I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 202 Target, Tunisia!

Admiral Jervis continued:

“In addition, Algiers also needs an army to deal with the successful forced landing of the French.

"As far as I know, their imperial guards only drink alcohol and find skilled women, and they are not very powerful in combat."

"You can recruit Albanian mercenaries." The Duke of Leeds sniffed the tea and said with a relaxed expression, "The people there are very tough and they can speak Arabic. The most important thing is that they are cheap."

Peter nodded slightly and looked at Jervis: "How many mercenaries do you estimate are needed to defend Algiers?"

"It needs to be at least 10,000 people, preferably 15,000 people."

"Your Majesty, please be careful." Consul Stewart's voice interrupted the Duke of Leeds's memories. The latter quickly concentrated his attention, walked across the gangplank, and stepped onto the port of Mitijia.

After riding a carriage for another two hours, the Duke of Leeds and others were finally able to secretly meet with the current Dai Mansour of Algiers - there were many French informants here, and they could only act in secret.

Mansoor appeared very enthusiastic towards the British. After all, they are here to give benefits, who can not welcome them?

Last time, the Duke of Leeds brought him almost free artillery and dozens of engineers. What this time brought was a mercenary contract.

At first, Mansour was very reluctant to allow tens of thousands of Albanian mercenaries to enter Algiers, especially since he had to bear one-third of the costs.

However, he soon saw the edict of Ottoman Sultan Mihad I brought by Mr. Stewart, the "Sudan's Advisor", hoping that he would strengthen his military equipment and use mercenaries to resist possible invasion by external forces.

In fact, what Mihad I sent was not so much an edict as a guarantee - the main content was a guarantee that these mercenaries would obey the orders of the Algiers regime and that they would withdraw as soon as the threat disappeared.

At the Algiers Parliament the next day, participants held heated discussions.

Pirates, that is, naval forces, and local Berbers are more in favor of accepting mercenaries. After all, Mansour had brought intelligence from the British indicating that France was likely to attack the naval base in Algiers.

The Praetorian Guard forces were worried about the threat posed by mercenaries to themselves and strongly opposed their entry into Algiers.

In the end, with Mansour's promise to allocate 60% of British aid to the Guards and the strong insistence of the navy, the Guards reluctantly agreed to let mercenaries come to garrison.

The Duke of Leeds was overjoyed when he received the news, leaving Tourt to deal with matters in Algiers. Satisfied, he embarked on the warship back to England.

He traveled around the Mediterranean for more than two months and spent only more than 400,000 pounds, successfully blocking the French expansion attempts in North Africa. This is definitely a huge strategic success! You know, in order to achieve similar strategic goals, Britain launched a war before and invested nearly 10 million pounds.

The world now has begun to enter the industrial era. Only a large number of colonies can bring markets and raw materials and support the development of the country. Over the years, more than half of the empire's income came from colonies in the Far East and America.

And a France lacking colonies? Oh, you will never have the strength to compete with the empire!

…

Paris France.

In an office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph carefully looked through the reports on strategic grain storage reserves in various places. Due to the rapid expansion of industry and the appointment of the Minister of Industry, the number of officials in the industrial system has increased a lot. The original industrial planning bureau is obviously not enough. So Joseph simply allocated a small area in the Tuileries Palace to be used as a new Planning Bureau office. Anyway, there are so many guest rooms here that there are usually not enough people there.

The data in the report made Joseph frown slightly - the grain reserves in July and August dropped only slightly, but starting from September, the grain reserves dropped by tens of millions of pounds.

This accounts for 17% of the overall reserve!

He knew that this was because there were still some grain reserves among the people before, but with the failure of the harvest caused by hail, many people's grain reserves have been exhausted and they can only rely on the government's grain reserves to survive.

Fortunately, he started buying food from abroad at the beginning of the year, otherwise France would have been in chaos by now. It was from this time in history that the French government was unable to solve the riots that were occurring everywhere, and had no choice but to announce the convening of the Estates-General next year, thus kicking off the Great Order.

Joseph couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when he thought of this. Although the situation has been barely stabilized at the moment, we still cannot relax our vigilance.

First of all, due to the severe drought, grain production in the second half of this year will definitely be significantly lower than in previous years. According to church estimates, the harvest is likely to be only 70% of previous years, or even lower.

