I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1107 The Background Colors of the Era
Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

Joseph quickly read through the report from "Franco-Ireland Liaison Officer" Poteille, and immediately frowned.

“These Irishmen are too naive.” He glanced at the report’s date; it was written the night before last. He immediately told Lavallet, “Notify Porter as quickly as possible and have him do everything in his power to stop the United Irish Association.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the security chief replied, then hesitated for a moment before adding, “Your Highness, this riot is very large. If we provide support to the Irish and that London news agency, it might cause enormous damage to Britain.”

Joseph shook his head: "You're oversimplifying things. Britain is isolated from the European continent, and as long as their Parliament doesn't care about bloodshed, no riot can succeed."

"Let the Irish conserve their strength; now is not the time to use them."

"Of course, we should also seize this opportunity, but the main focus should be on launching a public opinion campaign."

"You can ask Mr. Denico for his cooperation, in this way..."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After the security chief left, Joseph immediately gestured to Emmanuel: "Please prepare the carriage, I need to go to the General Staff Headquarters."

He looked out the window and sighed softly. The European continent was likely to face another full-scale war soon.

He was well aware that a serious crisis was about to occur in Britain, and the British government would most likely seek to divert attention from the crisis.

On the other hand, Britain will certainly not stand idly by while France is currently experiencing rapid development.

The conflict between Britain and France is structural; if Britain wants to maintain its position as the leading power in Europe, it must bring down France.

The same applies to France. Only by suppressing Britain and defeating its powerful fleet can France truly gain room for future development.

Since war is inevitable, the earlier we begin preparations, the less damage it will cause.

……

London.

10 Downing Street.

Lord Grenville signed the document and handed it to the Home Secretary, Earl Spencer: "Please try to control the scope of the impact, but be quick."

The latter bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will handle it well."

Grenville added, "Please coordinate with General Wyndham beforehand. There are critics in Parliament; we must not let them find any fault with us."

"I understand, Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

After seeing the Home Secretary off, Grenville picked up Peter Jr.'s report and began to read it carefully.

"My God! 3.5 million pounds..." His face contorted in shock. "Where am I supposed to get so much money?"

This figure represents Pitt Jr.'s estimate of the cost required to completely defeat France.

What he didn't know was that the British spent over £10 billion in total to defeat Napoleon.

Following the Battle of Waterloo, Britain's national debt had skyrocketed to £8.5 million, or 210 billion francs!
Compared to that, France's previous debt of 20 billion euros is nothing.

Of course, thanks to the benefits of being a victorious nation and the terrifying profitability of the Industrial Revolution, Britain quickly stabilized its financial situation and eventually rose to become the "empire on which the sun never sets."

Grenville continued looking down and saw that Pete Jr.'s fundraising plan included—

Significantly increase taxes in the colonies.

Trade between the colonies and other countries was strictly restricted.

Regularly increase the issuance of paper currency. Establish a trade system with allies that excludes France in some form. Ideally, Russia should also be brought in.

In addition, it borrowed money from large capital entities in the Netherlands, Germany, and other places.

According to Pitt Jr.'s assessment, if all goes well, Britain could raise nearly £4 million throughout the war.

This is enough to defeat France.

Even with defeats in some battles, Britain was able to sustain a war of attrition against France thanks to the stability of its homeland. Ultimately, through its vast colonial markets and the sacrifices of its allies, Britain completely crippled France.

"This is truly an era set against the backdrop of blood and fire..."

Grenville shook his head and began to devise a plan for military expansion, as well as how to persuade Prussia, Austria, and most importantly, Russia.

Well, the British have always been good at gang fights. Letting him go on his own would be like sending him to his death.

“The army needs at least 10 men. We also need to keep 4 troops to defend the homeland.” Grenville’s pen moved quickly across the paper. “This will probably require a major overhaul of the conscription system. We should consult the Marquess of Wellesley on this matter. It would be best to transfer him back to London, and he should also be in charge of training the troops.”

"The navy should ideally be more than 20% larger than the fascist fleet. And those steam-powered warships..."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown. "It seems that the government investment fund should take over that steam engine company directly."

He had previously had Reed investigate and found that only Bolton Watt could produce steam engines with more than 20 horsepower in all of Britain, and other companies were even less capable.

Having the company officially controlled can, firstly, keep the Navy's procurement prices to a minimum, and secondly, allow for supervision of research and development through military oversight.

……

"Lower sugar prices!"

"Arrest the corrupt officials who profited from sugar price gouging!"

"Natural human rights, long live freedom!"

"Reform the electoral system..."

The massive crowd, chanting deafening slogans, slowly made their way toward St. James's Palace.

Along the roadside, people from the London News Agency were giving loud speeches about "human rights and freedom."

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't only the French who were passionate about Enlightenment ideas and demanded human rights and freedoms. In fact, while France was experiencing its own revolution, the British were also engaged in numerous protests and demonstrations.

Demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people continued until 1799, and even intensified. It was not until the British government passed the Act of Union, which criminalized workers' associations and strikes, punishable by immediate arrest, banned gatherings of more than 50 people, restricted freedom of the press, and allowed the arrest of "suspects" without warrants, that the situation was barely stabilized.

It's fair to say that if Louis XVI had been half as ruthless as the British, he probably wouldn't have been so "clueless."

As more than 5 protesters marched through the streets south of St. James's Park, several British intelligence officers disguised as street vendors rushed to a small courtyard in the center of the neighborhood to report to the commander of the Volunteer Cavalry there.

The so-called Volunteer Cavalry was one of the more elite units among the local militia in England.

Meanwhile, large crowds of protesters in Manchester and Birmingham also arrived at city halls, chanting slogans such as "Lower sugar prices" and "Reform the electoral system."

……

Montes emerged from the villa of wealthy businessman Corey Porter and gave a thumbs-up to his friend waiting in the carriage:
"He agreed to lend us all of his Chatham stock at a 25% cut."

As he was speaking, a middle-aged man in a well-tailored black coat and wearing glasses suddenly squeezed onto the bus and smiled at the two of them:

“I am Brian Porter, the private secretary to the Home Secretary. I’ve heard that the recent plunge in Chatham Shipyard’s stock price was orchestrated by you two.”

(End of this chapter)