I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1051 A Really Profitable Business

The hall fell silent instantly.

The only sound left in the ears of Carlos IV and others was the sound of their own pounding hearts.

It’s not because they are “unsuccessful”. After all, Spain is still a first-class country in Europe and they have seen the world.

But I have never seen 3 million escudos.

Not to mention seeing it, I never even dreamed that the number in front of the gold coin would be so big.

Last year, Joseph helped the Spanish government get several million escudos from the church, which made these Spanish officials so happy that it seemed as if the goddess they had secretly loved since childhood had suddenly agreed to marry them.

But what the French Crown Prince just said was "3 million"!
It's like more than 100 goddesses popping out at once...

After several seconds, Gumbo asked cautiously:
"Really...really?"

It was as if he was afraid of waking himself up from his dream.

Joseph nodded very seriously: "Absolutely true."

Gombos's voice became louder. "Will this mine not cause us to get involved in a dispute with other countries?"

"Of course not. You have absolute mining rights there."

The hearts of the Spanish ministers beat even faster.

They looked at each other, then confirmed with Carlos IV, and finally Count Floridablanca coughed lightly and said:
"Your Highness, if it is true as you say, then this is enough to exchange for Louisana."

Compomanes no longer cared about diplomatic etiquette and asked impatiently, "Where is it, Your Highness?"

"The west coast of North America, California."

Joseph did not hide it and said it directly.

First, Spain could not play rogue in such a formal diplomatic occasion - that would basically be equivalent to declaring war on France. Second, the California colony covers more than 200,000 square kilometers, and there are a lot of uninhabited areas. Even if tens of thousands of people were mobilized to search for it, it would take at least five to eight years to find it.

"After the agreement is signed, my prospecting team will give you a detailed map."

Yes, as early as when the New Orleans crisis just occurred, Joseph sent a large number of geologists to California, the westernmost part of North America, to look for gold mines.

With the numerous clues he provided, the prospecting team soon found gold in the streams near what would later become San Francisco, which is now just a small fishing village called Yeva Buena.

Next, if we continue to expand along the water flow, we will reach the large gold mines that were mined during the famous "Gold Rush in the American West" in history.

Carlos IV immediately put his arm around Joseph's shoulders and said with a smile on his face:

"Then let's sign the agreement right away."

It was definitely a huge profit for Spain to exchange the barren Louisiana for a large gold mine worth 3 million escudos, and to pass the task of guarding against the westward advance of the Americans to France.

Joseph nodded, and then seemed to remember something, and smiled, “You see, I invested a lot of time and money to find this gold.

"Can I also invest some mining funds and get some shares in the gold mine? Oh, 10% of the shares will be fine."

Count Floridablanca was busy winking at his king, which meant "absolutely not".

Just kidding, 10% of the shares is 3 million escudos! The total fiscal revenue of Spain is not that much.

"Well..." Carlos IV looked embarrassed, "It doesn't seem to be..." Joseph immediately said: "7%, 7% will be fine."

"..."

“What about 5%?”

Seeing this, Count Floridablanca rushed to help his king: "Your Highness, as you know, our country's trade concession on the west coast of North America was granted to the Seville Chamber of Commerce, which also includes minerals. Therefore, the issue of shares may involve complex authorization issues."

Gombos looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "The gold mine is used to exchange for Louisiana..."

Joseph sighed and said helplessly: "Well, if I can't get the gold mine shares, then at least I can have the exclusive qualification to operate mining tools in California, right?
"You see, our ironworks face stiff competition from the British, and this could help them increase their sales a little."

Count Floridablanca breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Of course it is possible. Is it, Your Majesty?"

Carlos IV immediately nodded and said, "Yes, that's entirely possible."

Spain currently does not have any decent iron smelting industry, and most of the time it has to purchase mining tools from France. It would be better to let the French directly ship them to North America for sale.

Joseph's mouth also curled up into a smile.

He knew very well that the Spanish would never allow him to invest in the gold mine. He said that just now just to pave the way for the mining tools later.

Yes, his goal from the beginning was to sell tools!

The gold mines in California are not ordinary mine gold, but river placer gold, which is extremely difficult to mine.

It takes a lot of manpower to sift the gold particles out of the sand. Therefore, every gold prospector must be equipped with at least a shovel, an iron pot, and a bottle of mercury before they can start.

On this basis, auxiliary supplies such as bamboo hats, kettles, and small iron boxes are also needed.

And, most importantly – jeans.

Moreover, because the gold mining environment is extremely harsh, the probability of these items being damaged or lost is extremely high, and they need to be constantly replenished.

This will be a very huge market.

During the gold rush in the American West in the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to California to pan for gold. However, due to the extremely low efficiency of manual gold mining, more than % of them did not make any money.

On the contrary, there were several millionaires among the merchants who sold tools to the gold diggers. They were millionaires in the 19th century.

If France could monopolize the tools of the California gold mines and also engage in some catering, accommodation and other businesses, 30% to 40% of the gold mine income would go into its pockets.

Spain also needs to bear the costs of mining and transportation, and its final net profit may not be as much as France.

Historically, it was not until the mid-19th century, when high-pressure water column flushing technology driven by high-power steam engines became popular, that California gold mines truly entered a period of explosive growth and began to make a lot of money.

Well, after France completes the development of its high-power steam engine, we can also sell ore washing machines to gold mines.

However, California was probably no longer under Spanish rule at that time.

Right now, the Mexican independence movement is in full swing. In ten years at most, Spain's colonies in North America will fall into turmoil and eventually be forced to abandon the Mexican colonies.

California is currently within the territory of "New Spain", that is, Mexico. After Mexico's independence, the Spaniards withdrew from California.

By then, Joseph will be able to use the latest technology, which is dozens of times more efficient in mining, to negotiate gold mining cooperation with the Mexican government.

(End of this chapter)