Chapter 686: Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange
Joseph picked up his milk and took a sip, then set the document down, silently offering a blessing for Kościuszko.
This news was already almost half a month old—Poland was simply too far from Paris.
This meant that the Polish military genius should have already arrived in Bryansk by now, undoubtedly causing a massive upheaval in Russia.
Joseph still held great admiration for Kościuszko and truly hoped he would return to Poland alive.
In reality, if the plan formulated by the General Staff back then had been successfully implemented, there would have been a significant chance for that Polish army to escape.
Of course, that was just statistically speaking...
Joseph let out a soft sigh and picked up the next document.
This was a report on the troop movements of Austria and Prussia.
Both nations seemed to be dragging their feet, clearly trying to conceal their intentions of deploying troops.
However, this also granted Poland an extremely rare opportunity to catch its breath.
According to the optimal military strategy for Russia, Prussia, and Austria, they should have acted simultaneously, forcing Poland to face enemies on three fronts.
In that case, Poland would quickly have found itself in an extremely difficult situation.
The worst-case scenario Joseph had initially predicted was to advise Poland to sign an armistice directly with Austria, ceding the Lesser Poland region to the latter in exchange for stability on its rear flank.
After repelling the Russian army, they could then find a way to reclaim it.
Fortunately, Prussia and Austria chose greed.
This way, Poland could use these few months to conscript more troops—after the war began, the speed of army expansion would be several times faster than usual.
By the time Prussia and Austria began their offensive, Poland would at least be able to field some forces to resist.
Furthermore, news of Poland launching a counter-offensive against Russia should soon reach the Western Front, delivering a blow to Prussia and Austria's confidence in winning the war.
This would significantly impact morale.
What Joseph didn't know was that thanks to Mesmer's exceptional persuasion, the soldiers of both Prussia and Austria, especially the Austrian army, felt considerable sympathy for Poland.
If they were to launch an attack on Poland, their morale would be halved, at the very least.
Next came news from the Ottoman Empire.
The first batch of the Topçus New Army, a total of 800 men, had completed their basic training and returned to Constantinople. The second batch of 800 men would also "graduate" in two months.
The Sultan's soldiers had trained much more efficiently at the French military camp in Tunisia than they ever had training within the Ottoman Empire itself.
The previous 600 Topçus soldiers, who had trained for nearly two years, hadn't achieved results as good as this batch had in just a few months.
Salem III was also extremely satisfied with these new recruits, fully equipped with French gear, and was already discussing plans to invade Egypt with his ministers.
The French Intelligence Bureau, based on various clues, judged that the Ottomans should make their move in three to five months.
Precisely after the second batch of new troops completed their training.
As for the batch of supplies Joseph was most concerned about, the Ottomans had already transported it to the Black Sea as agreed.
Regarding the Ottoman officer named "Muhammad Ali," Steller reported that he hadn't found him yet. The name was simply too common in the Ottoman Empire.
Even with the additional condition of being Albanian, there were no fewer than twelve such individuals in the Ottoman army.
Which specific Ali was the Crown Prince referring to as having 'investment value,' Steller was still observing...
However, Joseph wasn't worried.
Muhammad Ali, the future ruler of Egypt, would take at least another decade or so to rise to power, so Steller had ample time for selection.
Steller did mention at the end of the report that the Steam Paddleboat's operations were currently running smoothly.
The Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company had already purchased twelve Steamships, and their operations were performing well—their costs were only 70% of traditional oar-and-sail ships, and the travel time between the eastern and western shores of the Mediterranean Sea had been cut by nearly half!
It should be noted that this was still due to the lack of coaling ports along the route; otherwise, transportation costs could be significantly reduced even further.
Currently, a coal supply port had already been built in southern Greece, while others in places like Italy and Tunisia were still in the planning stages.
Joseph shook his head.
'Twelve ships were still too few.'
It was just that the Brest shipyard had limited production capacity for Steam Paddleboats, and most of the ships produced were snapped up by river shipping operators. The Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company couldn't even buy a few, even with a premium.
Furthermore, the tonnage of Steamships was still somewhat small, so it hadn't yet had a disruptive impact on the Mediterranean shipping landscape.
At least a hundred Steamships would be needed before the Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company could begin to dominate Mediterranean shipping.
And that, in turn, would require expanding investment in shipyards...
After breakfast, Joseph took a carriage to the Paris Financial Center, formerly the Bastille.
The newly established Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange was located on the third floor of the Financial Center.
After nearly half a year of planning and setup, the exchange was finally set to officially open for business today.
While it was called an agricultural product exchange, its most crucial commodity for trading was Sugarcane.
Last week, intelligence reports on the Caribbean Sea situation had already reached Paris.
First, the British expeditionary force had begun landing on Tortuga, north of Santo Domingo. The French government had symbolically welcomed this, wishing the British army success in quelling the abolitionist rebellion. A major battle would soon erupt.
Judging by the time it took for the news to travel, the fighting should already be in full swing.
Regardless of the outcome, this year's Sugarcane yield would be alarmingly low.
And October was precisely the season for harvesting Sugar Beets.
Sugar Beet refineries in northwestern France would convert these Sugar Beets into sugar at a rate of two million pounds per month.
Combined with the nearly four million pounds of sugar Steller had acquired in Egypt over the past few months, this would be enough to establish the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange's pricing power over sugar!
As Joseph's carriage arrived a street away from the Financial Center, he heard distant shouts and commotion.
He looked out the carriage window and saw the Financial Center square already teeming with people; it was even livelier than during Christmas Mass.
It wasn't until Clauzel, leading the Crown Prince's Imperial Guards, cleared a path that Joseph was able to enter the Financial Center.
After the customary musical performance, ribbon-cutting ceremony, and speeches, Joseph announced:
"The Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange is officially open for business!"
Inside the hall and in the square outside, a wave of cheers immediately erupted.
Before Joseph could even leave, impatient merchants frantically surged towards the trading windows, startling Clauzel so much that he drew his pistol. Over eighty Imperial Guards struggled with immense effort to escort His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, out of the trading hall.
It was no wonder the merchants were so frenzied. News of the Black rebellion erupting in the Caribbean Sea had long since reached Europe. In recent times, the price of sugar had surged by over 40%, and even with money, sugar was incredibly difficult to acquire.
Just then, news that "The Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange would have six million pounds of sugar for sale" spread rapidly among merchants across Europe.
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