I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1110 Inflation Blows
"If there is money"
We still need to get a gun.
"It's less than two pounds."

“走私货仅需先令12枚，
"Otherwise, the Volunteer Cavalry will kill you."

"Those who died just wanted to afford candy..."

The children sang nursery rhymes happily, but they didn't understand their meaning at all.

In a red-brick house on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland's capital, landowner Ian Patrick glanced at the children playing by the roadside, frowned, and said to his butler:

"Who taught them this nonsense? If the British police heard it, they'd probably get a beating."

The butler immediately gave a signal to the servants at the door. Two menacing-looking men rushed out, kicked each child in the backside several times, and shouted their parents' names, warning them to control their children.

Patrick looked away and addressed the people around the table:

"Could this be a scam? After all, last year a bushel of wheat cost less than 4 shillings."

Beside him, the withered old man pondered:
“That is indeed possible, but as long as those people are willing to pay a sufficient deposit, we will not suffer any losses.”

“I think so too,” the only lady in the room nodded in agreement. “Even if the overseas market changes later, we can simply store the grain in the warehouse for a year.”

"Moreover, Mr. McCracken is willing to vouch for those people, which I think is worth a try."

The bearded man next to her said in a gruff voice:

“I heard that the French send dozens of ships of grain to the Caribbean every month to stabilize the situation there, and even ban the export of grain from North Africa, so it’s not surprising that prices have risen.”

Just a few days ago, businessmen from France, Italy and other countries suddenly appeared at their estate, expressing their desire to buy large quantities of wheat at a price of 5 shillings and 5 pence per bushel.

Subsequently, the United Irish Association also stepped in to help with the procurement.

Although Ireland has a population of over 3 million, two to three thousand large landowners control nearly 70% of the arable land, and almost all of the grain in the region is produced by them—the rest of the Irish are basically "potato farmers".

Therefore, as long as the psychological price of these landowners can be affected, the price of grain here can be significantly increased.

Ireland accounts for 20% of the UK's total grain production, and its prices will then be reflected in the entire UK market.

It's important to understand that when one-fifth of the grain in the market increases in price by 1 shilling and 5 pence, this increase will not be spread across the entire market, becoming a 4-pence increase.

Other grain traders will immediately follow suit and raise prices to their highest level. Only when they can no longer sell will they gradually lower prices, eventually stabilizing at least around 1 shilling higher.

When Joseph learned that the pound had been decoupled from gold, he began plotting to strike at the British economy.

Britain's desperate attempt to short sugar prices failed, leading to a retaliatory rebound in sugar prices. This will inevitably result in imported inflation in Britain—that is, a decline in the purchasing power of its own currency due to a continuous surge in the prices of imported goods.

Joseph then allocated another 600 million francs, which he sent through middlemen to Ireland to purchase grain at high prices, further driving up inflation in Britain.

Well, this money was earned from successfully shorting sugar prices in the UK, and it was just a small fraction of what he earned. He didn't feel bad at all using it to "repay" the British.

In reality, the maximum loss would be less than 100 million francs, since wheat was indeed purchased. At most, the loss would be due to a drop in grain prices later on.

This attack on grain prices was able to succeed because many rare conditions came together.

First, the French treasury had some spare cash.

Secondly, unified cooperation from Irish landowners is essential; otherwise, with only a small number of landowners selling grain, it's difficult to create a market storm. Finally, rising grain prices have minimal impact on the Irish population—they primarily eat potatoes—and the United Irish Association will do its best to lobby farmers to stabilize potato prices. This is also the basis for Irish landowners' willingness to cooperate.

Of course, the rise in grain prices will eventually lead to an overall increase in food prices, which will affect potato prices, but this can be considered the contribution the Irish made to the cause of independence.

In fact, grain plantations in Ireland can make a lot of money, and potato farmers also benefit, offsetting the losses caused by rising food prices in urban areas.

Inflation would significantly weaken Britain's war potential, so Joseph's investment was incredibly profitable.

If inflation leads to further "excessive behavior" among the British public, it would be an even greater boon for France.

The United Irish Association acted quickly; just half a month later, more than a dozen cargo ships, fully loaded with grain, left the port of Dublin.

Subsequently, merchant ships also began sailing to Europe from Port Cork and Port Dungavin.

At the same time, the French government issued a ban on the sale of domestic grain to Britain. Both France and North Africa are traditional low-priced grain producing regions.

Two months later, when the British government finally noticed that the volume of “normal grain trade” in Ireland was somewhat excessive, wheat in London had already risen to 7 shillings and 6 pence per bushel—as a major metropolis, London’s grain prices had always been much higher than those in Ireland.

Just as the British public had calmed down due to the drop in sugar prices, they soon discovered that bread prices were rising again.

Moreover, the British government recently announced a bill to increase income tax.

Suddenly, a restless atmosphere arose across Britain.

……

Central Portugal.

The Spanish army commander-in-chief, the Marquis of Talavera, looked through his binoculars at the Anglo-Portuguese troops pacing back and forth on the Coimbra fortress and frowned irritably at his staff officer beside him, saying, "These damned Englishmen, they've withdrawn from Mora, they've withdrawn from Sabaya, but they just won't leave Coimbra!"

Just then, an engineer major came over, saluted him with his hat, and said, "Commander, the pontoon bridge in the middle of the Mondgul River has been repaired, but if we want the cannons to pass, we may have to wait another two days."

Marquis Talavera waved his hand dismissively: "You've done well. But it's not relevant for now."

“We should have gone south to the Alentejo. The British abandoned many towns there, which was the best opportunity for us to expand our control.”

As he spoke, he glared at the Coimbra fortress to the west: "But that treacherous Wellesley has concentrated his forces here, right in front of us."

"This means my legion can't go anywhere!"

General Blake

The engineering major hesitated for a moment and said, "Commander, are you worried that sending troops south will give the British a chance to counterattack?"

"Yes, that's quite impressive for an engineering officer like you. What's your name again?"

“Black, Commander. Joaquin Black Hoy.”

　Because I had diarrhea all afternoon, I was completely exhausted and it took me four hours to finally finish this chapter... I really can't manage the next one, please forgive me T_T
　　Tomorrow, well, it's already past 12 o'clock, so that means I'll definitely resume normal updates today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)