Mirabeau replied, "Actually, last night there were quite a few people dancing and celebrating outside the Military Affairs Departnt. Now there should be more soldiers gathered in the square."
Joseph looked out the window and nodded.
According to his request, the severance pay for ordinary discharged soldiers has been increased to 160 francs, and the Military Affairs Departnt will help recomnd jobs for them. This is an unimaginable benefit compared to before.
As for those soldiers who can enter the police, tax, and other systems, they have received stable long-term "al tickets", so it is understandable for them to be excited.
Mirabeau waited for the Crown Prince to retract his gaze before flipping through the docunts in his hand and continuing to report, "Since September began, the order volu of factories nationwide has seen a significant increase.
"Especially steel products, machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and furniture. It is expected that next month’s delivery volu will increase by about 25% compared to before the war."
Joseph was taken aback by the news; a quarter increase in order volu is no joke, it could even be called a trade boom!
But he quickly understood: "Is it because the production of other countries has been affected by the war?"
This war has affected almost all of Central and Western Europe, except for France’s mainland and a few countries in Northern Italy. Prussia, Austria, and the Northern German States are among the most severely affected regions.
After these countries saw their own product output decrease, rchants looked around Europe and found that only France had quickly resud production, leading them to import from here imdiately.
"Indeed, Your Highness," Mirabeau added, "The Stuttgart Trade Agreent also played an important role; the low tariffs gave us a price advantage.
"Currently, among the products England exports to the Germanic Region, only textiles, porcelain, tea, and shipping equipnt are priced slightly lower than ours. In other areas, they are at a disadvantage in competing with us."
Joseph couldn’t help but smile. After years of efforts to promote France’s industrial developnt and improve the financial and tax systems, he finally saw gratifying results.
Of course, this also benefited from the victory in the war. Otherwise, it would have taken quite a long ti for French goods to enter the Germanic market.
He looked at Mirabeau again and asked, "How much lower are England’s textile costs compared to ours?"
He didn’t care much about the small markets of porcelain and shipping supplies. Tea was limited by sea routes, which France couldn’t handle for now. But textiles were the cash cow of the era, and he must find a way to seize them.
Mirabeau answered without hesitation, "10% to 13%, Your Highness. Mainly because the British can obtain cheap cotton from North Arica and India, and their transportation costs are lower.
"In the production process, our costs have already matched those of England."
Joseph frowned: "How much higher are our transportation costs?"
"British cotton yarn can be shipped directly to Rotterdam via the Thas River and sold throughout Germany along the Rhine River.
"While products from Lyon need to first be transported through the Rhone River channel to the vicinity of Champagne, then transported by carriage to the Moselle River, and from there into the Rhine River." Mirabeau explained helplessly, "This makes our transportation cost for every thousand ters of cotton yarn 50 to 70 francs higher than that of the British. And this is after using steam paddle ships."
River transport costs are inherently higher than sea transport, and from Lyon to the Rhine River, goods have to circle a few loops along the river, which is much further than British rchant ships crossing the English Channel directly. The interdiate carriage transport further drives up costs—hiring carriages and twice loading and unloading goods almost account for half the transportation costs.
Mirabeau glanced at the Crown Prince and suggested cautiously, "Your Highness, we can actually request the German states to increase import tariffs on British goods, thereby keeping British goods out of the European Continent. You know, many Northern German States have also granted England most-favored-nation status."
Joseph shook his head: "This is not a complete solution."
Mirabeau’s strategy is very similar to Napoleon’s historical "Continental Blockade," but history has proven that trade suppression thods only provoke strong counter-reactions from the German states and are even exploited by the British to incite anti-French sentint.
The winners and losers in trade are ultimately determined by the market.
Joseph exhaled: "We must quickly build the railway between Lyon and Paris, so that textile products there can be transported by train to Cologne Port, and then enter the Rhine River. Without the interdiate carriage transport, the transportation cost gap between us and England will significantly narrow.
"In the future, building a railway bridge across the Rhine River at Cologne could even allow direct transportation from Lyon to the sales location. Of course, this requires Northern Germany to also have railways. Then, transportation costs will beco our massive advantage."
Mirabeau imagined the future described by the Crown Prince, his eyes also shining with excitent.
It’s important to know that if France connects to the Northern German Countries with a railway, it won’t just be textiles; all French goods along the route can be transported to the Germanic Region. Goods can also be unloaded anyti to be sold in cities along the way.
The overall trade efficiency could be increased at least tenfold!
This would an that the speed of wealth circulation would greatly increase.
He tried to stay calm and brought up a serious issue: "Your Highness, there are nearly 400 kiloters from Lyon to Paris, and constructing this section of the railway will require at least 70 million francs.
"The Ministry of Transportation currently only plans the Lyon to Mulan railway, and the Ministry of Finance is already complaining..."
From Lyon to Mulan is only the first third of the journey to connect to Paris.
Joseph also frowned.
This is just a railway within France. Once it extends to Northern Germany and the various countries in Italy in the future, who knows how much money will be needed.
Money, a truly wonderful thing, but always seems to oppose him...
He pondered: "We must find ways to raise funds from across Europe."
Mirabeau nodded imdiately: "People will soon realize the trendous value of trains. I believe that within one to two years at the most, the France Railway Company will be able to attract enough investnt to lay a railway from Lyon to Paris."
"Too slow." Joseph was clearly dissatisfied, "It would be best to start construction within three months and have the entire line open before the end of next year.
"Therefore, we need to find ways to conduct financing promotions. But where should we start..."
Mirabeau was even more at a loss.
Just at this mont, Eman knocked and entered, bowing slightly, "Your Highness, in 40 minutes you are due to host the World Cup draw ceremony."
"World Cup?" Joseph’s eyes suddenly lit up, isn’t this the perfect promotion opportunity?
This year’s World Cup is not just France’s "self-entertainnt." Currently, besides England, Russia, and Austria, all other European countries have registered to participate.
There are even six countries from Arica competing.
It’s truly a genuine world-class event.
Reviews
All reviews (0)