I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 440: Get a Personal Maid
"My dear, come and try it. This is Viennese vanilla shortbread." Queen Mary fed the cake in her hand to her son and then asked, "You just came back from Austria a month ago. Why do you want to go again?"

Joseph's mouth was immediately filled with a unique vanilla flavor, but it was not as sweet as the cakes he had eaten at his mother's house before, which were so sweet that they choked his throat.

"Ah, this tastes delicious. Your pastry chef has improved a lot."

Joseph made a casual compliment and then got down to business:

"My uncle is about to launch a major campaign in Silesia, and I must go and support him, you know."

"I really hope the war will end soon." Queen Mary shook her head, suddenly remembered something, looked at her son and said, "Do you want to go to the battlefield again?"

"Uh... I'm far away from the front line. Don't worry, I won't be in any danger."

Queen Mary took his hand and said earnestly:

"My dear, I know you will achieve great things, and I will fully support you, but you must promise me to stay away from danger! Don't let your father and I receive sad news."

Joseph nodded quickly, but heard his mother continue:
"Also, I always tell you that you must bring a chef when you go on a long journey. They can protect your stomach. Oh, and the pastry chef and musician. No matter how busy you are, you must have time to relax. It's best to bring a tailor, a leatherworker, and a beautician... and bring a few more maids. You can't always let Viscount Emman do so many tedious things alone..."

Joseph's face was immediately filled with black lines on his forehead: Mom, I'm going to the front line to lead the troops. If I have so many servants following me, I really won't be able to do anything.

"Well, the cake is very special." He tried to change the subject. "I wonder if Vienna will be very cold recently..."

The queen was about to continue nagging when she saw Camelia, who was wearing a white dress, walking quickly towards her and curtseying.
"Your Majesty, are you looking for me? Oh, Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, you are here too? It's a pleasure to meet you."

Queen Mary smiled kindly and waved:

"My dear, your desserts are amazing! I think Mr. Cecilien will be nervous about his position, haha."

"My mother taught me all this," Camelia said. "She used to be a pastry chef in Archduke Ferdinand's house."

Queen Mary looked at the sweat on her forehead and said softly:

"Just let Bettina and the others do the cleaning. You don't have to..."

When she said this, she suddenly remembered that her son had just praised Camelia for her delicious cakes. This girl was also very hardworking and capable, and could do the work of several maids. She suddenly had an idea. If she was allowed to go to Austria with Joseph, she could at least take care of his diet along the way.

Queen Mary immediately looked at Camelia:

"My dear, will you take care of the Dauphin's food and daily life for me and go to Austria with him?"

Camelia's heart suddenly beat violently, and she couldn't help but think of the teacher's words. She was stunned for a moment before nodding her head:
"Of course, Your Majesty, I am honored to be traveling with Your Highness."

Joseph was very surprised and said hurriedly:

"Mother, I'm afraid this is not possible..."

Queen Mary immediately pretended to be stern:

"Then you will take three cooks, five maids, and..."

"Oh, yes, all right," Joseph surrendered. "Don't bother talking. I'll take her there."

That afternoon, Joseph's convoy set off for Austria.

In the third carriage of the convoy, Camelia smiled and nodded politely to Perna who was sitting opposite her. General Berthier was discussing things in the carriage of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so she had to share a carriage with the female doctor. Perna nodded in response, but she felt a little distracted. Wasn't this girl a maid of Her Majesty the Queen? Why did she come to His Royal Highness's place again?
Did she insist on coming here, or did His Highness ask her to come... No, no, why should I think about these things?
In Joseph's car, Berthier said:

"Your Highness, 1 sets of bulletproof inserts have been packed into military uniforms and shipped to Silesia as per your request."

A set of bulletproof inserts consists of 5 pieces and can be used to equip one soldier.

Joseph nodded:
"It is imperative that they arrive on time. This will be an important guarantee for us to defeat the Prussians."

Berthier looked at the map on the table again and said:
"Your Highness, the Duke of Brunswick has set up nearly 200 cannons on the western front of Liegnitz. If we want to break through the Prussian defenses, I'm afraid we will suffer very heavy casualties."

"You are right." Joseph also looked serious.

Unlike Silesia and the Southern Netherlands, this is a pure "enemy-occupied area" and a key business area. The mobilization of the army and the supply of materials can be done very efficiently. The situation faced by the French army will be very difficult.

"So we must avoid storming the Prussian front line."

……

Southern Donbass.

Ekaterinoslav.

This strange place name was to commemorate Catherine II's great achievement in conquering the Crimea region.

However, at this time, apart from a very shabby small town, this place is basically a wasteland.

Well, in the vast land from Donbass to Crimea, there are less than 70 people, and the area here is larger than the Netherlands combined with the Southern Netherlands!

Viscount Olivier, the boss of Silk Steel Company, was standing on a bare hill at this time, feeling very uneasy.

He invested half of his fortune in Russia this time. If the huge coal and iron mine mentioned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not found, he will face the risk of bankruptcy.

A captain rode over and shouted:
"Master, the laborers have arrived. How do you want to arrange them?"

The Donbass Development Corps had a total of 170 people, and Viscount Olivier was appointed as the head of the Corps because he had invested the most. The deputy head of the Corps was Captain Lemaire, who was a lieutenant in the Guards Corps and was sent by Joseph to manage the military affairs of the Development Corps.

Viscount Olivier looked down the mountain through a telescope and saw a winding team looming in the weeds, with at least a thousand people.

He pulled the reins and followed Lemaire back to the camp:
"Nothing much to do. Let them level the ground and make some shelter for themselves with weeds. They won't be lazy in this damn place without our urging."

After a while, the two of them returned to the camp with their guards - the so-called camp was actually a large flattened open space with seven or eight wooden houses and a large number of tents built on it.

At this time, hundreds of coolies wearing North African-style clothes and with unkempt hair and dirty faces had already poured into the camp. Lemaire hurriedly urged his horse forward and ordered the soldiers:
"Let them expand the camp and build shelter. They will be fed only after they finish their work!"

Immediately someone shouted to the coolies in Arabic, and the crowd dispersed, each picking up their tools and starting to get busy.

These people are the labor force for Joseph to develop Donbass. Some of them are prisoners of war from Algiers and Tripoli, and the dark-skinned ones are from the Moroccan Guards. After several wars in North Africa, the number of prisoners was not large, but there were still three or four thousand people, and these prisoners were all strong laborers.

Algiers did not dare to submit the request to return the prisoners. According to Ottoman tradition, even if the captured soldiers could return, they would be severely punished, and some would even become slaves. Therefore, many prisoners of war in Tripoli were unwilling to return. Of course, even if they wanted to return, Joseph would not let them go.

(End of this chapter)