I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1020: Smoke of War in South Africa

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

"The seven companies raised less than 7 million francs in total?" Joseph frowned and looked at Finance Minister Godin.

The latter had just reported to him that seven newly built companies in the Rhineland, including the potash fertilizer plant, had only raised 7 million francs in funds after being listed in Amsterdam for one and a half months.

He knew very well how much cash the Dutch financial tycoons had in their hands, and even ordinary people there, benefiting from the prosperous maritime trade, also had quite a bit of savings, but they were obviously not very keen on investing in the Rhineland.

Godan explained: "Your Highness, some of these factories are not even completed. In addition, the Dutch seem to be more willing to invest in British industry or domestic shipping."

Joseph flipped through the report submitted by the Minister of Finance. When he saw the "propaganda" section, he couldn't help but shook his head:
“Telling stories, I have said it so many times, you have to be able to tell stories.

"You simply said that the company owns a coal mine in Cologne and that the annual profit is so-and-so, which certainly won't arouse people's interest.

"You should start with the origin of this coal mine. For example, thousands of years ago, God's ink bottle was spilled there, turning into a coal seam thousands of meters thick. Later, Mr. Esteri found clues from his ancestors' notes and indeed discovered a coal mine in Cologne. Now, French nobles have fallen in love with honeycomb coal stoves, and the fashion in Paris is to hold salons around such stoves. The sales of honeycomb coal double every four months. Here's another clip of Parisian ladies bidding publicly for the last basket of coal for their respective salons, and in the end the coal was sold for 100 francs..."

Godin looked at the Crown Prince with his eyes wide open, then hurriedly took out a notebook and began to record.

Joseph sighed and said, "Forget it. I'll ask Mr. Scherer to go to Amsterdam."

According to previous estimates, Rhineland's gap in "first phase financing" this year is around 20 million francs, and now it is still more than half short.

Godan continued, "Your Highness, the Milan Stock Exchange will open next month. The situation will definitely be much better than in the Netherlands."

Joseph nodded: "We must let the rating companies keep up. Also, it's about 'storytelling'..."

As he was speaking, he heard Emand knock on the door: "Your Highness, Monsieur Lavalette has something to report to you."

"Invite him in."

The deputy director of the Security Bureau walked into the room quickly, saluted the Crown Prince, glanced at Godin beside him, took a few steps forward, and whispered: "Your Highness, I just received news that London decided to occupy the Cape of Good Hope three weeks ago.

"At present, the East India Company's warships should be approaching the Cape, and may even have begun landing."

Joseph frowned slightly.

The British saw that the Netherlands was of no use to them, so they started to eat their meat.

Well, it seems that in history, when Napoleon attacked the Netherlands, the British also took advantage of the chaos to occupy the Cape of Good Hope. It was not until more than ten years later that they returned it to the Netherlands in order to win over the Netherlands to join the anti-French alliance.

After Napoleon's army entered The Hague, the British annexed South Africa again through the Battle of Blaauwburg. It can be said that Britain has always been thinking about this rich colony.

Joseph signaled the security chief to tell Godin the intelligence - there was nothing to keep secret about the British's affairs.

Lavalette briefly recounted the story, then turned to Joseph and said, "Your Highness, should we provide support to the Boers?"

The so-called "Boers" refer to the Dutch immigrants who settled in South Africa starting in the 17th century, and later integrated with some French Huguenots and Germans.

These white people intermarried with the local South African indigenous peoples such as the Xhosa and Zulu people, and their offspring were also considered Boers. The mixed-race people with darker skin were called "Basts" and depended on the Boers for survival.

Joseph subconsciously wanted to nod, but then stopped and asked the security chief, "How many forces can we mobilize in the Cape of Good Hope?" The latter recalled and said, "Your Highness, about 12 spies and less than 30 guns.

"But now that the British blockade fleet has withdrawn, we can provide supplies there at any time..."

Joseph raised his hand to interrupt him: "I'm afraid it's too late."

He knew that during the "Boer War" in history, the Boers had caused great trouble to Britain, forcing the British government to dispatch more than 40 expeditionary forces, and it took three years to put down the Boer uprising.

But that was in the late nineteenth century.

Today, there are only about 6 Boers in South Africa. Even if we add the mixed-race Basques and the "Malay slaves" brought by the Dutch from the Far East, the total number does not exceed .

Among them, there should be about 1500 adult males capable of fighting.

In other words, even if France moved an arsenal to South Africa, the Boers would not be able to stop the British Marines.

What's more, the distance from France to the Cape of Good Hope is far, and by the time the French transport ships arrive, the war may have been over - the steamship's endurance would not be enough to cover such a long distance.

Lavalette said, "Your Highness, are we just going to leave it alone?"

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly.

The Cape of Good Hope is a huge treasure trove. It has the largest gold mine in Africa, with an annual output of over 100 tons!
Although only a small part of the South African gold mines has been explored so far, there is no guarantee that the British will soon dig out the main vein.

At the same time, South Africa's diamond production is also very high. Although the profits it brings are not as great as gold, it is still at least 300 to 400 million francs a year.

Therefore, we must never allow the British to gain a foothold in South Africa!

He quickly recalled the situation around South Africa, and soon a name came to his mind - Shaka Zulu.

The founder of the Zulu Kingdom, known as the "Napoleon of South Africa".

Of course, he is still just a child at present, but the Zulu tribe is good at fighting, such as Shaka's father Zulu Jama and others who can be trained.

There are also the Xhosa people north of the Cape of Good Hope, whose fighting power is now off the charts—

Over a period of more than a century, they fought eight Kafr Wars with the Boers and the British.

Although they almost never won, they made life difficult for the European colonists with just bows and spears.

If they were given a few thousand flintlock rifles and a little instruction in guerrilla warfare, the suffering the British would have to endure would have increased exponentially.

They could even let the Boers lead them to fight the British, which would definitely be more "sour and satisfying".

Of course, there is also a difficult problem here, which is how to resolve the conflict between the Boers and the South Africans.

Joseph couldn't think of a solution for a moment, but suddenly he noticed Godin still standing next to him and couldn't help but smile.

Since the British have taken action against South Africa, I can take advantage of this opportunity to give them a hard time in the Netherlands.

(End of this chapter)