I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1047 From Persia to Central Asia
"Yes, Your Highness."

Talleyrand first bowed and agreed, then hesitated and said: "Your Highness, what if the British fail to respond properly and the Russian army really enters the Khyber Pass..."

It's not surprising that he would have such concerns.

According to the strategy just mentioned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, France will strongly support Russia's expansion into the Middle East.

Currently, Afghanistan is in a state of extreme weakness as King Timur did not clearly designate a successor after his death and his more than 20 sons are engaged in a chaotic fight.

As long as Russia controlled the area east of the Caspian Sea, after defeating Persia, it would be easy to occupy Afghanistan and enter the Khyber Pass.

The Khyber Pass is the only land route from the Middle East into the Indian peninsula.

With the combat effectiveness of the Indian princely states, it is impossible to stop the influx of the Russian army.

Once Russia acquires the rich colonies in South Asia, it will quickly develop into a terrifying monster, plunging the entire European continent into turmoil.

Joseph smiled and shook his head, saying, "You don't have to worry. The Russians will never be able to control Afghanistan."

Talleyrand thought that the prince meant that if Britain could not stop the Russians in Afghanistan, then France would intervene in the situation in the Middle East.

So he said no more, bowed and left.

Joseph looked at his back and said to himself, "It's not called the 'Graveyard of Empires' for nothing."

There are only wrong names, but no wrong nicknames. Afghanistan can be called the "graveyard of empires" because of its real achievements in battles.

Not to mention the current Tsarist Russia, even the red empire that was at its peak in the 20th century, with its massive T72 tanks and Mi-24 armed helicopters covering the barren mountains and wilderness of Afghanistan, ultimately returned home in defeat.

After defeating Napoleon, Britain was also ambitious to control Afghanistan, the "center of Eurasia." At that time, a fierce civil war also broke out in Afghanistan, but the British Expeditionary Force still left more than 20,000 bodies and evacuated in a panic.

Afghanistan is a mountainous and extremely poor place, and it is difficult to get supplies locally. Basically, anyone who goes there will die. Joseph is not worried at all.

At the palace dinner, Bezbelodico used sophisticated diplomatic rhetoric to deal with Queen Marie and the nobles. Suddenly, he turned his head and said to Talleyrand beside him casually:

"Your Excellency, the Crown Prince seems to be very interested in the affairs of the Middle East."

Talleyrand put down his knife and fork, wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin, and whispered: "In fact, Your Highness is interested in the Tsar's 'Eastern Coast of the Caspian Sea' strategy."

The so-called "eastern coast of the Caspian Sea" is the area of ​​Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in later generations.

At that time, there were still two sultanates, Khiva and Bukhara. After a long period of infiltration, Russia had established a small fortress here.

Bezbelodiko smiled and said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince didn't seem to mention that place."

"That's because your country has not yet met the conditions for expansion there."

"You mean?"

"The occupation of Khiva will inevitably threaten the southern Caspian Sea plain in Persia," said Talleyrand, "where nearly half of Persia's grain is produced.

"So, Your Highness has been waiting for you to completely defeat Persia."

Bezbelodiko thought for a moment and asked doubtfully, "What is it about Shiva that attracts Your Highness?"

"Of course it's cotton..."

Talleyrand immediately told the reason Joseph had prepared for him, but pretended to regret: "Oh, I shouldn't have told you this. According to the plan, this matter should be mentioned after Persia becomes your vassal state." Bezbelodiko frowned slightly: "Some people in Khiva did grow cotton, but the output does not seem to be worthy of special attention."

Talleyrand moved closer to him and whispered mysteriously, "Well, I'll be frank. Our people have surveyed the area and found that there is a lot of land suitable for growing cotton that has not yet been developed.

"Agriculturalists believe that if it is fully implemented, the yield can even approach that of the United States."

He had no idea about the cotton growing situation in Central Asia, but since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said so, he believed there would be no problem.

Of course there is no problem, because Joseph knows very well that since the mid-19th century, Central Asia has been one of the world's core cotton producing areas.

The soil and climate there are extremely suitable for growing cotton, and it once provided 70% of the Soviet Union's cotton consumption, equivalent to more than 20% of the world's cotton production.

At present, because neither Khiva nor Bukhara attaches much importance to cotton, no one knows the situation there for the time being.

Historically, when Russia occupied Central Asia, it immediately began to force all farmers there to switch to growing cotton.

By the mid-19th century, even Britain had begun to envy the cotton production here. At that time, Britain invaded Afghanistan in part to extend its influence to the cotton-producing areas of Central Asia.

Joseph believed that after Bezbelodiko returned, Russia would immediately send people to verify whether the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea was suitable for growing cotton. Their conclusion was naturally affirmative.

Driven by such huge interests, Catherine II would definitely do her utmost to accelerate the process of moving south.

You know, textiles are the most traded commodities in this era, and almost half of the US national finances are supported by cotton exports.

Russia has the advantage of being closer to Europe, so its costs are certainly lower than those of the United States, which means it earns more than the United States.

This is simply an open conspiracy that Russia cannot resist.

In fact, Russia can gain many other benefits after completely defeating Persia.

For example, they could control the ports in the Persian Gulf and then trade directly with the Far East from there, which was the most profitable trade route for European countries.

And, further invade Afghanistan and march into the vast Indian Peninsula from the Khyber Pass.

However, these two points would lead to direct conflict between Russia and Britain, so Joseph deliberately did not mention them, and instead focused on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, which had little to do with Britain.

I believe Catherine II herself should be able to think of these benefits.

Talleyrand continued: “His Royal Highness the Dauphin wishes to be given the privilege of purchasing cotton from your country first.

“You know, we have fierce competition with the British in many industries.

"In the textile industry, the British always had a slight advantage, and the most important reason for this was that they bribed the US government to get most of the cotton produced in North America. Of course, there was also cotton from India.

“We had to have a steady supply of cotton to ensure we were not squeezed out by British textile mills.

"At present, all we can think of is the production area on the east coast of the Caspian Sea."

It was logical and impeccable. Bezbelodico immediately raised his glass:

"I will report this to His Majesty the Tsar as soon as possible and recommend that France be given priority in purchasing cotton."

(End of this chapter)