries. Finally, Stroganov even said that as long as the Russian army could cross Poland and support us on the east side of Austria to seize the Rhine... Look at what he said. But he is an excellent diplomat after all, and he can still speak clearly even after drinking so much...

Joseph couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly when he saw this. The "Swedish Plan" was proposed by him personally, and he asked Talleyrand to use it to fool the Russians.

This was clearly Catherine II's response to France, and it was definitely not because the Russian ambassador was drunk.

What he didn't expect was that Yeka's appetite was so big that he not only wanted Sweden and Poland, but even wanted to divide Germany with France!

She truly deserves to be called the most courageous woman in the late 18th century.

To be honest, Joseph was even moved for a few seconds by Yeka's proposal.

If France obtains all the rich lands in Western Europe west of the Rhine, including the Netherlands and Belgium, and will certainly get Italy at the same time - if Austria has no time to take care of itself, weak Italy will be a piece of meat on France's tongue - then France will surely soar to the sky and become the true overlord of the European continent!
However, he quickly calmed down and shook his head to get rid of these unrealistic thoughts.

Yekaterinburg obviously wanted France to attract firepower to facilitate Russia's expansion.

Look at the places Russia wants - Sweden, Poland, and even the northeastern Balkans. These are places far away from the core area of ​​Europe. Even if it takes them over, major European countries such as Britain, Prussia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Spain may not be happy but may choose not to intervene due to cost factors.

And the profits that Yekaterinburg "allocated" to France, whether it is the Low Countries or the Rhine River, are the lifeblood of the European powers. They will definitely use all their national strength to fight France to the death!
Joseph pulled the messenger over and asked in a deep voice, "How did Her Majesty answer the Russian ambassador?"

The latter only said that Count Poplinski and Grand Duchess Alexandra were also present that day, but he had no idea what they talked about.

This is not surprising. In order to keep the secret, Stroganov carefully avoided all formal occasions, even balls, and chose to have close discussions with Queen Marie at the art exhibition to avoid being overheard.

Joseph shook his head and breathed a sigh of relief. Catherine II sent both her illegitimate son and her legitimate granddaughter, which showed that she was very eager to make this happen. Although from the tone of my mother's letter, she just thought that the Russian ambassador was talking nonsense and probably didn't agree to it, but I was afraid that she would suddenly get excited.

Joseph hurriedly wrote a reply letter to Queen Marie, mainly asking her not to reply to the Russians, and then handed it to the messenger, instructing him to send it back to the Palace of Versailles as quickly as possible.

Looking at the messenger's back, Joseph couldn't help but fall into deep thought. It seemed that he had to inform his mother in advance about matters concerning national strategy in the future. Otherwise, if a big mess came out, it would be difficult to clean up.

He then thought that although he could not agree to Yeka's suggestion, he could use her ambition to gain strategic benefits for France.

But you need to consider carefully how to do it specifically.

Joseph picked up the "Plan for Promoting Russian-French Trade" on the table, which mainly stated that Yeka hoped to further increase Russian-French trade to reduce dependence on British trade. Obviously, the recent rising trade volume of the Gemini Trading Company aroused her interest.

Joseph looked at the unoriginal clauses on the document and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

France's current demand for raw materials is limited, and the Russian market cannot be fully open to France, so the current transaction volume between the two sides has basically reached saturation.

Russia does have a lot of coal and iron resources, but they are too far away from France and the transportation cost is very high. Otherwise, it could purchase them in large quantities.

He was about to throw the document aside, but suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but mutter to himself: "No, the transportation cost is high, so we can do local operations..."

He immediately recalled Britain's business cases in Russia in the 19th century.

At that time, Russia was defeated in the Crimean War, and the Tsar realized the importance of the steel industry and the urgency of developing the areas adjacent to Crimea.

At this time, a British entrepreneur named John Hughes wanted to try his luck in Russia because he had a hard time in the UK. He noticed that the Donbass region north of Crimea was extremely rich in coal and iron resources, but they were not effectively mined at all.

So he signed a contract with the Tsarist government, invested a sum of money in Donbass, and personally brought more than a hundred British workers here to open mines and build factories.

At that time, Russia was vigorously building the Baltic Fleet, and Hughes's ironworks sold steel to Russian shipyards in a steady stream, making a lot of money. He eventually expanded his ironworks into a large city.

It was not until nearly a century later, when the October Fate event occurred, that Seuss’s investment legend finally came to an end.

The Donbass region has not even explored its coal and iron resources yet, so if you invest there now, the cost will definitely be lower than in Hughes. You can probably buy high-quality coal and iron ore for the price of buying wasteland.

Then they built a mining factory locally and shipped the refined ingots back to France for refining.

Unused coal can be burned into coke and shipped back to France, or even sold locally to make money.

The factory employed Russians, so even if the wages were poor, there was no need to worry about them causing trouble - the Tsar never showed mercy to troublemakers in his own country.

Of course, ironworks in Russia could only use relatively old technology to prevent Russia's industrial level from improving rapidly.

It's really a profitable business!
Moreover, mining and factories can also promote Russia's tax revenue and help build Crimea's rear. Crimea is Russia's most important port, allowing Russia to have a channel for maritime trade with the European continent. Successive tsars have attached great importance to it. However, it was not until Catherine II defeated the Ottoman Empire that she completely controlled this Black Sea outlet.

If France can help Russia stabilize its rule over Crimea - building surrounding cities and attracting more people to settle there is the best way to rule - then Yekaterinburg will certainly be grateful to France.

The fact that the Tsar has historically maintained a protective attitude towards Hussein's investments speaks volumes.

A smile flashed across Joseph's lips. In this case, he had to ask Catherine II for something, otherwise she might feel guilty.

So he picked up a pen and wrote at the back of the "Trade Plan" document: France appreciates and supports the terms of the above plan...

At the same time, in order to promote the traditional friendship between Russia and France, France decided to encourage its investors and factory owners to go to Crimea to build... only investment, no political or military content involved, and comply with Russian tax and trade laws...

I hope His Majesty the Tsar can provide France with appropriate assistance in matters concerning North Africa...

After dealing with the Russian affairs, Joseph opened Brian's letter and read it carefully.

The Chief Minister first reported the recent situation in France in detail in the letter, and asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to make the decision on any matter that he was undecided about.

Then he talked about the huge expenses of recent foreign military operations. Due to various unforeseen circumstances, the overall expenditure was 12% higher than expected, but it was still within the financial system's tolerance range for the time being. However, if the military continued to be deployed abroad, it was expected that the finances would be in trouble by the end of the year at the latest.

This was not unexpected to Joseph, but he did not intend to wage foreign wars for a long time. At least in North Africa, things should turn around soon. And the local tax revenue in the Southern Netherlands would ease a lot of financial pressure.

Overall, everything is within controllable range.

He continued to look down.

At the end of the letter, Brian reported on the latest plan for farmers to redeem their land discussed at the cabinet meeting.

Joseph frowned subconsciously. This redemption plan had been revised three times, but none of them was satisfactory.

Yes, although he had previously pushed for the abolition of the feudal privileges of the French nobility, the policy on how peasants could redeem their land had not yet been announced.

So for the farmers, they were only exempted from some small taxes such as mill tax, oven tax, hunting tax, etc. The core land issue had not yet been truly implemented, which was also the core reason why they had not responded enthusiastically to the abolition of feudal privileges before.

However, how to redeem the land is an extremely tricky matter, and it will definitely affect the entire country.

(End of this chapter)