Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 666 575: True Sugar-Coated Cannonballs

"Crown Prince, there is no denying that beet sugar production is indeed a very novel technology,"

the reviewer from the Supreme Louis Award for Biomedical Science, the renowned French biologist Matilan Jacques Brison, said hesitantly, "However, it is also a useless one."

Another reviewer, Guillaume Bossk, added in a low voice, "Even harmful."

"Yes, even harmful," Brison nodded and continued, "In fact, two years ago when I went to Bavaria to study birds, I heard about Mr. Achard's technology.

"Using this technology to extract sugar from beets costs about 1.2 pounds per franc, while sugar cane from the Caribbean Sea region can produce 1.9 pounds. Oh, and that is after production 'on a scale' as Mr. Achard said; initial costs would be even higher.

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"That is to say, making sugar from beets would only result in a loss.

"Besides, our sugar plantations in Santo Domingo bring in tens of millions of francs a year, and if beet sugar production impacted their sales, it could be considered a form of destruction to the national treasury."

Joseph nodded slightly—he knew these biologists were right.

However, he looked at them and said, "Gentlemen, if England and France went to war, and the British fleet cut off the trade routes in the Caribbean Sea, no matter how much sugar Santo Domingo could produce, it couldn't be sold in Europe. How much would we have to pay for sugar then?"

Brison and the others were immediately stunned.

Although the French people's dependency on sugar was not as severe as the British, sugar was still a very important daily commodity, nearly one-fifth of dietary calories came from sugar.

Thus, once the sugar from Santo Domingo couldn't be brought in, France could only buy the high-priced sugar from England.

What Joseph didn't tell them was that historically, Napoleon had to promote beet sugar production at a loss because England had blockaded the sea routes. Although he barely managed to solve the sugar crisis in the European Continent, he also ended up pouring quite a lot of money into it.

Of course, Joseph had no intention of repeating Napoleon's mistakes; after all, his mind was filled with knowledge from the 21st century.

Bossk murmured, "But, Your Highness, we are not at war with England..."

"Perhaps, we have never been at peace with England," Joseph said calmly, "The Seven Years' War ended less than 30 years ago.

"Now, I need Mr. Franz Archard. Do you know how to find him?"

"Oh, yes, Your Highness," the Second President of the Talent Committee, Le Roy, hurriedly responded, "He and several Bavarian scholars are staying at the 'Old Eden Inn.' I will go invite him over right away."

Joseph nodded and said to Eman, "Have President Le Roy use my carriage."

He valued Achard so highly not only for countering the British naval blockade but also because beet sugar production could severely hit the British economy. If managed properly, it could also be quite profitable.

After all, England was the world's largest producer and consumer of sugar.

Everyone knew the British liked to drink tea, but in reality, it might be more accurate to say they preferred drinking sugared water. Without large amounts of sugar in their tea, they were pretty much unwilling to drink it.

British industrial workers worked extremely hard, so sugared drinks—including tea, coffee, and cocoa—became the sole joy of their lives. These drinks also had a revitalizing effect, helping them cope with strenuous work.

As for British nobility, they had turned tea drinking into a social ceremony.

Furthermore, the British were infamously terrible at cooking, so their chefs would add a great deal of sugar to their dishes to make them palatable.

Therefore, the whole British society was deeply dependent on sugar, spending up to 100 million francs on it every year![Note 1]

One could say that whoever controlled the sugar industry held the British economy by its lifelines.

Unfortunately, at this time, the sugar industry was in British hands.

So the British produced and consumed their own sugar; the more sugar they consumed domestically, the more they profited. Meanwhile, they could export massive amounts of sugar to Europe, the Americas, and Central Asia, making it one of their key economic pillars.

Currently, sugar cane plantations were concentrated on islands in the Caribbean Sea. Aside from Saint Domingo Island in French hands, the rest were essentially under British control—there was no helping it, the British Navy was too powerful and held unmatched superiority over the islands.

Moreover, the British controlled Brazil, a major sugarcane producer, but since Portugal and England were close allies, it was essentially part of the British sugar industry system as well.

At the moment, England's Antwerp and London had over a hundred refineries, producing more than eighty percent of Europe's sugar.

Achard's arrival gave Joseph the chance to tear a hole in Britain's "sugar hegemony."

Up until Archard walked into Tuileries Palace, strolling on the Champs-Elysees, his mind was still in a daze.

Then with his head still in a blank state, he entered, bowed, and at the Crown Prince's warm invitation, sat down on the couch.

"So to speak, you already have a complete set of production techniques for refining white sugar from beets?" Joseph asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes, Your Highness," Achard hurriedly nodded, "Actually, it was invented by my teacher, Dr. Magrav, and I further improved it.

"Oh, actually, my main work was in breeding beet varieties with a higher sugar content."

Joseph immediately asked, "Then what percentage of sugar content have your beets reached?"

Speaking of this, Achard's nervousness disappeared, and he proudly said, "It has already exceeded 8%, Your Highness."

Joseph praised him outwardly, but inwardly he frowned.

No wonder Napoleon had lost money on beet sugar production, the sugar content was indeed a bit low.

He remembered that in later times, the sugar content in beets was around 20%. So to compete with Caribbean cane sugar, beets would need further improvement.

He looked at Archard and asked, "How long do you think it would take to breed beets that have a sugar content of 12%?"

After a few seconds of silence, the latter put on a determined expression, "Your Highness, if you need it, I will spare no effort to breed such beets within 20 years!"

[Note 1] Although sugar production in the Caribbean Sea region is as low as 48 to 50 pounds per British Pound (that is, 1.9 pounds per franc), shipping it all the way back to Europe, undergoing a second phase of processing (such as removing the raw color, making cube sugar, etc.), along with packaging and sales, and making a small profit, the final retail price is essentially just over 1 pound per franc.

At the end of the 18th century, England consumed about 100 million pounds of sugar, costing them nearly 100 million francs.