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Chapter 634: The Right Choice

At 9 AM the next morning, the negotiation meeting regarding Britain joining the Rhine-Seine Treaty officially began.

As the Salzburg representative who proposed the motion, Viscount Schaun glanced at Bailly with a complicated expression before rising to speak. "I believe all of you are well aware that Great Britain, as a major European power, possesses an enormous market..."

He hadn't even finished his first sentence when a flurry of military drums echoed from outside Karlsruhe Palace, followed by the unified shouts of thousands of soldiers: "Long live His Majesty the King!"

A court official hastily entered the hall, bowing apologetically. "It seems a marching column from a military exercise is passing by. Please bear with us for a moment."

It was a full half-hour later before the exercise troops finally moved away from the palace vicinity. Schaun couldn't help but recall yesterday's drill and found his voice lacking its previous conviction.

Next, the Austrian representative spoke, followed by the Bavarian representative. Only after the other national delegates had finished their remarks did the French representative, Bailly, rise.

He cleared his throat, just about to speak, when the roar of cannons once again erupted from outside the city. This time, the artillery fire wasn't just from the north, but from all directions, as if Karlsruhe had been surrounded by the army.

The cannon fire lasted for over 20 minutes, followed by the heavy thud of hooves passing by the west side of the palace. The dense "thump-thump" of a thousand warhorses pounding the ground made everyone's hearts tremble slightly.

After an unknown period, the cavalry from the exercise finally receded into the distance. Bailly, seemingly tired of standing, waved a hand and said, "It's too noisy. I won't say much more. France does not support Britain joining the treaty." Having said that, he settled back into his chair.

Silence descended upon the hall. The French representative's statement was the shortest, so brief it was almost like he hadn't spoken at all, but the preceding cannon fire and the thunder of galloping cavalry had already said everything for him.

Austrian representative Cobentzel quickly rose to salvage the situation, repeatedly enumerating the trade conveniences Britain could offer. Yet, all the South German representatives were silently calculating in their minds how long it would take the French army to reach their own borders from a non-combat ready state...

In the 18th century, the threshold for declaring war was very low—it was entirely possible for France to declare war on them to protect a trade agreement.

At 11 AM, the Baden Finance Minister, presiding over the meeting, seeing no one else wished to speak, declared the session adjourned amidst the ongoing cannon fire outside the city.

At the evening's reception, British Second Lord of the Treasury Wilberforce appeared exceptionally busy, continuously negotiating privately with representatives from various nations, raising the previously offered price significantly.

There was no helping it; the pressure brought by France's military exercises on these smaller states was simply immense.

The reception continued late into the night. Cobentzel pulled Wilberforce aside and whispered with him for a long time, clearly concerned about the prospects of the current proposal.

The latter raised his wine glass to him, offering reassurance: "You don't need to worry too much. The vote will be held tomorrow afternoon. Even if the various nations wanted to change their decisions, it would already be too late."

Cobentzel nodded. In truth, the representatives from each nation had already decided how they would vote before they even departed. Hesse and Augsburg had both previously promised the British their affirmative votes, and even if their trade representatives had any reservations, they couldn't act on their own authority.

At lunch the next day, Cobentzel, Schaun, and the others rapidly shoved food into their mouths, seemingly eager to finish eating quickly so the voting could begin.

However, halfway through the banquet, Lützk suddenly gave a subtle wink to his attendant, then took a sip of milky white pigeon stew, gargled it lightly a few times in his mouth, and produced some foam.

Immediately afterwards, he clutched his stomach with a pained expression, slid from his chair, and collapsed onto the floor, while foamy pigeon stew overflowed from the corners of his mouth.

His attendant immediately rushed over, helped him up, and cried out anxiously, "My Lord! My Lord, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing Lützk merely groaning in pain, he quickly looked around. "My master suffered from severe dysentery a few days ago; it must have relapsed now. Quickly, call for a doctor!"

Baden's court physician soon arrived, instructed his assistants to carry Lützk away on a stretcher, and immediately began bloodletting treatment for him...

Due to the Upper Hesse representative falling into a coma from a sudden illness, the afternoon's vote had to be canceled.

For the next three days, Lützk remained weakly confined to his sickbed, mostly in a state of unconsciousness.

It wasn't until dusk on this day that his attendant brought a reply from Duke Darmstadt. He immediately feigned needing rest, dismissed the servants, then sprang out of bed and tore open the letter to read it.

Yes, after the reception that night, he had written a letter to Duke Darmstadt, the ruler of Upper Hesse. The letter detailed the French army's mobilization and assembly capabilities, as well as France's firm resolve to protect its trade agreements, and advised rejecting the British offer in favor of an opposing vote.

After all, no matter how vast the British market or how numerous their benefits, they were still very distant from Upper Hesse.

France's grand army, however, could reach Marburg in just 25 days.

There was truly no need to provoke the French over a small amount of trade profit.

Moreover, France's conditions weren't unacceptable; with loan subsidies and steam engines, Upper Hesse's industry might see significant improvement within a few years, thereby reversing its trade deficit.

After daybreak, the Rhine-Seine Treaty negotiation meeting, which had been suspended for several days, finally reconvened.

The Baden Finance Minister solemnly collected the votes from the various national representatives and announced loudly, "Regarding the vote on admitting Great Britain to the Rhine-Seine Treaty—"

He opened the first ballot. "France: Against."

"Austria: For."

"Bavaria: For."

"Upper Hesse: Against."

Upon hearing this, Cobentzel's face immediately darkened. Although he had anticipated that Lützk's sudden "illness" would introduce a variable, the moment of confirmation still filled him with resentment and irritation.

"Augsburg: Against."

"Württemberg: Against..."

Bailly smiled, rose, and bowed with a hand over his chest. "Thank you all for making the right decision. I believe the Rhine-Seine Treaty will bring us an even more prosperous market and a brilliant future!"

He no longer needed to hear the remaining voting results, because as long as Upper Hesse and Augsburg voted against it, Britain would simply not secure enough votes.

Thus, France's market in South Germany was secured.

A little over ten days later, the French United Steam Engine Company received an order worth 1 million francs from Upper Hesse for 140 LJ15 model steam engines and their corresponding parts for automated looms.

...

The Caribbean Sea.

Port Royal, Jamaica's largest harbor, welcomed a massive fleet.

The first few large troop transports to enter the port carried 4,000 soldiers of the British expeditionary force, along with a great quantity of military supplies such as warhorses and cannons.