You know, France is still an agricultural country - a 30% reduction in grain harvest is basically equivalent to a 30% loss in the country's health!

Moreover, after purchasing a large amount of grain from abroad last year, and other countries also suffering from drought, international grain prices have now increased by 60% compared with last year, and are still rising.

Countries such as Britain, Prussia, and German states have issued laws to strictly restrict the export of grain. Now you can't buy it even if you have money.

What's more, France doesn't have much money at this time...

Joseph has just read the report on the financial system. After his previous operations, France's debt crisis has indeed been greatly alleviated. At least it will not collapse at any time like before. However, in fact, the current balance of payments is still in deficit.

Annual expenses exceed income by 20.7 million livres.

This has indeed been significantly reduced compared to last year's deficit of 300 million, but it is still a very scary number!

Especially next year, we will face a situation where grain reserves may be exhausted, and we will inevitably spend a lot of money to purchase grain. If things go wrong, the financial situation that has just improved will deteriorate again.

Historically, in the three years from 1787 to 1789, France’s national debt almost doubled in response to famine and riots!

And Joseph knew that the drought would not ease until the second half of next year, and he must not take it lightly until then.

To cope with the food crisis, we must first have money.

Whether it is buying food or going out to grab food as a last resort, a large amount of money is needed to support it.

At present, there are two main directions for making money in France:

One is the industry that has just begun to develop. Although papermaking, winemaking, horse-drawn carriages and other fields have developed quite well, adding more than eight million livres to France's income, they are only a drop in the bucket to support the national finances.

As for other fields, at best you can just make some small money. Especially the steam engine, textile industry, and steel industry, which are pillar industries, even require investment, and there is still a long way to go before they can make a profit.

Another source of increased income is North Africa.

Tunisia itself is a very wealthy trade transit point, with several important trading ports. Moreover, almost the entire Tunisia is fertile land suitable for planting. If cultivated land can be developed on a large scale there, France's food crisis can be solved to a great extent.

Even in extreme cases, hungry people can be sent there directly and given farmland to grow their own food to feed themselves.

It can be said that in Joseph's strategic plan, Tunisia is the key to ensuring France's stability.

At this moment, Emang lightly knocked on the door and said:

"Your Highness, Consul Qiao An is here, and there is that person."

Joseph suddenly became energetic and ordered:

"Invite them in."

Ever since he received the report from the intelligence agency about North Africa a few days ago, he had been waiting for this person, and today he finally arrived.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Not long after, Qiao An, who was tall, thin and tanned, walked into the office with two people.

When he saw the crown prince looking this way, he hurriedly stroked his chest and bowed:

"It is an honor to meet you, Your Royal Highness the Dauphin! I am Bernard Arnaud de Joan, Consul in Tunisia."

The strong-bodied woman next to him, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a veil and a new slim-fitting skirt, was obviously very surprised by Joseph's age. She asked Joan a few questions in a low and impolite voice, and after receiving a positive reply, she took off her hat, curtsied to Joseph, and spoke a long string of Arabic words quickly.

Qiao An hurriedly gestured to the woman and translated for the crown prince:

"Ah, Your Highness, this is Ms. Aisha Rabia, the eldest daughter of Yunis Pasha. She is responsible for taking care of many of Mr. Yunis's businesses, and this time she is also the full authority of Yunis Pasha. represent.

"She just praised your temperament and reputation, extended her sincere greetings to you, and wished you a long life."

Joseph smiled at Rabia, who had an exotic face, and returned the greeting: "Welcome to Paris after traveling thousands of miles." Then he gestured towards the sofa covered with fine wool blankets, "Please sit down and talk."

Rabia pointed to the door again and muttered for a while. Isaac immediately translated for Joseph:

"Your Highness, she said she brought you some gifts on behalf of her father. I hope you like them."

He lowered his voice slightly:

"Ah, some of them are just outside the door, mainly jewelry. Others are left in the port of Marseille. They are slaves, there are fifty or sixty of them... They were all bought by her, mainly French, but also some A few Italians.”

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that these were the so-called "white slaves" - Europeans who were kidnapped by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa. Eunice seemed to want to show his goodwill by sending back the French people.

He turned to Rabia, smiled slightly and said:

"Thank you Mr. Younes for me. This will be the beginning of our good cooperation."

