Chapter 684: Chapter 593: You Start on the First Day, I’ll Follow Up on the Fifteenth

However, given the current situation in France, it was anything but easy to rapidly increase maritime trade.

Joseph absentmindedly finished his lunch but still hadn’t thought of any particularly effective solutions.

The major maritime trade nodes for France at the moment–the United States, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire–were already saturated, with Russia even being somewhat overloaded.

Only trade with the Ottoman Empire could possibly be expanded, but this would certainly require lengthy diplomatic negotiations and the concession of some interests to the Ottomans.

Even if successful, this would, at best, increase France’s maritime trade volume by only 20%, which would have a marginal effect on stimulating the number of sailors.

In any case, let Talleyrand negotiate with Selim III for now.

After Joseph left the dining room with the others, just as he was about to check on the repair status of the “Indomitable”, he saw a navy officer hastening toward him, saluting him by lifting his hat, and then whispering a few words to Brest Fleet Commander Roger Fier.

Roger Fier frowned slightly and replied in a low voice, “Let Colonel Mayer send a few ships to search, just write me a report afterward.”

“Yes, General.”

The officer departed, and Joseph casually inquired, “General Roger Fier, what happened?”

“Nothing much, Your Highness,” Roger Fier glared at the retreating figure of the officer and stammered, “The patrol fleet found a smuggling ship, and the smugglers unexpectedly opened fire, killed a few sailors, and then… ah, they escaped.”

This was rather embarrassing for the navy, having suffered a loss without catching the culprits.

In those days, merchant ships weren’t as sturdy as warships and had fewer cannons, but their performance wasn’t much worse. Therefore, a moment of naval carelessness could allow a merchant ship to slip away.

Upon hearing this, Joseph had a thought. Yes, if legal methods couldn’t boost trade volume, wasn’t there still illegal… ahem, extraordinary methods?

If the government organized smuggling operations to foreign lands and even provided some “support”, the volume of maritime trade would certainly surge under the lure of huge profits.

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The smuggling ships would undoubtedly require lots of sailors, thereby solving the shortage of sailors.

At the same time, smuggling goods could circumvent destination tariffs, increasing the sale of French products.

What a win-win scenario!

Of course, careful selection of smuggling destinations was necessary.

Mainly the North American and Far Eastern colonies under British control and the Portuguese colonies in South America. Even Britain and Portugal themselves, along with Nordic countries, could be worth a try.

As for regular trade partners like Spain and Russia, smuggling had to be strictly prohibited.

As for provoking Britain and Portugal?

What about it?

Based on current intelligence, Britain was actively planning for “continental balance” and would soon declare war on France.

So what difference would adding smuggling to the list make?

Besides, the British had been issuing “Letters of Marque” since the time of Elizabeth I, encouraging their citizens to rob foreign merchant ships. As late as the early 18th century, Queen Anne of Britain issued a large number of these licenses and seized countless goods from France and Spain.

If the British could commit such acts, why couldn’t the French?

Moreover, France was merely peacefully trading goods, a far cry from the brutality of the British who were robbing and killing.

With this in mind, Joseph firmly patted Roger Fier’s shoulder and smiled, “Thank you very much for your help, General.”

The latter was taken aback, thinking the Crown Prince was mocking him, and promptly stood to attention and exclaimed loudly, “Rest assured, Your Highness, I guarantee to capture those smugglers within three days!”

Joseph nodded, contemplating that such large-scale “official” smuggling operations required meticulous arrangements and involvement of many departments, and perhaps he would have to return to the Palace of Versailles and discuss it with Brian and the others first.

For the time being, he set the matter aside and discussed with the Navy Minister the plan to establish a naval academy.

“Your Highness, the navy training ground at Vain is fully equipped; perhaps it could serve as a foundation for expansion,” suggested Marquis Castelli. “This would allow for the fastest completion of preparations whilst saving on expenses.”

Joseph nodded, “Your suggestion is very good. On the standard of training one thousand officers and specialists per year, how much do you estimate we will need to invest?”

Marquis Castelli hesitated for a moment before replying, “Approximately two million francs.”

He glanced at the Crown Prince, fearing the figure might startle him, and quickly added, “Or perhaps one and a half million might suffice with some economizing…”

Joseph let out a sigh of relief internally–the navy was indeed a voracious beast; all of the nation’s army academies combined hadn’t cost as much.

He told the Navy Minister, “Let’s go with two million francs; if we are to build, we should build to a high standard.”

He thought to himself that this meant Carolina’s funds raised in England wouldn’t stretch much further.

The next day.

While Joseph was inspecting the naval training grounds at Vain with Marquis Castelli, Eman brought an intelligence officer to him.

Joseph took the secret report from the man’s hands and, after a quick scan, his brows furrowed tight.

It read: The Austrian Minister of State Count Kaunitz has resigned, and Baron Tugut has taken over, currently signing a Prussian-Austrian ceasefire agreement. The date was one week prior.

“How could this be so sudden?”

Joseph remembered that just last month, the Ambassador to Austria had reported to him that Kaunitz had overruled the peacemakers, convincing Leopold II to increase military presence in Silesia.

Noticing the Navy Minister’s glance, and seeing no objection from the Crown Prince, the intelligence officer said, “Your Highness, it seems that Baron Walter, Baron Tugut, and others designed a conspiracy against Count Kaunitz.

“Additionally, the intelligence bureau believes that the British were also involved.”

Joseph crumpled the report with a dark expression. Britain of this era was indeed full of capable people, and their actions were so swift.

He had initially thought Prussia and Austria would be locked in a stand-off until the middle of next year before beginning to withdraw troops.

But once the German region declared a ceasefire, Britain would then start to consolidate Prussia and Austria, turning their unified front towards France.

Joseph immediately ordered Eman, “Prepare the carriage; we’re returning to Paris immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

In the jolting carriage, Joseph quickly organized his thoughts. Prussia and Austria had just been through a major war and were now in a state of national exhaustion. Even if Britain could sway them, they were not strong enough to pose a threat to France.

Tapping his fingers on the armrest, he realized Poland would now be thrust into the spotlight.

Prussia needed to take a big bite out of Poland to quickly “recover”, and this was also what he had been strategizing–now they finally had the opportunity.

Meanwhile, Russia had already ended the Russo-Swedish War. The next step would surely be both sides joining hands to begin a “Second Partition”.

This was more than a year ahead of the actual history.