I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1318 Financial Warfare - Part 1
Talleyrand shrugged and smiled, “However, you will most likely not be able to get a repair shop, because I am very confident that the British debt will collapse.”

Frederick was clearly somewhat disappointed, but he still nodded and said, "In the end, I will have the friendship of France, and that is enough."

Denmark ranks quite high among second-tier European powers, having purchased £700,000 to £800,000 worth of British government bonds over the years. Even if only half of that were sold, it would still have a significant impact on British finances.

Although doing so would certainly offend Britain, France had previously used the International Convention on the Law of the Sea to elevate Denmark's international standing, and recently had Prussia return the Schleswig-Holstein region it had occupied to Denmark, so France was determined to help in this way.

Moreover, if British bonds really collapse, selling some in advance can reduce losses.

Talleyrand glanced at the Danish Regent and feigned reluctance, saying, "Actually, if you'd like to do me a small favor, I could try to persuade Count Mirabeau to skip all the evaluation procedures and build the repair shop directly in Kiel."

Frederick's eyes lit up immediately: "Please tell me about it."

“You see, the war between our country and Russia is not over yet,” Talleyrand said. “I must do something to contain Russia so that I can report back to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Currently, neither Britain nor Russia has reached any ceasefire agreement with France, and theoretically they are still in a state of war.

Frederick frowned and shook his head: "You know, our country has a traditional friendship with Russia, so it will be difficult to make a strategic shift."

Denmark needs Russia to balance the threat from its old rival Sweden, with the two countries even forming an alliance during the previous Russo-Swedish War.

Talleyrand quickly replied, "Oh, you misunderstood me. I don't mean for you to antagonize Russia. You just need to announce a ban on Russian merchant ships passing through the Øresund Strait. It won't take long; it's fine to resume navigation in two or three months."

The Øresund Strait, located east of Copenhagen, is a vital waterway connecting the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the Russian goods exported to Western Europe were transported via the Baltic Sea.

Frederick was immediately caught in a mental struggle.

The steam engine repair shop was indeed very profitable, but blocking the Øresund would seriously offend Russia, making it a very difficult choice.

Talleyrand waited a moment, and seeing that he had not made a decision, he sighed and "compromised" and said: "How about this, you just need to detain all the Russian merchant ships that are going to pass through the strait in the Baltic Sea for a month, and I will fulfill my promise in the same way."

This time, Frederick hesitated for only a few seconds before looking at the French Foreign Minister and saying, "Although this will cause a lot of trouble, I can think of a way to help you."

If it's just a matter of temporarily detaining the Russian ship, Denmark can find many excuses, such as "re-examining the strait passage tax rates" or "cracking down on smuggling vessels." They can simply send someone to St. Petersburg afterwards to explain.

Talleyrand immediately bowed with delight and said, “Thank you so much. Now my performance review this year will finally have something to show for it. Oh, I’ll go see Count Mirabeau as soon as I get back to Paris.”

Of course, his elaborate efforts to persuade Denmark to seize Russian merchant ships were not for any performance report, but to replenish His Highness the Crown Prince's "last box of ammunition" in his financial war against Britain.

Yes, Frederick was focused on whether he would offend the Russians, but he overlooked the fact that almost every Russian merchant ship passing through the Baltic Sea was carrying goods for sale to Britain.

Moreover, the timber, flax, oils, furs, ropes, and other materials in it were all extremely important raw materials to the British.

A shortage of raw materials would rapidly increase production costs in Britain, pushing up commodity prices and triggering inflation. ...

North America.

Pittsburgh is located 180 kilometers east of Ohio.

In a brick-red villa at Henkton Estate, U.S. Secretary of State Pickering clenched his fists under the table, but appeared outwardly very calm: "Your Excellency, trade with Britain is the lifeline of our nation's finances, and we absolutely cannot accept its interruption."

Before the French governor-general's envoy from Louisiana could say anything, Lucien Bonaparte, sitting next to him, spoke first in a cold voice: "His Excellency the Count of Baton Rouge would not mind personally leading troops to the ports of Boston and Richmond to supervise merchant ships at sea."

The so-called "Count of Baton Rouge" refers to Napoleon.

As a reward for his series of great victories in North America, Joseph officially knighted him—Baton Rouge east of the Mississippi River. From then on, any Americans who wanted to cross the Mississippi River had to first occupy Mr. Bonaparte's territory.

Yes, it's definitely an epic-level difficulty mission.

At the same time, Joseph also promoted Napoleon to the rank of brigadier general, placing him directly under the command of Governor Louisiana and in charge of the colonial army.

In order to allow Napoleon to devote more energy to military affairs, the General Staff sent his former messenger, his brother Lucien, to North America.

Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of War Samuel Dexter immediately exclaimed, "Then let's give it a try!"
"Our militia was able to defeat the British back then, so we wouldn't mind letting the French taste their own medicine too..."

Pickering's expression changed drastically, and he quickly restrained the outspoken general, forcing a smile as he said, "Ahem, what General Dexter meant was that the US and France were also friends who fought side by side and drove out the British together."

"You see, letting the war continue is bad for everyone, isn't it?"

Are you kidding me? Did the British get defeated by the American Continental Army back then?

They lost to the French Expeditionary Force!
Although the United States is much stronger now than when it was founded, Britain is currently suffering heavy losses on the European battlefield and has no troops to spare to reinforce the United States.

The United States alone doesn't really have the confidence to take on Louisiana on its own.

Moreover, Pickering had thoroughly studied the opposing commander, Bonaparte, before coming to negotiate, and knew that he was definitely not an easy opponent—once as famous as generals like Masséna and Moreau, who had defeated 100,000 Austrian troops with inferior forces.

Continuing to fight these people will inevitably result in huge losses for the United States, even if it manages to hold its ground due to its numerical advantage.

Baron Lammert, the special envoy of the Governor of Louisiana, smiled and said, "I thought you had forgotten who helped you drive out the British."

He sighed and said arrogantly, "Very well, even the benevolent governor doesn't want to see Americans starve. I'll extend the limit a little further: 1 barrels of pitch/resin, 300 million feet of timber, and 3 million pounds of cotton will be shipped to Britain each year. Wheat sales will be prohibited. And sugar smuggling will be strictly investigated."

(End of this chapter)