Peace and Business (1)

After Austria withdrew from the war, the entire Anti-French Alliance essentially collapsed. Following Austria's pleas for peace, the Prussia immediately followed suit, stating, "We actually have no ill will towards France; we fought entirely due to a misunderstanding. Therefore, it would be best if everyone sat down and talked; after all, we all love peace."

At this time, France and Prussia did not share a border. After Austria ceased hostilities, the France and Prussia could not fight each other unless they crossed neutral countries. Therefore, the two countries began peace talks. However, precisely because the two countries did not have many options for fighting, the negotiations were delayed.

Prussia was indeed willing to withdraw from the war, but he demanded that the France guarantee that they would not take any action against Hanover. However, the France viewed Hanover as a tool to threaten Britain and force Britain out of the war.

At that time, the House of Hanover ruled Britain, and the King of Britain was also the Elector of Hanover. Although Britain and Hanover were legally two separate countries, they shared a common head of state.

The French Navy has always been inferior to the British Navy, and after the Toulon rebellion, the French Navy suffered heavy losses, making it even less able to challenge Britain naval power. As for landing in Britain, that was even more of a pipe dream... The English Channel is not wide, but it's not something you can send an army across in a bathtub.

Therefore, the only thing the France could do was to undermine Britain interests on the Europe continent. After Napoleon conquered Northern Italy, he extorted and blackmailed the entire Italy, even the Pope was not spared. Naturally, other countries were terrified and dared not have any dealings with the Britain anymore. This was a heavy blow to Britain interests.

After occupying the Rhine, General Joubert marched into the Netherlands, forcing the entire Netherlands to join the France camp. Since the Netherlands was a crucial gateway for Britain goods entering continental Europe, this was yet another blow to the Britain.

However, the Britain remained incredibly stubborn, their attitude unyielding and refusing to adapt to changing circumstances. Britain weren't against peace negotiations, but their condition was that France return to its original borders, while refusing to return the France colonies Britain had seized during the war—effectively treating France as a defeated nation!

Therefore, the France could only use Hanover to threaten Britain. However, if France actually occupied Hanover, it would border Prussia, which would obviously be disadvantageous to Prussia. As a result, negotiations with Prussia have been delayed.

Of course, Prussia's opinion was not enough to stop the France from attacking Hanover. Shortly after Napoleon left Austria, the France launched an attack on Hanover and quickly occupied Hanover. Prussia, while protesting verbally, did not dare to move an inch.

Therefore, although many issues remain unresolved, war is effectively no longer a possibility.

Now, the only remaining conflict is at sea.

In fact, after France captured Hanover, Britain's attitude softened slightly. The reason was simple: Britain could no longer find any decent allies on the continent, and Britain economic situation was not good recently due to the large number of markets it had lost on the Europe continent.

The Britain indicated they could recognize France control over the Rhine Region, but the France had to withdraw from Hanover, the Netherlands' independence had to be guaranteed, and markets in Europe countries, including France, had to be reopened to Britain.

If it were only these factors, this condition wouldn't be entirely unnecessarily open to discussion. However, in France, this plan was met with opposition from the military system.

The stated reason is, of course, "How can we so easily give away the land we've conquered?" But the deeper reason is that, for some, it is more advantageous for the conflict at sea to continue for a while longer.

Relying on its superior navy, the Britain tried their best to blockade France's foreign trade routes. Of course, in order to avoid too much impact, it showed leniency towards some neutral ships, but France ships did suffer relentless attacks from the Britain on all routes.

However, one type of France vessel remained unaffected: the clipper ship. With a speed far exceeding that of Britain warships, these ships could easily break through Britain blockades and reach ports in other regions. Therefore, as long as the Britain blockade of France continued, clipper ships would sell very well, and profit margins would be extremely high.

