Chapter 348: The Bonus of War

Chapter 349 The dividend of war

Although Luxembourg is still nominally an Austrian territory, this does not prevent French merchants from coming here to conduct some normal trade.

The Austrian officials in Luxembourg have heard the news that His Majesty the Emperor is going to give Luxembourg to France as a reward for the latter's sending troops to fight Prussia, so they did not interfere with these "business activities".

Moreover, there are 20,000 French troops stationed in Luxembourg, a tiny piece of land that is not even a quarter the size of Corsica. Even if they have opinions, they dare only complain to acquaintances in the salon.

In the Place de la Toum in Luxembourg City, the Secretary-General of the French Steel Technology Association smiled and handed the signed agreements to the Luxembourg mine owners sitting opposite one by one.

The mine owners immediately grabbed the pen in a hurry, signed the agreement and stamped it with their private seals, as if they were afraid that the French would go back on their word.

After the agreement was signed, the notary and the lawyer announced that the agreement was effective. The mine owners smiled relaxedly and whispered to each other:

"Now we don't have to worry about the war destroying everything."

"I didn't expect the French to be willing to take over these iron mines..."

"Yes, although 30,000 livres is not much, it is enough for a family to live comfortably in Vienna."

"Oh, I plan to go to Brussels, of course, I have to wait until the rebellion there is quelled..."

Yes, the whole Luxembourg is currently shrouded in the shadow of war, especially the previous Prussian soldiers' not very strict military discipline, which makes the merchants here panic.

There have been rumors among the people that the Prussian and Hanoverian armies will have a decisive battle with the French army in Luxembourg. Such a small place, how can it withstand the destruction of 70,000 or 80,000 troops on both sides? After the war, there must be scorched earth everywhere.

Therefore, all Luxembourgers are eager to sell their assets. The high-quality open-pit iron ore that was difficult to buy before with hundreds of thousands of livres is now directly reduced by zero, and buyers have to beg for it before it can be sold.

In the middle of the VIP seats in front, Joseph also had a satisfied smile on his face. He bought all of these more than ten of the best iron mines in Europe for less than 800,000 livres in total, which is simply a bargain.

You know, Luxembourg's steel production will almost meet the needs of the entire Western Europe in the future. With these iron mines, it will play a strong supporting role in France's industrial revolution.

If the industrial revolutions of European countries enter a stage of rapid development and the demand for coal and iron surges, the value of these iron mines may exceed 100 million livres!

As for the war, even if half of France's military force is transferred to Luxembourg, Joseph will not let it be affected by the war.

Because he has absolute confidence in regional stability, he even took advantage of this wave of sales to buy a lot of handicraft workshops and high-quality land.

The former can provide a large number of skilled smelting and mining workers, and the latter is used to build ironworks.

In fact, several of France's most rapidly developing steelmaking companies, including Grigor Brothers Steel and Silk Steel, have already arrived in Luxembourg City, waiting to expand new plants here.

They have long been fed up with the low-yield and mediocre iron ore in France. Previously, they had to import a large amount of iron ore from Russia or buy crude iron ingots from Luxembourg, which was very costly.

Now, their smelter can be built directly next to the iron ore, and the price of ore is extremely favorable, which will greatly improve the cost, quality and output of the iron ingots they produce.

In particular, they had obtained Joseph's "hot blast ironmaking" technology from the French Steel Technology Association before. After half a year of exploration, they have basically mastered it and completed small-scale trial production in China. Now it is just right to use the new technology to build a factory in Luxembourg, and the refined iron and steel produced can be sold to German countries nearby to obtain lucrative profits.

For Joseph, as long as he holds the core resource of iron ore firmly, he does not have to worry about these private capitals losing control.

After all, to develop the coal and iron industry of the whole France, it is far from enough to rely solely on royal investment and operation. Private enterprises must be encouraged to participate to the greatest extent. Joseph can provide them with advanced technology and ideas, and help them open up the market with state actions to ensure that every livre of investment can get a considerable return.

After these private companies develop, they can contribute a lot of taxes to support the French finances, and ultimately bring about an improvement in the overall national strength.

This is also the first dividend brought by France after winning the war in Luxembourg. Moreover, Luxembourg is a very small place, and it is close to France. Before the industry develops, it will not attract too much attention from the powers. It is definitely the best choice for France to expand its overseas influence.

After the signing ceremony, Joseph read a congratulatory speech in the crowd, and then motioned everyone to go to the signing banquet, but he was planning in his heart that if he could obtain the Wallonia region of the Southern Netherlands in the future, how to combine the rich coal resources there with the iron resources of Luxembourg to become the coal and iron core of France's industrial development!

Then, Joseph thought of the security issues in this area again, and couldn't help frowning.

After all, Wallonia and Luxembourg are both located in the most marginal areas of France. Once a war breaks out, the enemy can easily attack here, causing huge damage to France's coal and iron core.

"So, it is best to turn Wallonia and Luxembourg into inland provinces, so that we can have a certain strategic depth..." Joseph boarded the carriage and looked out the window at the Luxembourg and Luxembourg people who were flocking to the banquet hall with smiles on their faces. The French businessman couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Everyone can just enjoy the results, but he has to worry about the whole of France.

…

Paris.

Eden Playground.

"Wow, it's like flying into the sky!"

Accompanied by childish cheers, the little girl sitting on the merry-go-round tightly grasped the handle with one hand and raised her other hand high like a riding crop, letting her goose-yellow skirt and beautiful braid fly in the wind. , and her gentle big blue eyes were full of excitement and intoxication.

After the wooden horse turned around again, she turned her baby-fat face and shouted to the bored man standing outside the fence:

"Uncle Alexei, can you make it fly faster?"

"Oh, Her Majesty Grand Duchess Alexandra, I told you not to call me that," Alexei lowered his voice and put on a dissatisfied expression, "There are no outsiders here."

But he still winked at the guard on the side, who immediately ran to ask the amusement park employees, then quickly returned and whispered a few words to him.