I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 632 Deterrence
In addition, there are fees for the use of the wooden tracks and porters' wages.

Baden has a population of just over 200 million, and this income is enough to significantly improve the living standards of the entire country.

Frederick tried to calm himself down and said with a smile:

"Your Highness, the cost of building the wooden track... As you know, given our country's financial situation, I'm afraid we can't afford that much money."

"Don't worry." Joseph raised his glass to him. "The French Reserve Bank will provide you with a loan of 90 francs for track laying. You only need to provide workers."

Frederick's mouth curled up with excitement, and he raised his glass and clinked it with Joseph's:
"Respect for the friendship between France and Pakistan! I really don't know how to express my gratitude. Your Highness, you will always be my most sincere friend. May God bless you!"

Joseph took a sip of wine, put down the glass, and changed his expression to a serious one:

"Your Majesty, after such an important trade route is built, I am worried that some countries with ill intentions will covet it and even start a war to destroy it."

Frederick was stunned, thinking that Baden was surrounded by France, Württemberg and Austria. The former two were on good terms with him, and Austria was also friendly to him in order to win over the German states. Who would come to fight him?
Before he could ask, Joseph continued in a firm tone: "In order to protect the trade routes, our two countries should rehearse in advance how to resist invaders!"

"Ah? What do you mean?"

"I propose that France and Brazil each send an army to conduct joint military exercises along the trade route."

"Is this... really necessary?" Although Frederick had never heard of the term "joint military exercise", he could roughly guess what it meant.

Joseph nodded: "This concerns our country's investment of 90 francs. We must let certain countries see our determination to defend trade!"

The meaning is very clear - without the military exercise, there would be no loan of 90 francs, and there would be no Baden as a trade center.

Frederick hesitated and said, "Your Highness, we are only conducting an exercise. The army will never cross the border, and after the exercise, the French army will withdraw back to the country?"

"That's right. We can first sign a joint military exercise agreement and include all these contents."

Frederick breathed a sigh of relief, and finally, under the temptation of huge benefits, raised his glass to Joseph:

"I wish our joint military exercise goes well."

……

Hesse-Darmstadt.

Marburg.

Ernst Werner von Lützke, the chief foreign affairs adviser of Upper Hesse and the person in charge of foreign affairs here, looked at Bailly with the look of a shrewd businessman:
"Ten million francs, I must admit, it is very tempting."

Bai added with a smile: "And the interest rate is only 3%."

Lutzker leaned back and shook his head. “But no amount of loans can solve the serious imbalance in our country’s trade with France.”

He spread his hands. “You know, the loans will eventually run out, and they will have to be repaid. After that, our trade deficit will continue to grow.”

Bailly frowned secretly. He had successfully reached agreements with Württemberg and Augsburg before, but Upper Hesse, which was backed by the North German trade zone, would be much more difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, the crown prince and he analyzed various possible situations before departure. He immediately followed the plan and said, "You can use this money to promote domestic industrial development."

"Oh? Can you tell me more about it?"

"For example, we can provide subsidies to industries with development potential," Bai said. "Once workshop owners receive funds, they can improve their production processes, purchase more sophisticated equipment, and even increase workers' wages to encourage them to work harder.

"A few years ago, our country's papermaking, ironmaking and other industries were not very competitive, and they were gradually improved with the help of subsidies."

Lutzker nodded subconsciously. What the Frenchman said seemed to make sense. But Joseph didn't tell him that directly subsidizing factories would basically not promote industrial progress. On the contrary, factories would become dependent on the profits brought by subsidies. Once the subsidies were cancelled, they would probably go bankrupt in a short time.

Bailly continued to offer advice: "Look, you only need to come up with 150 million francs to buy hundreds of steam engines from the French Union Steam Engine Company. Oh, I can even help you get a discount.

"These steam engines will help your wool textile industry take a leap forward."

Lützker was finally tempted. He knew that the textile industries of Britain and France had achieved significant cost reductions by relying on steam engines, and perhaps Hesse could also follow this path.

He looked at Bailey again and nodded, "I will report this to the Grand Duke."

……

1792 3 Month 10 Day.

The signatories to the Rhine-Seine Treaty gathered at the Royal Palace in Karlsruhe to begin voting on a resolution that would affect the entire trade pattern.

Wilberforce, the British negotiating representative, was standing in front of the French window, whispering something with the Austrian representative, Count Rheinfels.

The British second chancellor of the exchequer was caught up in the "vortex of inciting slave riots" and had to take the job in order to temporarily leave Britain to avoid the limelight.

"You don't need to worry about the French's tricks." He said with a confident smile, "We can also provide those loans, even if the amount is slightly smaller, but those countries will consider the interests of renegotiating the trade agreement and should stand on our side."

Count Rheinfels still seemed uneasy: "Baden and Württemberg will almost certainly listen to the French. Augsburg and Upper Hesse must all vote in favor to ensure that Britain will join the treaty."

"Tomorrow, I will contact their representatives again to ensure..."

"Bang——" A loud sound like thunder in the distance interrupted him, followed by several more roars.

Wilberforce and the Austrian looked at each other and frowned.
"It looks like a cannon?"

Count Rheinfels waved to the guards at the door:
"What's going on over there?"

Before the guard could answer, a Baden court official came over with a big smile on his face, bowed and said:

"Please don't worry, it's the 'Strong Will' joint military exercise."

At the same time, in another hall on the west side, Upper Hesse representative Lutzke frowned and said:

"Joint military exercises?"

"It's an exercise between our country and France to protect the trade routes. Both sides have deployed a total of 5 troops." The court official said attentively, "If you are interested, you can go to the northern suburbs to watch."

After a slight hesitation, Lützk ordered his followers to prepare a carriage, and then rushed to the north of Karlsruhe.

As the car continued to move forward, the smell of gunpowder in the air became thicker and thicker. When there were almost no houses to be seen around, suddenly a burst of dense drum sounds came from the front.

The driver hurriedly pulled in the reins, and then he saw a group of soldiers in neat white uniforms and carrying Augustus percussion rifles, passing in front of the carriage in an orderly line.

There were also baggage wagons mixed in the team, and cavalrymen were constantly patrolling back and forth on both sides of the team, or shouting out military orders.

Lützke waited for an hour, because the marching column numbered tens of thousands of people, and his carriage was like a fallen leaf in the surging waves in front of this huge army.

Just after the group of soldiers disappeared, a Baden officer came to the front of the car, first asked about Lutzke's identity, then pointed to a small hill not far away and said:

“If you’re interested in the drills, it’s a great vantage point to watch.”

(End of this chapter)