Chapter Summaries

Joseph proposed using iron ribs to strengthen a Steam Warship’s defenses, and Sane explained how sacrificial Zinc anodes could prevent the iron from rusting. The discovery led Sane to suggest further iron components, until Joseph learned that the ship’s supposedly Copper bottom plating was actually Brass.

• Sane told Joseph that iron armor thick enough to stop cannonballs would weigh too much for a Fourth-rate Ship, and Joseph asked how much additional load the new ship could carry.
• Joseph realized iron ribs could reinforce much of the hull and learned from Sane that replacing the wooden ribs would add about 15 tons.
• Sane warned that seawater would corrode iron ribs, and Joseph proposed attaching Zinc Sacrificial Anodes to protect them.
• Sane embraced the idea and suggested replacing the Intercostal Beams and ship-bottom Rivets with iron to improve defenses and speed construction.
• Joseph discovered that the Rivets and the ship’s supposedly Copper bottom plating were both made of Brass.

Joseph planned a major naval expansion, using iron ship ribs and improved production capacity to accelerate construction of Fourth-rate Steam Warships. Brest Shipyard received an order for fourteen ships, with funding promised, as the navy prepared to build a much larger fleet.

• Joseph explained to Sane that adding tin could prevent brass from losing zinc, then viewed workers sheathing a Third-rate Battleship with copper.
• Joseph asked Nikola Blondeau how quickly Brest Shipyard could build Fourth-rate Steam Warships, and Blondeau outlined plans to expand the docks.
• Sane proposed iron ship ribs and reinforced keels, and Blondeau said the methods could raise output to eight or nine ships a year.
• Blondeau estimated expansion costs at nine million Francs and ship costs at up to 1.1 million Francs each, while Borda said iron cannons could reduce the cost.
• Joseph ordered Brest Shipyard to build fourteen ships at an estimated 900,000 Francs each and promised ten million Francs in immediate funding, with more to follow.

Joseph planned to accelerate naval training with low-cost training ships and expand the standing navy to staff France’s planned fleet of forty Fourth-rate Steam Warships. He approved an initial batch of fifteen modified ships and ordered future training vessels built to merchant-ship standards with closer warship layouts.

• Joseph learned that Le Havre Naval Academy could enroll 120 officer cadets and 380 noncommissioned officer cadets annually, but its graduates would not meet the fleet’s staffing needs.
• Joseph proposed shortening classroom instruction and having cadets train aboard modified civilian Paddle Steamers instead of costly warships.
• Marquis Leissard endorsed the training-ship plan and suggested using old ships to train both cadets and sailors.
• Joseph ordered the Navy Department to assess recruitment for a larger standing navy, especially for engine rooms, steering compartments, and mechanics.
• Marquis Leissard proposed modifying fifteen training ships first, and Joseph ordered shipyards to build future training ships to merchant standards that more closely resembled warships.

Joseph guided Trevithick in redesigning a steam locomotive, using ideas from his memories to improve its wheels, frame, cab, and boiler. After a week of revisions, Joseph approved Trevithick’s wooden train model.

• Joseph discussed expanding Brest Naval University with Marquis Leissard before Eman told him Trevithick had arrived with two steam engines.
• Trevithick showed Joseph the locomotive design he had developed in his spare time over two years.
• Joseph suggested changes to the locomotive’s wheels, frame, cab, and steam engine, leaving Trevithick stunned by the extent of the improvements.
• Trevithick spent the following week learning about the LJ98 Steam Engine and revising his train design with his assistants.
• Joseph examined Trevithick’s wooden train model and approved it.

Joseph approved trial production of Trevithick’s train in Nancy and attended the start of construction on the battleship The Decisive before learning that Paul I had been killed in a coup and Alexander had become Tsar. He returned to Paris, where Count Morkov began informing Alexandra about the coup.

• Trevithick explained the train model’s speed, capacity, and fuel range, and Joseph chose Nancy for its trial production.
• Joseph attended the laying of the main keel of The Decisive at Brest Shipyard.
• Lavalette told Joseph that Paul I had been killed and Alexander had succeeded him as Tsar, while Count Bobrinsky had been appointed Governor of Alaska.
• Lavalette reported Alexander’s pardons, military recall, army purges, and possible renewed advance into Transcaucasia, and Joseph ordered an immediate return to Paris.
• Count Morkov told Alexandra that a coup had taken place in Saint Petersburg.

After learning that Paul had died, Alexandra grieved in Joseph’s arms while Joseph’s ministers planned for a possible Russian intervention in Europe. Joseph ordered preparations concerning Poland and the Ottoman Empire, then Gudovich received word that the Shah’s forces would cooperate with the Russian army and attack Tabriz.

