Theodore secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, Bavaria currently had no usable army anywhere in the country. Even if the French wanted to swallow up his coal mine, he would not have dared refuse.
Fortunately, the French had still left him the lion's share of the coal mine, which was barely acceptable.
Theodore nodded. "Thank you for your generosity. How much capital will our country need to contribute for shares?"
Segur raised his glass to him. "The France Industrial Development Fund will provide both the capital and equipment. You need only use the deeds to those mines as your contribution. Oh, and have the local officials in Iphofen help recruit some miners."
Theodore's eyes immediately lit up.
He had assumed the French wanted him to provide the money while they took shares in the coal mine for nothing.
He had not expected the French to provide all the capital!
Although Iphofen had coal, for centuries it had only extracted a small amount from seams exposed at the surface, never conducting mining on any significant scale.
If the French paid for it, he would practically be getting a huge coal mine for free.
For a moment, he even felt that France holding only 45 percent of the shares seemed a little too little.
He hurriedly clinked glasses with Segur. "To Bavarian-French friendship! I will make sure they recruit the best workers."
Of course, Joseph had not invested in Bavaria's coal mine to play the fool.
Building a large coal mine was only the first step.
Only with a plentiful supply of cheap coal would Bavarians be willing to buy steam engines.
Bavaria's iron smelting, construction stone processing, and salt industries were all highly developed. These were precisely the fields where steam engines could truly show their mettle.
Once the