Chapter Summaries

French authorities crushed the British-backed campaign against the Franc, arresting rumor spreaders, raiding White Gloves companies, and exposing a spy network. The French Reserve Bank revealed it had handled massive gold exchanges while retaining ample reserves, leaving foreign reporters shocked by France’s financial strength.

• Police arrested more than thirty financial experts who had spread rumors about France’s gold reserves.
• Shawn Met used Gray’s four-million-Franc loan agreement to launch a tax-evasion investigation and freeze the Paris Seine Silk Trading Company’s assets.
• Gray informed on Bruni, and French authorities arrested Bruni and uncovered dozens of British financial spies, though more than a dozen escaped.
• Sean Ross arrived at the French Reserve Bank and learned that Italian gold exchanges had exceeded thirty million Franc.
• French Reserve Bank staff announced that the bank had exchanged 960,000 ounces of gold and still held ample reserves.

A gold run orchestrated by Lord McGovern failed to drain France’s reserves, and the French Tax Bureau froze the funds held by his companies. The franc strengthened across Europe, while Talleyrand confronted Crown Prince Luciveld Eugen over Württemberg’s breach of a loan agreement.

• Ross told Simon to report that France had faced a gold run exceeding one hundred million francs, and the French Government barred gold payments for cane sugar, sending the remaining exchangers away.
• Foreign reporters gathered stories in Paris, while McGovern counted the costs of his failed operation and began writing a report to Wilberforce.
• Martin told McGovern that the French Tax Bureau had seized five companies and frozen more than sixty million francs connected to their accounts.
• McGovern fell seriously ill and returned to London bedridden as news of the gold run spread across Europe and confidence in the franc grew.
• Talleyrand accused Crown Prince Luciveld Eugen in Württemberg’s palace of violating a loan agreement and causing France heavy losses.

After France demanded nearly 40 million francs from Württemberg for its role in the gold run, Luciveld sought Talleyrand’s advice on reducing the bill. Talleyrand urged Württemberg to distance itself from Austria and revive the Seine-Rhine River Trade System, leaving France positioned to extend its influence in South Germany.

• Talleyrand told Luciveld that France blamed Württemberg and other South German states for supplying Britain with franc paper money and demanded loan repayment, penalties, compensation, and a public apology.
• Luciveld and Württemberg’s ministers concluded they could not afford France’s demands and had little hope of help from Vienna.
• King Karl Eugen sent Luciveld to meet Talleyrand privately with 20,000 florins, and Talleyrand suggested that Württemberg distance itself from Austria.
• After Luciveld offered another 10,000 florins, Talleyrand advised Württemberg to expel the Imperial army and revive the Seine-Rhine River Trade System.
• Luciveld agreed to recommend expelling the Imperial troops, while Talleyrand presented the trade system as another way to satisfy France and deepen its influence in South Germany.

Talleyrand secured support for a French-backed Rhine Trade Alliance, while Adrien led his forces toward Florence to reclaim the Medici family’s ancestral domain. The Tuscan army faced a choice after Blot Benard invoked Medici legitimacy and offered French military support.

• Talleyrand persuaded Crown Prince Luciveld to support the Trade Alliance by promising French backing and allowing Württemberg to continue trading with Austria.
• A month later, seven countries began negotiating the Rhine Trade Alliance in Karlsruhe and agreed to condemn Austria for breaking the earlier trade agreement.
• Adrien arrived near Florence with more than eight hundred loyal soldiers, while his new wife Caterina Lucrezia de' Gradini brought him a substantial dowry and her cousin Ferrari as commander.
• When a Tuscan army of roughly a thousand men blocked Adrien’s advance, Ferrari offered to attack, but Blot Benard urged Adrien to rely on his claim as Duke of Florence.
• Benard rode before the Tuscan formation and called for it to welcome the Medici family back, promising to protect property and interests and offering French General Napoleon’s assistance.

After Tuscany's soldiers abandoned the Habsburgs, the Duke of Florence prepared to secure his position by courting France with priceless artworks. At Versailles, Joseph reviewed France's expanding trade alliances and learned that the Pope would arrive in Paris in four days.

• Cleric Bena's speech led more than half of Tuscany's soldiers to flee, while officers pledged allegiance to the Duke of Florence and Ferdinand III was sent back to Austria.
• Caterina prepared to take her husband to Paris after his coronation and had him sign over famous artworks as gifts for the French king.
• Joseph reviewed the Rhine Trade Alliance Agreement and learned that Mainz had joined in exchange for a French security guarantee, while Baden joined both major trade agreements.
• The Duke of Florence's artworks arrived at Versailles, and a Tuscan official offered to send David and The School of Athens as well.
• Countess de Berninac reminded Joseph to learn the etiquette for an audience with the Pope, who was due in Paris in four days.

