Target: Tunisia!

Admiral Jervis continued:

"Furthermore, Algiers needs an army to deal with a successful France landing. ♨😂 😺ൠ"

"As far as I know, their Guard Corps are only good for drinking and picking up prostitutes; they're not very strong in combat."

"We can recruit Albanian Mercenaries," the Duke of Leeds said casually, inhaling the aroma of his tea. "They're very fierce, and they speak Arabic. Most importantly, they're cheap."

Pitt nodded slightly, then looked at Jervis: "How many mercenaries do you estimate would be needed to defend Algiers?"

"We need at least 10,000 people, preferably 15,000."

"Duke Grace, please be careful." Consul Stuart's voice interrupted the Duke of Leeds's reverie. The latter quickly refocused, crossed the gangplank, and stepped onto the port of Mitija.

After another two hours in the carriage, the Duke of Leeds and his entourage were finally able to secretly meet with Algiers' current governor, Deimansour—there were many French spies here, so they had to act covertly.

Mansur was very welcoming to the United Kingdom. After all, they had come to offer benefits; who wouldn't welcome them?

Last time, the Duke of Leeds brought him almost free artillery and dozens of engineers. This time, he brought mercenary contracts.

Initially, Mansur was very reluctant to let tens of thousands of Albania mercenaries into Algiers, especially since he would have to bear one-third of the cost.

However, he soon saw the edict from Ottoman Sultan Michael I brought by Mr. Stuart, the "Sultan's advisor," which urged him to strengthen the military and use mercenaries to defend against possible invasions from foreign forces.

In fact, what Mihard I sent was less of Edict and more of a guarantee—the main content of which was to assure the Algiers regime that these mercenaries would obey its orders and that they would withdraw immediately once the threat disappeared.

The following day, a heated discussion took place in the Algiers Parliament.

Pirates, the Naval Power, and the local Berbers were generally in favor of accepting mercenaries. After all, intelligence brought by Mansur from the United Kingdom indicated that France was likely to attack the Algiers Navy base.

The Guard Corps, however, feared that the mercenaries posed a threat to them and strongly opposed their entry into Algiers.

Ultimately, under Mansur's promise to allocate 60% of the United Kingdom aid to the Guard Corps, and the Navy's firm insistence, the Guard Corps reluctantly agreed to allow mercenaries to be stationed there.

The Duke of Leeds was overjoyed upon receiving the news, leaving Tourt to handle the affairs of Algiers while he himself boarded the warship back to the United Kingdom, completely satisfied.

His trip to the Mediterranean Sea lasted more than two months, costing only a little over 400,000 Pound Sterling, and he successfully thwarted the France expansionist ambitions in North Africa. This was undoubtedly a huge strategic success! It's worth noting that United Kingdom had previously launched a war and spent nearly ten million Pound Sterling to achieve a similar strategic objective.

The world has now entered the industrial age, and only a large number of Colony can bring markets and raw materials to support national development. In recent years, more than half of the empire's income has come from its Colony in the Far East and the Americas.

A France lacking Colony? Ah, it will never have the strength to compete with an empire!

France, Paris.

In an office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph carefully reviewed reports on the Strategic Grain Reserve reserves in various regions. Due to the rapid expansion of industry and the significant increase in Minister of Industry of Industry took office, the original Industrial Planning Bureau was clearly insufficient. Therefore, Joseph simply designated a small area in the Tuileries Palace as the new Planning Bureau's office. In any case, there were plenty of guest rooms, and they were never fully occupied.

The data in the report made Joseph frown slightly—grain reserves had only decreased slightly in July and August, but starting in September, reserves suddenly decreased by tens of millions of pounds.

This accounts for 17% of the total reserves!

He knew that this was because people had some stored grain, but with the crop failure caused by the hailstorm, many people's stored grain had been exhausted, and they could only rely on government grain reserves to survive.

Fortunately, he had started purchasing grain from abroad at the beginning of the year; otherwise, France would probably have descended into chaos by now. Historically, it was from this point that the French Government became powerless to quell the riots that were breaking out everywhere, and had no choice but to announce the Estates-General the following year, thus setting the stage for the Great Revolution Depression.

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief. Although the situation had been stabilized for the time being, vigilance was still paramount.

First, due to the severe drought, the grain yield in the second half of this year will certainly be significantly lower than in previous years. According to Church estimates, the harvest may only be 70% of that of previous years, or even lower.

