Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 781 - 689 Claude Sharp

Chapter 781: Chapter 689 Claude Sharp

Chapter 781: Chapter 689 Claude Sharp

Lord Marquis pointed at Bailly, saying, “Just as sugar cane production decreased in the Caribbean, beet sugar production in France surged massively. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?

“Surely you plotted to destroy the Caribbean’s sugar supply to sell your beet sugar at high prices! Yes, now a pound of sugar has already been sold for 1 shilling and 4 pence, and you have made a huge profit!

“What else do you have to defend yourself with?”

Bailly suddenly burst into laughter. “You’re quite humorous, Mr. Envoy.

“Why don’t you do the math yourself?

“Our country lost 50 million francs in Santo Domingo, while our beet sugar production is only 2 million pounds a month, profiting less than 30 million francs a year.

“Do you really think that our country would act like a headless brute, destroying everything only to suffer losses itself?”

He was taking advantage of the unequal information other countries had.

Firstly, France did not incur such substantial losses in Santo Domingo. The 50 million franc loss was calculated as if no sugar was produced, but in fact, even with the war damage, production could at least reach 30 to 40 percent of its previous capacity.

Secondly, the scale of France’s beet plantings is far from saturated; if it could be profitable, multiplying several times over in the future would not be difficult. Moreover, the price of cane sugar was still rising. Now the profit is 30 million francs a year, but in a few months, it might be 40 million or 50 million.

Lastly, Joseph’s ultimate goal was actually the value of cane sugar francs! So even if they truly lost some money, as long as they could greatly enhance the influence and circulation of francs, the business would definitely be worthwhile.

“This…” Lord Marquis was stunned.

The tide turned, and the representatives from various countries glared at him again.

Bailly seized the opportunity to press on: “Speaking of losses, our country dispatched two expeditionary forces one after another to quell the rebellion in Santo Domingo, spending a huge amount.”

In reality, Joseph had only sent so-called “expeditionary forces” to deliver equipment to Oreal, which included merely over a thousand proper soldiers, so the costs were extremely low. The two “deployments” only cost about three or four million francs.

In comparison, England had sent General Brand with 4000 troops to the Caribbean, spending over 400,000 British Pounds, which is about 20 million francs.

“Our second batch of expeditionary forces had originally stabilized the situation in Santo Domingo, but at that time, General Brand of England requested our troops in Santo Domingo to help them suppress the Bahamas revolt. As soon as our army left, Oreal seized the opportunity to capture Magua Fortress, causing the situation in Santo Domingo to spiral completely out of control.

“I have reasons to suspect that England has always been colluding with the rebels in Santo Domingo to undermine our colony!”

“You, what you said isn’t true!” Lord Marquis shouted angrily. “General Brand has already found out that your Galisonier colluded with the black rebels, exposing our flank to those savages, leading to a crushing defeat for our forces!”

On such a large battlefield, with tens of thousands of soldiers involved, complete secrecy was simply impossible.

Brand had only captured a few black officers and swiftly interrogated them, finding out that they all had received orders not to attack the French forces.

That’s when he realized he’d been played by the French.

Bailly scoffed disdainfully: “That is utter slanderous nonsense!”

Lord Marquis waved his fist and retorted, “I have a witness!”

“Who?”

“An officer from the Bahamas rebels!”

Before Bailly could respond, representatives from other nations started to laugh.

Testimony from a black man?

What a joke!

In their minds, the black devils were scarcely considered human, so how could their testimonies be used to accuse French officers?

When Bailly and the others waited for silence, he continued, “As for our country’s beet sugar production, that was entirely an accident.

“Previously, our nation wasn’t even aware of this technology. It was only after a scholar from Bavaria came seeking the Crown Prince’s sponsorship for his research that some were planted.

“The cost of refining sugar from beets is extremely high, and His Highness is still losing money to this day.”

As for the specific cost of beet sugar production, only the Minister of Agriculture in France had the detailed data—at this point, it wasn’t something Bailly could just freely discuss.

The Marquis was completely flabbergasted.

The French were too cunning! He knew behind the scenes that France was behind the mischief, but nobody believed him. Instead, everyone was convinced that England had manipulated the abolitionist movement in Santo Domingo, leading to a situation that ultimately affected the entire Caribbean.

Even the envoys from Holland and the Vineyard looked at him with great displeasure.

After all, these two countries also had colonies in the Caribbean Sea Region, and the abolitionist storm had caused them heavy losses as well.

Ultimately, the grand “European Sugar Special Conference” failed to achieve any results and concluded hastily.

In reality, Bailly had drafted a statement condemning England, but only Spain was willing to co-sign. Other nations, considering their massive trade with England, chose to forget the matter, so it was dropped in the end.

However, this special conference did serve as an excellent free advertisement for French beet sugar production. Just one week later, the transaction volume on the Paris Futures Exchange surged by 35%.

Even the futures contracts for sugar cane a year later were almost sold out.

Moreover, French franc banknotes became highly sought after by all merchants overnight—they were easier to carry than silver coins and could be used to buy scarce sugar cane at any time. There was no reason not to accept them!

Under the influence of the merchants, the general public gradually began to accept the francs…

Palace of Versailles.

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In the Crown Prince’s study, Joseph frowned slightly as he listened to Bailly report on the situation at the Frankfurt meeting.

He could foresee that the rise in sugar prices would cause a huge blow to England.

And for England to resolve this crisis now, they would have to either voluntarily lower their sugar export prices, or they would have to rely on starting a war to divert attention.

Lowering the price was definitely not an option.

Right now was a period of rapid explosion for the franc. Last month, the Bank of France Reserve had issued tens of millions of francs in banknotes, and this money had all gone into foreign hands, thereby validating the credit of the franc.

Lowering the sugar prices now would be self-destructive to market enthusiasm.

So, he guessed that the British would expedite the process of initiating the battlefield.

In any case, this war was inevitable.

After all, there could only be one hegemon in Europe.

The current hegemon, England, would by no means sit by and watch France challenge its position.

Moreover, the huge profits made from sugar would also give France an added advantage in the forthcoming war.

As soon as Bailly had left, Bertier arrived.

Joseph smiled and greeted the General Staff Chief, “I was just thinking about discussing accelerating military preparations with you. Oh, do you have something on your mind?”

“Your Highness, last time you directed me to try and use the ‘Shipmaster Communication Mode’ for the army,” Bertier said, motioning towards someone behind him, “Actually, prior to this, Claude Sharp had already submitted a similar invention to the General Staff, and it’s even more advanced.”