I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1056: Sugar War
London, England.

Number 10 Downing Street.

"…So, this year, India produced a total of 40 dan of sugarcane." Harry Odell, the trade representative of the British East India Company, looked at the report in his hand and concluded, "The price of this batch of sugar is more than 70% lower than that in Paris, which will reduce the price of sugar in our market by nearly 20%."

What he is talking about here is hundredweight. 40 hundredweight is about 2.1 tons.

Grenville and a number of senior cabinet officials immediately showed surprise on their faces and nodded to congratulate each other.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Henri Petty even led the applause.

The UK currently consumes about 200 million dan of sugar per year, or 10.5 tons, requiring the government to provide a subsidy of 240 million pounds.

This year, India has a bumper sugarcane harvest, which directly meets one-fifth of the country's sugar consumption, which can reduce this year's sugar subsidies by nearly 50 pounds!
No! Petty suddenly had an idea. Putting so much sugar cane on the market would greatly alleviate the domestic sugar shortage. In other words, the proportion of sugar subsidies could be reduced accordingly.

This is great news for him who is already troubled by the fiscal deficit.

Petty immediately looked at Grenville and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, in view of the increase in sugar supply, I suggest that the sugar subsidy can be reduced to 150 million pounds."

All the ministers agreed when they heard this. Saving 90 pounds from subsidies would provide a lot more funding for other departments.

Lord Grenville was about to nod when he saw the Prime Minister's advisor, Little Pitt, stand up and raise his hand and say:
"I think it would be better if all this sugar was stored in a warehouse rather than put on the market."

Everyone immediately looked at him in surprise.

Grenville frowned slightly: "Please tell me your opinion."

Little Peter took a deep breath and said loudly:

"Rather than cutting subsidies a little, what is most important to us right now is to break France's monopoly on sugarcane and regain the right to set sugar prices!"

Patty spread his hands:

"I understand your feelings, Mr. Pitt, but to be honest, this is probably unlikely. You know, Paris controls at least 155 million dan of sugar production, and we don't have enough bargaining chips..."

This year, the sugar production in France is 75 dan.

In addition, France obtained the priority purchase right of Egyptian sugar from the Ottoman Empire, which was about 20 dan.

The Caribbean region also produced at least 60 dan of soybeans, and this number is increasing rapidly as social order in the Caribbean region continues to recover.

You know, the Caribbean region's sugarcane production at its peak was more than 350 million dan. And now, most Caribbean countries are France's "little brothers".

It is a sheer pipe dream to want to leverage the pricing power of 40 million dan with a mere 155 dan from the Indian colony.

Since the British dared to put the little sugar they had on the market at a low price, British merchants dared to buy it all, load it on ships, take it to Paris, and sell it at the French price to make a profit from the difference.

"I'm afraid you have forgotten Prussia." Little Peter seemed confident. "Not long ago, we just obtained 3 dan of sugar from Prussia. The price is only half of the market price."

The British officials in the room still shook their heads silently. The output of less than 4 dan had almost no impact on the European sugar trade pattern.

Little Peter seemed to have expected this reaction, smiled and continued:

"The Prussians have acquired a large quantity of high-yield French sugar beet seeds. And they have decided to significantly increase the area planted with sugar beets, perhaps five times more than this year.

"In this case, even according to the most conservative estimate, Prussia's sugar production next year will be 30 dan. Considering that their farmers are more familiar with beet cultivation, it may even reach 40 dan!" The room suddenly became quiet, and everyone was silently calculating in their hearts.

According to Little Pitt, if all the 40 dan of sugar harvested from India this year were saved, plus the 40 dan of India's output next year and the 40 dan from Prussia, the total would be 120 million dan.

It can definitely compete with the French's 155 million dan.

Even if it cannot regain the pricing power of sugarcane, it can at least become an important force in determining the trend of sugar prices.

By then, sugar prices might even return to the levels before the unrest broke out in the Caribbean!
Little Pete looked around at the excited faces of the crowd and continued to describe the bright prospects:

"That's not all. The Americans have basically taken control of the plantations in the Bahamas. Oh, and we have some shares in them.

"That is to say, next year the Bahamas will still be able to provide us with more than 10 dan of sugarcane, while the French will reduce that by 10 dan."

Even Lord Grenville was excited. Britain already had the same sugar chips as France!

Little Pete seemed still unsatisfied: "Besides, we can also use the same 'little tricks' that the French used back then on them."

Grenville asked hurriedly: "What do you mean?"

"Creating chaos in the Caribbean." Little Pete looked westward, "According to the intelligence we have, those niggers don't know how to run a government. Now the finances of both Jamaica and Barbados are on the verge of collapse.

"If we give them a push, there will be tons of hungry niggers joining the riots.

"This would reduce the amount of sugar the French could get from the Caribbean by more than 35 quintals.

"We will have 40 percent more sugar than the French.

"As long as we operate properly, the center of European sugar trading will return to London!"

Grenville hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I think your plan is worth a try. Please submit a detailed report to me as soon as possible."

As he was speaking, Foreign Secretary Fox's assistant walked in quickly and whispered something in his ear.

Fox frowned immediately and said to Grenville, "Mr. Prime Minister, the Russians occupied Tabriz half a month ago. Now, they should be attacking the Zanjan Fortress."

The British Prime Minister was stunned for a moment, and it took him three or four seconds to remember where Tabriz and Zanjan were.

He then frowned as well: "It seems that Sir Gracie's concerns are correct."

Home Secretary Earl Spencer asked Petty beside him in a low voice with some confusion: "Who is Sir Gracie?"

"He's the officer who submitted the report on The Great Game." The latter glanced at him and said, "You haven't read it yet, have you?"

"I put it in a drawer. You know, there are so many new factories being built lately that I just don't have time."

Patty had to give him a brief explanation.

Only then did Earl Spencer know that Gracie was an officer who had served in northern India for many years and was well versed in the situations in Afghanistan, Persia and Central Asia.

He submitted a report called "The Great Game" last month, recommending that the British government increase its investment in Persia and Afghanistan to prevent the Russians from expanding into these areas and occupying the Khyber Pass.

(End of this chapter)