Chapter 364: From Austria to Russia (Long Chapter)
Joseph certainly wouldn't tell the Emperor of Sanctum that among the enemy forces in Brussels, over 18,000 men were from the South Netherlands Army who had little combat capability, including remnants of Witte's force that had already been demoralized by the Guard Corps and hastily conscripted farmers and peddlers.
Even the Dutch Army were those enlisted since last year's uprising, whose combat effectiveness could hardly be considered reliable.
The only truly capable forces were the 13,000 men from Hanover, who lacked both cavalry and artillery.
However, a total figure of 35,000 was attributed to Charles II, which was sufficiently intimidating when spoken of.
Joseph's pen continued moving across the paper:
"To ensure the Southern Netherlands does not fall into the hands of the rebels again, you need to deploy at least 20,000 soldiers here. Since Prussia and Hanover may also send reinforcements, it would be best to assemble even more troops for security.
Oh, and there's another important matter, my dear uncle. Threatened by the Prussian Army from the direction of Liege, our army's logistical support has encountered significant trouble. You know, the vehicles transporting supplies from Luxembourg to Brussels must pass near Liege. This makes our logistics very susceptible to attack. Therefore, I hope to recruit military supplies locally in the Southern Netherlands, which could also save you some expenses."
A large portion of the French Army's current military expenses in the Southern Netherlands are borne by Austria.
And if the French Army were to "recruit supplies locally," that would amount to taking over the taxation of the Southern Netherlands. Naturally, this would necessitate the creation of some administrative positions to facilitate communication with the public and the transportation of supplies.
As for certain "incompetent" Austrian officials, having them temporarily relinquish their authority during the war becomes a matter of course.
At the end of the letter, Joseph expressed with great righteousness: France will certainly offer the utmost support to our close Austrian relatives, including preparations to reinforce the front lines in Brussels, and requested the Emperor to be at ease.
He was very clear that Austria and Prussia were engaged in fierce conflict in Silesia, and not a single step backward could be taken by either side without risking catastrophic consequences. Therefore, Joseph II would hate to have to call back the Austrian Army from the Southern Netherlands, and it was absolutely impossible to deploy an additional 20,000 men there.
So Austria's choices were reduced to two—1, lose the Southern Netherlands. 2, export interests to France, allowing the French Army to stabilize the situation in the Southern Netherlands.
In fact, there was no real choice. If the Southern Netherlands were to become independent, it would not only greatly tarnish the Empire's reputation and severely impact morale, but the Southern Netherlands National Guard and the Dutch Army would likely go to Silesia to support the Prussians.
With such a loss and gain, Austria might as well cease fighting.
Joseph handed the letter to the messenger and then summoned a staff officer to take a message to the Austrian Commander Leao in Luxembourg.
No sooner had he finished with these tasks than Eman brought in a messenger from Paris into the tent.
The latter respectfully greeted Joseph and then took out two letters from a leather case he carried, handing them to Eman who was standing by.
Joseph received the letters from his attendant and scrutinized them. One was from Archbishop Brienne, likely seeking the Crown Prince's opinion on important matters recently occurring in France, which was essentially a work report.
The other, however, was from Queen Mary, with an appended "Proposal for Promoting Russo-French Trade" submitted by the Russian Ambassador.
He opened his mother's letter, puzzled, and began to read.
The beginning was the usual—she talked about how much she missed her son, to the point of losing sleep every night, then expressed concern about whether her son was eating well in Luxembourg, whether he was sick or tired, and lamented that he had again forgotten to bring a chef…
Joseph felt warmed by the affection pouring from the letter. It seemed that she had written it while he was still in Luxembourg. But really, what was the issue with bringing along a few Imperial Chefs while at war? Usually, they would even bring along a convoy of kitchenware and ingredients…
It suddenly occurred to Joseph that he could allow the Imperial Chefs to prepare nutritious meals for the wounded in the rear. This would not only make the soldiers feel the Royal Family's care and importance placed upon them but also save his mother from nagging about the matter each time.
He continued reading.
Queen Mary advised in the letter that her son should not stay too close to the front lines and leave the fighting to the generals. France had so many generals.
