I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1317 Crazy Football (Up in the recommendations, please help!)

The Royal Theatre was showing a new play, and the actors' performances were superb, but Brod didn't pay any attention to it at all.

Walsh told him that the return on investment in railroads could be as high as 20%, but it was ultimately an industry completely unfamiliar to him.

It's worth noting that the Dutch tulip mania and the Mississippi Company in France also painted such an enticing picture, but those who entered the fray ultimately lost everything.

Investing in the Port of Marseille is obviously a safer bet, but the returns will certainly be far lower than those from the railway.

Walsh didn't urge him to make a decision, after all, it was a major event concerning his entire fortune.

Brod barely slept all night, and before dawn the next day, he heard a servant knocking on the bedroom door.

With dark circles under his eyes, he pulled out his pocket watch and immediately said with displeasure:
"Famke, are you crazy? It's not even seven o'clock yet!"

"Sir, today is the official start of the competition, have you forgotten?"

Brod propped himself up and scolded:
"The Netherlands' match is at 2:30 PM, you idiot!"

The servant said aggrievedly:
"But Mr. Walsh said the match would be held in Reims."

“That doesn’t have to be so early…” Brod was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly jumped up with a start. “What did you say, Lance?!”

Reims is 140 kilometers away from Paris, and he is still in Paris.

“Damn it,” he grumbled, frantically putting on his clothes and grabbing his hat. “I should have checked the schedule beforehand. What were the French thinking, putting the games so far away?”

As he buttoned his shirt and rushed out of the bedroom, he bumped into Walsh and immediately dragged the latter away.

"Let's go! Is the carriage ready?"

“No rush,” Walsh gestured toward the restaurant. “Let’s have breakfast first. I’ve had fried fish and pumpkin pie prepared.”

"It's too late. It's already past seven o'clock, we'll miss the Netherlands' match! God, why did they have to play in Reims?!"

“It’s said to be to avoid too much congestion in Paris,” Walsh reassured him with a smile. “The train, you forgot about the train. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour train ride to Reims. By the way, you can ride for free with your football ticket.”

Yes, Joseph specifically arranged for the competition venues to be scattered around Paris.

This would both stimulate the economic development of other cities and demonstrate the railway's powerful transport capacity to foreigners.

The Walsh and Broad families had breakfast and arrived at the train station by steam railcar before eight o'clock, only to find the platform already packed with people waiting for their trains.

Brod wiped his sweat and said anxiously:

"There's definitely no way we can squeeze in now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a whistle sounded in the distance, followed by a massive steel vehicle, as large as a house, making rhythmic clanging noises as it rushed into the station with terrifying force.

As the train came to a stop and the doors opened, the crowd at the station surged into the carriages like a tidal wave. Just over ten minutes later, the platform was empty again.

Walsh then gestured towards the front of the car:
“Michelle, let’s get in the car too.”

They bought tickets for the entire journey, so they were in first class.

A moment later, Brod sat in the soft Rococo-style seat, watching the trees outside the car window slowly move backward, feeling as if it were all magic.

After finishing lunch, he played cards with the Walsh couple for several hours, when he heard the flight attendant say in a gentle voice:
"Dear guests, thank you for taking this train. We are about to arrive at Reims station. Please take your belongings and prepare to disembark."

As Brod stepped off the escalator and saw the wooden sign that read "Lance Station," all his hesitation vanished instantly. He turned to Walsh and said:
“I’ve made up my mind. I want to start a railway company with you. I can probably scrape together £33,000.”

“That’s fantastic! You made the right choice.”

Since Reims had not yet built a light rail system, Broad and his party traveled by horse-drawn carriage for more than 40 minutes. When they arrived at the stadium, it was not yet 2 p.m.

From a modern perspective, this stadium was quite rudimentary—the stands were made of wooden frames and bricks, drafty on all sides, and had no dedicated seating; spectators could only sit on the steps of the stands.

However, when Broad entered the stadium, which could hold more than 3 people, he was still awestruck by its magnificent scale.

"This place is huge!"

Walsh casually remarked:
"It's just average. The Paris New District Stadium can hold more than 20,000 people, that's really big."

At 2:30 PM, with the French second prince personally announcing the start of the match, the first game of Group 2 in the World Cup – the Netherlands vs. Flemish – officially began.

The men in the stands instantly became excited, waving their flags and cheering for their team.

The atmosphere on the field was extremely tense. Several nationalists on the Dutch team bowed to the referee as soon as they entered the pitch.

"You'll have to work hard in this match."

"Please be lenient with me later, and may God bless you."

