I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1304 The Most Grand World Cup
Joseph walked toward the locker room, then turned to Mirabeau and gestured, "You can come with me later; we can continue our discussion about industrial planning on the way."

"As you command, Your Highness."

Before long, Joseph and Mirabeau, dressed in dark blue suits, walked out of the Palace of Versailles. Just as they were about to get into their car, Charles suddenly jumped out from the side and bowed to him with an exaggerated gesture, saying, "Brother, I heard you're going to preside over the World Cup draw ceremony?"

“Yes, that’s true.” Joseph smiled and put his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “However, Mr. Lagrange’s lessons…”

“It ended early because he said I was already very familiar with this part.”

"What about the swordsmanship class this afternoon?"

"Baron Perez is sick and has taken leave."

“Alright then.” Joseph patted him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you join us in conducting the draw?”

"That's great! Thank you!" Xia Dun exclaimed excitedly, pumping his fist in celebration. He was a huge football fanatic and even sponsored a professional football team in Paris.

The "Gemstone VII" carriage left the Marble Square and, after traveling 1.5 kilometers, stopped in front of a super-large station nearly 200 meters wide in the new district of Paris.

Nowadays, the nobles of Versailles Palace usually transfer to steam railcars here when they go out—this is much faster than horse-drawn carriages. They can go shopping in Paris in the morning and return at four or five in the afternoon, without delaying the evening banquets and balls.

Their strong purchasing power further fueled Paris's prosperity. Take the Angels boutique in Paris, for example: since steam railcars began operating in the city, sales have increased 1.7 times!
Just as Joseph was about to board the royal steam railcar, he heard a series of rough shouts coming from the square not far away: "Come to the Grégoire Paper Mill! You can start working here during your skills training, and the monthly wage is 29 francs."

"Work at Lambert Ironworks is easy, and you get 30 francs a month. If you're a respectable veteran, you can get an extra 3 francs!"

"The Paul Gary engraving factory pays 26 francs a month, and you can come to work even if you have a leg injury..."

Joseph looked at Mirabeau in surprise: "Isn't this a celebration of the enactment of the Discharge Act?"

The latter also shook his head in confusion.

Emmanuel gestured for a servant to go and inquire about the situation. The servant quickly returned and bowed to Joseph, saying, "Your Highness, the square was originally a celebration by soldiers. But after factory owners learned that hiring veterans would result in tax breaks, they rushed to recruit workers, and that's how this situation came about."

Mirabo suddenly realized: "Your Highness, the factory has recently received a large number of overseas orders, so they must be very eager to increase the number of workers."

Joseph nodded. He had just heard that some factory owners were starting to offer extra pay to recruit veterans.

Charles, however, reminded him, "Brother, I remember Mr. Sai mentioned in class that expanding production too quickly is very dangerous."

Jean-Baptiste Say was his professor for his economics and management course.

“He’s right,” Joseph said. “However, whether the scale of production is appropriate depends on the supply of raw materials and the market’s capacity.”

"Currently, my country has ample raw material sources and has also gained access to vast markets in Germany and Eastern Europe. Therefore, it is the right time to rapidly expand production capacity and seize market share."

“So that’s how it is.” Charles suddenly laughed as he spoke. “It seems my ‘Iroquois Treasures Company’ should also experience rapid growth!” Joseph asked in surprise, “Iroquois Treasures Company?”

Emmanuel quickly whispered from the side, "Your Highness, Prince Charles has invested in a factory that produces things like Native American hand axes, pipes, or headdresses."

Joseph looked at his brother in surprise: "Your business acumen is outstanding."

France previously led Native Americans to victory in North America, and it's believed that a "Native American craze" will soon sweep across France, which should allow the company to make money.

Well, actually, Charles tries to imitate his brother in every way. When his brother was his age, Angels Paris already had an annual turnover of over ten million francs, so he started thinking about starting his own company.

Charles beamed with delight at his brother's praise: "When I was in Bavaria, a collector showed me his Shawne hat, the kind made of silver pieces and feathers tied into rings and engraved with intricate patterns. It was absolutely gorgeous. I think there must be people in Paris who would also love this novelty."

Joseph paused for a moment, then nodded to Charles and said, "Something new, that's right. You've reminded me."

"We should not only focus on expanding the scale of existing industries, but also create new economic growth points so as not to waste this rare market opportunity."

His mind instantly conjured up a whole host of new gadgets that current technology could potentially produce, such as wire, kerosene lamps, and rubber. Any one of these could be developed into an industry worth tens of millions of francs.

Oh, and the electricity-related industries are an even bigger blue ocean. A few days ago, Volta submitted a report to him saying that they had completed the entire manufacturing process for "stacked batteries," which could discharge stably for more than 40 minutes.

He's been so busy lately that he hasn't had time to deal with the battery issue yet. It seems he'll have to go to the French Academy of Sciences as soon as possible after finishing the World Cup draw.

Joseph then briefly explained to Mirabeau the idea of ​​investing in and developing new industries, but Mirabeau simply said with a pained expression that it would require a large amount of funding.

The steam railcar moved steadily and quickly, and before the two men could finish talking, it had already stopped in front of the Tuileries Palace.

The place was already adorned with colorful ribbons, and the flags of more than 40 participating teams fluttered on both sides of the road in front of the main gate. A large number of officials and reporters peeked out, waiting for the Crown Prince to arrive.

Joseph got out of the car, and immediately cheerful music started playing around him. There were even animal trainers leading two elephants and several bears to cheer him on.

France's international influence is currently at its peak, and for a simple lottery ceremony, diplomats from all over the world travel from afar to attend.

Joseph led Charles through the crowd to the altar that had been prepared in the Tuileries Palace Square.

With his younger brother volunteering to be the "laborer," Joseph was happy to take it easy and handed over all the tasks, from the speech to the lottery, to him.

Charles, on the other hand, was delighted. After the whole process, under the watchful eyes of thousands of people, he took out four small metal balls from the wooden box and handed them to the master of ceremonies.

The latter took out a slip of paper from the small ball, unfolded it, and announced loudly: "Central and Eastern Europe Division, Group 1—Poland, Prussia, Mecklenburg, Würzburg!"

Upon hearing this, Count Potocki, the Polish Foreign Minister, and the team captain simultaneously cast icy glances at the Prussian representative not far away.

(End of this chapter)