Joseph was moved, realizing that in a mother's eyes, her child is always just a fragile little kid.
"Well, if that's the case, I might as well be granted the rank of General."
He smirked and turned to the second page of the letter.
After wrapping up the family matters, Queen Mary mentioned an interesting incident she had encountered recently—the apparently inebriated Count Stroganov, the Russian Ambassador to France, praised Russia's Emperor for admiring France's "Swedish plan" and even expressed his support for our claims over the lowland countries. In the end, Stroganov declared that the Russian Army would support us in taking the Rhine River from Austria's eastern side as long as they could cross Poland… just look at what he was saying. Yet, for all his intake of alcohol, he was still an excellent diplomat, eloquent even in his inebriation…
As Joseph read up to here, his eyes narrowed slightly—the "Swedish plan" was his own idea, which he had sent Talleyrand to dangle before the Russians.
This was clearly Catherine II's response to France, not some ramblings of a drunk Russian Ambassador.
What Joseph had not anticipated was the grand scale of Catherine's appetite; she wanted not just Sweden and Poland, but even to partition Germany with France!
She truly deserves to be called the most resolute woman of the late 18th century.
To be honest, even Joseph was tempted by Catherine's proposal for a few seconds.
If France acquired all the rich lands of Western Europe, including the Netherlands and Belgium, to the west of the Rhine River, and most certainly Italy as well—since Austria would be too preoccupied to care, leaving the weakened Italy as easy prey for France—then France would surely soar to great heights, becoming the true hegemon of the European Continent!
However, he quickly cooled down and shook off these impractical thoughts.
It was clear that Catherine intended to draw fire onto France to facilitate Russia's expansion.
Just look at the places Russia wanted—Sweden, Poland, and even including the northeastern part of the Balkans; these were all quite distant from the heart of Europe, and even if Russia swallowed them up, Britain, Prussia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Spain and other major European countries might not intervene due to cost factors.
And the gains Catherine "outlined" for France, whether it be the Low Countries or along the Rhine, were the lifelines of the European powers, who would undoubtedly fight to the death against France with all their might!
Joseph pulled the messenger over and asked in a serious voice, "How did Queen Mary respond to the Russian Ambassador?"
The latter only said that Count Bobrinsky and Grand Duchess Alexandra were also present that day, and as for what they said, he had no idea.
It was no surprise, as Stroganov, in the interest of secrecy, carefully avoided all formal occasions, even finding balls unsatisfactory, choosing instead to speak with Queen Mary in close quarters during an art exhibition to prevent eavesdropping.
Joseph shook his head and sighed. Catherine II had sent both her illegitimate son and her granddaughter, which showed she was very keen on making this deal happen.
Although from the tone of his mother's letter it seemed she only thought the Russian Ambassador was spouting nonsense and likely hadn't agreed to anything, there was always the fear that she might suddenly act impulsively.
Joseph hurriedly wrote a reply to Queen Mary, mainly to urge her never to respond to the Russians, and handed it to the messenger, instructing him to deliver it with utmost speed back to the Palace of Versailles.
Watching the messenger's retreating figure, Joseph couldn't help but fall into deep thought; it seemed that in the future, he'd have to discuss matters of national strategy with his mother in advance to prevent any major blunders that would be troublesome to clean up.
He then thought that although Catherine's suggestion couldn't be accepted, her ambition could still be used to seek strategic benefits for France.
However, exactly how to operate required careful consideration.
Joseph picked up the "Plan for Promoting French-Russian Trade" on the desk, which mainly articulated Catherine's hope to increase French-Russian trade further to reduce dependence on British trade. Clearly, the rising trade volume of the Gemini Trading Company had caught her interest.
Joseph looked at the unoriginal clauses in the document and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
There was just so much demand for raw materials in France at the moment, and the Russian market couldn't possibly open up completely to France, so the current trade volume between the two had already reached saturation.
Russia did have an abundance of coal and iron resources, but the distance to France was too far, making the transportation costs extremely high, otherwise they could be bought in large quantities.
He was about to toss the document aside when he suddenly thought of something and muttered to himself, "No, if transport costs are high, one could engage in localized operations…"
He immediately recalled the business cases of Britain in 19th-century Russia.