Joseph arranged for Pope Pius VI to be diverted into a police-controlled procession, while Cardinal Prince Muzarelli was prepared to arrive separately. The two processions collided near Versailles Palace, leaving Queen Mary asking what was happening.

• Joseph told Fouche and Besançon to carry out plans for the Pope’s visit and asked where Muzarelli was being held.
• Besançon intercepted Pius VI’s procession, citing an assassination threat, and forced the Pope to transfer to a Gem carriage while the Papal Guard stood down.
• The next day, Paris Police escorted Pius VI into Paris in an understated procession that surprised the citizens.
• Pius VI reached Versailles Palace, where Louis XVI, Queen Mary, and over a thousand nobles awaited him.
• Muzarelli’s carriage convoy arrived and tangled with the Pope’s procession, and the Guard Captain told Queen Mary that it belonged to Cardinal Prince Muzarelli.

Queen Mary and Louis XVI welcomed Pius VI to Versailles after a clash between the Papal Guard and Archbishop Muzarelli’s escort disrupted the arrival. Joseph then confronted the Pope over the war in Ferrara and demanded terms for France’s withdrawal, leaving negotiations underway as Pius offered money and French administration of Ferrara and Bologna.

• Queen Mary learned that Archbishop Muzarelli’s motorcade had clashed with the Pope’s, and Court Guards separated the two groups.
• Queen Mary and Louis XVI welcomed Pius VI after Muzarelli was sent away, then brought the Pope into Versailles Palace to rest.
• Joseph dismissed Pius VI’s claim to Ferrara under the Donation of Constantine and said the Curia’s support for Austria had provoked France.
• Joseph asked what the Holy See would exchange for France’s withdrawal, and Pius offered 1.2 million ducats and French administration of Ferrara and Bologna.

Joseph pressured Pius VI into accepting territorial losses and reparations, then France celebrated Louis XVI’s new title as the Most Catholic King. At the Versailles ball, Joseph blessed Prince of Parma Ludovico’s pursuit of Princess Therese.

• Pius VI resisted Joseph’s demands but admitted the Holy See lacked the military strength to oppose France.
• Joseph offered Pius VI Archbishop Muzarelli’s terms of 1.5 million Ducats and limited Papal territory, and Pius VI agreed to the payment while insisting on retaining Saint Peter’s Patrimony.
• Pius VI publicly granted Louis XVI the title of Most Catholic King before returning to Rome.
• France celebrated Louis XVI’s title with a grand ceremony and a ball at Versailles Palace.
• Joseph told Ludovico that he supported his pursuit of Princess Therese.

Joseph used Therese’s planned marriage to Ludovico to strengthen France’s alliance with Parma, promising territorial gains in Northern Italy. He then offered Modena Bologna and other lands in exchange for its loyalty and proposed a Bourbon marriage for Ercole III.

• Ludovico worried that France’s queen and ministers would oppose his marriage to Therese, but Joseph reassured him and promised Ferrara to Parma as a wedding gift.
• Joseph told Ludovico that Parma could later gain territory from Mantua and Modena, securing his gratitude and sending him off to invite Therese to dance.
• Modenese and Milanese diplomats protested Parma’s claim to Ferrara, and the Modenese minister asked Joseph to return Ferrara, or part of it, to Modena.
• Joseph rejected Modena’s claim to Ferrara but offered Bologna instead, along with the possibility of receiving other Papal territories, and the Modenese minister pledged loyalty.
• Joseph asked whether Ercole III had remarried and proposed that he take a Bourbon woman as his wife.

Joseph secured Modena’s support for a marriage alliance and promised Milan territory taken from Venice in exchange for logistical aid in France’s campaign. The Northern Italian states prepared to join France’s advance against Venice, while Austria’s position in Italy continued to weaken.

• Joseph planned to use a marriage alliance and Modena’s claim to keep the duchy out of Habsburg hands after Ercole III died.
• The Modenese Foreign Minister welcomed the proposed alliance and promised to report it to His Majesty.
• Joseph promised Giuseppella that Milan would receive Lake Garda and territory west of the Adige River after the Battle of Mantua.
• Giuseppella agreed to have Milan’s Parliament provide half of Napoleon’s logistical supplies at Mantua.
• Giuseppella drafted an order for Milan to raise funds and sent it home overnight through the Shap Signal Tower.

Joseph secured Genoa’s support for French naval access by promising Pisa to Genoa, then Napoleon prepared to maneuver against Austria’s army advancing to relieve Mantua. The chapter leaves Bartoltz wary of attacking Trento, fearing a French ambush.

