Catherine II's return gift

The second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

Joseph looked at the statistical report on the World Expo that Bayei had just compiled and couldn't help but smile.

He originally just wanted to take advantage of the World Expo and the installation of Gas Streetlight in Paris to promote France.

Unexpectedly, even before the World Expo ended, the total value of various commercial orders had already reached more than 6 million Franc.

Moreover, this is only the number of contracts signed in the business Hall. According to Bayei's estimate, including those traded privately, the total amount should exceed 10 million Franc.

Of these, nearly 70% were orders from France. After all, France was the host country, its exhibition hall was the best prepared, and its product promotion was very successful, so it's no surprise that it attracted a large number of buyers.

Although many of these orders may not actually be fulfilled in the end, if 60% or 70% are actually completed, it will greatly boost the sales of France industrial products.

Keep in mind that this was just an expo, and buyers were still approaching the products with a tentative attitude.

Once these goods flow into Europe markets, gain local acceptance, and create stable demand, that will be the time when France industrial products experience a sales boom.

Thanks to the Eden Treaty signed between France and the United Kingdom, and the Rhine-Seine River Treaty signed with half of the Germany countries, these goods will not encounter major obstacles in entering the aforementioned countries.

Once the funds are recovered, a positive cycle of production-sales-funding-R&D will be formed. In addition, Joseph will provide guidance for the development of France industry. It is foreseeable that France will have a very high chance of winning in the competition of the First Industrial Revolution.

However, Joseph also saw from this exposition that other Europe countries were increasingly emphasizing industrial development. Not to mention United Kingdom, the leader of the Industrial Revolution, both the German States and Italy had turned their attention to the coal and Steel Industry and had begun to explore Steam Engine technology.

There's no way around it; the Europe world is only so big. If someone comes up with something good, other countries will immediately follow suit. Historically, after the United Kingdom sparked the Industrial Revolution, other major Europe powers also began their Industrialization processes. Even Austria, the slowest to start, was only 20 years behind the United Kingdom.

Therefore, Joseph dared not slacken in promoting the development of France industry.

The world in this era follows the law of the jungle—powerful nations show no mercy to weaker ones. Especially since the strongest nation right now is United Kingdom, a country whose very genes have ingrained a penchant for creating chaos.

France must become strong enough to withstand the hostility and subversion that the United Kingdom will inevitably attempt, so the pace of Industrialization must be accelerated.

Joseph handed the World Expo's Fair statistics back to the Minister of Commerce, adding:

"Please provide as much support as possible to the factories that place these orders, especially those in the Textile, steel, and Chemical industries. If you encounter any difficulties, please report them directly to me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Bayei bowed slightly, discussed some matters concerning the closing ceremony of the World Expo with Joseph, and then got up and left.

Berthier, who had been waiting for some time, nodded to Joseph and quickly entered the Crown Prince Minister of Commerce's office. He bowed to Joseph and then said:

"Your Highness, we received news from Vienna at noon that the Lefebvre Legion has arrived in Brünn. It is expected that the Royal Guard Legion's forces in Silesia will be fully assembled within five days."

Joseph nodded. "Please have the General Staff Headquarters relay my order to the Royal Guard Legion: the entire army will temporarily rest and reorganize within Austria. I will proceed to Silesia immediately after the World Expo concludes."

Berthier said with some surprise:

"Your Highness, are you going to Silesia?"

After all, in his mind, France's battle in Silesia was mainly a gesture to Austria, and His Crown Prince did not need to go there in person.

"Yes," Joseph nodded, "We'll be having some fierce fighting there, so I have to be on the front lines."

Seeing the look of confusion in Berthier's eyes, Joseph smiled and said:

"Currently, the border between Putin and Austria is almost unchanged from before the war. This makes it easy for them to negotiate a ceasefire."

"And if Prussia loses part of Silesia, do you think they will still accept this outcome?"

Berthier suddenly realized something and hurriedly said:

"Your Highness, in that case, we will be facing 120,000 Prussian Army."

"You must have faith in the France soldiers," Joseph said. "Besides, we will face such a major battle sooner or later, and it is beneficial for the army to gain experience as early as possible."

Joseph was well aware that unless the German States could unite, United Kingdom alone could not pose a serious threat to France on the Europe continent. Therefore, the Silesia hotspot had to be kept in the spotlight.

Russia.

Saint Petersburg.

Catherine II looked at the France Minister of Foreign Affairs in surprise:

"You mean France will invest heavily in Donbas and send people there for development?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Talleyrand said with a slight bow. "This is a plan personally devised by His Crown Prince. Three companies have already confirmed their investment, and one of them is Silk Steel Company, currently the largest steel producer in France. You may have heard of it."

Catherine II had not received a reply from the French ambassador regarding whether France approved of the Franco-Russian Marriage Alliance. She had assumed that Congress maintain a policy of keeping a certain distance from Russia, but to her surprise, the Crown Prince of France immediately sent a great gift.

Is it possible that the France are not satisfied with Alexandra's lineage, but still want to strengthen relations with us?

She put aside the thoughts in her mind and asked Talleyrand again:

"So, what kind of reward does His Crown Prince hope to receive?"

Talleyrand's smile was incredibly genuine:

Your friendship is the greatest reward for France.

"Oh, actually, His Crown Prince believes that Coal Mine or Iron Mine are very likely to be discovered in the Donbas Region, so developing it would be of great benefit to both our countries."

Joseph knew that real-world diplomacy wasn't like in TV dramas, where you could buy a piece of wasteland at a low price, quietly dig out resources, and then secretly transport them home.

That would only make others feel deceived, and at the same time, they would covet the huge profits from the resources, inevitably leading to the breaking of the agreement and mutual animosity.

If I had told Catherine from the beginning that I was convinced there were Coal and Iron Mine in Donbas, but that it was still wasteland, and that I could set a price for her, and that if resources were actually discovered later, she wouldn't feel like she was losing out, then that would have been fine.

The Russia Tsar smiled and nodded, saying:

"In return for his kindness, I may grant His Crown Prince the mining rights to 20,000 mu of land in the Donbas Region."

One Russian acre is more than one hectare, so 20,000 Russian acres is definitely a very vast area.