It's important to understand that France is still an agricultural country—a 30% reduction in grain harvest is essentially equivalent to a 30% drop in the nation's life force!

Moreover, due to the large-scale purchase of grain from abroad last year, and the drought in other countries, international grain prices have now increased by 60% compared to last year, and are still rising.

Countries like United Kingdom, Prussia, and the Germany states have all enacted laws to strictly limit grain exports, so now even if you have money, you can't buy it.

Moreover, France didn't have much money at the time...

Joseph had just reviewed the Finance system's report. Thanks to his previous actions, France's debt crisis had indeed been greatly alleviated, at least it was no longer on the verge of collapse as before, but in reality, the balance of payments was still in deficit.

Annual expenditures exceed income by 20.7 Livre.

This is indeed a significant reduction compared to last year's deficit of 300 million, but it is still a very alarming figure!

In particular, next year we will face the possibility of running out of grain reserves, which will inevitably require a lot of money to purchase food. If things go wrong, the Finance situation, which has just begun to improve, will deteriorate again.

Historically, between 1787 and 1789, France nearly doubled its Government Bonds in response to Famine and riots!

Joseph knew that the drought would not ease until the second half of next year, and they could not let their guard down until then.

To cope with the food crisis, the first thing you need is money.

Whether it's purchasing grain or, in dire circumstances, going out to plunder grain, a large amount of money is required.

Currently, France has two main avenues for raising funds:

First, there was the nascent industrial sector. Although several sectors, such as Papermaking, winemaking, and Carriage, developed relatively well, adding more than eight million Livre to France's revenue, it was merely Waterwheel when it came to supporting the State Finances.

As for other sectors, at most, one can only make a small profit. Especially in pillar industries such as Steam Engine, Textile, and steel, even more money needs to be invested, and there is still a considerable distance to go before profitability.

Another source of increased income is North Africa.

Tunisia itself is a very wealthy trading hub with several important trading ports. Moreover, almost the entire Tunisia is fertile farmland suitable for cultivation. If large-scale development of arable Farmland could be achieved there, it could significantly alleviate France's food crisis.

In extreme cases, starving people could be sent there directly to Farmland and grow their own food to feed themselves.

It can be said that in Joseph's strategic plan, Tunisia was the key to ensuring France stability.

Just then, Eman gently knocked on the door and said:

"Your Highness, Consul Joanne has arrived, along with that other person."

Joseph immediately perked up and gave the order:

"Please let them in."

He had been waiting for this person ever since he received the Intelligence Department report about North Africa a few days ago, and today he finally arrived.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Shortly after, Joanne, tall and slender with tanned skin, led two people into the office.

When he saw the Crown Prince looking in their direction, he quickly touched his chest and bowed:

"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness the Crown Prince! I am Bernard Arno de Joanne, the Consul in Tunisia."

The robust woman beside him, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a veil and a new fitted dress, was clearly very surprised by Joseph's age. She asked Joanne a few questions in a somewhat impolite whisper, and after receiving an affirmative answer, she removed her hat, curtsied to Joseph, and spoke a long string of Arabic in rapid succession.

Joanne quickly gestured towards the woman and translated for the Crown Prince:

"Ah, Your Highness, this is Ms. Aisha Labia, the eldest daughter of Eunice Pasha. She manages many of Mr. Eunice's businesses, and she is also Eunice Pasha's plenipotentiary representative on this occasion."

"She just praised your demeanor and reputation, and extended her sincere greetings, wishing you a long and healthy life."

Joseph smiled and returned the greeting to Rabia, who had an exotic face. "Welcome to Paris, after traveling so far." Then he gestured to the sofa covered with a fine Wool, "Please sit down and let's talk."

Rabia pointed to the door again and mumbled something in Spanish. Ishaq immediately translated for Joseph:

"Your Highness, she said she brought you some gifts on behalf of her father, and hopes you will like them."

He lowered his voice slightly:

"Ah, some of them were left outside the door, mainly jewelry. Others were left in the Marseille Port; those were slaves, fifty or sixty of them... all bought by her, mainly France, but also a few Italy."

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that these were the so-called "white slaves" —European who had been captured by Barbary Pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa. It seemed that Younis was trying to curry favor with him by sending back his France subjects.

He turned to Rabia and smiled slightly:

"Please thank Mr. Younis on my behalf. This will be the start of our good cooperation."

Rabia immediately bowed in response:

"My father and I are very honored, Your Highness."

