I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 314 Lyon's Last Chance

When the French army defeated the rebels in Brabant, Prussia would certainly not accept the result of Austria's dominance in the Southern Netherlands, so it would definitely allocate some troops to support the Southern Netherlands.

Joseph had even made preparations to create signs of the French army's lack of stamina there, so that the Prussians would feel that they could give it another try.

As the Prussian army was transferred to the Southern Netherlands, the troops in Silesia would inevitably decrease, and the pressure on the Austrian army there would also be reduced.

Joseph II felt the support of the war in the Southern Netherlands in the direction of Silesia, and would inevitably encourage the French army to continue to contain the Prussians there.

At this time, the French military presence in the Southern Netherlands was equivalent to being tacitly approved by Austria.

During the battle between the French and Prussians, the battlefield would expand to a place that was not under the control of Austria.

Joseph II would even hope that the French army would actually control a larger area, and it would be best if the battlefield could be extended to Haierlei, which is Prussia's territory adjacent to the northeast of the Southern Netherlands.

Of course, Joseph would not be stupid enough to be the first to provoke Prussia endlessly.

In fact, he did not even want to get involved in the Flemish region of the Southern Netherlands. As long as he could get Wallonia, the French-speaking area in the southeast of the Southern Netherlands, he would have achieved his strategic goal.

People in Wallonia basically speak French, are naturally pro-French, and have almost no difficulty in management.

Most importantly, Wallonia is an important coal producing area in Europe. Taking it here can provide strong support for France's industrial revolution.

In addition, Wallonia is also adjacent to Luxembourg, which has a large number of excellent iron ore and was ruled by France 80 years ago. The war in the Southern Netherlands can easily spread here.

When the war between Prussia and Austria is over, Wallonia and Luxembourg will be full of French soldiers, and even the bureaucratic system will have taken on the shape of France. At that time, how to calculate the ownership of these places will be discussed by France and Austria.

As for the Flemish region in the north of the Southern Netherlands, although it can control the estuary of the Rhine, it is still a hot potato at present.

First of all, most of the population in the Flemish region speaks Dutch, which will be very difficult to rule - the Austrian rule here encountered the Brabant Uprising as a lesson.

Secondly, the British attach great importance to the estuary of the Rhine, because nearly half of their sales of goods to the European continent are from here. By the way, the port of Le Havre, which is the estuary of the Seine River, is equally important.

Therefore, the British will never accept that France, which they have always been hostile to, controls their trade lifeline and the vast German market.

For this reason, they will not hesitate to declare war on France. Historically, the core reason why Britain devoted all its efforts to the Second Anti-French Alliance was that France occupied the Southern Netherlands at that time and was determined to control the Rhine waterway regardless of the previous agreement.

Joseph's current strategic focus is on domestic industrial construction to strengthen national strength as soon as possible, and then use the dividends of industrial development to fill the huge fiscal deficit.

Before that, he never wanted to compete with the British, after all, the latter is still the most powerful country in Europe.

Therefore, it is best for the northern part of the Southern Netherlands to remain in the hands of the Austrians for the time being.

These are Joseph's strategic designs for France in the European direction. As for making a big move in Europe, it will have to wait until France's economy develops.

War actually depends on the national foundation. And the economy is the most important one.

It was already past 10 o'clock in the evening when the Minister of War and the Chief of Staff reported on the French army's preparations for war.

Joseph roughly calculated the time according to what Berthier had just said. It will take about a month for Austria to launch an attack on Silesia and for the war to spread to the Southern Netherlands.

He sorted out the things at hand and told Emman, who was standing at the door: "Please prepare, we will go to Lyon early tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Your Highness."

A month is enough to go to Lyon and return.

Joseph knew that after the Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement was signed, a very broad market would appear in front of France.

So far, the crucial automatic loom has not been fully rolled out.

This is a waste of historical opportunities!

In fact, the automatic loom has begun mass production. Mirabeau shipped thirty or forty of them to Lyon a while ago.

However, the slow spread of information in this era, coupled with the conservative thinking of Lyon factory owners, did not dare to invest huge sums of money to try, resulting in the automatic loom not even making a splash.

Joseph rubbed his sore shoulders and sighed in his heart. He really couldn't do anything without himself...

Seven days later.

Joseph looked out the window at the Rhone River dock, where there were piles of textiles everywhere, and workers were busy like ants, moving the goods onto the ship.

There were still vehicles around to bring more cloth and clothes, and the people on the car shouted loudly, calling the dock workers to unload the goods.

It was also a prosperous French textile center.

However, Joseph knew very well that this place was far behind the developed British textile industry.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had "tricked" the British and revised the Treaty of Eden, which allowed Lyon to breathe a sigh of relief, this place would have been full of bankrupt workshops and unemployed workers, full of desolation and ruin.

Of course, now it is just a sigh of relief.

France lacks colonies to dump goods, and has no large cotton and wool production bases, so it is naturally inferior to the British in terms of cost and sales.

Therefore, if France wants to get a piece of the pie in the textile industry, which has the largest sales volume, it can only work hard in the production link.

Although the British are still the world's South Bowen in this area, the application of automatic looms and steam engines has given France a rare opportunity.

Joseph's convoy drove all the way to the outside of the Royal Square, and the surrounding area suddenly became lively.

The municipal commissioner and the president of the Chamber of Commerce led hundreds of officials and factory owners to stand respectfully on both sides of the road to welcome His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

This was also what Joseph ordered in advance, asking them to wait in the square, otherwise it would take another half a day to greet them from outside the city and then come here.

After a routine salute and greeting, Joseph, accompanied by music and cheers, pushed through the crowd and went straight to the high platform in the center of the square.

As he raised his hand to signal, the surroundings soon became quiet.

He looked around and wasted no time, shouting: "Now, it is Lyon's last chance!

"According to the Treaty of Eden, starting from the end of next year, tariffs on British textiles will be greatly reduced.

"According to Lyon's current costs, it will lose all domestic markets by then!"