Chapter 437: Catherine II's Return

Chapter 438 Catherine II's Return

The second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

Joseph couldn't help but smile as he looked at the statistical report on the World Expo that Bailly had just compiled.

He originally just wanted to use the opportunity of the World Expo and the installation of gas street lamps in Paris to promote France.

Unexpectedly, before the World Expo ended, the current amount of various commercial orders had reached more than 6 million francs.

And this is the number of contracts signed in the business hall. According to Bailly's estimation, including private transactions, the total amount should exceed 10 million francs.

Among them, nearly 70% are orders from France. After all, France is the host country, the exhibition hall is the most fully prepared, and the promotion of the products is very successful, so it is not surprising that it attracts a large number of buyers.

Although many of these orders may not be completed in the end, as long as 60% to 70% can be implemented, it will greatly promote the sales of French industrial products.

You know, this is just an exhibition, and buyers are still trying to get the products.

When these goods flow into the markets of various European countries, are recognized by local people, and form a stable demand, that is when the sales of French industrial products will explode.

Thanks to the Treaty of Eden signed by France and Britain, and the Treaty of the Rhine-Seine signed with half of the German countries, these goods will not encounter too much obstacles to enter the above countries.

After the funds are recovered, a positive cycle of production-sales-funds-research and development will be formed. In addition, Joseph provides guidance for the industrial development of France. It can be foreseen that France will have a very high probability of winning the competition in the first industrial revolution.

However, Joseph also saw from this expo that other European countries are also paying more and more attention to industrial development. Not to mention Britain, the leader of the industrial revolution, whether it is the German countries or the Italian countries, they have set their sights on the coal and steel industries and started to get in touch with steam engine technology.

There is no way. The circle in Europe is so small. Whoever comes up with something good, other countries will immediately follow suit. Historically, after the Industrial Revolution in Britain, other major European powers also started the industrialization process. Even Austria, which was the slowest, was only 20 years behind Britain.

So Joseph did not dare to slack off in promoting the development of French industry.

The world of this era follows the law of the jungle - powerful countries will never have any mercy on weak countries. Especially the strongest country at present is Britain, a guy who has made trouble in his genes.

France must be strong enough to deal with the hostility and subversion that the British will inevitably carry out, so the pace of industrialization must be accelerated.

Joseph handed the statistical documents of the World Expo back to the Minister of Commerce, and then reminded:

"Please try your best to provide support to the factories of these orders, especially those involving the textile, steel, and chemical industries. If you encounter any problems, report directly to me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Baiyi bowed slightly, discussed some things about the closing ceremony of the World Expo with Joseph, and then got up and left.

Berthier and the Minister of Commerce, who had been waiting for a long time, nodded and walked quickly into the office of the Crown Prince. They bowed to Joseph and said:

"Your Highness, I received news from Vienna at noon that the Lefebvre Corps has arrived in Brunn. It is expected that the Royal Guard Corps' troops in Silesia will be fully assembled within 5 days."

Joseph nodded: "Please ask the General Staff to convey my order to the Guard Corps. The entire army will temporarily rest in Austria. I will rush to Silesia immediately after the World Expo."

Berthier was a little surprised and said:

"Your Highness, are you going to Silesia?"

After all, in his mind, France's battle in Silesia was mainly a gesture to Austria, and there was no need for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to go in person.

"Yes," Joseph nodded, "we will have some fierce battles there, so I must be on the front line."

Seeing the puzzlement in Berthier's eyes, Joseph smiled and said:

"The current border between Prussia and Austria is almost the same as before the war. In this way, they can easily negotiate a ceasefire.

"And if Prussia loses part of Silesia, do you think they will accept this result?"

Berthier immediately realized something and hurriedly said:

"Your Highness, in this case, we will face 120,000 Prussian troops."

"You must have confidence in the French soldiers." Joseph said, "Besides, sooner or later, we will face such a war, and it is also good for the army to accumulate experience as soon as possible. "

Joseph knew very well that as long as the German countries could not form a joint force, Britain alone could not pose a serious threat to France on the European continent. So the hot spot of Silesia must continue to heat up.

...

Russia.

St. Petersburg.

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

"You mean, France will invest heavily in Donbass and send people to develop it there?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Talleyrand bowed and said, "This is a plan personally formulated by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Three companies have confirmed that they will invest, and one of them is the Silk Steel Company, which currently has the highest output in France. You may have heard of it. "

Ekaterina II had not waited for the reply from the ambassador to France on whether France agreed to the Franco-Russian marriage. She originally thought that France would pursue a policy of keeping a certain distance from Russia, but she did not expect that the French Crown Prince would immediately send a big gift.

Could it be that the French were not satisfied with Alexandra's bloodline, but still wanted to strengthen relations with us?

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

"So, what does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hope to get in return?"

Talleyrand smiled sincerely:

"Your friendship is the greatest reward for France.

"Oh, in fact, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believes that coal or iron mines are likely to be discovered in the Donbass region, so developing there will be of great benefit to both our countries. "

Joseph knew that real diplomacy could not be like in TV dramas, where you go to someone's house to buy a piece of wasteland at a low price, quietly dig out the resources, and then secretly transport it back home.

Others would only feel deceived, and at the same time covet the huge benefits of resources, and eventually it would inevitably develop to tearing up the agreement and becoming enemies with each other.

And if I told Ekaterina from the beginning that I was sure that there were coal and iron mines in Donbass, but it was still wasteland. You could set a price, and if you really dug out the resources in the future, don't feel that you were at a disadvantage.

The Russian Tsar smiled and nodded:

"I can give the mining rights of 20,000 Russian acres of land in the Donbass region to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in response to his kindness."

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