Throughout France, all the existing ships were unable to sail due to the Britain blockade, or if they did, they were likely to never return. This meant that if ship owners still wanted to engage in maritime trade, they had to purchase clipper ships from certain individuals to replace their old vessels, which were difficult to use under the Britain blockade. These ship owners had no choice but to sell their old ships at low prices to foreigners and then order new clipper ships from certain individuals.

Now that the France have gained control of Italy and the Netherlands, they have essentially brought all of Europe's major foreign trade ports under their control, which has fueled even greater ambitions in some France.

"Britain is France's most dangerous enemy. We can compromise with other enemies, but as long as we want France to be the king of Europe, there is no possibility of compromise between us and Britain —well, that's just the most basic principle, of course. My brother, do you understand?" Joseph said to Lucien, crossing his legs.

By this time, Joseph had moved some of his research facilities back to Paris, which meant he had more time to educate his younger brother.

"Of course I know. You want to use the Britain. You want Britain to intercept not only France ships, but also Italy and Netherlands ships, so you can sell the clipper ships for a higher price," Lucien replied.

"No, no, no... Lucien, you are still too young, too naive. I didn't want to do that, because the backlash would be too great. I only need you to spread this rumor in Parliament, not to have Parliament pass resolutions such as banning Britain goods from entering other countries' ports," Joseph said. "Such a rumor itself can put considerable pressure on all sides. If Parliament doesn't pass it this time, what about next time? Will Parliament pass it next time? And if it does pass such a resolution, will the Britain retaliate by blocking the shipping routes of other countries? With such concerns, who would buy those old ships that are difficult to evade the Britain blockade? Do you understand now?"

"This will put Europe's traditional shipbuilding companies in crisis, and then we can buy them at low prices!" Lucien clapped his hands excitedly.

"My foolish brother!" Joseph shook his head. "You're so clueless! Even if those shipyards are cheap, buying them would still cost a fortune! Where would we get the money to spend that? Why should we spend money?"

"So what are you planning to do? Is it going to be that alliance again?" Lucien said. "I really don't know what's so good about that alliance. I think what's truly yours is the best."

"Idiot! What's truly yours? What's truly yours? Money is! If we really used a lot of money to acquire shipyards, could those shipyards generate money faster than forming an alliance and then quickly profiting from that alliance? It's a very, very simple math problem. It shouldn't be difficult for you at all. Why haven't you realized it yet?"

Joseph lowered his legs, sat up straight, and stared at Lucien: "Lucien, you've been drinking too much lately and wasting too much energy on those shady women, which has caused your mind to severely deteriorate... Hmm, I should try to find a way to help you restore your intelligence..."

"Of course I can figure that out. I can do it in less than a second," Lucien quickly said. "But while this way you make money faster in the early stages, the total income won't be as good as if you acquired it yourself! I think you..."

"This situation is caused by the political situation. The political situation is volatile, and thinking too far ahead actually increases the risk. I think you must have overlooked this variable in your one-second calculation. Otherwise, you definitely wouldn't have been able to calculate it in one second," Joseph said.

"That was just an exaggeration, a rhetorical device..." Lucien's voice trailed off. Clearly, he had overlooked this variable.

"That's not even the most important variable you've overlooked," Joseph continued. "We don't just have one business; we have multiple business lines. The movement of funds among them will bring different fluctuations in returns. The same amount of money invested in shipbuilding will yield a certain income; invested in another business, it will also yield a corresponding income. How to coordinate these limited funds to achieve higher efficiency is such a complex problem. I think it's no simpler than proving the Four Color Theorem, yet you're telling me you can figure it out in a second!"

At this point, Joseph revealed a tiger-like grin. "So, Lucien, stop trying to deny it. Your declining mathematical abilities are undeniable. Hmm... I happen to need some help with some calculations in one of my jobs..."

"Alright..." Lucien's face turned pale. "But, Joseph, I have other work to do..."

"Don't worry, it won't be too difficult or tiring for you," Joseph said. "Actually, this is just a good opportunity for you to have a deeper understanding of the direction our business is heading."