Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 723 - 631 Deterrence

Chapter 723: Chapter 631 Deterrence

Additionally, there are usage fees for the wooden tracks and wages for the manual laborers.

With just over two million residents, these revenues could significantly raise the standard of living throughout Baden.

Frederick struggled to remain calm and offered an apologetic smile, “Your Highness, the cost of constructing these wooden tracks… as you know, our nation’s financial situation is such that I’m afraid we cannot come up with such an amount of money.”

“You need not worry,” Joseph raised his glass to signal him, “The Bank of France Reserve will offer you a loan of 900,000 francs for the track laying. You only need to provide the workers.”

Frederick’s lips turned up in excitement, clinking his glass with Joseph’s, “To Franco-Baden friendship! I really do not know how to express my gratitude, Crown Prince, you will always be my most sincere friend, may Jesus bless you!”

Joseph sipped his grape wine, set down his glass, and then assumed a serious expression, “Your Majesty, after such an important trade route is constructed, I worry it will attract the covetous glances of certain countries with ill intentions who might not hesitate to start a war to destroy it.”

Frederick was taken aback, thinking to himself that Baden was surrounded by France, Wurttemberg, and Austria, the first two being on good terms with him, and Austria, in its efforts to win over the German states, also showed him a friendly face. Who would come to attack him?

Before he could ask, Joseph continued with a firm tone, “In order to protect the trade route, our two nations should preemptively rehearse how to repel invaders!”

“Ah? What do you mean?”

“I propose that France and Baden each deploy an army to conduct joint military exercises along the trade route.”

“Is that really necessary?” Although Frederick had never heard the term “joint military exercise,” he could roughly guess what it meant.

Joseph nodded, “This is about an investment of 900,000 francs from our country, we must show certain nations our resolve to defend our trade!”

It was very clear what he meant—without the military exercises, there would be no loan of 900,000 francs, and Baden would not become a trade hub.

Frederick hesitated, “Your Highness, we will only conduct exercises, our troops will absolutely not cross the border, and the French Army will withdraw back to its own territory after the exercises are over?”

“That’s right. We can start by signing a joint military exercise agreement, and include all these terms in it.”

Frederick breathed a sigh of relief and finally, tempted by the huge benefits, raised his glass to Joseph, “Here’s to the success of our joint military exercises.”

…

Hessen-Darmstadt.

Marburg.

The Chief Foreign Advisor of Upper Hesse, the highest official responsible for diplomatic affairs here, Anst Werner von Lutsk, looked at Bailly as if he was a shrewd merchant, “10 million francs, I must admit, is indeed very tempting.”

Bailly added with a smile, “And only at 3% interest.”

Lutsk leaned back and shook his head, “Still, no amount of loans can solve our country’s severe trade imbalance with France.”

He spread his hands, “You know, loans eventually run out, and then they must be repaid. After that, our nation’s trade deficit will continue to expand.”

Bailly frowned inwardly; he’d successfully reached agreements with both Wurttemberg and Augsburg, but Upper Hesse, backed by the North German trade zone, proved to be much more difficult.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince had analyzed all possible scenarios with him before departure. He immediately followed the prearranged plan, “You could certainly use this money to promote domestic industrial development.”

“Oh? Can you elaborate?”

“For instance, you could subsidize industries with potential for growth,” Bailly suggested, “With the funds, workshop owners could improve production processes, buy more sophisticated equipment, or even increase the wages of their workers, allowing them to work more meticulously.”

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“A few years ago, our industries such as papermaking and iron smelting were totally uncompetitive; it was only through the use of subsidies that we were able to gradually improve,”

Lutsk subconsciously nodded in agreement. What the Frenchman was saying seemed quite reasonable— wasn’t that how industrial upgrades were accomplished?

However, Joseph had not told him that directly subsidizing factories was unlikely to promote industrial progress. On the contrary, factories could become dependent on the profitability brought by subsidies, and were likely to close down shortly after the cessation of such subsidies.

Bailly continued to offer advice, “Look, for just 1.5 million francs, you could buy several hundred steam engines from the French United Steam Engine Company. Oh, I could even help you get a discount.

“These steam engines will help your wool textile industry make a leap forward.”

Finally, Lutsk showed some interest. He knew that the textile industries of England and France had dramatically reduced costs by relying on steam engines—perhaps Hesse could follow this path.

He looked at Bailly again and nodded, “I will report this matter to His Majesty.”

…

March 10, 1792.

The states parties to the “Rhine-Saone Treaty” gathered at Karlsruhe Palace to vote on a proposal concerning the overall trade pattern.

Willberforce, as the British negotiating representative, stood before a floor-to-ceiling window, speaking softly with the Austrian representative, Count Rheinphels.

The second British Finance Minister was deeply embroiled in the “Instigation of the Negro Revolt whirlpool” and had to take on this task to temporarily escape the storm in England.

“You don’t need to worry about the little moves by the French,” he said with a confident smile. “Our country could also offer those loans, and even if the amounts are slightly less, those states would consider the benefits of renegotiating trade agreements, and they should stand with us.”

Count Rheinphels still seemed unsure, “Baden and Wurttemberg are almost certain to listen to the French. Augsburg and Upper Hesse must all cast favorable votes to ensure England’s accession to the treaty.”

“Tomorrow I will contact their representatives again to ensure…”

A distant rumble like thunder interrupted him, followed by several more roars.

Willberforce and the Austrian exchanged glances, frowning, “Sounds like cannons?”

Count Rheinphels gestured to a guard at the door, “What’s going on over there?”

Before the guard could answer, a court official from Baden approached with a face full of smiles and bowed, “Please, do not worry, sirs. It’s the ‘Steadfast Will’ joint military exercises.”

At the same time, in another large room on the west side, Hesse’s representative, Lutsk, frowned, “Joint military exercises?”

“It’s an exercise conducted by our country and France to protect trade routes. In total, 50,000 troops from both sides are participating.” The court official was eager to explain, “If you are interested, you could go to the northern suburbs to watch.”

Lutsk hesitated briefly before instructing his entourage to prepare a carriage and then hurried to the north of Karlsruhe.

As the carriage continued to advance, the smell of gunpowder in the air grew thicker, and when there were almost no houses visible around, suddenly a burst of dense drumming came from ahead.

The coachman hurriedly reined in the horses, only to see a line of soldiers clad in immaculate white military uniforms, carrying Auguste-style caplock guns, marching in orderly columns past the vehicle.

There were also supply wagons mixed in with the troops, and cavalry constantly patrolling on both sides of the procession or loudly transmitting military orders.

Lutsk waited for an hour, as the column of troops was tens of thousands of people strong, and his carriage was like a leaf in the raging waves before this mighty army.

After the soldiers’ figures had disappeared, a French Army officer approached the carriage and, after inquiring about Lutsk’s identity, pointed towards a nearby hill and said, “If you’re interested in the exercises, you can watch the whole thing from over there.”