Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 526 - 437 Catherine II’s Reward

Tuileries Palace, second floor.

Joseph looked at the World Fair statistics report Bailly had just compiled and couldn’t help but smile.

Initially, he only wanted to take advantage of hosting the World Fair and the opportunity to install gas streetlights in Paris to promote France extensively.

However, he hadn’t expected that, even before the fair had ended, orders had already reached more than six million francs.

Moreover, this was just the amount signed in the commercial hall; according to Bailly’s estimate, including private transactions, the total should exceed ten million francs.

Within this, nearly seventy percent of the orders were for France. After all, as the host country, France had the most thoroughly prepared exhibition pavilions and very successful product promotions, attracting a large number of buyers quite unsurprisingly.

Although many of these orders might not actually materialize in the end, as long as sixty to seventy percent did come to fruition, it would greatly boost the sales of French industrial products.

Bear in mind, this was just a fair, and buyers still approached the products with a trial attitude.

Once these products entered the markets of various European countries and gained local approval, creating stable demand, that would be the moment when French industrial product sales would surge dramatically.

Owing to treaties such as the Eden Treaty signed with England and the Rhine-Saone Treaty signed with half of the German states, these products would face little difficulty entering the aforementioned countries.

After the capital was recouped, creating a positive cycle of production, sales, funding, and research and development, and with Joseph providing guidance for the industrial development of France, it could be anticipated that France would have a very high chance of emerging victorious in the competition of the First Industrial Revolution.

However, Joseph also saw from this fair that other European countries were increasingly emphasizing industrial development. Not to mention England, the leader of the Industrial Revolution; whether it was the German states or the several states of Italy, they all had set their sights on the coal and steel industries and had begun to engage with steam engine technology.

It’s unavoidable; Europe is this small. If one country introduced something good, other nations would immediately follow suit. Historically, after the Industrial Revolution kicked off in England, the other major European powers also commenced industrialization in succession, with Austria, the slowest to move, lagging behind England by only twenty years.

Therefore, Joseph did not dare slacken in promoting French industrial development.

The world of this era adhered to the law of the jungle—powerful nations showed no mercy to weaker ones. Especially when the currently strongest nation was England, which had meddling ingrained in its DNA.

France had to be strong enough to counteract the hostility and subversion that the English would inevitably inflict, and for that, the pace of industrialization had to accelerate.

Joseph handed the statistical document of the World Fair back to the Minister of Commerce, adding:

"Please offer as much support as possible to the factories involved in these orders, especially those pertaining to textiles, steel, and the chemical industry. Should any difficulties arise, report them to me directly."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Bailly bowed slightly and discussed some matters regarding the closing ceremony of the World Fair with Joseph before rising and leaving.

Bertier, who had been waiting for some time, nodded to the Minister of Commerce and quickly stepped into the Crown Prince’s office. He bowed deeply to Joseph and then said:

"Your Highness, we received news from Vienna at noon that the Lefevre Corps has already arrived at Brunn. The Royal Guards in Silesia are expected to complete their assembly within five days."

Joseph nodded, "Please convey my orders to the Guard Corps through the General Staff: the entire army is to rest temporarily within Austrian territory. I will head to Silesia immediately after the end of the World Fair."

Bertier appeared somewhat surprised:

"Your Highness, are you going to Silesia?"

After all, in his mind, the battle involving France in Silesia was mainly posturing towards Austria, and there was no need for the Crown Prince to go personally.

"Yes," Joseph nodded, "we are going to engage in some intense battles there, so I must be present on the front lines."

Seeing the puzzled look in Bertier’s eyes, Joseph laughed and said:

"At present, the border line between Prussia and Austria is virtually unchanged from before the war began. This makes it easy for them to negotiate a ceasefire.

"But if Prussia were to lose part of Silesia, do you think they would accept that outcome?" Read exclusive content at novelbuddy

Bertier immediately realized something and hurriedly said:

"Your Highness, in that case, we would have to face 120,000 Prussian soldiers."

"You must have confidence in the soldiers of France," Joseph said. "Besides, we will eventually face such a great battle anyway, and it is beneficial for our troops to accumulate experience sooner rather than later."

Joseph was very clear that as long as the German states could not unite, England alone could not pose a serious threat to France on the European continent. Therefore, it was essential to keep the hotspot of Silesia active.

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Russia.

Saint Petersburg.

Catherine II looked at the French Foreign Minister in front of her with surprise:

"Are you saying that France will make large-scale investments in Donbass and send people there for development?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Talleyrand bowed and said. "This is a plan personally devised by the Crown Prince, and three companies have confirmed they will invest, one of which is the Hilker Steel Company, the largest producer in France at present. You may have heard of it."

Catherine II had not received a reply from the ambassador to France regarding whether France would agree to a Franco-Russian alliance through marriage. She had initially thought that France would maintain a certain distance from Russia, but she did not expect that the Crown Prince of France would immediately send such a generous gift.

Could it be that the French are not fully satisfied with Alexandra’s ancestry, but still want to strengthen relations with us?

She put aside the thoughts in her mind and asked Talleyrand again:

"Then, what does the Crown Prince expect in return?"

Talleyrand smiled most sincerely:

"Your friendship is the greatest reward for France.

"Oh, actually, the Crown Prince believes that it is very likely that coal or iron mines will be discovered in the Donbass region. Therefore, developing that area would be greatly beneficial for both our countries."

Joseph knew that real-life diplomacy could not be like a TV show, where you buy a piece of wasteland at a low price in someone else’s house, quietly find resources, and then secretly transport them home.

In such a scenario, the other party would only feel cheated while coveting the enormous benefits of the resources, which would inevitably lead to the tearing up of agreements and animosity.

If from the start he told Catherine that he was convinced that there were coal and iron ores in Donbass, and that it was currently wasteland, they should agree on a price, so that later when the resources were indeed extracted, there would not be any feeling of having been short-changed.

The Tsar of Russia smiled and nodded, saying:

"I can grant the Crown Prince the mining rights to 20,000 Russian acres of land in Donbass as a gesture of goodwill in response to his kindness."

One Russian acre is more than one hectare, so 20,000 Russian acres is definitely a vast area.