I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 583 Caribbean Strategy (asking for double monthly tickets)
As the group walked along the edge of the beet test field, Joseph continued:

"So, can we ensure that there is enough sugar beet for the sugar refineries by October next year?"

Archard knew the French sugar industry plan, and nodded confidently:
"Yes, Your Highness. The people of the church are already learning the planting technology from me. As long as there are enough farmers to plant it, producing 5 tons of sugar per month is just the minimum."

Joseph nodded slightly when he heard this.

In this way, one's own sugar production strategy can be implemented.

This time we must beat the British until they suffer deep pain!
He then visited the wheat and corn hybrid experimental fields and returned to the Palace of Versailles.

He plans to leave for Brittany tomorrow to promote the steam engine installation on the ship. He may have to stay there for a while, so he has to have dinner with his parents today to avoid his mother nagging him again.

It just so happens that Talleyrand is here too, so I can take the opportunity to talk to him about the arrangements in the Caribbean.

An hour later the Foreign Secretary appeared in the Crown Prince's reception room.

He came here on his own initiative.

Talleyrand bowed hastily, took out a report and said:

"Your Highness, I was just going to the Tuileries to see you.

"This is the urgent report sent by Marquis Vida de La Baietri of Saint-Domingo a month and a half ago. The Buc rioters are killing plantation owners in the north of the island, and the number has reached thousands.

"And Vincent Auger in Port-au-Prince called on people who sympathized with the slaves to put pressure on the parliament to hinder the suppression of the rioters..."

Joseph took the report and listened to Talleyrand's detailed account, and finally understood the situation on Saint-Domingo Island.

Right now, the biggest trouble is a black slave uprising called the Booker Movement.

These black slaves believed in voodoo and were extremely hostile to white people. Even their flag had a picture of a dead white baby.

Wherever the Booker movement went, they would kill all white people, usually by brutal means, and would not even spare white people who supported abolition.

Of course, their hatred was justified - the way they tortured white people was the same way the plantation owners had tortured black slaves.

At the same time, although Vincent Auger, who led the abolition movement on the island, opposed the Booker movement, since the latter did not even let him go, he was very sympathetic to the black people in the rebels, so he often used his political influence to help them.

This led to the Governor of Saint-Domingo launching several campaigns to suppress the Booker movement, but he always returned without success.

The scale of this slave rebellion was larger than ever before - hundreds of plantation owners and their families had been killed in the north of the island, causing great panic.

Talleyrand said anxiously:

"Your Highness, considering the current situation in Saint Domingo, I suggest that an expeditionary force be dispatched immediately to quell the rebellion!"

It’s no wonder that he was so anxious, because Saint-Domingue was too important to France.

This island was acquired by France in exchange for millions of square kilometers of land in Canada. The annual trade income is as high as 4 million francs, and it also supports the sugar supply of the whole of France and part of Germany. If the riots on the island are not quelled as soon as possible, France will not only lose tens of millions of dollars in income, but will also have to hold its nose and eat the high-priced sugar from the British from then on - by then, the British will definitely dare to sell white sugar at 1 francs per pound!

Joseph shook his head slightly.

He vaguely remembered that this riot should be the fuse of the event known in history as the "Haitian Revolution."

Just a few months later, Auger would personally lead the riot, which would eventually lead to the emergence of Toussaint Louverture, the real "monster".

Louverture was born a slave, but he was a good fighter. After the riot in Saint-Domingue, he led an insurgent army composed mainly of slaves and some mixed-race people, and defeated the French army on the island.

He then defeated the Spanish army that attempted to take advantage of the chaos to seize Saint-Domingo, as well as the British army that had the same purpose.

Finally, Napoleon sent Charles Leclerc to lead 3 French troops to land in Saint-Domingue to quell the rebellion.

After a series of hard battles failed to win, Leclerc could only lure Louverture with a false peace talk and finally captured him.

However, Louverture's successor quickly defeated Leclerc's troops, and the final French casualties reached 3.

Therefore, military suppression is definitely the worst option to deal with the uprising on the island. Because the distance is too far, the cost of deploying troops is extremely high. Even if the war can be won, the cost of the war will be a disaster for France's finances.

If it were in the past, Joseph might have adopted the strategy of dividing blacks and mixed-race people. At the same time, he would have given black slaves freedom to divide the blacks internally. He would have also let the Catholic Church invest in the "holy war" against voodoo. This would have taken a year or two to quell the uprising.

Now, however, he had Archard's beets, and the strategy available to him was completely different.

First of all, France is self-sufficient in sugar, which gives it confidence.

Secondly, France earns less than 4 million francs a year from its sugar cane plantations in the Caribbean, while Britain earns as much as 1 million!

And if Britain lost Trinidad and the West Indies, there would be no other place to get sugar - given the exaggerated sugar consumption in the UK, the unsatisfied people could even bring down the government!
Joseph looked at Talleyrand and said, "I don't want to send troops to Saint-Domingue, but I hope you can go there."

"Ah? Me?" Talleyrand was surprised. "Your Highness, with all due respect, the blacks there are not in the habit of negotiating."

"That's because we gave too few chips." Joseph smiled, "If we handle it this way..."

After a moment, Talleyrand no longer had the anxiety he had before. He lowered his head and thought, "Your Highness, although your plan is very risky, it is undeniable that the benefits are also extremely amazing."

He suddenly shook his head: "However, I am not the right person to execute this plan. With my current identity, as long as I appear on the island, I will immediately attract the attention of the British."

Joseph thought about it and agreed: "So, do you have any recommendations?"

"Jacques Pierre Brissot," said Talleyrand, "a passionate abolitionist, very capable, very learned, and especially a great orator."

"Brissot?" Joseph quickly remembered the name. One of the leaders of the Girondists, he had drafted a petition to depose the king. After taking office, he urged France to declare war on Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Talleyrand continued: "He used to be the clerk of the Duke of Orleans, so he never had the opportunity to become an official. But as far as I know, he and the Duke of Orleans don't have a deep relationship."

(End of this chapter)