I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1095 The Sugar War: Preparations
Joseph sighed softly, stepped forward, embraced the Crown Princess, gently patted her back, and whispered, "If you miss her, go back to St. Petersburg and recite a prayer for her at her tombstone. I will speak to Mother."

According to European royal tradition, married princesses are not allowed to return to their mother country. This is partly to demonstrate loyalty to their husband's family, and partly to prevent the princess from leaking important information.

However, Joseph didn't care too much about it. He knew that Alexandra had grown up with Ye Er since she was little. To her, Ye Er was like a grandmother and also like a mother. It was only natural for her to go back and pay her respects.

The little girl's eyes immediately welled up with tears, but she quickly shook her head and said, "Thank you so much for your concern, Your Highness, but this isn't appropriate... I'll just pray for her here..."

She paused abruptly at this point.

Joseph immediately understood. Ye Er was an Orthodox Christian, but Alexandra could only pray in a Catholic way in Paris.

He leaned close to the little girl's ear and said, "If you wish to pray in the Orthodox way, you can go to my office in the Tuileries Palace. No one will bother you there, and you can even set up a small altar."

That was his office when he was the director of the Industrial Planning Bureau. Now that the Ministry of Industry no longer needs him to teach them personally, the office is now unused.

Alexandra's eyes lit up with surprise, and she asked nervously, "Is...is this really okay?"

“Let Krsold keep watch outside for you; no one will know,” Joseph said softly. “You can keep praying until the fortieth day is over.”

The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that the soul of the deceased is in a "purification period" for 40 days after death, during which relatives and friends need to pray for them to help them enter heaven.

The little girl couldn't hold back any longer and threw herself into Joseph's arms, crying, "Thank you, you're so kind to me..."

Talleyrand appeared outside the door and was somewhat embarrassed to see the Crown Prince and his wife whispering to each other.

Joseph wiped away Alexandra's tears and whispered, "Go and prepare your prayer supplies. I'll personally take you there later."

After the Crown Princess left, Talleyrand stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, you're back."

He knew very well that the Crown Prince would surely issue diplomatic instructions regarding such a momentous event as the Tsar's death, so he arrived immediately without being summoned.

Joseph gestured to the sofa: "Please have a seat."

"You should have heard about what's happening in Russia. If nothing unexpected happens, Paul I will soon withdraw his troops from Persia."

Talleyrand instinctively wanted to say, "The Russian army has a clear advantage and shouldn't be retreating," but seeing the Crown Prince's confident expression, he immediately shut his mouth.

In his memory, the Crown Prince's judgment on similar matters had never been wrong.

Seeing his surprised look, Joseph explained simply: "The new Tsar does not approve of external expansion, and he is somewhat hostile to his mother, so he will most likely do so."

Talleyrand nodded thoughtfully: "This allows the British to divert resources from the Middle East to Portugal or the Cape of Good Hope."

Joseph said, "So you need to go to St. Petersburg immediately and make some efforts..."

After he finished giving instructions on matters concerning Russia, Talleyrand took his leave, and the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Finance followed closely behind.

Joseph hadn't even had a sip of water since he returned, and looking at the two wearily, he asked, "Is there something urgent?"

Bai immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, the London Futures Exchange began trading three days ago."

Joseph nodded, not surprised.

The London Futures Exchange was completed in July, so it's already quite slow that it's only now being put into operation.

Baie continued, "The first batch of contracts released by the British included a large amount of low-priced sugar. There were even contracts at 3 francs and 7 sous per pound." Joseph narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. Sugar on the Paris futures exchange was generally priced at 4 francs and 3 sous per pound or higher. Did this mean the British were trying to short sugar prices?

He looked at Bai: "How much was traded?"

"Well, the time is too short to get the statistics yet," the Commerce Secretary said. "But I've heard that sugar prices in London shops are starting to drop."

Joseph stroked the armrest of the sofa, his brow furrowed.

The fact that just three days of trading could affect spot market prices suggests that the British government must have released a massive amount of sugar.

He thought for a moment, then asked Bai, "Have the statistics for Prussia's beet production this year been released?"

"Not yet, Your Highness. However, they have produced 3 tons of sugar in the past half month, so the total output should be over 2.2 tons."

Joseph was still somewhat puzzled.

Britain's sugar production in India is only slightly over 2 tons, and it gets about 4 tons from the United States. Even if you add Prussia's 2.2 tons, it's still far from enough to shake France's control over sugar prices.

It's worth noting that France alone produced 4.1 tons of sugar beets this year, importing over 1 tons from the Haussmannian Empire. Meanwhile, Santo Domingo, having absorbed labor from across the Caribbean, saw its production surge to 3.6 tons—a 67% increase from last year!

In other words, the British believed they had around 4.6 tons, while the French had 8.7 tons. This amount of "ammunition" was still insufficient.

Joseph shook his head slightly: "No, the British must have other things to rely on."

Finance Minister Godan, who was standing nearby, added, "Your Highness, I have noticed something unusual."

“去年，英国人就从印度获得了2万吨的蔗糖，成本不超过每磅1法郎2苏。但他们国内的糖价却只从每磅2法郎4苏降至2法郎1苏。”

This is the price after subsidies.

Joseph turned to look at him: "You mean, they didn't put that sugar on the market?"

“That’s a possibility,” Godan said, “but it might just be caused by widespread corruption among officials.”

Joseph nodded to himself.

If the British had indeed stored up all of last year's sugar, they would now have 6.6 tons in their possession.

Britain is likely unaware of Santo Domingo's increased production this year, so they might assume their "ammunition" supply is roughly the same as France's.

A smile appeared on Joseph's lips.

The British not only overlooked the significant increase in production in Santo Domingo, but also failed to realize that Prussian sugarcane did not belong to them.

As the Prussian sugar beets began to be harvested, they soon discovered that those used for breeding were not seed-producing at all.

If they want France to continue providing them with seeds, they must abide by the original agreement—to sell all the sugar they produce to France.

In other words, Britain actually received only 4.4 tons of sugar. France, on the other hand, received an additional 2.2 tons, bringing its total to 10.9 tons.

(End of this chapter)