I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 594 You are in the first grade and I am in the fifteenth grade

However, given France's current situation, it is not easy to quickly increase maritime trade.

Joseph finished his lunch absentmindedly, but still couldn't think of any particularly effective solution.

Among France's current largest maritime trade nodes - the United States, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the former two have long been saturated, and Russia is even a little overloaded.

Only trade with the Ottoman Empire could be expanded, but this would require lengthy diplomatic negotiations and the surrender of some interests to the Ottoman Empire.

Moreover, even if the deal could be reached, it would at most increase France's maritime trade volume by 20%, and would do little to increase the number of employed sailors.

In short, let Talleyrand negotiate with Selim III first.

When Joseph and everyone else left the restaurant and were about to go see the repair progress of the "Indomitable", he saw a naval officer running towards him quickly, first raised his hat to salute him, and then whispered a few words to the commander of the Brest Fleet, Rogiever.

Rogifor frowned and whispered, "Tell Colonel Meyer to send a few ships to search, and then write a report to me."

"Yes, General."

When the officer left, Joseph asked casually, "General Rogifort, what happened?"

"Nothing, Your Highness." Rogifor glared at the officer's back and stammered, "The patrol fleet discovered a smuggling ship, and the other side suddenly opened fire, killing several of our crew members, and then...ah, ran away."

This was quite an embarrassing incident for the navy, after all, they suffered a loss but still didn't catch the perpetrator.

In fact, the merchant ships of this era were not much worse in terms of performance, except that they were not as strong as warships and were equipped with fewer cannons. Therefore, if the navy was careless, the civilian ships would slip away.

When Joseph heard this, he was moved. Yes, since legal means are difficult to increase trade volume, aren't there still illegal... ahem, extraordinary means?

If the government encourages smuggling abroad and even provides certain "assistance", driven by huge profits, the volume of maritime trade will inevitably grow rapidly.

Smuggling ships definitely need a lot of sailors, so the problem of sailor shortage will be solved.

At the same time, smuggled goods can bypass tariffs at the destination and increase sales of French products.

Simply accomplishing multiple things with one stone!
Of course, where to smuggle needs to be chosen carefully.

The main control is in the British colonies in North America and the Far East, as well as the Portuguese colonies in South America. You can even try in Britain, Portugal, and Northern Europe.

However, normal trading partners such as Spain and Russia are strictly prohibited.

As for Britain and Portugal, will they be angered?
So what?
Judging from the intelligence currently available, Britain is already actively planning a "Continental Balance" and will declare war on France in a few years.

So, what impact will it have if smuggling is added as an item?

Besides, the British began issuing "privateer licenses" since the time of Elizabeth I, encouraging their citizens to go out to sea and rob merchant ships of other countries. Until the early 18th century, Queen Anne of England was still issuing privateering licenses and robbed countless things from France and Spain.

Since the British celebrate the first day of the month, why can't the French celebrate the fifteenth?

Moreover, France was only selling goods peacefully and was nowhere near as brutal as the British who were killing and robbing.

Thinking of this, Joseph patted Rogifort's shoulder vigorously and said with a smile: "Thank you very much for your help, General."

The latter was startled, thinking that the prince was mocking him, and stood at attention and said loudly: "Your Highness, please rest assured, I promise to catch those smugglers within three days!"

Joseph nodded, thinking that such a large-scale "official" smuggling must be carefully arranged and would involve many departments. He might have to go back to Versailles to discuss it with Briand. So he put the matter aside for the time being and talked to the Minister of the Navy about the plan to build a naval academy.

"Your Highness, the Navy's training camp in Vann is well-equipped, or we can expand it based on this." Marquis Castelli suggested, "This way, we can complete the construction in the shortest time and save money."

Joseph nodded. "Your proposal is very good. Based on the standard of training one thousand officers and professionals every year, how much do you estimate it will cost?"

The Marquis de Castelli hesitated for a moment and said, "It will probably cost 200 million francs."

He glanced at the crown prince, fearing that the latter would be frightened by the figure, and added: "If we make some adjustments, 150 million might be enough..."

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief secretly - the navy was indeed a money-eating behemoth. Before, all the army academies in the country combined did not cost so much money.

He said to the Minister of the Navy: "Just 200 million francs, and build it to a high standard."

He thought that if this happened, there wouldn't be much money left that Kalona had "raised" in the UK.

The next day.

Joseph was inspecting the naval training camp in Vane with the Marquis of Castelli, and Emmanuel brought an officer from the Intelligence Bureau to him.

Joseph took the secret report from the visitor, opened it, took a quick glance, and immediately frowned.

It said: Austrian State Minister Count Kaunitz resigned, Baron Turgut took over, and the Prussian-Austrian armistice agreement is currently being signed. The date was a week ago.

"Why so sudden?"

Joseph remembered that the French ambassador to Austria had reported to him last month that Kaunitz had overwhelmed the armistice faction and persuaded Leopold II to increase military strength in Silesia.

The officer of the Intelligence Bureau glanced at the Minister of the Navy, and seeing that the Crown Prince had no objection, he said, “Your Highness, it seems that Baron Walter, Baron Turgut and others have devised a conspiracy against Count Kaunitz.

"In addition, the intelligence agency believes that there are British people among them."

Joseph crumpled the secret report into a ball with a gloomy face. Britain in this era was indeed full of talented people, and they acted so quickly.

He originally believed that the stalemate between Prussia and Austria would last at least until the middle of next year before they could begin to withdraw their troops.

Once the war in the German region ceases, Britain can begin to integrate Prussia and Austria and direct its attack towards France.

Joseph immediately ordered Emand: "Please prepare the carriage, we will return to Paris immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness."

In the bumpy carriage, Joseph quickly organized his thoughts. Prussia and Austria had just experienced a war and were currently in a state of depleted national strength. Even if Britain could win them over, they did not have the strength to stand tough against France.

He tapped his fingers on the armrest, so now Poland was going to be pushed to the forefront.

Prussia can only recover quickly by taking a big bite out of Poland, and this has been what he has been planning all along, and now he finally has time.

Russia also ended the Russo-Swedish War. The next step must be for both sides to join forces and start the "Second Partition of Poland".

This is more than a year earlier than in history.

(End of this chapter)