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Chapter 1442: Winter in Switzerland

Half a month later.

The warm early winter breeze of the Eastern Mediterranean drifted through the window in gusts. Delattre, Archbishop Talleyrand's assistant, brushed back his wind-blown hair, his mind inadvertently drifting to the 3,000-franc bill of exchange in his pocket.

It was the "Special Egypt Allowance" the Foreign Minister had issued to him just yesterday.

After agonizing over it for a long while, he finally picked up the draft of the Cairo Investment and Technical Agreement from the desk. He turned to Talleyrand, who was currently sipping tea, and said with a serious expression, "Monsieur, I still feel these terms are—improper. Are you absolutely certain this is what His Highness the Crown Prince intended?"

It wasn't that he was being overly paranoid; the terms in the agreement were simply too shocking. For instance, the clause stating: "Ensure Egypt establishes an arsenal within one year capable of producing fifteen cannons of 8-pounder caliber or higher per month, with the independent capacity to cast 18-pounder cannons."

He now harbored deep suspicions that Talleyrand had accepted bribes from the Egyptians and was making these unauthorized promises on his own.

Talleyrand glanced at him and chuckled. "This was, of course, decided by His Highness. What exactly are you worried about?"

Delattre gritted his teeth. "If we execute according to this agreement, a powerful nation will soon emerge on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

"That Muhammad Defterdar clearly possesses immense ambition. If he begins to expand westward, it will cause significant trouble for our country."

However, he continued to drink his tea with an air of indifference. "To be honest, I don't fully understand the Crown Prince's motives either. But based on my experience, in a few years, we will find that His Highness was, as always, correct."

If Joseph had heard their conversation, he would have certainly praised Delattre for his sense of responsibility before telling him there was absolutely no need to worry about Egyptian industrialization.

This was because Egypt lacked the fundamental conditions to become an independent industrial nation.

First and foremost, Egypt had almost no coal or iron mines, nor were there any within its reach on land.

Therefore, Egypt's industrial development had to rely on external supplies of coal and iron. Currently, the entire Mediterranean coast was under French control.

In other words, if Muhammad Ali ever dared to defect, every single factory in Egypt would have to cease operations the very next day.

In fact, after France secured control of the Ruhr Area—the coal mines around Westphalia—its coal and iron resources had already begun to reach a surplus.

At this point, France either had to sell the coal and iron to the various German states or suffer through the declining profits of the mining districts.

Exporting these resources to Egypt provided a third path, and the one most beneficial to France. Muhammad Ali, desperate to develop his industry, was more than willing to pay a handsome price for French coal and iron.

Secondly, the future excavation of the Suez Canal required Egypt to possess a certain level of industrial capacity.

At the very least, they couldn't be like the Egypt of historical records, where every single screw had to be shipped in from France.

By helping Egypt build arsenals and iron smelteries now, those facilities could later mass-produce the shovels, pickaxes, and wheelbarrows needed for the canal, and even provide maintenance for steam engines.

Furthermore, the large number of Egyptian workers who had passed through these factories would have a level of organization, training, and practical skill far superior to that of common peasants. They would become the backbone of the canal's construction force.

With this industrial foundation in place, the cost of excavating the canal would be significantly reduced.

Finally, Joseph was not at all concerned that Egypt would covet the neighboring French provinces in Tripoli.

Even putting aside the fact that Egypt relied on France for its industrial survival, if Muhammad Ali wanted to expand, he would surely choose the wealthy Ottoman territories to the east.

To attack Tripoli to the west, his forces would first have to cross the vast and desolate Cyrenaica region, only to face the powerful French Army at the end of it. France wouldn't even need to deploy its elite units; the Tunisia Garrison alone could teach the Egyptian army a lesson they wouldn't forget.

Historically, once Muhammad Ali was fully fledged, he immediately chose to send troops to occupy the Ottoman province of Syria, which triggered the two Ottoman-Egyptian Wars.

This was exactly the kind of war Joseph needed.

No one could guarantee that Egypt wouldn't tear up the agreement to lease Suez to France—even if they wouldn't do it now, it might happen in decades or a century.

Thus, the ideal situation was for Egypt and the Ottomans to remain at daggers drawn on either side of Suez. In such a scenario, the weaker party would inevitably invite France to intervene as a mediator.

France would then use various means to ensure the national borders remained fixed on either side of the canal.

If this state of affairs persisted long enough, the two nations might even beg France to station troops along the line from Suez to the Mediterranean to prevent the recurring outbreaks of war.

As for Egypt and the Ottomans living in peace?

That was an absolute impossibility.

As an Albanian outsider who ruled Egypt through violent means, Muhammad Ali had to constantly seek more benefits to satisfy the arrogant soldiers and fierce generals under his command. Otherwise, he would soon face a backlash.

On the Ottoman side, they could never accept Egypt's independence from the empire. Even if Muhammad Ali didn't make a move, as soon as Kostantiniyye gathered enough strength, they would take the initiative to reclaim Egypt.

Seeing the Foreign Minister speak with such certainty, Delattre found it difficult to continue questioning him. However, he secretly decided to write a separate report to the Crown Prince to explain the situation in Egypt from his perspective.

October 10, 1800.

Aarau, Switzerland.

This town sat at the northernmost tip of the Jura Mountains. Continuing east across the Reuss River would lead straight to Zurich.

Under the cold sunlight, an Austrian army dressed in gray uniforms was rounding the foot of a mountain, moving listlessly toward the northwest.

In the middle of the column, a captain with sunken eyes and deep wrinkles around his nose lit his pipe. He turned to the lieutenant beside him and asked, "Göld, any news about the military pay?"

The lieutenant shook his head dejectedly. "Nothing yet, Company Commander. However, the regimental staff sent someone this morning to announce that the daily wine ration will be reduced by a quarter starting tomorrow."

Göld's uncle was an attendant to the Legion Logistics Officer, which allowed him to hear the latest rumors.

The captain frowned, glancing back at the soldiers around them before muttering in a low voice, "I just hope we run into those damn rebels soon. If this goes on much longer, God knows how much more they can take."

His soldiers hadn't received their salary in three months, and morale had plummeted to rock bottom. There was hardly a day when Göld didn't have to report a new deserter to him.

Göld pulled the captain a bit further away from the other soldiers before whispering, "I heard that after the tax system reform, the taxes collected by the tax collectors haven't even reached half of what the old tax farmers used to bring in.

"Forget about us—even the officials in Vienna are only receiving two-thirds of their pay."

The captain took a deep drag from his pipe. "How are those fellows even worse than those damn tax farmers?"

"They're far worse. I heard that those vendors actually dare to gang up and beat the tax collectors. In some remote areas, tax collectors have even been found murdered by the side of the road."