• Joseph praised Genoa’s exchange of nearly eighteen million Francs and offered to incorporate Pisa into Genoa.
• Ebiasso agreed to lease Genoa’s naval port to France for ninety-nine years and have the port restored, while Joseph proposed investing in the Genoa Shipyard.
• Napoleon learned that Austria had sent an army of eighty-five thousand men toward Mantua, with forces under Bartoltz, Alvinzi, and Kostanovich.
• Napoleon ordered Victor to spread out fifteen thousand troops at Trento and make the Austrians believe the French intended to fight there.
• Bartoltz studied reports and French deployments near Trento, then warned his officers that an attack could expose his army to a French ambush.

Alvinzi gathered the Austrian forces and advanced cautiously toward Trento, while Napoleon maneuvered French troops to encircle him from three sides. As the Austrian reinforcements approached, Würmser left Mantua with most of its remaining troops to meet them, and news of the movement reached Paris by signal tower.

• Bartoltz reported the French deployment near Trento, and Alvinzi ordered the Austrian wings to close in on his main force and advance cautiously.
• Napoleon led more than twenty thousand men north from Mount Castello while Augereau and Marmont advanced north from Feltre to encircle Alvinzi’s concentrated army.
• Alvinzi’s cautious advance and slow-moving wings left large gaps in the Austrian positions as Napoleon’s plan unfolded.
• Würmser and Beaulieu argued over whether to leave Mantua, and Würmser decided to take seventeen thousand men to meet the reinforcements while Beaulieu stayed with two thousand to defend the fortress.
• French Rangers carried news of the Austrian reinforcements to Genoa, and the Shap Signal Tower relayed it to Paris.

Joseph’s plans redirected the Spanish campaign toward Almeida Fortress while French forces watched Austria’s buildup near Mantua and its retreat in Alsace. Spain agreed to send Marquis of Romana to Salamanca, and Moreau remained frustrated as the Austrians fortified rather than attacked.

• Berthier reported Austria’s 80,000 troops near Mantua, and Joseph ordered the General Staff to follow its existing plan.
• Junot urged Count of Aranda and Count of Floridablanca to abandon an attack on Olivenza and instead seize Almeida Fortress from Salamanca.
• Junot explained that supplies at Badajoz would mislead Portugal and revealed that Joseph had sent ninety cannon to Salamanca.
• Count of Floridablanca ordered Marquis of Romana to proceed to Salamanca.
• Moreau heard that the Austrians were withdrawing troops to Italy and strengthening their defenses, and he wished they would cross the river and attack.

Moreau received orders to march through Baden and attack Bavaria as France advanced on three fronts. In London, Wellesley argued that further British investment in Italy or the Rhine could no longer achieve the coalition’s original goals.

• Massena gave Moreau General Staff Headquarters’ order to move fifteen thousand troops to Strasbourg and strike Bavaria across the Rhine.
• Moreau eagerly prepared his legion to march, while Massena explained that Austria could not reinforce Bavaria because Alvinzi’s main force had reached Mantua.
• Moreau’s troops reached Strasbourg two days later as part of Joseph’s coordinated French counteroffensive from Italy, the Rhine, and Portugal.
• Pitt the Younger urged Wellesley to send his new army to Mantua to stabilize the Austrian front.
• Wellesley told Pitt the Younger that further British investment in Italy or along the Rhine had lost its purpose, as France’s position had strengthened while Britain and its allies had weakened.

Pitt the Younger decided to seek a ceasefire, but Spain’s attack on Almeida forced Britain to consider reinforcing Portugal before he resigned. In Birmingham, Sander’s successful High-Pressure Steam Engine impressed the company, and its shareholders faced a proposal to increase his stake.

• Pitt the Younger agreed to pursue an honorable ceasefire with Austria and Prussia after his ministers warned that Britain could not sustain a major land war.
• Canning delivered a report that Spain had attacked Almeida Fortress with 30,000 troops, prompting Pitt the Younger to prioritize aid for Portugal and postpone his resignation.
• Sander demonstrated that his High-Pressure Steam Engine produced 51 horsepower and had run for more than thirty hours, earning praise from the company directors and technicians.
• Bolton-Watt Steam Engine Company’s shareholders met to discuss mass production, and Sander’s spokesman proposed increasing Sander’s shares to more than 20 percent.

Sander and Frank secured Sander a 20% stake in the Bolton-Watt Company by offering money and high-pressure steam engine patents, then pushed the company to plan mass production. The chapter revealed that Sander’s engine design was obsolete and deliberately rigged to trap the company in wasteful development and investment.