Joanne was busy providing simultaneous translation.

Joseph nodded to Joanne, then said to Rabia:

"I believe Baron Joanne has already conveyed my meaning to Mr. Younis. And what was his reply?"

A fierce glint suddenly flashed in Rabia's eyes, and he shouted:

"Your Highness, my father greatly appreciates your proposal!"

"Those two despicable fellows, Muhammad and Ali, have stolen Tunisia for over twenty years; it's time to return it to its rightful owners."

"If you can help my father return to the Kashir Palace, he will do everything he can to express his gratitude to you!"

The Kashir Palace she mentioned was the royal palace of the Hafsid Dynasty in Tunisia, and also the residence of the successive Bey.

Joseph nodded with pleasure upon hearing this.

He had anticipated that Younis, a powerful figure who had once held military power in Tunisia and rebelled against his own father, would never be content to die alone in Algiers.

So he instructed the Police Intelligence Division to cooperate with the Tunisia consul to contact Younis. The Police Intelligence Division recently sent back a report stating that Younis was very interested in regaining Bey's position and that he had many supporters in Tunisia.

However, Younis clearly did not trust Joanne and the agents, and insisted on obtaining a promise from the French Royal Family, which led to today's meeting.

Joseph laughed and said, "Younis Pasha has the purest Bey bloodline, and he should rightfully take back control of Tunisia."

"Then, why don't you tell me how I can help him?"

Rabia seemed somewhat impatient as she said:

"Thank you, Your Highness. First, my father is under house arrest by the Algiers Guard Corps. You need to help him leave Algiers."

Joan immediately replied, "Your Highness, Mr. Prussian Per has already prepared a plan for this. His men will try to stall the Algiers' Imperial Guard."

"It's about an hour and a half drive from Younis Pasha's residence to the coast, and even faster on horseback. However, we'll need a warship to pick us up, otherwise we'll be stopped by the Algiers navy... cough, pirates."

Joseph nodded. "That's no problem. The Combined Fleet can go and provide support."

Rabia's face lit up with joy, and he continued:

"My father has already sent men back to Tunisia to contact his followers. With my father's prestige, he should be able to assemble a large army soon."

"However, the main force of the Tunisia Guard Corps will likely still be under the command of Hamud Ali. You know, the Guard Corps is very well-equipped, which will put us in a tough fight."

Hamud Ali is the current Tunisia Prime Minister Bey.

Joseph understood what she meant. It seemed that Younis's old troops had been marginalized and were probably just menial tasks. It would be difficult for them to win against the main force of the Tunisia Guard Corps.

He waved generously. "I can supply you with 5,000 Charleville Flintlock Musket and 10 cannons."

The so-called superior equipment of the Tunisia Guard Corps is only relative to that of North Africa; the army even has a considerable number of 17th-century Matchlock Gun. It's worth noting that even the Ottoman Guard Corps, which they admired and envied, was not as well-equipped as the Russian Army, whose equipment was among the worst in Europe.

Therefore, simply providing the French Army with some commonly used weapons would be a devastating blow to the North Africa forces.

Rabia was surprised by the young Crown Prince's generosity and immediately rose excitedly to bow.

"You are too generous, Your Highness! With these weapons, my father will surely be able to sweep away those traitors!"

This convinced her of the France's sincerity—they had provided real guns and cannons; what was there to doubt?

"Then, how can we repay you?"

Joseph thought to himself that it would mean fully accepting France's purchase of land and establishment of factories in Tunisia, negotiating and determining Tunisia's tax rates with France, and simultaneously aligning Tunisia politically and culturally with France.

Tunisia has a lot of Farmland, and its food production is very important for alleviating the food crisis in France.

By setting up a factory in Tunisia, the products could be sold nearby to Algiers, Tripoli, and Greece, and transporting them to the Ottoman wouldn't be too far either.

This would result in significantly lower transportation costs compared to goods shipped from the United Kingdom, and even though United Kingdom had an advantage in industrial technology, the final price would still be higher than that of France goods.

This effectively gave France access to a vast market stretching from North Africa to the Balkan Peninsula and then to Central Asia!

However, he didn't intend to mention these things to the woman in front of him, because there was no need.

He simply smiled and replied:

"I hope the Tunisia Navy will declare a ban on plundering merchant ships, that trade will completely shift to France, and that the Port of Bizerte be handed over to France administration."

(End of this chapter)