Gunpowder smoke on all sides

The factory owners present became even more excited.

With a market, raw materials, the latest technology, and Insurance Company backing up investments, this business is definitely viable!

Of course, Joseph was also well aware that while these people were excited, when it came to actually investing in Livre, most of them would still back off until the early adopters actually made money before they would follow suit.

Joseph then offered an incentive program. "To encourage the use of new technologies, factories that invest in Automatic Loom within three months will enjoy a 50% tax reduction for three years. Factories that invest within five months will enjoy a 35% tax reduction."

"Furthermore, for investors with insufficient funds, the Precision Machinery Factory also offers rental services. An investment of just two thousand Livre is all it takes to rent an Automatic Loom for a year."

The French Precision Machinery Factory was a new factory that was separated from the Royal Armory. After all, the Ordnance Factory should focus on the production of weapons, and it wouldn't be good to always have them making looms.

Just then, the Ordnance Factory recruited a new group of Craftsman to produce Automatic Loom, so Joseph simply invested some money to spin off these people into a new company.

In the future, this place can also produce precision-machined products such as Lathe and Boring Machine, which will play a very important role in promoting industrial productivity.

As for leasing Automatic Loom, Joseph directly instructed the Minister of Industry to apply for Finance subsidies. For each loom rented out, the France Finance would subsidize the Precision Machinery Factory 4,000 Livre —the price of an Automatic Loom was 5,800 Livre. In other words, the Precision Machinery Factory did not bear any risk in leasing out the looms.

Suddenly, many more Textile business owners were truly determined to try Automatic Loom.

Investing in three Automatic Loom only requires 36,000 Livre, of which 30,000 Livre are used to buy Steam Engine. Steam Engine are very valuable – many villages are looking for used Steam Engine for irrigation, and they are easy to sell.

With a 50% tax cut, there's really no need to wait any longer. Keep in mind, the tax benefits won't last for five months.

Some shrewd factory owners are already in groups of three or five, discussing investing in Automatic Loom together—the larger the capital, the more effectively costs can be reduced. Although there is no complete set of business operation theories yet, these people have practical experience in running factories and are all skilled capitalists.

After the "policy briefing," Joseph immediately led the Lyon Municipal Commissioner and the Chamber of Commerce President to inspect Lyon's large-scale Textile factories.

For the best-performing companies, he not only provided loan support—yes, the French Reserve Bank disburses loans very quickly once the Crown Prince approves the application—but he also personally taught the operators of several factories advanced concepts such as brand building, promotion, and the cultivation of sales networks.

For the sake of the France Textile, he practically took care of everything for the factory owners, almost to the point of feeding them his own money.

Compared to their United Kingdom counterparts who struggled to make a living through their own talent, the Textile owners in Lyon could practically fly for joy.

If we still can't catch up with the United Kingdom, then there's simply no justice in the world!

Four days later, Joseph looked at the more than thirty application forms for the new Automatic Loom factory on the table with satisfaction, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that his trip to Lyon could come to an end.

Mirabeau will naturally send people to take over the specific implementation work. He has already set the overall framework, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

However, on the morning Joseph was about to depart for Verdun, he heard a faint commotion outside his window.

He opened the window in surprise and saw that the area outside the Villa where he was staying was crowded with people. His Guard and Lyon Police were shouting and trying to disperse the crowd.

Before he could ask, Eman hurried over, bowing his head, and said, "Your Highness, those are Textile workers from Lyon. They seem to have heard that Automatic Loom could reduce the factory's workforce by 90%, so they have come to petition you."

Joseph sighed, rubbing his forehead. The workers were worried about losing their jobs; he blamed himself for exaggerating so much...

In this day and age, most workers live paycheck to paycheck; if they lose their jobs, their families will immediately go hungry.

He suddenly felt a headache coming on. Although the workers' worries were unnecessary, firstly, the effect of Automatic Loom reducing the amount of manual labor was not that dramatic, and secondly, Automatic Loom could increase the sales of Textile in Lyon, which would be equivalent to making the Cake bigger. At that time, the factory would definitely be expanded on a large scale, and the number of people needed would only be more than now, not less.

