Southern Suburbs of Paris.
Ministry of Agriculture breeding base.
Joseph looked over the boundless expanse of green before him and felt as though he himself had been filled with vitality.
These were all newly cultivated Triploid Sugar Beets. After this year's harvest, their seeds would supply all of Europe.
Of course, the fields near Paris were only a small portion. Champagne and the provinces farther north were the main Sugar Beet-producing regions.
Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture had reported to him that, upon learning France's high-sugar-content Sugar Beet seeds were available for sale, Prussia had immediately ordered seeds enough for nearly 4,000 hectares without the slightest hesitation.
Moreover, as though afraid France might change its mind, they had paid the full amount immediately after signing the contract.
No wonder the Prussians were so excited. The little patch of Sugar Beet they had secretly planted last year alone had brought in more than 600,000 Thalers—roughly 2 million Francs.
That was more than twice as profitable as planting Wheat.
This year's bumper harvest was imminent. With the scale four or five times greater than last year, their income would exceed 3 million Thalers!
The Prussian government had promptly drawn up a plan to expand Sugar Beet acreage another fivefold this year, only to discover that they did not have enough seeds.
Just then, the French Agricultural Service Consulting Company unexpectedly approached them, offering Sugar Beet seeds with a sugar content as high as 12 percent, in unlimited quantities.
Naturally, the French made one demand: after Prussia refined all its Sugar Beets into Cane Sugar, it had to sell all of it through the Paris Agricultural Products Futures Exchange.
The Prussians signed the purchasing agreement with virtually no hesitation.
In fact, when they had previously obtained a 700,000 Pound Sterling loan from