Preparing to Declare War

Leaf Spring are a very mature technology nowadays; Joseph simply had the Craftsman use them in a different way, so the technical details were quickly explained to Craftsman. 🐟✌ 👮🐤

Joseph emerged from the Carriage Workshop and instructed his newly appointed Workshop manager, "Mr. Laspina, your most important task now is to recruit skilled Craftsman as quickly as possible; you can spend more money to poach them from other Workshop."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will certainly do as you say." The manager from Parma nodded hurriedly and cautiously.

Joseph continued, "Once the new Leaf Spring Suspension are prototyped, our Workshop will only manufacture the chassis; the carriages will be custom-made from other Carriage Workshop, using the most luxurious materials and accessories."

Laspina cautiously said, "Your Highness, this would be extremely costly..."

"Don't worry about costs, we'll have high enough profits."

Joseph smiled and then instructed, "Remember, all Carriage must have ' Royal House Certification' engraved on the body and 'Same Chassis as Royal Carriage ' on the rear. Write the word 'chassis' in smaller size."

Obtaining a "Royal House certificate" would be easy for Joseph; he could simply ask his mother for it. However, to be "the Royal-Use Replica," he would need to send his father a Carriage made in his own collection so he could ride around in it. Of course, if the chassis and the carriage were identical, Court Official would certainly object.

"Next, we need to increase advertising investment. I'll talk to the Paris Business Daily and get you the best placement. Paris Fashion Week is coming up soon, so you must seize this opportunity to make our Carriage the trend among the Nobility."

Joseph was quite confident about the sales prospects of the Carriage.

His method of copying the shock absorption structure of later small trucks achieved a level of comfort comparable to modern Spring Suspension, but at only one-tenth the cost. This allowed him to allocate more funds to enhancing the luxury of the cargo compartment. Even so, the overall cost of the vehicle was still significantly lower than using Spring Suspension, meaning the selling price would be correspondingly lower.

At that time, Carriage with Spring Suspension were only affordable to a select few extremely wealthy individuals; they were the epitome of ultra-luxury, essentially equivalent to the Maybach or Porsche of later generations.

Joseph planned to price the new Carriage at around 60% of the price of Spring Suspension carriage, roughly in the price range of Mercedes-Benz- BMW in later generations. Those Nobility who couldn't afford the "ultra-luxury" carriage would definitely be crazy about this "Royal House -certified" Carriage, which looked even more upscale than the "ultra-luxury" carriage and had the same level of comfort.

Joseph's only concern was the Workshop's production capacity.

If demand truly exceeds supply, we can consider licensing the Patent to other Workshop for a fee. This time, unlike the winemaking technology where only a 3% Patent licensing fee was charged—that was to entice Plantation Owner to grow Potato — the Carriage is a purely commercial operation, so the Patent fee should be at least 30%.

The following day, in the Conference Hall East Hall of the Versailles Palace, the Cabinet Meeting was proceeding as scheduled.

"Is this alright?" Queen Mary handed the document appointing Talleyrand as senior diplomatic advisor back to Brienne, which already bore her signature.

Brienne nodded respectfully, "Yes, thank you, Your Majesty."

The ministers present didn't pay much attention to a priest named Lang, and since the position of diplomatic advisor wasn't important, it was approved immediately after Brienne made the appointment proposal.

Archbishop Brienne put away the appointment documents and gestured to his assistant to distribute copies of Catherine II's letter to those present.

Although it is called a letter, its contents are actually diplomatic documents and do not contain any information that needs to be kept secret.

Brienne said, "The origin of this Russo-Turkish War is the Ottoman Empire's demand for Russia to return Crimea last year and its attack on Russia frigates."

"The current situation is that the Ottoman Army has launched multiple attacks on the Kinburn Port, but all have been repelled by the Russian Army. In particular, at the end of last year, the main Ottoman offensive force was almost completely annihilated by the Suvorov Legion, and the offensive was temporarily halted. Meanwhile, the Russia side is assembling its army and Warship."

Minister of Foreign Affairs Vergennes, who had just returned from Russia, added, "According to what I heard in Saint Petersburg, the Russia Empress is very determined this time and is prepared to capture Ochakov in one fell swoop."

Ochakov is a strategic location between Russia and Turkey; whichever side wants to attack the other must pass through here first. It is also an important naval port overlooking the Black Sea.

Brienne continued, "Currently, it seems likely that Austria will support Russia and send troops to attack the Ottoman. Meanwhile, Sweden is mobilizing troops, seemingly preparing to support the Ottoman from the north in attacking Russia."

Queen Mary frowned slightly, as if muttering to herself, "So what?"

"Your Majesty," Brienne quickly explained, "Although Hamid I has implemented military reforms and made ample preparations, judging from previous battles, Russia still holds the advantage. Moreover, Saint Petersburg strongly desires our participation in the war against the Ottoman, and they should be willing to offer some benefits for this."

Hamid I is the current Ottoman Sultan.

Brienne and Joseph exchanged a glance, then Brian continued, "Now would be a good time for us to intervene in the Russo-Turkish war."

The Queen was somewhat puzzled. "But our army has to cross Austria and travel four thousand nautical miles to reach Crimea."

Joseph interjected, "Your Majesty, we don't need to go to Crimea. Sweden can support its allies to the north of Russia, and we can also take action on the Ottoman west."

"His Crown Prince is quite right," Brienne said. "By demonstrating our strength in the Mediterranean Sea, we can greatly hinder the Ottoman's deployment."

Upon hearing that action was to be taken in the Mediterranean Sea, the Minister of the Navy immediately became interested. "I agree with Archbishop Brienne's view. If we can gain Russia's gratitude by simply making a trip to the Gulf of Sidra, it would be a very worthwhile strategic move."

Joseph sighed inwardly. "What are you thinking? Where are you going to get so much military funding to swagger around the Ottoman? Wouldn't it be better to just grab some tangible benefits near the Barbary Coast?"

The Gulf of Sidra is located in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, near the southern coast of the Ottoman. Although it posed a significant threat to the Ottoman, it was also far from France. At present, France is unlikely to actually attack the Ottoman mainland, otherwise it would be helping Russia to pull chestnuts out of the fire.

The Barbary Coast, located in the West Mediterranean Sea, is adjacent to the southern coast of France and borders North Africa to the south; this is where France's interests lie.

He hurriedly said, "Marquis de Castries, our objective this time should be the Ottoman naval forces in the West Mediterranean Sea."

"The Ottoman Navy is in the West Mediterranean Sea..." The Minister of the Navy took a full two seconds to react, "You mean the Barbary Pirates?"

"Yes," Joseph nodded, "Including their naval base."

(End of this chapter)

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