However, this was difficult to explain to the workers.

Joseph pondered for a moment, then instructed Eman, "Please tell Major Kexer that the crowd need not be dispersed."

Eman hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand on his chest and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Before long, Joseph arrived at the Villa's gate. Someone called out, "It's His Crown Prince!"

The hundreds of Lyon workers, who were kept outside the fence by the Police, fell silent.

Joseph looked around, then leaped onto the roof of a Carriage parked in front of the gate and shouted to the ragged, anxious Textile workers, "I understand your concerns. But I can assure you, you will not lose your jobs because of the Automatic Loom!"

A bolder worker pushed forward, nervously saying, "Your Highness, but my boss says that once the Automatic Loom arrive, they're going to lay off more than half the staff..."

Joseph immediately said, "The government plans to build Textile processing base in Lyon and expand the Rhone River wharf, which will require a large workforce. Unemployed Textile workers will be given priority for job opportunities. Their wages will not be lower than their previous levels."

"In addition, the laying of Wooden Railway in major cities near Lyon will soon begin, with priority given to recruiting unemployed workers."

"Following these projects, Grand Duke such as the Lyon River Transport Company and the Lyon Gas Lamp Company will be established. The government will also launch many large-scale projects to promote the development of Lyon. In short, there will be more and more places that need manpower in the future, so there is no need to worry about not having a job."

The Textile workers who came to petition immediately began to whisper among themselves, though their eyes clearly showed worry and disbelief.

Joseph smiled again and said, "From now on, I will personally send someone to Lyon to collect statistics on Lyon unemployment rate every two months. If the unemployment rate is too high, I will have the government fund the relocation of unemployed families to Saint-Etienne or Nancy. You have probably heard of the Industrial Development Zone there—they are full of factories, as well as employee dormitories and schools, so finding a job is not a problem."

"Oh, everything I just mentioned will soon be released as an official announcement from the City Government, so please don't worry."

The hundreds of people around suddenly fell silent, not only because His Crown Prince had resolved their extremely worrying unemployment problem, but also because they were surprised that the Crown Prince was so considerate of them and so approachable.

This is completely unlike the image of Royal House they have of them!

Joseph knew the extent of the riots that had erupted in Lyon due to unemployment in history, so he certainly wouldn't take it lightly.

A moment later, someone shouted, "Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!"

The others, reminded, bowed to Joseph and shouted in unison, "Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Thank you, Your Crown Prince, for your mercy!"

"You must have been sent by God to save us..."

Joseph was somewhat moved by what he saw. He had only given these simple, working-class people the opportunity to work 14 hours a day so that they could buy black bread for their families to eat, and they were so grateful.

Perhaps, as the Crown Prince, I should do more for these poor people.

South Asia.

The South of the Indian Peninsula.

Outside Calicut Port, more than a dozen Arabia -style Carriage traveled along the rugged and bumpy road. Every now and then, dark-skinned locals, barefoot, would quickly overtake the Carriage from either side of the road.

The Marquis de Lafayette did not urge the coachman to speed up, for his backside could no longer withstand any more jolting. In fact, he now somewhat regretted not heeding the guide's advice to ride in one of the local-style sedan chairs.

However, he quickly put this minor unpleasantness behind him, and even found the humid and sultry weather and the terrible roads quite endearing.

Because this will be the Qidian of his meteoric rise!

Unlike his unauthorized trip to the United States to participate in the War of Independence more than a decade ago, his trip to India this time was at the behest of His Majesty the King, so there would be no chance of him winning a series of battles only to be criticized upon returning to France.

The Royal House promised him that if he helped Mysore defeat the United Kingdom —just as he had done in North America before—he would be promoted to the high position of Assistant Minister of War. That was the power he had always dreamed of!

Those military Nobility who had previously mocked and ostracized him would now treat him with utmost respect and even vie to curry favor with him.

Thinking of this, a strong sense of excitement welled up in his heart, as if he were about to go on a date with a beautiful Noblewoman he admired.

He gazed at the distant tropical rainforest, then quickly gathered his thoughts and began to consider how to make a swift breakthrough in his trip to Mysore.