In the second minute of the match, a Dutch defender used a flying tackle to send the Flemish striker off the field.

Three minutes later, the opposing player elbowed him, breaking his ribs.

The spectators in the stands seemed to be on fire, their eyes bloodshot as they screamed:
"Hey! Beat him up!"

"Is the referee blind? That bastard kicked him!"

"Fight back, you idiot!" The 80-minute match ended quickly—due to the physical limitations of players in this era, FIFA set the duration of each match at 80 minutes.

Broad's throat ached from shouting, but he found it incredibly exhilarating.

The players from both sides received a total of 7 red cards and 16 yellow cards, engaged in 4 brawls, and 7 people were carried off the field, almost all of them with injuries.

The result left Brod somewhat dissatisfied – the Netherlands only managed a 1-1 draw.

Well, both sides are focused on the "fighting" itself; whether or not a goal is scored is secondary.

Brod, carrying his newly bought Paris Coke, walked side-by-side with Walsh towards the exit of the stadium, excitedly recounting the match they had just played:
"Did you see that? Velen's punch was absolutely spectacular! That Flemish man's blood even splattered all over the referee's face!"

The latter nodded and said:

"The Dutch lads are really fierce. In the second half, that guy was kicked into the air..."

In the VIP section on the south side of the stands, the assistant to the Württemberg Foreign Minister curled his lip and said:
"A match devoid of any competitive skill, wasn't it?"

The Home Secretary beside him, who hadn't been paying attention to the game at all, simply nodded and continued:
"We must immediately submit a report to His Majesty, requesting that France build a railway in our country."

"A railway?" The Foreign Minister's assistant paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "That's right, we absolutely must build a railway. That way, our pine timber and asphalt can be transported to France for sale very cheaply!"

He clearly remembered that this morning, the French railway system had easily transported more than two thousand people from Paris to Reims in just a few hours.

He had previously traveled by train from Strasbourg to Paris.

The two then took the train back to their residence in Paris, had dinner, and began drafting the Württemberg railway plan overnight.

Unbeknownst to them, that very night, more than a dozen letters related to the construction of the railway were sent to the governments of Germany and Italy via the Sharp signal tower.

No one wants to be left behind in this transportation revolution.

……

While the World Cup in Paris was in full swing, Talleyrand was working overtime at the Nassau Palace.

“As you know, we are just a small country,” said Frederick William, Earl of Nassau, with a troubled expression. “Therefore, the loss of interest is difficult for our country to bear.”

Just now, the French Foreign Minister suggested that he sell all of his British government bonds.

Before the war, trade between the North German states and Britain was very frequent, and with the influence of Prussia, most of them purchased some British bonds.

In fact, they also believed that the powerful anti-French coalition would surely win, and that British national debt would inevitably be stable and reliable.

For example, Nassau bought £26 worth of British bonds.

Talleyrand smiled and said, "You should know that I am actually helping you."

"In three months at most, the UK government bonds will collapse, and you will lose more than just a little interest."

"Could you tell me your basis for this?"

"I'm sorry, this is top secret intelligence, but the information is guaranteed to be reliable."

"But……"

“How about this,” Talleyrand said, looking at William, “after you sell your British bonds, you can buy an equivalent amount of French government bonds. I can try to get the French Reserve Bank to raise the interest rate a little.”

"Of course, it will definitely be slightly lower than British bonds, but there is absolutely no risk."

After winning the war, no one doubted France's ability to repay its debts.

Frederick William finally breathed a sigh of relief. Given France's current influence over northern Germany, if he were forced to sell off British debt, he would most likely have no choice but to comply.

“Alright, I accept your suggestion.” Then he remembered something, “However, with such a large amount of money being sold off in advance, the British will most likely find an excuse to refuse.”

"It's alright, as long as you announce the sale, you can trade as much as you want."

Thus, Talleyrand and Count Segur, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited most of the North German states and made the same request to them.

Ten days later, Talleyrand arrived at the Royal Palace in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, after a long and arduous journey.

Regent Frederick was a very shrewd man. He frowned and looked at Talleyrand, saying:

"Thank you for reminding me, but if there are no problems with the British debt in three months..."

Talleyrand waved very generously:

"I can promise you that if the British debt remains stable at that time, our country will invest in building a steam engine repair shop in Kiel."

Frederick was overjoyed.

What a bargain!
It's important to know that most of Europe is now using French steam engines, and these machines currently rely on French technicians for maintenance.

If Denmark could have a repair shop, it could at least gain access to the repair market in Northern Europe and north of Hesse.

This is no small business!
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(End of this chapter)