I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 687 Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange
Joseph took a sip of the milk, put the document down, and silently blessed Kosciuszko in his heart.

This news was reported nearly half a month ago - Poland is too far away from Paris.

In other words, this Polish military god should have arrived in Bryansk by now, causing a huge shock in Russia.

Joseph still admired Kościuszko very much and sincerely hoped that he could return to Poland alive.

In fact, if the plan formulated by the General Staff could be implemented smoothly, there is a high probability that this Polish army would escape.

Of course, it's just a probability...

Joseph sighed softly and picked up the next document.

This is a report on the mobilization of Austrian and Prussian troops.

Both countries seemed to be stingy, obviously trying to hide their intention to send troops.

Joseph smiled. It seemed that the two families were waiting for Russia to defeat Poland so that they could reap the benefits.

However, this also gave Poland a rare chance to catch its breath.

According to the optimal military strategy of Russia, Prussia and Austria, they should act simultaneously to attack Poland from three sides.

In that case, Poland would soon be in an extremely difficult situation.

The worst-case scenario that Joseph had anticipated was to suggest that Poland sign an armistice agreement directly with Austria and cede the Lesser Poland region to the latter in order to achieve stability in the rear.

After repelling the Russian army, we will try to take it back.

Fortunately, Puao chose greed.

In this way, Poland can use these months to recruit more troops - after the war starts, the speed of military expansion will be several times faster than usual.

By the time Prussia and Austria start to take action, Poland will at least be able to mobilize some troops to resist.

Moreover, the news of the offensive between Poland and Russia would soon reach the Western Front, dealing a certain blow to Prussia and Austria's confidence in winning the war.

This will have a huge impact on morale.

What Joseph didn't know was that due to Mesmer's outstanding "inspiration", the soldiers of Prussia and Austria, especially the Austrian army, were quite sympathetic to Poland.

If they launched an attack on Poland, morale would be at least halved.

Next came the news from the Ottoman side.

The first batch of Topizian recruits, a total of 800 people, have completed basic training and returned to Constantinie. The second batch of 800 people will also "graduate" in two months.

The efficiency of these Sudanese soldiers trained in the French military camp in Tunisia was much higher than that of training in the Ottoman Empire.

The previous 600 Topizians soldiers had been trained for nearly two years, but their results were not as good as those of this group of soldiers who had been trained for less than half a year.

Selim III was also very satisfied with this group of new soldiers equipped with full French equipment, and was already discussing the plan of attacking Egypt with his ministers.

Based on various clues, the French intelligence agency judged that Osman would take action in 3 to 5 months.

It was after the second batch of new troops completed their training.

As for the batch of supplies that Joseph was most concerned about, Ottoman Empire had already shipped it to the Black Sea as agreed.

As for the Ottoman officer named "Muhammad Ali", Styler said he has not been found yet - this name is too common in the Ottomans.

Even with the limitation of Albanian descent, there were as many as 12 of them in the Ottoman army.

Styler is still observing which one is the Ali that the Crown Prince said is "worth investing in"... However, Joseph is not in a hurry.

It would take at least another ten years for Muhammad Ali, the future king of Egypt, to develop, so Styler had plenty of time to make his selection.

However, at the end of his report, Stratford did mention that steam paddle steamers were currently operating well.

The East Mediterranean Trading Company has purchased 12 steamships, which are operating well - the cost is only 70% of traditional paddle ships, and the time required for traveling between the east and west coasts of the Mediterranean has been shortened by nearly half!
You know, this is because there is a lack of ports along the way that can supply coal, otherwise the transportation cost can be greatly reduced.

Currently, a coal supply port has been built in southern Greece, and plans are underway for ports in Italy, Tunisia and other places.

Joseph shook his head.

12 ships are still too few.

However, the production capacity of steam paddle steamers at the Brest Shipyard was limited, and most of the ships built were snatched up by ship owners engaged in inland shipping. The East Mediterranean Trading Company could not buy many ships even if it paid a higher price.

In addition, the tonnage of steam ships is still relatively small, so they have not yet had a disruptive impact on the Mediterranean shipping pattern.

It would take at least hundreds of steamships for the East Mediterranean Trading Company to begin to influence Mediterranean shipping.

And that would require investment in expanding the shipyards…

After breakfast, Joseph took a car to the financial center of Paris, the former Bastille.

The newly established Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange is located on the third floor of the financial center.

After half a year of preparation, the exchange is finally officially opening for business today.

Although it is called agricultural product trading, in fact the most core trading commodity is sugarcane.

Last week, intelligence on the situation in the Caribbean was sent back to Paris.

First, the British Expeditionary Force began to land at Tortuga, north of Saint-Domingue - the French government even expressed symbolic welcome to this and wished the British army to quell the abolitionist rebellion - the war would soon break out.

Judging from the time when the message was delivered, the fight should be in full swing now.

Regardless of the outcome, this year's sugarcane production will be shockingly low.

October is the beet harvest season.

The beet refinery in northwestern France will turn the sugar beets into cane sugar at a rate of 2 million pounds per month.

Together with the nearly 4 million pounds of sugar that Steller has purchased in Egypt in the past few months, it will be enough to support the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange's pricing power over sugar!
When Joseph's carriage was one street away from the financial center, he heard bursts of noise in the distance.

He looked out of the car window and saw that the financial center square was packed with people, even more lively than the Christmas mass.

Joseph was not able to enter the financial center until Csode led the Crown Prince's guards to clear the way.

After the routine music, ribbon cutting, and speeches, Joseph announced:
"The Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange is officially open!"

Cheers suddenly broke out in the hall and the square outside.

Before Joseph left, the impatient merchants rushed to the trading window frantically, frightening Ksod so much that he even pulled out his pistol. More than 80 guards took great pains to protect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince from leaving the trading hall.

It is no wonder that the businessmen are so crazy. The news of the black uprising in the Caribbean had long been spread back to Europe. During this period, the price of sugar has risen by more than 40%, and it is difficult to buy sugar even if you have money.

At this time, the news that "6 million pounds of sugar will be sold at the Paris Agricultural Futures Exchange" spread among merchants in European countries.

(End of this chapter)