In fact, His Crown Prince had prepared a series of strategies for him before his departure, but he found it hard to believe in the effectiveness of a method devised by a boy who had never been to India.

He recalled the Crown Prince's plans and muttered to himself, "In the end, I have to act according to the circumstances myself."

"Fortunately, this is a kingdom with nearly 20 million people. Even if we slowly wear them down, we can still outlast the East India Company."

Yes, United Kingdom now delegates all political, military, and trade management in India to the East India Company, which only needs to pay a share to the British Government annually.

To save costs, the East India Company had fewer than 3,000 troops in India, relying mainly on India soldiers recruited from Indian Princely States for peacetime warfare. The latter usually numbered between 40,000 and 80,000 depending on the needs.

In other words, the enemy forces with relatively strong combat capabilities numbered only 3,000.

Lafayette smiled as he thought about this; it was truly a blessing from God. The Kingdom of Mysore was not only powerful, but since Tipu Sultan's father, it had trained a strong army of nearly 60,000 men according to the Europe model.

Moreover, Mysore was a unified nation and religion, with a relatively enlightened political system, and its overall national strength far surpassed that of the surrounding princely states.

If this trip to India goes smoothly, I might be able to return to Paris before the end of the year and be promoted to Assistant Minister of War.

After being battered by torrential rain and scorching sun in the tropical climate for more than ten days, Lafayette's convoy finally arrived in Mysore, the capital of Mysore City.

Tipu Sultan gave him a very grand welcoming ceremony. In fact, France had previously sent envoys to Mysore, but had not been able to provide much support, and even had some interests in Travancore, which was at odds with Mysore.

This time, the France are clearly serious about helping Mysore.

The messenger who had come ahead of time said that the person who came to Mysore was a famous France general, the Marquis de Lafayette, who had defeated the United Kingdom in United States.

At the same time, the latter would bring an army and a large amount of weaponry.

In the spacious Arabia- style palace, Lafayette glanced at the food before him—enough to feed ten people for three days—but did not touch it. Instead, he turned to Tipu Sultan and asked bluntly, "Your Majesty, how do you intend to deal with Travancore's seizure of the Mysore fortress?"

The India man next to him immediately provided simultaneous translation.

Tipu Sultan, already aware of France's decision to abandon its interests in Travancore, made no attempt to conceal his intentions. "Your Excellency, I have ordered the army to assemble, and in three months we will attack the overconfident Travancore!"

Lafayette smiled and immediately uttered the very advice the Crown Prince had repeatedly given him, "Your Majesty, if you wish to achieve victory, you must always keep your eyes on the United Kingdom."

"Though they are few in number, they are your true enemies!"

Tipu Sultan paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. The reason Mysore lost the first two wars was that the United Kingdom were in command of the enemy forces.

He looked at Lafayette: "So what is your suggestion?"

"Drive the United Kingdom in Kanada and Malabar back into the sea as quickly as possible, then concentrate our forces to deal with Maratha!"

Lafayette said, "I have brought with me three hundred elite soldiers, a large number of Craftsman, 13,000 Flintlock Gun, and 30 cannons. They will help you crush all the enemies in one fell swoop!"

Prussia.

Potsdam, Sanssouci Palace.

William II, furious, brandished the secret report in his hand and roared at Prince Heinrich, "Those despicable Austria, they actually dare to launch a sneak attack on Silesia!"

The report in his hand had just been sent by Saxony, stating that Austria had amassed nearly 100,000 troops and could launch an attack on Silesia at any time.

Prince Heinrich watched the King pacing back and forth in anger and sighed inwardly, wishing his brother were still alive.

No, if my brother were still alive, the Austria probably wouldn't dare to make any moves against Silesia.

He is Frederick the Great's younger brother, the uncle of the current King William II of Prussia, and currently the most influential person in Prussia politics.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry." Prince Heinrich appeared very calm. "Now that we have received intelligence in advance, we can quickly mobilize our forces and take the opportunity to severely damage the Austria. It is even possible that we could seize part of Moravia."