I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 646 Trade Conflict

Kevin looked through the damage report and suddenly thought of a question: "Did you just say that a small town on the outskirts of Namur can mobilize more than 50 police officers?"

Captain Pickering nodded: "Yes, Mr. Kevin. And they left more than 30 people at the police station as backup that day."

"There are so many people?" Kevin was surprised. Even in the UK, there are at most twenty or thirty police officers in a police station in a small town like this.

Pickering spread his hands: "This is nothing, there are more than 800 police officers in Namur, and there are even more than 900 police officers in Mons.

"In addition to police officers, the police station in the Walloon District also has two positions: 'assistant guard' and 'service team'. We had always thought that the latter two were just odd jobs. After the failure of this operation, we discovered that in addition to having no uniforms, they Except for that, they are no different from regular police officers in other respects.”

Yes, in order to stabilize and control the Walloon region, Joseph has equipped it with more than 6,000 police officers, who are to be used as an army. But in order not to irritate the Flemish and Austrian governments, he changed the names of some police officers, resulting in only more than 1,300 police officers on the surface.

Kevin hurriedly asked: "So how many policemen are there in the entire Walloon District? Or guys similar to policemen."

"It should be more than 4,000 people."

Pickering immediately narrowed his eyes: "The population of Wallonia is less than one million, but there are so many police...

"The training and maintenance costs for these police officers are a lot of money."

Captain Pickering continued: "And their reaction speed and shooting level are very high."

Kevin nodded and ordered: "Immediately start investigating the recruitment, training and funding information of the Walloon District police. My intuition tells me that this matter must be unusual."

The diplomatic system and intelligence services have always been inextricably linked. Even in the 21st century, all embassies abroad are actually offices of intelligence agencies.

As the assistant to the Foreign Secretary, Kevin has the authority to command some intelligence personnel.

One month later.

Prussia.

Potsdam.

In the room next to the ball hall of Sanssouci Palace, British Foreign Secretary Lord Grenville rubbed his cane, looked at his assistant and said: "In other words, the French have spent a lot of money to train at least 5,000 police officers for the Walloon region. ”

Kevin nodded: "These people are basically equipped with flintlock guns and have more than 1,000 horses. Oh, this also includes 600 mounted police.

"20% of their salaries are paid by the Walloon Chamber of Commerce, and the rest is paid directly by Paris."

Grenville's mind was very flexible and he immediately thought of the key: "So, what interests does France have in Wallonia that require such a large investment?"

"According to my investigation, the Walloon Chamber of Commerce and the local councils there are almost all controlled by the French."

"Please tell me the conclusion directly."

Kevin took a breath and said: "Although I have not obtained definite evidence, it is very likely that the French Industrial Development Fund bought nearly one-third of the shares of coal mines in Wallonia, and the rest are basically from France. Company holdings - even though those coal mines are still owned by a certain South Netherlands mine owner.

"Including those iron smelting plants or coal washing plants, they should all be invested by the French."

Lord Grenville's eyes flashed, and he didn't know what he was thinking: "Is this the reason why this plan failed?"

Kevin hurriedly said: "I'm not making excuses for my failure..."    "No, I'm not blaming you." Grenville suddenly smiled, "Actually, your intelligence gave us more information The space and means for display.”

He patted his assistant on the shoulder: "A more elegant and effective method than the previous method that relied solely on incitement and violence."

"What do you mean?"

Grenville turned and returned to the ball hall: "The young and energetic new emperor in Vienna, as far as I know, is very impulsive and easily suggestible. He will probably not like the current situation in the Southern Netherlands."

…

Paris.

Palace of Versailles, Hall of Peace.

Count Rheinfels pressed his hands hard on the table and said loudly: "At present, the seriously unbalanced trade situation is absolutely unacceptable to our country!

"His Majesty the Emperor has graciously stated that he will not pursue France's actions in occupying most of the markets in South Germany, but the tariffs on the Austrian market must be increased to ensure equal trade between the two countries.

"In addition, for French steel and chemical products, the access system needs to be re-established."

French Trade Minister Bailly immediately pushed the copy of the "Rhine-Seine Treaty" in front of the Austrians and said expressionlessly: "It has only been two years since the treaty was signed, and our country does not think it is necessary to amend it. With all due respect, What your country should do now is to improve its industry and reduce costs, rather than pushing all problems to the trade agreement."

Baiyi's diplomatic experience is still not rich enough, and he will directly push back when the other party makes unreasonable troubles. It was just that Talleyrand, who was best at dealing with this situation, went to the Ottomans, and it was left to him to handle the matter.

Count Rheinfels, at Francis II's request, tried to be as tough as possible: "No, this is a matter of agreement.

“The cost of French steel products is nearly 35% lower than that of our country. Obviously you have concealed the true situation of the industry in order to obtain a lower tariff rate.

"As for chemicals, furniture and the like, you had almost no industry in this area when the contract was signed, so it should be determined that the previous tariffs were set without basis.

"This all needs to be renegotiated."

Bai actually got the permission of the Crown Prince to allow Austria to increase tariffs appropriately. After all, France has a relatively large industrial advantage, and raising it a little will not have a big impact on trade.

But at the moment, the attitude of the Austrian Foreign Minister is aggressive, and it is obviously not something that can be dealt with by raising it a little.

In addition, the other party also mentioned "commodity access", which means that French steel and chemical products cannot be sold in Austria without special approval from the Austrian government.

There is no room for negotiation.

Bai also firmly rejected Count Rheinfels's request and waited for the other party to soften his attitude before bargaining.

Unexpectedly, the Austrian immediately said: "Then I must remind you that if our country's trade needs cannot be met, we will join forces with the countries in the Italian region to impose punitive tariffs on French products. "

Just then, a diplomatic official tiptoed into the Peace Hall and whispered something in Bai's ear.

The latter immediately frowned and looked at Count Rheinfels. Austria actually mobilized 30,000 troops and held a military exercise in Tuscany. It was obviously to increase the bargaining chips for the renegotiation of the trade agreement.