At that time, Russia had been defeated in the Crimean War, and the Tsar realized the importance of the steel industry and the urgency of developing the regions adjacent to Crimea.
At that very moment, a British entrepreneur named John Hughes, weary from his ventures in England, decided to try his luck in Russia. He noticed the Donbass region, just north of Crimea, was rich in coal and iron resources but had not been effectively exploited.
So he signed a contract with the Tsarist government, invested money in the Donbass, and personally brought over a hundred British workers to start mining and establish factories.
Right when Russia was fervently building the Baltic Fleet, Hughes's smelting plant consistently sold steel to the Russian shipyards, making a fortune, and eventually expanded his smelting plant into a sizable city.
It was not until nearly a century later when the October Revolution broke out that the myth of Hughes's investment finally came to an end.
By that time, the coal and iron resources in the Donbass region had not even been explored. Investing then would surely have cost far less than in Hughes's time. It was estimated that one might acquire quality coal and iron mines for the mere price of purchasing wasteland.
Then, factories could be built locally to extract and process crude ingots, which could be shipped back to France for further refining.
Excess coal might be turned into coke and sent back to France, or even sold locally to make a profit.
The workers in the factories would be Russians. Even if their wages and conditions were poor, there was no need to worry about them causing trouble—the Tsar never showed leniency to discontented subjects from his own country.
Of course, in Russia's iron-works, only relatively outdated technology could be used, in order to prevent a rapid improvement in the country's industrial level.
Absolutely profitable!
Moreover, mining and setting up the factories could boost Russian tax revenue and help develop Crimea's hinterland. Crimea was Russia's most important port, providing a channel for maritime trade with the European Continent. It had always been of great significance to every Tsar. However, it was not until Catherine II defeated the Ottoman Empire that Russia gained complete control over this outlet to the Black Sea.
If France could help to stabilize Russian rule over Crimea—building the surrounding cities and attracting more people to settle is the best way to govern—then Catherine would surely overflow with gratitude towards France.
Historically, the Tsar's protectionist stance towards Hughes's investment says it all.
A trace of a smile glided across Joseph's lips. Speaking of which, he would have to ask Catherine II for something in return; otherwise, she might feel somewhat indebted.
So, he took up the pen and began to write on the back of that "trade plan" document: France acknowledges and supports the above-mentioned plan…
Also, to encourage the traditional friendship between Russia and France, France has decided to urge its investors and factory owners to undertake construction in the Crimea area… purely investment, not involving any political or military affairs, in compliance with Russian tax and trade laws…
The hope is that His Imperial Majesty the Tsar could provide suitable support for France on matters related to North Africa…
Having dealt with Russian affairs, Joseph then opened Brian's letter and read it carefully.
The Chief Minister first reported the general state of affairs in France in the letter, requesting the Crown Prince's decisions on the matters yet unresolved.
After that, he mentioned the vast military expenses for recent foreign actions. Due to various unforeseen circumstances, the total expenditure was 12% higher than expected. However, it was still within the financial system's tolerable range at the moment. But if the current scale of foreign military engagements continued, the finances were estimated to develop issues by the end of the year.
This did not surprise Joseph, and he hadn't planned for lengthy foreign wars. At least in North Africa, a turning point should emerge soon. Moreover, the taxes collected locally from the Southern Netherlands would relieve a significant financial burden.
All in all, everything was within controllable limits.
He continued reading on.
In the last part of the letter, Brian reported the latest discussion from the Cabinet meeting about the peasant land redemption scheme.
Joseph subconsciously furrowed his brows. This redemption scheme had already undergone three revisions, yet none were satisfactory.
Indeed, although he had already initiated the abolition of the feudal privileges in France, the policies regarding how peasants could redeem their land had not been announced.
For the peasants, this meant they were merely exempted from paying minor taxes like mill tax, oven tax, and hunting tax, while the core issue of land ownership remained unresolved. This was the central reason for their lukewarm response to the abolition of feudal privileges.
However, the specifics of land redemption were incredibly thorny issues that could set the whole country in motion.