Joseph pondered for a moment, then gestured to Eman. "Please have Archbishop Brienne and Archbishop Talleyrand come see me at once. Oh, and Mr. Lavalette as well."
Half an hour later.
After Bayei had explained the general situation to the senior Cabinet ministers, Joseph swept his gaze across them and said solemnly:
"The British are stockpiling vast quantities of cane sugar. Clearly, they are preparing to short sugar prices, perhaps even seize control of cane sugar pricing from now on."
Brienne and the others all looked worried, frowning at one another.
Cane sugar was not only a vital fiscal pillar that brought France tens of millions of Francs every year; it was also the livelihood of more than a hundred thousand French farmers who grew sugar beets.
If cane sugar prices collapsed, vast numbers of farmers would go bankrupt as a result. An uprising would hardly be surprising then.
Minister of Finance Gaudin was the most anxious of all, because he knew that cane sugar was the anchor stabilizing the Franc. In current international trade, most countries accepted settlement in French paper money. One major reason was that anyone wishing to buy cane sugar had to use Francs—the Paris Futures Exchange accepted only Francs.
Once the center of international cane sugar trading shifted to London, countries other than members of the Iberia-Apennine Common Market would likely demand payment in gold and silver coin.
That would cause huge quantities of Francs to flow back into France, rapidly driving up French inflation.
Joseph paused, then continued in a loud voice, "I have decided to throw our full strength into intercepting the British short-selling operation."
Gaudin's eyelids twitched in alarm. "Your Highness, if the British release more than sixty thousand tons of cane sugar onto the market, there is simply no way we