• Alexandra learned that Paul had died and mourned him as Joseph comforted her.
• Joseph told his ministers to prepare for a possible war in Eastern Europe, including sending weapons to Poland while withdrawing the French garrison from Danzig.
• Joseph sent Talleyrand to persuade Selim III and asked Baron de Breteuil to prepare measures for France’s worst-case circumstances.
• Gudovich received an envoy from Askar, who said the Shah would cooperate with the Russian army and had assembled two thousand warriors to attack Tabriz.

Gudovich’s forces cut off Persian supplies, recaptured Tbilisi, and routed Mirza’s army at Aslanduz Gorge before advancing to Zanjan. In Saint Petersburg, Alexander I celebrated the victory and postponed a meeting with Lord Hawkesbury as Russia gained leverage over Britain.

• Gudovich arranged for Askar’s forces to burn Persian supplies at Shaki, and the Russians captured Tbilisi after the Persians’ defenses faltered.
• Gudovich lured Mirza’s cavalry into the Aslanduz Gorge and destroyed most of the Persian force with burning tar, then pursued the retreating army to Zanjan.
• Alexander I refused to ease the exiles’ conditions beyond allowing them to stay in Perm with five additional servants each.
• General Sergei Vyazmitinov reported Gudovich’s victory, and Alexander I ordered three days of celebrations in Saint Petersburg.
• Alexander I told an attendant to cancel the arrangement to receive Lord Hawkesbury, intending to make the British wait.

Lord Hawkesbury shifted Britain’s plans toward bargaining over Poland, while Russian envoys offered France neutrality in exchange for concessions involving Malta, the Ottomans, and the Levant. After Joseph saw off the envoys, he learned that Charles had borrowed money from Camellia to buy a gold necklace.

• Lord Hawkesbury decided to travel to Vienna and offer Poland as a bargaining chip to secure Russia’s cooperation in the European war.
• Grand Duke Constantine delivered Tsar Alexander’s message to Joseph, and Count Vorontsov promised Russia would not support an anti-French alliance in exchange for French help restoring Russian rule over Malta.
• Vorontsov asked France to abandon its ties with the Ottomans and provide logistical support for a future Russian landing in the Levant, and Joseph said he would consider the proposals.
• Joseph hosted a farewell banquet for the Russian envoys, then learned that Charles had borrowed 300,000 francs from Camellia to replace his necklace with a gold one.

Joseph learned that his plan to preserve Poland’s army had failed to persuade its nobles, so he sent Charles back to Warsaw with a personal letter. Meanwhile, French Government Bonds gained attention in Genoa, where nobles discovered major purchases before hearing that war might spread to Northern Italy.

• Baron Nospan told Joseph that Polish legislators and nobles rejected his advice to avoid a head-on fight with Russia, while Regent Poniatowski supported the plan but could not sway them.
• Joseph wrote a personal letter and asked Baron Nospan to take Prince Charles to Warsaw again, hoping to give the Polish king and regent confidence.
• Charles mortgaged his estates and funds to buy 300,000 Francs in Government Bonds, earning a gold Glorious Contribution Medal.
• At Countess Ranieri’s salon in Genoa, nobles dismissed French Government Bonds as poor investments until news spread that more than 10 million Francs’ worth had sold.
• Baron Icoberi confirmed that four major French Bond purchases totaling 6.5 million Francs were genuine, though the money had secretly come from Louis XVI and Queen Mary.
• Baron Toderick warned the nobles that England and Austria had planned an invasion of Northern Italy and that Genoa might be caught in the war.

French Government Bonds attracted growing support in Northern Italy as Baron Toderick spread claims that large bondholders would be protected during an invasion, while Austria debated British proposals for securing Russian support against France. The chapter ended with Metternich proposing that Austria concede Russian control of Serbia and part of Wallachia.

• Baron Toderick persuaded Genoese nobles to distrust British bonds and consider French Government Bonds as safer investments.
• The second batch of French bonds sold out, with Princess Therese, her husband, and Madame Adelaide among the major purchasers.
• Baron Toderick claimed that bonds worth at least 5,000 Francs would help guarantee their holders' safety during wartime, and a newspaper report appeared to support his claim.
• The third batch of French bonds drew heavy buying across Northern Italy and France, with sales reaching 14 million Francs in Northern Italy and 37 million Francs in France.
• Kobzl and Ludwig von Kobzl objected to British terms for Russian support, while Earl Stadion warned that Russia might side with France.
• Metternich proposed that Austria accept Russian control of Serbia and give Russia part of Wallachia.

Metternich persuaded Austria to support a Polish campaign as a chance to gain territory and strengthen its influence against Russia. Alexander I kept Russia uncommitted while preparing reforms, and in Warsaw the young Charles addressed the Polish king with a direct appeal for trust in France.

