Chapter 554 Hope's Revenge

Chapter 555 Hope’s Revenge

"Actually, these fish and cured meats are quite good." The Duke of Leeds carefully cut the pieces of meat on the plate. "When I was serving in the Navy, I ate cured meats for two consecutive months. Oh, that's not it. This is top quality stuff. It needs to be soaked in water for two hours before being cracked open with a hammer."

He said, shaking his fork: "Maybe you are not used to these things, but you will be fine just wait until you get to Petersburg. The Russian court is full of French cooks."

Grenville laughed: "To be honest, although the French are quite disgusting, no one can refuse their cooks."

"Especially the Russians." The Duke of Leeds took a sip of wine and continued, "Their palace regulations require that the chief chef must be French. Well, the Tsar safely handed over his stomach to them.

"Oh, I want to say that your journey this time may not be easy."

"Yes, I am mentally prepared." Grenville nodded, "After all, the Tsar's granddaughter seems to be still in Paris."

He exhaled and smiled again: "However, I am also confident. Speaking of which, your side is also full of challenges."

The Duke of Leeds ate the last piece of bread, picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth: "I am an old man and can only help you warm up the scene. After all, I still have a few old friends in Vienna.

"But whether the agreement can be signed in the end depends on young people like you."

As he spoke, he remembered something again, and said with a complaint in his tone: "Do you and Mr. Peter really believe that Dutchman?

"When I lost 300,000 pounds in North Africa, the guys in the parliament were chasing me like a mad dog, but this time they want us to invest nearly 500,000 pounds here."

He leaned forward and whispered: "Have you ever thought that maybe he made some kind of deal with a businessman in Vienna?"

"It's possible." Grenville nodded, "But based on the possible benefits, the risk is worth taking. Besides, this money also includes a loan of 170,000 pounds provided by Hope's bank. I heard that he opened The interest paid is very low.”

"This poor guy is blinded by hatred." The Duke of Leeds muttered, and then added, "Another problem is that the businessmen in Vienna may not be willing to sell their credibility for this little money."

"It's a large sum of money." the Foreign Secretary corrected, "even if it is divided into the hands of 50 businessmen, they can get more than the usual two or three years.

"More importantly, you may be overlooking the hostility of Austrian merchants to France. This would make them more than happy to see the French suffer misfortune."

"Oh? But if I remember correctly, Austria is the initiator of the Treaty of the Rhine-Seine."

"This wonderful agreement is the source of hostility." Grenville also finished his lunch, stood up and motioned to the door, "Do you want to go on the deck to enjoy the breeze?"

"Good advice, it's rare to see such good sunshine in London."

The two walked along the winding stairs to the deck, and Grenville continued: "When the Austrians signed this agreement, they thought that with the low tariffs promised by France, their trade volume in France could be greatly increased.

"Of course, they did it. Their trade with France increased by 35% last year. But at the same time, France's exports to Austria almost doubled.

"What's more important is that France's trade volume with other South German countries that joined the agreement has increased even more. Baden has increased by 120%, and Württemberg has increased by 105%.

"These places were originally Austrian markets. In the end, the Austrians found that the money they made in France was far less than what France made them. At the same time, the South German market became more and more fond of French products.

"In fact, many businessmen in Vienna have called for withdrawing from the Treaty of the Rhine-Seine or re-signing it after excluding France."

The Duke of Leeds laughed: "So where does the 'Seine' in the treaty come from?"

"Who knows, maybe Switzerland will be brought in." Grenville also smiled. "In short, please believe that you will get many supporters in Vienna. The only thing you have to pay attention to is confidentiality."

"I have an old friendship with the president of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. You can rest assured on this." The Duke of Leeds said, "Last point, do you really think what the Dutch said will happen?"

"I can only say that there is a great possibility." Grenville nodded, "Honestly, Hope does know France very well, and he grasped this timing very accurately.

“France has just carried out tax reform, which means that their finance minister has not been able to get the huge tax package as in previous years.

“This makes their finances very fragile. The lack of experience of the government tax officials who have just taken office will make their tax situation even worse.

"Oh, I just got the news from Mr. Hartry last week that France's tax collection in January only achieved 83% of the original target. Oh, poor Mr. Hartry, in fact, he did a very good job, but he It’s unfair to be dismissed because of the re-signing of the Treaty of Eden.”

Two senior British officials walked past the sailors saluting them on the deck and came to the bow of the ship.

“At the same time, Hope also mentioned one of the most critical issues, which is the French’s reliance on their ‘Industrial Development Fund’.”

The Duke of Leeds looked at the calm sea in the distance and wondered: "That seems to be just an institution used by the French government for industrial investment, right?"

"Yes," Grenville nodded, "but it has a more important responsibility, that is, the debtor of the French nobles.

"The French used this institution to complete the previous banking restructuring and introduced a large amount of debt into industrial investment."

The Duke of Leeds finally heard something: "So, if this fund has problems, the nobles of Versailles will go crazy?"

"Indeed. Hope mentioned that although the amount of funds in this development fund is large, most of them are invested in France's textile, steel, coal and other industries, and the cash on hand is very limited.

"If your actions go smoothly, French factories will be short of funds in large numbers, and the development fund as a major shareholder will be unable to provide them with financial support. When these factories go bankrupt, it will inevitably lead to huge losses for the fund.

"This will buy a lot of time for the preparation stage of our strategic plan and be a wonderful start."

The Duke of Leeds patted the railing: "Okay, then I will let the Austrian businessmen place orders as much as possible. ”

…

A day later, the Polyphemus docked at the port of Mecklenburg and then took a carriage to Vienna.

Grenville continued on the ship, landed in Riga, and was summoned by Catherine II as he wished a few days later.