I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1124 The Beasts of Eastern Europe

Amsher pressed down on his brother's hand as he reached for the teapot, staring at him as he said, "If the war in Britain doesn't go well—like it did a few years ago—the banknotes the British pay us will be worthless, like fallen leaves on the ground, and the family will go bankrupt!"

Salomon picked up the teapot with his other hand, filled the cup with water, and then handed the brewed tea to his brother: "My dear brother, you must have faith in the English."

"They have vast colonies in India and North America, controlling most of the maritime trade, so even if they fail once or twice, they can quickly recover their strength."

"Believe me, the British will win the war."

"Even if their army is unable to defeat the French, they can wear them down through attrition warfare."

Amsher took the teacup, but still shook his head: "You're probably too optimistic. The British are in a very passive position right now..."

Salomon poured himself a cup of tea and smiled, "Passive? No, according to my information, they are already preparing a counterattack."

"Really?"

Salomon leaned forward and whispered, "You probably don't realize it yet, but the whole of Europe is actually dissatisfied with France."

“In the last war, Prussia lost control of Cologne and Nassau, and Austria lost the whole of Italy and southern Germany. As their economic situation deteriorated, anti-French sentiment at home has been rising.”

“That’s true,” Amsher nodded. “And the Netherlands, they’ve lost a third of their territory.”

Salomon took a sip of tea and continued, "Even in Italy, which appears to have joined the French common market, Italians don't actually like France."

“I visited Turin two months ago, where French goods are everywhere, from clothes to ironware, from furniture to wine, while local workshops are closing down because they can’t compete with the French.”

"People are complaining that the French have taken all their money. If war breaks out between Britain and France, they are unlikely to side with France."

"In my judgment, if the British diplomatic efforts are handled properly, France is likely to be besieged by the whole of Europe again."

“You’ve forgotten about Russia,” Amsher reminded him. “They’ve already formed an alliance through marriage.”

Salomon gave a disdainful smile: "Their new Tsar is a fool—he inexplicably gave up large swathes of land in the Transcaucasus, spent hundreds of thousands of rubles to support a bunch of Maltese swindlers, and even forced the army to be equipped with halberds, you know, the kind used in medieval warfare."

"What kind of support do you expect Russia to provide to France?"

When the carriage stopped in front of Salomon's villa north of St. James's Palace, Amsher was already sipping his black tea: "This is a huge gamble for the family, I hope you're right. Oh, how much sugar did you add? This stuff is very expensive now..."

10 Downing Street.

Second Chancellor of the Exchequer Henry Petty is briefing the Prime Minister on recent financing developments:

“Barings Bank’s interest rate was too high, so I finally decided to only lend them £450 million.”

Lord Grenville frowned immediately: "Even with the Bank of England's £300 million, we only have £750 million in additional funding for the next two years. That's far from enough..."

According to Britain's established strategy, it will launch a war against France within the next two years.

However, the UK's finances are currently in dire straits – more than £70 has been spent just to save Bolton-Watt and Chatham shipyards. Frequent riots across the country have further exacerbated the financial crisis.

Of course, the highest cost of funding was consumed by the exorbitant price of sugar.

Grenville estimated that just stabilizing the British economy this year would require an additional two to three million pounds, while wooing and arming allies would cost another million pounds, and war preparations would be an even larger expenditure. Seven million pounds over two years simply wouldn't be enough.

Petty quickly replied, "Your Excellency, the reason I reduced the amount of the bank loan is because there is a better option."

"The Rothschild family is willing to provide us with £800 million in funding, at a significantly lower interest rate than banks..."

After he finished explaining the loan agreement with the Rothschild family, Grenville finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Very good. I think we can grant them the title of 'Royal Agent' if they are willing to provide more funds."

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will negotiate with them as soon as possible."

As the two were talking, the Prime Minister's aide brought in Pitt Jr. and the Foreign Secretary, who knocked on the door and entered.

Fox bowed quickly to Grenville, then said with a beaming smile, "Good news. There was serious unrest in Poland last month, and a large number of Orthodox Christians were purged."

He placed a report on the table: "It is said that thousands of people have already been imprisoned. The 3rd Guards Infantry Division of Warsaw is heading to the eastern provinces to take control of the situation."

Glenville asked in surprise, "What are the Poles trying to do?"

"It appears that members of parliament from the eastern provinces are demanding the resumption of trade with Russia."

Glenville frowned, puzzled. "Is St. Petersburg planning to interfere in the Polish parliament?"

“That’s still unclear,” Fox said. “But there are reports that the Russians are seeking to restore relations with Persia. It seems the new Tsar is a pacifist.”

"Pacifism? Those Tatars?"

Glenville and Petty laughed together.

As the laughter subsided, Pete Jr. immediately looked at the Prime Minister and said, "This is a fantastic opportunity for us."

The latter paused for a moment, then frowned and said, "You mean, to drag Russia into the war?"

“Yes,” Little Pieter nodded. “We should take advantage of the chaos in Poland to support Russia’s invasion and occupation of Poland.”

"Of course, there's also Prussia and Austria. They're facing some financial problems and urgently need to alleviate domestic pressure through expansion, so they certainly won't refuse this opportunity."

"And we can use this to build an alliance between Prussia and Austria, while simultaneously inciting Russia's ambition to dominate the European continent."

Glenville's eyes lit up as well.

If Russia were to quickly defeat Poland, its confidence would be soaring. If Britain were to then loudly proclaim the Tsar as the "master of Europe," the Russians would simply be unable to resist such temptation.

If Russia wants to prove its hegemonic status, it must defeat France, currently the strongest country in Europe.

With some diplomatic maneuvering and financial aid, Britain could most likely have drawn Russia into the anti-French alliance.

But he quickly added with some concern, "However, I've heard that Paul I is a rather absurd monarch."

Little Pete, however, seemed very confident: "As long as he accepts our strategic proposal, we can formulate the specific operational deployment. Before long, a steady stream of Russian soldiers will be able to cross the Rhine."

(End of this chapter)