• Metternich argued that Austria could use a Russian advance in the Balkans to build an anti-Russian alliance and formally occupy Serbia, while gaining Polish territory and silver mines.
• Alexander I ordered General Suvorov to prepare an attack on Minsk but planned to delay Russia’s participation so Austria and Prussia would bear the initial fighting.
• Alexander I declared that Russia would join neither France nor the Anti-French Alliance until the European war’s outcome became clearer, and asked Radishchev about administrative reforms.
• Baron Nospan briefed Prince Charles on Poland’s political and military weaknesses before a secret meeting in Warsaw.
• Prince Charles met King Stanisław II and asked him to trust Charles’s brother and France’s commitment to Poland.

Charles urged Stanisław II and Regent Poniatowski to support Joseph’s plan, and the Regent used political turmoil to prepare Poland for a renewed invasion while secretly seeking terms with its enemies. As Russian, Prussian, and Austrian forces prepared to attack, Polish envoys offered territory to Austria and Prussia in exchange for their withdrawal.

• Charles gave Stanisław II Joseph’s letter and gave Regent Poniatowski another letter addressed to Marshal Kościuszko, after both Polish leaders pledged to do anything for Poland.
• Kołłątaj proposed a radical Serf Emancipation Act, which Regent Poniatowski supported; after it passed amid fierce protests and political chaos, he dissolved the Great Sejm and reshuffled advisers and troops.
• Prussia, Austria, and Russia declared war on Poland, whose scattered, underfunded forces were poorly prepared to resist.
• Count Małachowski offered Austria all of Lesser Poland and promised to withdraw Polish troops, while asking to delay the transfer of the Tarnowskie Góry Silver Mine.
• In Berlin, Count Hodkiewicz told Prince Heinrich that Regent Poniatowski would likely surrender all provinces west of Węgrów, and Heinrich rejected Gdańsk as an insufficient concession.

Piatoli’s speech sparked a wave of donations for Poland’s army, but Poniatowski continued making territorial concessions while Polish troops were kept away from the invaders. As Polish commanders prepared to march against the Russians without orders, Kościuszko persuaded them to wait and continued traveling to restrain the army.

• Piatoli explained Poland’s financial crisis to a crowd in Warsaw, and citizens donated money before he resigned to join the army.
• Poland received more than 2.7 million Złoty in donations, but Poniatowski negotiated further concessions to Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
• In Pinsk, Janik and Karolswaw agreed to lead three regiments toward Slutsk after scouts reported Russian forces nearby.
• Military Committee officers ordered the regiments back, but Kościuszko arrived and convinced the commanders to withdraw until the time was right.
• Kościuszko set out to visit Vladimir's Fifth Guards Cavalry Brigade and continue holding Polish troops back.

Prussian and Austrian leaders debated the Allied Forces’ strategy against France, weighing an attack through the Low Countries against a campaign in Italy and Switzerland. Archduke Karl’s proposal to cross the Alps gained support, while the Allies planned to adjust their Rhine and western operations to divert French forces.

• Blücher and Scharnhorst discussed Sweden joining the Anti-French Alliance and Prussia’s decision to accept Poland’s armistice terms before turning its attention to the Rhine.
• Prince Hohenlohe and Archduke Ferdinand argued over whether the Allies should attack through the Low Countries or Northern Italy.
• Archduke Karl proposed bypassing Mantua Fortress by crossing the Alps through the Great Saint Bernard Pass, and the Duke of York supported the plan.
• Scharnhorst recommended occupying Switzerland in advance to prevent France from ambushing the Alpine route, and Hohenlohe agreed to consider an attack there if French defenses were light.
• Archduke Karl proposed moving Saxon and Thuringian troops to eastern Rhineland for diversionary operations and keeping a reduced western attack to pin down French forces.

The Allied Forces finalized their plan to concentrate troops against France, while Prussia considered territorial gains in Denmark and Britain sought Russian involvement to balance Austria. In occupied Mielec, Austrian Governor Marquis Plosno faced nobles protesting Vienna’s continued abolition of serfdom.

• Prince Hohenlohe advised Duke of Brunswick to keep elite Prussian troops near the Rhine and seize French positions if their defenses weakened, while leaving fighting in Switzerland to weaker units.
• Prince Hohenlohe and Duke of Brunswick discussed taking Danish territory around Kiel before the decisive battle with France.
• Lord Hawkesbury told the Duke of York he planned to persuade Tsar Alexander I to join the war, partly to keep Austria in check after France was weakened.
• The Allied Staff Officers completed a plan for 450,000 troops, concentrating up to 360,000 in Northern Italy while assigning forces to the Rhine, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Baden.
• Marquis Plosno watched Mielec’s nobles protest Austria’s decision to uphold the abolition of serfdom and its requirement that serfs pay a redemption fee.

