Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 671 - 580: Promotion

Chapter 671 -580: Promotion

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Kaunitz had no idea that a net targeting him had been quietly cast four months earlier.

Hungary had received promises of benefits from Wallachia—courtesy of the English who had secured them from Russia.

Located to the south of Hungary, Wallachia stood to make the Hungarian nobility the major beneficiaries if Austria decided to expand in that direction. Therefore, they were most eager to end the Silesian conflict, so that the Emperor could turn his attention towards the Balkans.

Several influential Bohemian nobles had been bribed by the English, constantly interfering with Vienna’s efforts to collect military funds.

At the same time, Baron Tugut had assured them that once he assumed the position of State Minister, he would grant them greater autonomy. This led the Bohemian Congress to promptly side with the peace faction.

...

Other powers were even easier to turn. Some Slavic ethnicities did not even ask for benefits; merely a signal from Russia was enough for them to eagerly act against Kaunitz.

Of course, the attitude of the Holy Roman Empress Ludovica was also crucial. As her representative, Baron Walter lobbied throughout Austria to ensure that key powers did not change sides at the last minute.

Time moved into July.

In the office of the Austrian Minister of State, Kaunitz’s face was ashen as he looked at the documents on war preparations in front of him, his hands trembling slightly with anger.

Although troops were gathering more and more at the frontlines, almost nowhere had the funds he needed been raised.

Not to mention that there was still a near 70% shortfall in military supplies, and at the current rate of military expenditure, in no more than three months there would be the issue of being unable to pay the soldiers’ salaries…

…

Paris.

On the Seine River docks, workers were busily loading crates of fashion and synthetic board furniture onto ships.

These several ships belonged to the “Blue Sky Commerce Team” of the French Trade Alliance; they intended to take advantage of the tariff reductions in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and transport as many goods as possible there for selling.

As for the source of the goods, naturally, they were from the previously produced order scams.

With the factories having lost their orders, and having received parts of the deposits, as well as subsequent government compensation, they were all willing to set prices extremely low, hoping to sell what they could to recoup some costs.

After receiving the negotiation results sent back by Talleyrand, Joseph ordered the French Trade Alliance to start selling the overstocked products in the factories to the Southern Netherlands and Tuscany. Of course, a lot was also shipped to the German states since the markets in the former two places were too small to absorb the surplus of products worth over ten million francs.

Now the advantage of the government having a large-scale merchant fleet at its disposal became apparent.

Upon issuing the order, it took less than half a month to get the purchasing from various factories fully underway, and they could negotiate a unified industry price in the name of the Trade Alliance, reducing transportation costs to around 85% of the original.

At the same time, to protect French industry, Joseph instructed that the Trade Alliance’s purchase price must not be lower than 80% of the usual normal price.

Merchant fleets not part of the Trade Alliance, who originally wanted to profit from the situation, were forced to raise their purchasing prices due to this minimum price.

On the deck of the Blue Sky Commerce Team, salespeople were undergoing their final training session.

The course, set up by the Trade Minister at Joseph’s instruction, would provide commerce team personnel with many modern sales techniques.

There was no choice; there was simply too much overstocked product this time, and it would have been virtually impossible to sell it off in a short time using conventional sales methods.

He also rejected Bailly’s suggestion of “discount sales.”

Such large-scale discounting would inevitably lower the “prestige” of French goods. Once the price dropped, it would be difficult to raise it again.

Thus, Joseph had to figure out a solution in sales techniques.

Onboard “Elephant Turtle”, the commerce team members were shouting aloud, “Today it’s not for sale at 99 florins, not for sale at 9 florins, just for 9 crowns, take home this Nancy refined high-carbon pure industrial axe!”

“9 crowns, you can’t lose, you can’t be fooled, truly value for your money!”

“Today I, Paul, am here to distribute benefits to the families! Normally, this skirt designed by top Parisian designers, look at this material, this style, this craftsmanship, must sell for at least 100 florins. Today, not for 100 florins, just for 90! A 10% discount! Not just 10%, buy a skirt and I’ll throw in a pure silver brooch! Look at this craftsmanship, usually this brooch alone costs 15 florins! Say I lack sincerity? Okay, I’m all in, buy the skirt and I’ll add a belt! Look at this embroidery level, it can easily sell for 15 florins in Paris! It’s as if you’re getting this skirt for just 60 florins…”

“Today’s special welfare goods are limited to 50 pieces! Once sold out, I’m leaving, not one more. If you want to buy such good things at this price again, you’ll have to wait till next year! Oh, and the families who bought items, remember to enter the raffle, the grand prize is the most fashionable synthetic board wardrobe!”

The salespeople of the commerce team were dead serious, rehearsing their pitches until they knew them inside out.

They had tried this in France, and with this kind of “shouting,” sales could even increase tenfold! People rushed to buy as if they were under a spell.

…

On a coach heading for the eastern suburbs of Paris, Trade Minister Bailly was reporting the preparations of the Trade Alliance to the Crown Prince.

“…We have now purchased nearly five million francs worth of goods, expected to arrive in various places within 10 to 15 days. The sales training for the merchant fleets has also been completed, and I project that all will be sold out within one and a half months, by which time the subsequent goods should already be ready…”

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In fact, at this time in Austria, the Southern Netherlands, and various parts of Italy, someone was already promoting the “most fashionable French ‘Three Essential Marriage Gifts’.”

Mainstream newspapers were vividly describing the marital views of French women—for the quality of life in a small family, one must have at marriage:

“A set of French fashion,” “A set of synthetic board furniture,” “A set of French iron cookware.”

And they added a line, “French girls say, once-in-a-lifetime marriage shouldn’t shortchange oneself.”

Given France’s current trend of setting the fashion in Europe, coupled with such intense publicity, the “Three Essential Gifts” were believed to quickly become the recognized idea in the aforementioned regions.

Each room in Schonbrunn Palace had a hypocaust, which was not a fireplace that burned wood directly but rather had someone in the basement burning coal (initially, they used wood) and then sent the hot air up through pipes for heating. More precisely, they were akin to central air conditioning systems of ancient times, which was quite an advanced design for the era.

The famous Hall of Mirrors was where Mozart first performed at the age of six, hence embarking on his musical career. At that time, the child prodigy Mozart had fallen over, and a girl of his age helped him up; grateful, young Mozart said, “You’re so kind; when I grow up, I’ll marry you,” causing a good deal of laughter among the audience.