Recaps

Joseph and his allies maneuvered among Austria, Prussia, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire while pursuing military, economic, and political reforms. France retaliated against Britain by turning Dutch investors against British companies, and Rochefoucauld began selling an affordable farm cart in Meadow Village.

• Pitt the Younger advised Grenville on fiscal and administrative reforms as Archduke Karl routed Prussian forces in Silesia, and William II died after Prussia’s defeats.
• Joseph developed plans for balloon-based army communications, learned that Prussia was nearing surrender, and directed Talleyrand to support Austria without letting it dictate terms to Prussia.
• Rochefoucauld found a business opportunity with Walsh, while Potier helped McCracken reach Joseph with the United Irishmen’s request for French support.
• Talleyrand secured Leo’s support for Austria’s claim to Silesia, while Scharnhorst urged William III to reform and expand the Prussian army.
• Joseph refused to send French forces to Ireland but promised instructors and guns, then supplied Muhammad Ali with weapons and money to disrupt Austrian control in the Balkans.
• Grenville passed investment, civil service, and police reforms, while British and Austrian mediation efforts helped lead Prussia and Austria to a territorial compromise in 1795.
• Joseph ordered French agents to aid the Boers and Xhosa as Britain captured the Cape, then used reports of impending Dutch East India Company losses to help drive down its shares and redirect Dutch investment from British firms.
• Rochefoucauld arrived in Meadow Village with Honeycomb Briquettes and demonstrated the subsidized Universal Flying Cart, securing its first buyer with a loan and free repairs.

Joseph expanded France’s influence through industrial investment, Native American alliances, and Russian campaigns while preparing to acquire Louisiana from Spain. The arc ended with Spain considering the transfer after Joseph offered a valuable gold mine in exchange.

• Rochefoucauld sold Wheelbarrows in Meadow Village, lent some to the Leono family for a wedding feast, and heard fierce arguing as he left.
• Roman became Meadow Parish’s Resident Doctor, studied under Viedang, and used the Resident Doctor Manual to save Kevin and treat villagers.
• The Avenger broke down on its maiden voyage, and Frank and Hart worked to conceal the sabotage while steering public investment toward favored ship and engine projects.
• Joseph directed French efforts to arm Creek tribes against the Americans, and the resulting raid on New Orleans helped bring about a ceasefire between the United States and Spain.
• Father Vigne promoted an adapted Indian Gospel and negotiated with Creek leaders, while Agha Mohammad’s invasion of Georgia ended in defeat by Russian forces.
• Joseph redirected Coulomb from the Physics Prize to lead a secret laboratory, ordered him to develop a battery, and urged Russia to continue its campaign against Persia.
• Joseph planned The Great Game to draw Britain toward rivalry with Russia, then traveled to Madrid and pressed Carlos IV to transfer Louisiana to France.
• Spanish ministers proposed transferring Louisiana while retaining rights at New Orleans and on the Mississippi, and Joseph offered a gold mine worth at least 300 million Escudos in place of their requested compensation.

Joseph secured Louisiana, expanded French trade, and directed military and political efforts across Persia, the Cape, and North Africa. Whitney advanced his milling machine while a staged Bolton-Watt disaster and a pressure-gauge shortage shook the British engine company, leaving its deliveries in jeopardy.

• Joseph negotiated Louisiana from Spain by offering exclusive mining rights in California and secured a monopoly on selling mining equipment there.
• Russian forces captured Tabriz, but Abbas Mirza’s ambush at Zanjan routed Gazmanov’s army as Persian troops fought with British-supplied weapons.
• Eli Whitney earned temporary talent status, received funding and a workshop, and built a wooden milling-machine prototype with assistants.
• Joseph ordered aid for Saint-Domingue and an evacuation from Abaco, then brought Alexandra to the Triumphal Arch construction site and Sasha Zoo.
• Alexandra joined Joseph on the zoo’s predator tour and shielded him when a lion pushed its head into their carriage.
• Joseph proposed using Mestizo agents and a French patrol to protect sales in California, while Zhemile’s troops defeated Younus’s invading army and France declared war on Algiers.
• Security Bureau agents staged an Engine 180 explosion to help Sander escape and mislead British researchers, allowing Montes and Graby to sell Bolton-Watt shares before the price plunged.
• Bolton ordered the company to develop pressure gauges after Hassman’s factory burned, but Lyon Machinery refused to supply them, threatening the resumption of engine deliveries.

Joseph expanded French influence through Algiers, the Ottoman campaign, and migrations west of the Mississippi while French industry advanced. The arc ends with Britain’s attempt to drive down sugar prices collapsing as shortages and Prussia’s failed deliveries undermined the market.

• Bolton admitted that his company could not deliver Steam Engines, and Sir Malik ordered Brian to prepare the Investment Fund’s withdrawal while British ministers debated rescuing the company.
• Joseph used Zhemile’s Roman-identity campaign to turn Algiers against the Guard Corps, then backed tribal land settlements that weakened communal ties and strengthened French rule.
• Joseph helped secure Ottoman cooperation against the Mamluks, while French agents encouraged Cherokee, Creek, Shawnee, Sioux, and other tribes to migrate west of the Mississippi under Louisiana’s laws.
• Mac Grant reached Saint-Domingue, where Joseph’s refugee program supported new sugar plantations, while French engineers combined the Lenoir and Whitney milling designs in a new company.
• After Catherine II’s death, Joseph arranged support for Alexandra and sent Talleyrand to court Paul I, then organized French investors to counter Britain’s plan to short cane sugar.
• Henry Petty flooded the London market with sugar and lowered prices, while Joseph’s agents spread crop-failure rumors that triggered panic buying across Britain.
• Calonne persuaded financiers that France would have ample sugar while London faced shortages, and their delayed purchases overwhelmed Petty’s efforts to keep prices down.
• Hekros discovered that Prussian sugar warehouses were empty, and Prince Heinrich admitted that failed beet harvests and seed production had left Prussia unable to fulfill its contracts.