I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1068 Detonation
Joseph's heart tightened.

He wasn't worried about being in danger - the firepower of the Guards was enough to take down an entire pride of lions, but Alexandra was standing too far forward and could easily be hurt.

He was about to pull the little girl, but suddenly noticed that the window was too narrow and the lion's head was stuck on the frame and could not get in at all.

The next moment, the lion's eyes drifted towards the dozen or so gun muzzles beside the girl, and it immediately sensed an extremely dangerous aura - it had seen hunters using muskets in West Africa - its momentum instantly weakened, and then it shook its head, pretending nothing had happened, and shrank back, loosening its claws and leaving the car.

Alexandra also breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Joseph and saw that his highness looked normal. She then said to the others in the carriage, "Don't be afraid. These beasts are actually more afraid of humans."

Well, she really had no fear of these wild animals. After all, her brother had an Amur tiger, and she often saw that "big cat" that was about the same size as the lion just now.

And Vasily, whom she also fed.

The passengers in the carriage stared blankly at the pretty girl who drove away the beast - her veil had just fallen to the ground with her hat - and then looked at the pistols pointed at the windows by a dozen people including Ksode, and felt as if they were dreaming.

Suddenly, a noble lady pointed at Alexandra and exclaimed, "You, you are the king..."

She had seen Alexandra from a distance twice at balls at Versailles.

Ksod interrupted her with a stern look, signaled two of his men to block the window with guns, and then whispered to Joseph: "Are you okay?"

Joseph waved to him, pulled Alexandra back to the chair, gave her a thumbs up, and then whispered, "Don't do such dangerous things in the future."

Just now, the girl's action of standing in front of him without hesitation really touched him.

Alexandra thought the prince thought her behavior was unladylike, so she lowered her head nervously: "I...will be more careful next time..."

Joseph smiled and said, "You will make Viscount Ksode unemployed if you do this."

The girl raised her bright big eyes and smiled too.

Soon, the tour bus stopped safely at the exit of the wild animal area. Immediately at Joseph's signal, one of the Crown Prince's personal guards went to the zoo officials to instruct them to install iron bars outside the bus windows.

Mrs. Nasseri was so frightened that her legs went weak, but she heard her daughter Anna muttering to herself in fascination: "I want to be as brave as that lady in the future!"

Naseri wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, imagining what he would have to brag about to his fellow workers tomorrow.

As for other tourists who heard the news, they were not affected at all - the lion did not enter the carriage at all, which shows that the trip is very safe - the tourists who come here to visit are all seeking excitement, and naturally they don’t think there is anything wrong with too much excitement.

At dusk, Joseph and Alexandra returned to the Palace of Versailles, chatting about the interesting events of the day.

The Naseri family also returned home amid the chattering of their children.

Apart from the fact that Paris has become a little more lively due to the newly opened zoo, it seems no different from the past.

into the night.

The noble lady who recognized Alexandra on the tour bus tossed and turned in bed.

Although Viscount Csode had given her a gag order, today's experience kept scratching her heart, making her unable to resist the urge to share it with others.

Finally, she tiptoed to her sister's room, woke her up, and whispered, "There is something you must want to know. But you must swear not to tell anyone." Her sister immediately perked up: "I swear!"

"In the name of God."

"Okay, I swear in the name of God. Tell me what happened?"

"I went to Sasha Zoo today. Guess who I met? It was the Crown Princess. She actually..."

At the regular cabinet meeting the next day, Joseph couldn't help but frown slightly as he looked at the report on core industry development trends submitted by Mirabeau.

"In addition to Hessen, the United States also turned to Britain to buy steam engines." The Minister of Industry continued, "The British are obviously dumping. The prices of their three main steam engine models are about 10% lower than our similar products.

"At the same time, buyers from all over the world were more confident in their products because of the new generation of steam engines that the British were about to launch - it was said that the power of that thing could reach 180 horsepower.

“From what I have learned at the United Steam Engine Company, our new generation of models will require more sophisticated cylinder and piston processing equipment in order to make progress.

"At present, these necessary equipment are still under bidding..."

Mirabeau did not know that Joseph had already made arrangements at the Boulton-Watt Company, so in his opinion, France's steam engine technology had been firmly surpassed by the British and the situation was not optimistic.

He looked at the Crown Prince and said, "Affected by this, the sales of the United Steam Engine Company have dropped by 27% and the profits have dropped by 39% in the past six months. And because of the decline in steam engine production, it has also affected the companies that produce iron for boilers and cylinders.

"Perhaps we could provide subsidies to United Steam Engine Company to make them more competitive."

Joseph sighed secretly. He had originally wanted to wait until the British steam engine bubble became bigger before taking action, but now it had already seriously affected the French steam engine industry, so he could not delay any longer.

And in previous meetings, Lavalette also reported on Britain's continued increase in investment in Caribbean countries to further the chaotic situation there.

This shows that the British still have ample funds on hand.

It was also a good opportunity to use the steam engine incident to deal a heavy blow to the British economy.

Joseph said to Mirabeau: "The steam engine market will soon turn around, you don't have to worry. Of course, there is no need to subsidize it."

Although Mirabeau did not know why the Dauphin was so sure, he had always made similar "predictions" that never failed, so he did not ask any more questions and just bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Archbishop Brian then glanced at the meeting arrangements and nodded to Trade Minister Bailly.

Bailly stood up and first reported on the recent foreign trade situation - in general, France's trade volume is still growing rapidly, especially with Italy, which has been increasing at a rate of 20% over the past six months.

Even after Britain ended its naval blockade, France's exports to Britain increased significantly - although Britain still had a slight advantage in major industries such as textiles, coal, and steel, French luxury goods, furniture, chemicals and other products had already occupied large swathes of the British market.

So much so that there have been calls in the British Parliament to abolish the Treaty of Eden.

Bailly continued: "In addition, the amount of goods we sell in California is also increasing rapidly and may exceed 60 francs next month."

Spain's full-scale mining of California gold mines was launched only three months ago. Currently, there are only 30,000 to 40,000 gold diggers, so the income from selling tools is still relatively low.

(End of this chapter)