Lyon's last chance

Once the French Army defeats the Brabant rebels, Prussia will certainly not want to accept Austria's dominance in the Southern Netherlands, and will therefore inevitably send some troops to aid the Southern Netherlands.

Joseph had even prepared to create the impression that the French Army was running out of steam, so that the Prussia would think they could make another attempt.

With the Prussian Army being transferred to the Southern Netherlands, the number of troops in Silesia will inevitably decrease, and the pressure on the Austrian Army there will also be reduced.

Joseph II, recognizing the supporting role the campaign in the Southern Netherlands played in the Silesia region, would inevitably encourage the French Army to continue tying down the Prussia there.

At this point, the French Army military presence in the Southern Netherlands was tantamount to having received Austria's tacit approval.

During the fighting French Army and Prussia, the extent to which the battlefield would expand was beyond the control of the Austria.

Joseph II might even want the French Army to control a larger area, ideally extending the battlefield to Upper Heilre — Prussia territory bordering the southern Southern Netherlands to the Northeast.

Of course, Joseph wouldn't be foolish enough to be the first to provoke Prussia.

In fact, he didn't even want to get his hands on the Flanders of the Southern Netherlands. As long as he could get the Wallonia, which is the French- speaking area in the Southeast Southern Netherlands, he would have already achieved his strategic goal.

The people in Wallonia mostly speak French, are naturally pro-French, and are almost impossible to manage.

Most importantly, the Wallonia is a major coal-producing area in Europe, and securing it could provide strong support for France's Industrial Revolution.

Furthermore, the Wallonia borders Luxembourg, which has abundant and high-quality Iron Mine and was under France rule 80 years ago. The flames of war in the Southern Netherlands could easily spread here.

Once the war between Prussia and Austria ends, Wallonia and Luxembourg will be filled with French Soldiers, and even their bureaucratic systems will resemble those of France. At that point, the question of how these areas will be governed will be a point of contention between France and Austria.

As for the Flanders in northern Southern Netherlands, although it controls the Rhine River estuary, it remains a hot potato for now.

Firstly, most of the population in the Flanders speaks Dutch, making it very difficult to govern— the Brabant Revolution served as a cautionary tale for Austria rule there.

Secondly, the United Kingdom attached great importance to the Rhine River estuary, as nearly half of their goods sold to the Europe continent passed through there. Incidentally, the Le Havre Port, which is also the estuary of the Seine River, was equally important.

Therefore, the United Kingdom absolutely could not accept that France, which they had always been hostile to, would control their trade lifeline and that of the vast Germany market.

Therefore, they would not hesitate to declare war on France. Historically, the core reason why United Kingdom devoted itself to the Second Anti-French Coalition was that France had occupied the Southern Netherlands and, disregarding previous agreements, was determined to control the Rhine River waterway.

Joseph's current strategic focus is on domestic industrial development to quickly strengthen the nation and then use the profits from industrial growth to fill the huge Finance.

Before this, he had no desire to compete with the United Kingdom, who were still the most powerful country in Europe.

Therefore, it is most appropriate for the northern part of the Southern Netherlands to remain in Austria hands for the time being.

This was Joseph's strategic plan for France's direction in Europe. As for making significant strides in the European Continent, that would have to wait until France's economy had developed.

War is essentially a contest of a nation's foundation, and the economy is the most important aspect of that foundation.

By the time the Minister of War and the Chief of Staff finished reporting on the French Armaments, it was already past 10 p. m.

Joseph roughly calculated the timeline based on Berthier's earlier statement. It would take about a month for the war to spread from Austria's offensive against Silesia to the Southern Netherlands.

He gathered up what he was doing and instructed Eman, who was standing at the door, "Please get ready. We're going to Lyon first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Your Highness."

A month is enough time to go to Lyon and return.

Joseph knew that once the Seine-Rhine River Trade Agreement was signed, a vast market would open up to France.

However, the crucial Automatic Loom has not yet been fully deployed.

This is a complete waste of a historic opportunity!

In fact, Automatic Loom have already begun mass production, and Mirabeau recently shipped thirty or forty of them to Lyon.

However, the slow dissemination of information in that era, coupled with the conservative mindset of Lyon's factory owners who dared not invest heavily in trying it out, resulted in the Automatic Loom failing to make a ripple at all.

Joseph rubbed his aching shoulders and sighed inwardly, "They really can't manage anything without me..."

Seven days later.

Joseph gazed out the car window at the Rhone River docks, where mountains of Textile lay piled high, and workers bustled about like ants, carrying goods onto ships.

More and more fabrics and clothing were being brought in from all around, and the people on the vehicles were shouting loudly to summon the dockworkers to unload the goods.

It also presents the image of a prosperous center of France Textile.

However, Joseph was well aware that this place was still far behind the developed United Kingdom Textile.

In fact, if it weren't for his "tricks" on the United Kingdom and his amendment of the Eden Treaty, which gave Lyon a much-needed respite, Lyon would have long been a place of bankrupt Workshop and unemployed workers, filled with decay and ruin.

Of course, we've only caught our breath for now.

France lacked Colony to dump goods and had no large Cotton and Wool producing areas, so it was naturally no match for the United Kingdom in terms of cost and sales.

Therefore, if France wants to get a piece of the Cake in the Textile, which has the largest sales volume, it can only focus on the production process.

Although the United Kingdom were still the world's leading power in this field, the application of Automatic Loom and Steam Engine gave France a rare opportunity.

Joseph's motorcade drove all the way to the Royal Square, where the area suddenly became lively.

The Municipal Commissioner and the Chamber of Commerce President, along with hundreds of officials and factory owners, stood respectfully on both sides of the road to welcome His Crown Prince.

This was also Joseph's prior instruction to have them wait in the square; otherwise, it would have wasted half a day to pick them up from outside the city and bring them here.

After a series of routine greetings and bows, Joseph, accompanied by music and cheers, pushed through the crowd and went straight to the high platform in the center of the square.

As he raised his hand in a gesture, the surroundings quickly quieted down.

He looked around, wasting no time, and shouted, "Now, this is Lyon's last chance!"

According to the Eden Treaty, Tariff on the United Kingdom Textile will be significantly reduced starting at the end of next year.

"At Lyon's current cost level, they will lose the entire domestic market!"