I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 597 Polish Song II

Although Poland is located on the vast East European plains, has rich mineral resources and convenient inland shipping, it has been ruined by an extremely stupid political model.

At present, Poland has almost no decent industry, and its financial pillar is grain exports. However, due to the constraints of serfdom, grain production is not particularly high.

So Poland is quite poor, and its military spending is even more stretched.

Under the previous wave of nationalism, there were many Poles willing to join the army, but the country could not afford to support them.

France's finances are also quite tight, so naturally it won't directly "throw money" in aid like the UK does.

Joseph's solution for Poland was to fully exploit the Tarnovskaya Silver Mine.

In his memory, this was the world's largest silver mine in the 21st century, with an annual output of thousands of tons.

He had learned from Brian that the current output of this silver mine was less than 3 pounds, or about 14 tons, which would be worth about 200 million francs if all the coins were minted.

Therefore, Joseph judged that most of this silver mine had not yet been explored. If the mining volume could be increased six or seven times, Poland's military expenditure could be easily solved.

This time, he even asked Sieyès to bring several French geologists to Poland. When the new mine was excavated, France could also invest in it and make some extra money.

Upon hearing this, Prince Poniatowski shook his head helplessly: "You may not know much about the situation in Krakow. We have already mined all the places that can be mined there.

"There are indeed many places around where mineral deposits have been found, but the mineral veins there are deep, and they need to be mined through underground tunnels. There is a lot of groundwater in Krakow, and after the tunnel is dug through, it will be submerged by groundwater within three or four days at most..."

This was beyond Sieyès’s expertise, so he could only say helplessly, “I will consult Mr. Peche about this matter.”

Pesche was the geologist who came to Poland with him.

The dinner ended quickly. The next day, Stanislaw II and his nephew took Sieyès to the military camp to visit Poland's most elite infantry division.

In the camp, thousands of soldiers fully equipped with Prussian weapons were lined up in neat squares for inspection.

An officer with a high nose bridge and tough facial features waved his sword and shouted, "Begin!"

Military music sounded around them, and the soldiers began to demonstrate the transformation from square formation to charging column. The whole process was very fast and orderly, reaching the level of the old French army.

Prince Poniatowski pointed to the officer and introduced Sieyès: “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince recommended General Tadeusz Kościuszczuk to me. Oh, he was only a lieutenant colonel at that time. So I tried to hand over an army to him.

"Your Highness is obviously right. General Kosciuszko quickly demonstrated his talent for command and has now been promoted to Lieutenant General, serving as the commander-in-chief of the 3rd Royal Infantry Division guarding Warren."

Volyn is a strategic location in the south-central part of Poland, where 60% of the Polish army is stationed. In other words, Kościuszczuk is now almost the second-in-command of the Polish Army.

This Polish national hero, who had never been defeated in the "Second Melon War", was reused two years earlier due to Joseph's intervention.

With two more years of working with the army, I believe he will be able to play a stronger role in the fight against invasion.

Prince Poniatowski continued: “Of course, apart from the two royal divisions, the combat effectiveness of other troops is far inferior to that of the Russian army, not to mention the newly recruited soldiers.

"If I had a few more years, I would be confident that I could train my army to a level that is superior to that of the Russians."

Sieyès said: “But I’m afraid you don’t have so much time, we have to find other ways.

“I brought gunsmiths with me this time. They will help you improve the production and quality of your weapons.

"Oh, by the way, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also suggested that you restore the establishment of the Winged Hussars." "Winged Hussars?" The prince smiled and shook his head, "Their glory has been left in legends. In today's battles, those wings are of no use other than to show off their majesty."

"No, they are useful," said Sieyès. "They are the pride of Poland and the symbol of its spirit. You don't need to equip the Winged Hussars with heavy armor like before, but as long as they have a pair of wings, they can boost the morale of all soldiers!"

"This..." The prince hesitated for a moment, but out of respect for his French friend, he nodded and said, "Okay, I will form a cavalry battalion and give it a try."

Sieyès repeated Joseph's suggestion on military construction to the prince, and finally said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has another suggestion that can buy time for Poland, but..."

He looked at Stanislaw II standing beside him and said, "This will require certain sacrifices on the part of Your Majesty the King."

"I can give everything for Poland," the latter said without hesitation.

He was not just shouting slogans. Historically, he was even willing to give up the throne to promote the unity of Poland. However, in terms of his ability to govern the country, he was relatively average, and in the end he could only watch the country fall apart.

Sieyès bowed to him first, then said: "Your Highness suggests that you go to Petersburg more often to talk to the Tsar... and reminisce about the past. You should show her a submissive attitude as much as possible, so that she feels that Poland can be conquered without war."

Stanislaw II was once Catherine's lover, and he ascended the throne with the support of Russia.

"How can this be possible?!" Prince Poniatowski immediately objected, "Your Majesty represents Poland, he has to manage the entire country!"

"This is just a suggestion." Sieyès said calmly, "Excuse me, those nobles have been slandering Your Majesty as an agent of Russia, so...Excuse me, Your Majesty's support in the country is not very high."

Stanislaw II took a deep breath and nodded, "You are right, and I can go to Russia. However, if the Polish people knew that their king was trying to please the Tsar, they would be disappointed and their morale would collapse..."

Sieyès also took a deep breath and looked at Prince Poniatowski: “As long as there is another hero who can unite people, this will not be a problem.”

"What are you talking about? This is absolutely not okay!"

"This is indeed a good idea. I think we can give it a try."

The first sentence was said by the prince, and the second sentence was said by the King of Poland.

……

Second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

Joseph frowned slightly as he looked at the report Sieyès had just delivered.

No wonder the silver mines in Tarnovskaya Gora are so poorly exploited; it turns out the Poles have tried it.

He found the exploration conclusion attached to the report - there was still serious water seepage in the underground tunnel as deep as 80 meters. Although the silver reserves were high, it was impossible to mine.

"If it's just groundwater..."

Joseph suddenly thought of something and asked Emand to find a geology expert from the University of Paris.

Two hours later, an old scholar in his fifties or sixties sat opposite Joseph, looked at the exploration data, and shook his head:

"Your Highness, given the amount of water here, it is impossible to drain it with the current equipment. Although the steam engine is rated to be able to pump water from a depth of 90 meters, that is a conclusion drawn in a laboratory environment."

(End of this chapter)