• Frank argued that Sander needed a larger shareholding to feel secure, and Sander offered £20,000 and his high-pressure steam engine patents in exchange for 14% more shares.
• Bolton and the other shareholders approved raising Sander’s stake to 20%, despite Watt’s opposition.
• Bolton proposed producing 22 high-pressure engines to fulfill the navy’s order, but Frank urged the company to plan much larger output.
• Sander proposed annual production of at least 200 engines, and Frank persuaded the shareholders that the company could sell even more.
• The narration revealed that Sander was carrying out Joseph’s plan to push the Bolton-Watt Company into ruin with an obsolete engine design containing hidden traps.

Frank persuaded the Bolton-Watt Company to fund mass production of its new High-Pressure Steam Engines by relying on presales and purchased components, then secured an executive role and company shares. He and Sander began removing capable technicians, and the dismissed Martin was approached by a man from Lyon Machinery Manufacturing Company.

• Frank convinced the directors that presales and buying components would reduce costs, and they approved an annual output of two hundred engines with a seventy-thousand-pound investment.
• Bolton appointed Frank Assistant General Manager and granted him two percent of the company's shares, while the shareholders signed an updated equity agreement.
• Half a month later, the Bolton-Watt Company began setting up its new workshop and received machinery and supplier orders.
• Sander and Frank reviewed the technicians and marked capable workers for dismissal while planning to recruit twelve replacements.
• After the company dismissed Martin, Brian of Lyon Machinery Manufacturing Company approached him at his home.

Bolton-Watt Company sold 133 discounted Engine52 steam engines across Europe while its directors celebrated promising sales and naval trials. Unbeknownst to them, the Comet’s sea trials had exposed a ship-axle failure, and British spies had obtained the French solution of using Guaiac Wood.

• Joseph arranged generous offers from Lyon Machinery Manufacturing Company that drew nearly all of Bolton-Watt’s dismissed senior technicians out of Britain.
• Bolton-Watt salesmen persuaded European businesses to preorder Engine52 engines with discounts, flexible payment terms, and repair guarantees, while France’s ban prevented sales there.
• Richard Arkwright agreed to order eighteen Engine52 engines after the salesman offered a two-year payment period and additional free repairs.
• Bolton praised Frank’s sales plan as the company’s European presales reached 133 engines, and Sander reported that the Navy’s Comet prototypes had run without problems during testing.
• The Comet’s sea trials suffered violent ship-axle vibration and breakage, but British spies at Brest Shipyard uncovered the French use of Guaiac Wood for ship axles.

Major Robert Kane traveled to Jamaica to buy Guaiac Wood for the English navy, only to find that France had already bought the island’s supply. He purchased eighty pieces from Valdes and sailed home, unaware that the French agent had sabotaged most of the timber.

• Chatham Shipyard discovered that Europe had no Guaiac Wood large enough for Steam Warship Ship Axles, so the Navy Committee sent Major Robert Kane to Jamaica.
• Kane searched Jamaica’s timber markets, where a merchant told him France had bought all the island’s qualifying Guaiac Wood.
• Valdes offered Kane Guaiac Wood at a steep price, raised the price after Kane left, and persuaded him to buy eighty pieces at 4,500 Pound Sterling each.
• After receiving Kane’s Bill of Exchange, Valdes loaded the timber onto his ship, and Kane began his return voyage.
• Valdes, a French Intelligence Bureau agent, had drilled fine holes through more than three quarters of the timber, ensuring the Ship Axles would eventually shatter.

Britain approved a major expansion of its steam-warship program after Frank negotiated a large engine order and advance for Bolton-Watt Company. Meanwhile, Moreau’s French forces advanced into Bavaria, leaving Karl Theodor to rush troops toward Munich and seek Austrian aid.

• Sir Hope showed British officials the Comet’s speed and firepower, and James Fox urged Parliament to fund a larger fleet to destroy the Toulon Fleet.
• Frank persuaded Sir Hope and Admiral Jervis to order two hundred steam engines at 1,500 Pounds each and advance Bolton-Watt Company 100,000 Pounds.
• Chatham Royal Shipyard expanded its construction program, while Bolton-Watt Company built workshops and raised funds for new 100-horsepower engines.
• Moreau led 10,000 French Soldiers through Württemberg into Nördlingen and announced that he intended to punish Bavaria for aiding Austria.
• The Moreau Legion captured Ingolstadt and began building Danube crossings as Munich lay less than seventy kilometers away.
• Karl Theodor moved Dernberg’s troops north of Munich and sent Pappenheim to Vienna to request aid.