Budget Proposal (Seeking Investment)

Castries' face turned green. He glared and shouted, "Your Highness, how can you say that? The fleet is France's sharpest spear. We absolutely cannot..."

Joseph looked at him calmly. "Marquis de Castries, while we build one warship, how many can the Englishmen build?"

"Well..." Castries visibly lacked confidence. "Probably one and a half..."

Seeing the Crown Prince smile without speaking, he said irritably, "Two. The Englishmen truly launch new ships very quickly—perhaps even more than two!"

Joseph nodded. "In other words, no matter how desperately we build ships, we can never outbuild the British Navy."

He had spoken something everyone present knew, yet none dared say openly. The room instantly fell deathly silent.

Joseph continued, "If that is the case, why waste vast resources building warships? The current fleet is enough to escort Merchant Ships."

Naturally, he knew the importance of the fleet, and he certainly did not oppose expanding the navy. What he opposed was continuing to waste money on large, useless old-fashioned Sailing Warships.

Britain held an enormous advantage in shipbuilding. Not only did it possess numerous shipyards, skilled craftsmen, and abundant funds, but Britain stood alone across the sea, allowing it to shift army resources to the navy. France could not do the same.

If they simply competed in the number of ships built, France was doomed to lose. The Battle of Trafalgar more than ten years later proved it: France poured everything into producing warships and joined forces with the Spanish and Dutch fleets, yet was still pinned to the seabed and ground against it by the British Navy.

After that grinding came the complete British blockade of France's maritime trade routes. From then on, Napoleon gradually declined, while Britain ultimately became the British Empire.

Thus, there was only one way forward—abandon the currently popular multi-deck Sailing Warships, use the advanced technology in his mind to leap directly to Ironclads, equip them with Steam Engines and more powerful artillery, and strike British warships from an entirely higher dimension.

But he could not reveal these plans at a Cabinet Meeting. Orleans, at the very least, would very likely leak the news.

"But..." Castries knew the Crown Prince was arguing sophistry, yet could not think of a rebuttal. He only feared that the Queen might truly listen to him and cut all the new ships.

Brienne cast Joseph an approving look. This young man understood bargaining! And he had only just taken office, yet already knew to contribute to his fiscal reduction plan. Perhaps he truly would be a good assistant.

He gave a light cough and said with feigned solemnity, "Your Highness, although our finances are somewhat strained, we absolutely cannot abandon naval development. Cutting one Battleship is already the limit."

Mono also joined in persuading them. "Our overseas Colonies also need warships to keep watch over them. Otherwise, the mobs there will stir up trouble every other day."

In the end, Queen Mary made the final decision. "Joseph, cutting expenditures cannot be too radical. Marquis de Castries, for now, we shall follow Archbishop Brienne's proposal and cut one Battleship and two Second-rate Ships. However, I hope you will also carefully review the construction of all other new ships and eliminate waste."

Castries' new ships had nearly been wiped out entirely. Having survived the disaster, he nodded weakly. "Yes, Your Majesty."

He sighed inwardly. The Crown Prince is still too young. He does not understand what the navy means to the nation, only cares about reducing spending. I must speak with him more in the future and change his views.

Brienne had successfully dealt with the most troublesome navy, and felt considerably relieved. He continued reading the subsequent reduction plan. "I trust everyone has heard of the situation in the Netherlands. The Patriot Party resisted for less than a month before being beaten into utter collapse by the Prussians. In view of this, I believe we can halt our aid to the Dutch Patriot Party, saving the treasury 250,000 Livre every month."

Joseph frowned slightly as he recalled information concerning the Dutch Patriot Party movement.

It was an uprising launched by the Netherlands' emerging Capitalists and citizens, intended to overthrow William V. With French funding, they had successfully driven Stadtholder William V out of the Netherlands and established the States-General.

Later, through the schemes of William V's wife, the Prussian princess Wilhelmina, Prussia intervened militarily. The Patriot Party was routed, William V was restored, and all the French investment from the early stages went down the drain.

The Cabinet ministers all voiced their support for abandoning the Dutch rebels. After all, two...

Hundred thousand Prussian regular troops had already marched into the Netherlands. The Patriot Party's paltry forces were no match for them, so they should cut their losses as soon as possible.

Queen Mary swept her gaze around the room. "Does anyone else have an opinion?"

"I do..." Joseph rose to his feet.

Minister of War Saint-Priest had originally wanted to struggle a little longer. They had invested quite heavily in the Netherlands, but when he saw the Crown Prince speak up, his heart immediately sank. Judging from how he had just wanted to cut every new naval ship, he was likely part of the Anti-War Faction. And since the Queen favored him so much, aid to the Dutch was surely doomed.

Joseph spoke loudly, "Your Majesty, I believe that not only must we not halt our aid to the Patriot Party, we must increase it. We must even adopt the posture of sending troops against Prussia. Under no circumstances can we allow the Patriot Party to collapse!"

"Oh?" The Queen was quite surprised. "Explain your reasons."

"First, the Netherlands is the outlet of the Rhine River waterway. If we can hold it in our grasp, we can effectively contain Prussia."

"Second, Dutch commerce is highly developed. If we bring it into our sphere of influence, trade alone will earn back the aid we provide."

"Finally, we are bound to fight Prussia in the future. The Netherlands can tie down a large number of Prussian troops on its western front."

"If we allow Prussia to take control of the Netherlands, all of this will instead become an advantage for Prussia!"

There were actually two more points Joseph had not mentioned.

First, the Netherlands possessed vast coal and iron reserves. The starting gun of the Industrial Revolution had already sounded; in the future, whoever held more coal and iron resources would hold the greater advantage.

Second, the Patriotic Party was highly skilled at stirring up unrest. After being driven from the Netherlands by Prussia, they would flood into France. Historically, they had caused no small amount of trouble in France during the Great Revolution.

The moment his words fell, the expressions of every Cabinet minister became somewhat strange.

What the Crown Prince had said made perfect sense, but he was vehemently opposed to building warships on one side while supporting aid to the Dutch on the other—especially that line about how they were bound to fight Prussia in the future. Could it be that...

They all lowered their heads, doing their utmost not to think about the worst possibility.

Brienne spoke first. "Your Highness, our financial situation no longer permits us to give the Dutch any more money."

Joseph said, "Didn't we just save some money meant for warships? Give them a portion of it."

Minister of the Navy Castries nearly burst into tears. Thank you so much, Your Highness.

The Minister of War, however, was so overjoyed that tears welled in his eyes. Thank you so much, Your Highness.

"Well..." Brienne once again felt fortunate that fiscal decision-making power remained firmly in his hands.

Queen Mary came to his rescue. "Joseph, your reasons are well-founded. But even if we give the Patriot Party more aid, I fear they still cannot withstand the Prussian army."