Who was fooling whom

Joseph, naturally, didn't squeeze in with the regular audience members. Instead, escorted by Guard guards, he entered the theater directly through the VIP entrance. ♨🐺 🍬💋

His seat was in a luxurious box on the third floor of the theater, directly facing the stage. It was very spacious and could accommodate 12 people. However, he was the only one sitting there at the moment.

As the audience entered one after another, music began to play, and the stage curtain slowly opened.

The stage set is a light gray castle.

Inside the castle, a blond boy in a blue double-breasted coat was inscribing runes on Conical Glass Bottle. Instantly, colorful mist began to swirl inside.

The old man in the long robe in front of him glanced at him and said in an indifferent voice:

"Thank you for the gifts of the Elements. My dear Hunter Xiao, I regret to inform you that you have only reached Alchemy Third-Level."

Mocking voices immediately arose from the surroundings:

"Oh, have my ears deceived me? Our genius is only at level three?"

"He must have been rejected by the Elements, as he hasn't made any progress for years..."

"I never imagined a genius could fall so quickly..."

Joseph was surprised that, apart from their somewhat exaggerated expressions, the actors were actually quite good. He was engrossed in watching them when he heard someone knocking on the door of the private room.

Eman glanced outside, then leaned close to Joseph's ear and said, "Your Highness, it's the British Ambassador."

Please let him in.

Immediately, the door to the private room opened, and a middle-aged man in a gray-black robe with very thin lips took off his hat and bowed to Joseph: "Your Crown Prince, I never expected to meet you here. I am so lucky."

"You may not know me yet. My name is David Hartley, and I am the British Ambassador to France. Of course, I am visiting you today in a private capacity."

Joseph nodded to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ambassador. Please have a seat."

Hartley sat down at the back of the box, a position from which he was not visible from other boxes. As an ambassador, it was highly inappropriate for him to meet with the Crown Prince of France privately; if word got out, it could even cause a diplomatic incident.

"Your Crown Prince, I often hear people praising you," Hartley said with a smile. "The ' Child of Divine Grace ' possesses talents that astound the world; he is incredibly kind and full of wisdom..."

After a long string of flattering remarks, the British Ambassador finally continued, "Your Highness, as you know, I have always advocated for the steadfast development of the Traditional Anglo-French Friendship..."

Joseph's eyelids twitched. He thought to himself, "There's still a traditional friendship between England and France? You mean the kind of friendship where they're always plotting to dig up each other's ancestors' graves?"

Hartley, true to his veteran politician nature, delivered his lie with unwavering sincerity. "However, in the past, due to the instigation of some ambitious individuals, there have been many frictions between the two countries. This is truly regrettable."

Even now, there are still many people who don't want to see our friendship.

He glanced at Joseph and tentatively asked, "So I think we should focus more on fostering this precious friendship. What do you think?"

Joseph, unsure of his true intentions, went along with him and said, "Yes, long live Anglo-French Friendship."

Hartley's eyes lit up. He didn't take the thirteen-year-old boy in front of him seriously at all, thinking to himself: This Crown Prince is indeed pro-British, and the intelligence was correct.

He then went on to discuss the broad prospects of Anglo-French cooperation, before changing the subject and saying, "Your Highness, I actually have a proposal that would benefit both of our countries."

Joseph feigned interest. "Oh? Please tell me more."

Hartley sat up straight. "I've heard that His Highness strongly opposed wasting funds building large Warship. I wholeheartedly agree."

Joseph's eyes narrowed. This was something discussed at Cabinet Meeting; how did the United Kingdom manage to get the information? It seems we need to thoroughly investigate the mole within our ranks.

Hartley continued, "Actually, there are some guys in the United Kingdom who keep advocating for building Warship and wasting tax money. I think this money shouldn't be wasted at all. As long as everyone stops building Warship like crazy, the mutual threat will disappear."

"Therefore, I suggest that we push for the signing of a treaty to limit the scale of shipbuilding in various countries."

"For example, United Kingdom launched no more than 5,000 tons of Warship each year, France no more than 2,000 tons. Oh, you know, United Kingdom's maritime trade was very large, and it needed more ships."

"Of course, Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries will also participate in the signing of the treaty..."

Joseph frowned. Was he really trying to fool me like a child?

Historically, both Napoleon and Kaiser William II have demonstrated through bloody lessons that continental Europe countries without powerful fleets will inevitably be blockaded and annihilated.

He had ordered the navy to suspend the construction of Sailing Warship simply to avoid waste, but he never expected the United Kingdom to misunderstand it as him giving up the challenge to the British Navy.

Seeing that Hartley was still talking non-stop, he immediately interrupted him and steered the conversation in his own direction:

"Mr. Ambassador, the Shipbuilding Treaty seems a bit far off. Why don't we study the existing treaties first?"

"Existing?"

"For example, the Eden Treaty."

Hartley immediately became alert. "Your Highness, I believe this treaty is already very comprehensive and reasonable, and there is nothing worth discussing."

"Yes, that's very reasonable, but there's still room for improvement," Joseph smiled. "Actually, France's industrial manufacturing capacity is very weak; it can't produce many necessities on its own, while the high-quality and inexpensive United Kingdom products are exactly what we need."

"But as you know, the Tariff stipulated in the Eden Treaty are still too high, causing these goods to be overpriced. The France people will have to pay a lot more money for this."

Hartley was taken aback: This tone was a bit off. Normally, the France would fight tooth and nail to raise Tariff to protect their industries. This Crown Prince actually thought they were too high...

He is definitely pro-British, no doubt about it!

Hartley asked cautiously, "And what is your suggestion?"

Joseph declared righteously, "I believe that negotiations on the Eden Treaty should continue, and Tariff should be further reduced! This is in the interests of both our countries."

Hartley smiled. "Could you elaborate?"

"First, Tariff on industrial goods, including Textile, steel, Papermaking, should be reduced by at least half again," Joseph added, glancing at the British Ambassador's expression. "To reflect equality between our two countries, tariffs on the United Kingdom industrial France should also be reduced at the same time."

Hartley nodded. "Equality, yes, you're right, equality must be reflected."

United Kingdom's current industrial scale and technology far surpass France's, and it has no fear of competition from France industrial products. In his view, even if United Kingdom's import Tariff on industrial products were reduced to zero, it would have no impact.

Seeing his barely suppressed excitement, Joseph knew it was time to close the deal. "But, you know, if I want to push through the treaty negotiations, I first have to shut those guys back home. All they ever do is say things like 'it's harming France interests.'"

"Therefore, I'd like to try a different approach, such as temporarily raising Tariff on France industrial goods to 25%, and then gradually reducing them to 5% within seven years. This way, they'll gain short-term benefits and won't be so resistant."

Currently, the Eden Treaty stipulates that Tariff France industrial goods are between 12% and 15%. Following this model, tariffs could be reduced to the current level in just three years.

Thank you so much to R_Island for the massive 10,000 points reward! This is the largest single reward I've ever received! I'm incredibly grateful and can only express my gratitude by adding an extra chapter! (The extra chapter might have to wait a few days, but I'll definitely remember.)

(End of this chapter)

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