Rabia immediately leaned forward and responded:

"My father and I are deeply honored, Your Highness."

Qiao An was busy translating simultaneously.

Joseph nodded to Joan and said to Rabia:

"I think Baron Joan has explained what I mean to Mr. Eunice. So, what's his reply?"

Rabia's eyes suddenly flashed with fierceness, and she said loudly:

"Your Highness, my father appreciates your proposal very much!

“Those two despicable guys, Mohammed and Ali, have stolen Tunisia for over twenty years and it’s time to return it to its true owners.

"If you can help my father return to Cahir Palace, he will definitely express his gratitude to you as much as possible!"

The Kahir Palace she was talking about was the palace of the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia and the residence of subsequent beys.

Joseph nodded happily upon hearing this.

He had expected that Younis, a tycoon who once held the military power in Tunisia and rebelled against his father, would never be willing to die alone in Algiers.

So, he asked the Police Intelligence Department to cooperate with the Tunisian consul to contact Younis. As a result, the Police Intelligence Service sent back a report not long ago, saying that Younis was extremely interested in regaining Bey's throne, and that he also had many supporters in Tunisia.

However, Younis obviously did not trust Joan and the agents, and demanded a commitment from the French royal family, so today's meeting took place.

Joseph smiled and said: “Younes Pasha has the purest Bey blood, and he deserves to regain control of Tunisia.

"Then, you might as well tell me first, how can I help him?"

Rabia looked a little impatient and said:

"Thank you, Your Highness. First, my father is under house arrest by the Algiers Guards. You need to help him leave Algiers."

Joan immediately responded: "Your Highness, Mr. Prussia Pell has already made a plan regarding this. His people will try to hold back the Algiers Guards.

"It's about an hour and a half's drive from Yunis Pasha's residence to the coast. It can be faster if you ride a horse. However, you need a warship to respond, otherwise you will be stopped by the Algiers navy... ahem, pirates."

Joseph nodded: "That's no problem. We can let the combined fleet go to respond."

Rabia looked happy and continued:

"My father has sent people back to Tunisia to contact his followers. With my father's prestige, we should be able to gather a large army soon.

"It's just that the main force of the Tunisian Guards may still take orders from Hamoud Ali. You know, the Guards are very well-equipped, which will make us face a tough battle."

Hamoud Ali is the current Bey of Tunisia.

Joseph understood what she meant. It seemed that Younis's old troops had been marginalized and were probably just miscellaneous troops. It would be difficult for the main force of the Tunisian Guards to win.

He waved generously: "I can support you with 5,000 Charleville flintlocks and 10 cannons."

The so-called sophisticated equipment of the Tunisian Guards is only compared to that of North Africa. The army is even equipped with many matchlock guns from the 17th century. You know, even the equipment used by the Ottoman Guards, which they admired and envied, was not as good as the Russian army, which was at the bottom of Europe.

Therefore, as long as some common weapons of the French army are provided, it can form a dimensionality reduction blow for the North African army.

Rabia did not expect that the young crown prince would be so generous. He immediately stood up excitedly and bowed:

"You are so generous, Your Highness! With these weapons, my father will definitely be able to defeat those traitors!"

This also convinced her of the sincerity of the French - they had given them real guns and cannons, so what else could there be to doubt?

"So, I wonder how we can repay you?"

Joseph said that of course he must fully accept France's purchase of land and establishment of factories in Tunisia. Tunisia's tax rate must be negotiated and determined with France, and at the same time, politics and culture must be fully aligned with France.

Tunisia has a lot of arable land, and its food output is very important to alleviating the food crisis in France.

If a factory is opened in Tunisia, the products produced can be sold to nearby Algiers, Tripoli, and Greece, and it is not too far to be shipped to Ottoman.

In this way, the transportation cost can be much lower than that of goods shipped from the UK. Even if the UK has an advantage at the industrial level, the final price will still be higher than that of French goods.

This is equivalent to giving France a vast market from North Africa to the Balkans to Central Asia!

However, he didn't intend to mention this to the woman in front of him because there was no need.

He just smiled and replied:

"I hope that the Tunisian Navy will announce a ban on plundering merchant ships. Trade will completely shift to France. At the same time, the Port of Bizerte will be handed over to French management."