Polish serf uprisings and noble resistance strained Austrian, Prussian, and Russian rule, while Warsaw secretly coordinated resistance under cover of calming the unrest. After Regent Poniatowski returned to Warsaw from negotiating a trade agreement with Prussia, two young men shot at his carriage.

• Polish nobles protested Austrian redemption payments while serfs joined resistance groups, and uprisings spread through the Russian-, Prussian-, and Austrian-occupied territories.
• Governor Prosnor promised Polish nobles in Mielec that he would relay their demands to the Emperor.
• Hoffmannatsky persuaded Lithuanian serfs near Vilnius to postpone their uprising, then was arrested by the Russian Army and released after a Polish handover officer explained his covert mission.
• Prince Poniatowski secured Polish ships' continued access to Gdańsk Port and kept Polish dockworkers employed through an agreement with Prussia.
• An old woman fell in front of Poniatowski's carriage near Tin Roof Palace, and two young men fired pistols at him.

After an assassin wounded Regent Poniatowski, he entrusted Stanisław II with secret weapons, a list of loyal supporters, and instructions to convene the Great Sejm before dying. Joseph then reviewed French preparations for war while traveling to a steam locomotive inauguration, with the Allies’ delayed attack still expected to begin at Baden and northern Italy.

• Guards seized the assassins after they shot Regent Poniatowski, who asked Stanisław II to release them and continue pretending to be a traitor.
• Poniatowski told Stanisław II where to find hidden weapons and a list of loyal people, and urged him to turn to Marshal Kościuszko and convene the Great Sejm.
• Two days later, Stanisław II announced that he would rule Poland and publicly acknowledged the Treaty of Russo-Prussian-Austrian Prague.
• On August 11, 1798, Joseph traveled to Nancy for the Royal Steam Locomotive Manufacturing Company’s inauguration and the first prototype train’s trial run.
• Berthier and Lavalette briefed Joseph on French troop deployments, the Allied buildup near Württemberg, and a plan to withdraw French forces toward Verona to draw the enemy into the Po River Plain.

Joseph learned that the Allied Forces might attack through Switzerland and saw its difficult terrain and scarce supplies as a way to trap and annihilate them. He then inspected the Nancy locomotive’s public trial run, leaving Trevithick and his assistant preparing to start the machine.

• Lavalette reported that Allied officers in Vienna had discussed a likely surprise attack through Switzerland, and Joseph and Berthier considered how the mountains would hinder their advance.
• Joseph proposed turning Switzerland into a cage by trapping Allied troops there, and Berthier agreed to prepare an operation plan.
• Berthier reported that Spain had reduced its Rhineland force, and Joseph ordered four thousand Spanish soldiers sent to reinforce Gibraltar.
• Joseph explained that Sardinian and Parma troops would help maintain stability in Northern Italy while the Security Bureau monitored Sardinia.
• Joseph arrived at the Nancy Industrial Development Zone, addressed the gathered crowd, and asked Trevithick to begin the locomotive trial.
• Trevithick and his assistant entered the cab and began shoveling coal into the boiler.

Joseph’s prototype locomotive, the Future, completed a successful public test run in Nancy, demonstrating the promise of steam railways to the crowd and the press. Three days later, a surge of investment applications led Joseph to order the creation of a French Railway Company, leaving railway policy and construction poised for a more organized expansion.

• The Future accelerated across the Nancy rails, astonishing onlookers and prompting a wine merchant to consider investing in railway construction.
• Joseph watched the locomotive return from its test run and arranged a press conference where Trevithick credited the Crown Prince with making the train possible.
• Joseph promoted the Future’s capabilities to reporters, hoping to build public demand for trains and railway lines.
• Three days later, Pierre Jerome Tressaguet told Joseph that railway investment applications had reached nearly two million francs.
• Joseph recognized that railway policy needed stronger oversight and ordered the Ministry of Transport to establish a French Railway Company.

Joseph outlined a system for privately built and operated railways under government supervision, then began drafting a Railway Law. Meanwhile, Prévédiche secured a place in the Guard Grenadier Battalion, which was ordered to follow Joseph to the Italian battlefield as Austria’s army approached.

• Joseph explained to Tressaguet how private railway companies, government investment, public guarantees, and eventual transfer of ownership could expand rail service across France.
• Joseph instructed Tressaguet to prepare a proposal for the French Railway Company, then began drafting laws covering railway standards, planning, bidding, funding, and use.
• Prévédiche asked Tressaguet to help him join the Guard Grenadier Battalion despite falling one centimeter short of its height requirement, and Tressaguet secured him a place for three thousand Francs and equipment.
• The newly assembled Guard Grenadier Battalion impressed the noblewomen of Versailles and raised more than 300,000 Francs for Joseph’s military funds.
• After Austria’s 180,000 troops under Archduke Karl appeared near Udine, Prévédiche received orders for the battalion to accompany Joseph to the Italian battlefield.