I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 561 Equivalent Exchange
"If we can exchange Liegnitz for Gdansk," Mencken glanced at his king, "I think it is completely acceptable to us strategically."

"Gdansk?" William II stopped and shouted, "It was originally mine. The British actually asked me to exchange my own things for Liegnitz!"

Although Gdansk, also known as Danze, is currently part of Polish territory, Poland's national strength makes it difficult to effectively rule this enclave separated by Prussia.

After the Prussian-Polish alliance, the port was basically managed by Prussia. Of course, Poland took the lion's share of the port's profits.

Following a knock on the door, Prince Henry stepped in. As the pillar of Prussia, he could come and go almost freely in Sanssouci Palace.

He simply saluted William II and immediately said: "Your Majesty, what we exchanged for Liegnitz was not Gdansk, but legal legitimacy.

“We have the right to manage Gdansk now, but that’s because Poland is in chaos. If they recover their national strength, it will soon no longer belong to us.

"If we want to truly obtain Gdansk, I'm afraid we can only wage a war, as the British say."

William II fell silent immediately. His uncle had analyzed the situation in the east to him many times before, so he also knew that if he was dragged down by the war in Silesia, he would never be able to launch the war he needed - the war against Poland.

"But why didn't the Austrians give in..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Prince Heinrich: "Your Majesty, I am here to report to you that the British envoy has just received instructions from Parliament and decided to provide us with 50 pounds of aid to help us complete the necessary preparations for war and to compensate us for the concessions we have made."

"A loan of 50 yuan is all you want..."

William II was suddenly stunned and looked at Prince Heinrich: "Did you say 'aid' instead of 'loan'?"

The latter nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty, it is aid. Half of it is military supplies and the other half is money."

William II immediately smiled. Loans have to be repaid, even with interest, but aid is free!

Given Prussia's current financial situation, this money was a great solution to the urgent problem.

He suddenly felt that the British were not much worse than Peter III.

Prince Heinrich continued: "Your Majesty, we can use this money to carry out military reforms and expand armaments. In this way, in the subsequent war, we will be able to obtain more land in addition to Gdansk.

"For example, the vast south bank of the Vistula River. This is far more profitable than Liegnitz."

Mencken added at the right moment: "Your Majesty, if our army is large enough, perhaps we can wash away the humiliation we suffered in the Southern Netherlands."

He was referring, of course, to the defeat of Blücher by the French, who had driven him all the way from Liège to Namun.

Finally, William II nodded heavily and said to Prince Heinrich: "Please tell the British envoy that I will summon him tomorrow."

……

Even as the King of Prussia was engaging in political negotiations with the British envoy, Paris had already sensed the scent of a storm filled with chaos and unrest.

In the office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph was still recalling what Fouché had just reported to him.

The British Cabinet is clearly planning a strategic deployment on an unprecedented scale - although this is Britain's top secret, because so many people are involved in the planning, it is difficult not to notice some signs.

The Intelligence Bureau analyzed the clues from various sources and concluded that the target was most likely France. The areas involved included diplomacy, military, economy, etc. "It seems that France has developed too fast in the past two years, which has aroused the vigilance of the troublemakers."

Joseph put away the intelligence document in front of him and rubbed his brows. "This British government is really full of talents. They noticed the abnormality so quickly and reacted even faster."

Historically, it was precisely by relying on this group of talented politicians that emerged in the late 18th century - Pitt the Younger, Wellesley, Grenville, Cavendish-Benyack, George Canning, etc. - that Britain was able to complete the Industrial Revolution and eventually ascend to the throne of world hegemony.

The British attack came much earlier than he expected.

It's really not an easy task to fight against these geniuses...

Although Joseph was not clear about the British's specific plans for the time being, judging from history, they would most likely seek to achieve a continental balance.

Fortunately, although Britain is rich, can influence most of Europe's trade, and dominate the world's oceans, their army is not strong enough to challenge France.

This meant that Britain had to find an agent on the European continent and make complex strategic deployments before it could launch a siege on France.

This process certainly cannot be accomplished overnight, so I should have one to two years to prepare.

Joseph took a deep breath. The British reacted quickly, but he, the cheater, reacted even faster! Let's see who will win in the end.

He immediately took out a pen and paper and began to organize his thoughts, occasionally writing down the response plans he thought of.

First, the conflict with Britain would eventually lead to war, so expanding the military and preparing for war was a top priority.

The current core combat force of the Guards Corps and the Mulan Corps barely reaches 3 troops.

This is basically enough when there is no national war. A smaller number of people can also save military expenses. However, if a full-scale war is to be launched with Britain and its allies, it must reach at least 8 to be safe.

Expanding the size of the Guards Corps by 160% in one or two years is by no means an easy task.

The costs of these new armies far exceeded those of the old armies in terms of military pay, weapons and equipment, and even daily training.

Given the current size of the army, last year's military spending exceeded 5 million francs, and this was based on the large amount of logistical expenses paid by Austria.

If the Guards Corps is expanded to 8 men, the estimated cost of maintaining it would be 9 million francs, and in the event of a war, it would easily exceed 2 million.

You know, historically, France used a large number of extremely "cheap" volunteers to support its military 10 years later, and its military expenditure easily exceeded 4 million francs.

Given France's current financial situation, if the war goes against its will, it may face the risk of collapse.

Joseph couldn't help but sigh. In the end, the war was all about money.

Historically, the British relied on their abundant wealth and blood to suffer defeat after defeat, but in the end they still defeated Emperor Nazi Germany.

Therefore, accelerating industrial development, accelerating agricultural reform, and expanding trade as much as possible are also the most important tasks at present.

Fortunately, the domestic reforms in finance, taxation, market and land have been initially completed, which gives us the confidence to fight.

(End of this chapter)