Talleyrand spread his hands and smiled, "However, you are very unlikely to get the repair factory, because I am quite confident that the British debt will collapse."
Frederick was evidently sowhat regretful, but he still nodded and said, "After all, I will gain the friendship of France, and that is enough."
Denmark is considered a top-ranked second-tier power in Europe, having bought seven or eight hundred thousand British Pounds worth of British national debt over the years. Even if they sell off only half, it would significantly impact British finances.
Although doing this will certainly offend England, France had previously elevated Denmark’s international standing through the International Mariti Convention, and recently had Prussia return the occupied Schleswig-Holstein region to Denmark, so he definitely needed to help with this.
Moreover, if the British debt really collapses, selling off a portion early could reduce losses.
Talleyrand glanced at the Danish Regent’s expression, feigning a difficult deanor and said, "Actually, if you are willing to do a small favor, I might try to persuade Count Mirabeau to skip all the assessnt procedures and directly build the repair factory in Kiel."
Frederick’s eyes lit up at once, "Please do tell."
"You see, our country is still at war with Russia." Talleyrand said, "I must do sothing to contain Russia in order to report back to the Crown Prince."
Currently, neither England nor Russia has reached any ceasefire agreent with France, theoretically still being in a state of war.
Frederick frowned and shook his head, "You know, our country has traditionally friendly relations with Russia, it’s probably very hard to make a strategic shift."
Denmark needs Russia to balance the threat from their old rival Sweden. During the previous Russo-Swedish War, the two countries even ford an alliance.
Talleyrand hurriedly said, "Oh, you misunderstood . I don’t want you to beco hostile with Russia, you just need to announce a ban on Russian rchant ships passing through the Oresund Strait; it doesn’t have to be long, resuming navigation two or three months later is fine."
The Oresund Strait, located east of Copenhagen, is the throat to the Baltic Sea leading to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the goods Russia sells to Western Europe have to be transported through the Baltic Sea.
Frederick imdiately fell into an internal struggle.
The benefits of the steam engine repair factory were indeed substantial, but blocking the Oresund Strait would severely offend Russia, making it difficult to choose.
Talleyrand waited for a mont, seeing that he hadn’t made a decision, sighed and "compromised" saying, "How about this, you just detain all the Russian rchant ships passing through the strait in the Baltic Sea for a month, and I will uphold my promise."
This ti, Frederick hesitated only for a few seconds, then looked at the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and said, "Although this will cause a lot of trouble, as long as it can help you, I can find a way."
If it’s just temporarily detaining Russian ships, Denmark can co up with many excuses, such as needing to "reassess strait passage tariffs" or "crack down on smuggling ships" and so on. As long as soone is sent to Saint Petersburg to explain afterwards, it will be fine.
Talleyrand was imdiately pleased, slightly bowing and saying, "Thank you so much, now my annual performance report will at least not be lacking in highlights. Oh, as soon as I return to Paris, I will visit Count Mirabeau."
Of course, he went through so much trouble to urge Denmark to detain Russian rchant ships, not for any performance report, but to provide the Crown Prince’s financial warfare against England with the "final box of ammunition."
Yes, Frederick had always focused on whether it would offend the Russians, but he ignored that nearly every Russian rchant ship passing through the Baltic Sea was loaded with goods for sale to England.
Moreover, lumber, flax, fats, furs, ropes, etc., among them, are critically important raw materials for the British.
The shortage of raw materials would quickly drive up production costs in England, pushing up commodity prices, and thereby causing inflation.
...
North Arican Continent.
kiloters east of Ohio in Pittsburgh.
In a brick-red small villa at Henderson Manor, U.S. Secretary of State Pickering clenched his fists under the table, yet outwardly he appeared very calm: "Baron, trade with England is the financial lifeline of our country, we absolutely cannot accept its disruption."
The French envoy of the Louisiana governor had not yet spoken, but Lucien Bonaparte, sitting beside him, coldly said first: "The Count of Baton Rouge doesn’t mind personally leading troops to the ports of Boston and Richmond to supervise the rchant ships going out to sea."
The so-called "Count of Baton Rouge" refers to Napoleon.
In recognition of a series of great victories he achieved in North Arica, Joseph formally conferred a title upon him—Baton Rouge, east of the Mississippi River. Henceforth, if Aricans want to cross the Mississippi River, they must first capture Mr. Bonaparte’s territory.
Yes, it is an epic-level task.
At the sa ti, Joseph also promoted Napoleon to a quasi-general rank, directly managed by the Governor of Louisiana, commanding the colonial troops.
To allow Napoleon more energy to manage military affairs, the General Staff had also sent his forr order officer, his brother Lucien, to North Arica.
Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of War Samuel Dexter imdiately shouted, "Then co and try it!
"Our militia could defeat the British back then and won’t mind giving the French a taste of it too..."
Pickering’s face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly restrained this outspoken general, smiling wryly, "Ahem, General Dexter ans US and France were once friends who fought side by side to drive away the British.
"You see, prolonging the war is bad for everyone, isn’t it?"
What a joke, was it really the Continental Army that defeated the British back then?
They lost to the French Expeditionary Army!
Although the United States is much stronger now than when it was founded, currently England is being battered on the European battlefield and cannot spare any troops to reinforce the United States.
Solely relying on Arica, there really isn’t much confidence to single-handedly take on Louisiana.
Moreover, Pickering, before coming to negotiate, had thoroughly understood the opposing commander Bonaparte, knowing he was absolutely not an easy character to deal with—once nad alongside the now-famous European generals Massena, Moro, et al., having battled ten thousand Austrian troops with an inferior force with no chance to fight back.
Continuing to fight with such a person, even if Arica could rely on its nurical superiority to hold its ground, it would definitely suffer massive losses.
The envoy of the Governor of Louisiana, Baron Lart, smiled, "I thought you had forgotten who helped you drive away the British."
He took a breath, proudly saying, "Alright, the rciful Governor also does not wish to see Aricans go hungry. I will give a bit more leeway, setting the annual upper limit for shipnts to England at 30,000 barrels of asphalt/turpentine, 10 million feet of lumber, 3 million pounds of cotton. Wheat is banned from sale. Moreover, strictly investigate sugar smuggling."
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