The Fox of France

Chapter 300: The Industrial Revolution and the Habsburgs

While some progress had been made in long-distance power transmission, interregional power transmission was still impossible at this time. The proliferation of power plants had remained relatively unchanged, with the only noticeable difference being a reduction in cable theft.

Part of the reason for this reduction in theft was the decreased availability of copper in wires of equal length. Another reason was the sheer danger involved in stealing high-voltage cables. In Paris, a significant shift had occurred. It was no longer primarily outsiders who engaged in such activities. Foreigners from the provinces, the Highlands, Prussia, Poland, and Italy, seemed to be the main culprits. They would brazenly attempt to steal power cables when they found them unguarded, leading to some rather fiery consequences.

While the death of foreign thieves was hardly a significant concern, especially considering that the 19th century had just begun, it was not just the French who were indifferent to these deaths. Even the consulates of these thieves' home countries didn't pay much attention. To them, the deaths of a few lowly individuals were inconsequential, and some might even argue that such deaths helped reduce social instability.

However, the actions of these thieves, as "insignificant" as their deaths may be, caused major power outages in various regions. While these power outages generally didn't affect the most essential areas, they did result in significant economic losses for factories or the many bars and nightclubs in Montmartre. So, the Scientific Truth Journal had to run a special series on power safety, educating the public about the dangers of high-voltage electricity. Just because a bird could sit on a wire without harm didn't mean it was safe for a person to touch!

But these issues were relatively minor. What truly bothered Napoleon was the recent decline in arms sales.

Austria had been a reliable customer for French arms. Every time the French introduced new weaponry, the Austrians would eagerly buy it. This was especially true after Prussia discovered copper mines and profited from them. The Austrians, too, surveyed the situation and found that the copper veins extended into their territory. So, the Austrians immediately took action, extensively developing their copper mines. Unlike the Prussians, the Austrians were not as thrifty when it came to hiring workers. They made a deal with Polish nobility, paying them some money and then promptly having the Polish serfs mine for copper.

Prussia, on the other hand, was not as bold. At this point, half of Prussia's population consisted of Poles. Due to cost advantages, the Austrians ended up stealing some of Prussia's business. Logically, with more money in their pockets, the Austrians should have been able to buy more French weapons.

However, the Austrians had a different perspective. They figured that they couldn't defeat the French in battle anyway, and considering their flourishing trade with the French, there was no reason for the French to wage war against them. There wasn't anyone else worth fighting at the moment. Moreover, the French upgraded their weaponry so quickly that buying new arms would make their existing stock obsolete in no time. The Austrians weren't like the British and Spanish, who could sell their old weapons to their colonies.

The result was that the Austrian orders for arms quickly dwindled.

In an effort to stimulate Austrian spending, Napoleon had considered conducting joint military exercises with Prussia or discreetly selling some small arms to the Poles. His aim was to stir up trouble and make the Austrians realize the need to spend their money.

However, both of these suggestions were met with opposition from Joseph and Lucien. Joseph strongly objected to arming the Poles, saying, "If the Poles cause trouble, the operation of the copper mines will inevitably be affected. If Austrian copper production decreases, the price of copper in Europe will surely rise. The money we make from selling weapons may not be enough to fill that gap."

Lucien, on the other hand, opposed the idea of conducting joint military exercises with Prussia. He believed it didn't contribute to the image of France as a nation that promoted peace and was a friend to all of Europe.

"You can threaten Austria a bit to get them to do business honestly, but, Napoleon, your methods are a bit too crude! There's no artistry in what you're suggesting."

Napoleon became angry and immediately played his trump card, "You say I can't do it, so why don't you do it?"

Lucien promptly replied, "This isn't my department, and I'm not an expert in this area. Don't pass the buck to me."

Joseph then proposed, "What if we sell some goods to the Russians?"

"Russians? Can the Russians afford anything? They're notoriously stingy," Napoleon said.

The economic situation in Russia was not good, especially in recent years. France's consecutive bountiful harvests had kept grain prices on the international market low, which dealt a significant blow to the Russians, who relied heavily on grain exports for foreign currency. The Russians were truly in dire straits and didn't have much money to spare.

"We can offer them loans," Lucien quickly chimed in. "Look, we provide loans to the Russians, they use those loans to buy our products, and then they use the money we lent them to pay us back, and slowly pay off the interest. Isn't that a great idea?"

"Why would the Russians want to borrow from us? They don't seem to be under any threat," Napoleon retorted.

"We can spread the word that the Ottomans are interested in purchasing a large quantity of weapons from us," Lucien suggested.

"That's not enough, Lucien, not enough," Joseph suddenly interjected. "We need to spread the rumor that the Ottomans and we have struck a deal, where we export a full arsenal factory to the Ottomans."

"In that case, what if the Russians inquire about buying an arsenal factory?" Napoleon asked.

"Then we sell it to them, and we can even include technology transfer," Joseph said nonchalantly.

"But is that feasible?" Napoleon inquired.

"Why not? Even if they have factories, can they produce products that can compete with us in the market without relying on various forms of support? And as you've said, the Russians' funds are quite limited. If they grit their teeth and buy our factories, they will have to find the money elsewhere. How will they do that?"

"They can either cut costs. After buying our factories and technology, they can save on research expenses. We can persuade them not to 'reinvent the wheel.' After all, their own research won't match what they buy from us, and it will be more expensive. So, why not cut research expenses? It's like someone wants to eat meat. They can either buy it from the market or raise their own livestock. But if they raise livestock themselves, due to lack of experience and technology, their self-raised livestock will be expensive and taste bad. Do you think they can continue this way? It's better for them to go out, or more precisely, come to us, to buy meat."

"In this way, they won't have to spend money raising livestock, and as long as they invest in this area, slowly build up their own team, their self-developed meat will eventually become better and cheaper. But by selling factories and technology at the right time, we can disrupt the accumulation of scientific and technical talent in Russia. We can continuously export specific technologies to them, making sure their researchers have no place to apply their skills. We can even take the opportunity to lure these 'useless' researchers to our side. Napoleon, don't you think this is an excellent idea?"

"But what if the Austrians and the British come up with similar requests?" Napoleon asked again.

"Every situation is unique. Well, the Austrians can be managed without much trouble, but the British will need some limitations. However, these limitations should be exercised by a committee, not directly by us. You see, we and the Austrians, the British, and the Russians have significant differences in our political systems, don't we? We're a republic, aren't we? We can establish an organization for controlling technology exports, comprising the democratic countries in Europe, such as us, the Northern Italian Federation, and the Rhine Federation. We can call it the 'Export Control Coordination Committee,' and its headquarters can be in Paris, responsible for reviewing all technology exports to non-republican nations. Technologies and equipment and commodities not approved by this committee will not be exported," Joseph proposed.

"Yes, Napoleon, I think we can start by selling a factory to Turkey, then sell one to Russia, and then incite internal trouble in Turkey or Russia. Naturally, they will suppress it. Then we can let some 'opposition' media and other republican states accuse us of handing a butcher's knife to a tyrant for the sake of money. This will allow us to establish the committee with legitimacy," Lucien added. "In the process, we can sow plenty of thorns on the side of the real opposition."

Napoleon pondered for a moment and then said, "Well, I suppose that could work. Let's proceed with this plan."

....

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