The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Who is Fooling Whom

Joseph naturally did not squeeze in with the ordinary audience but entered the theater through the VIP entrance under the escort of his guards.

His seat was a luxurious box on the third floor, directly facing the stage. The box was very spacious, capable of holding 12 people. However, at this moment, he was the only one sitting there.

As the audience gradually entered and the surrounding music began, the curtains on the stage slowly parted.

The stage backdrop depicted a light gray castle.

Inside the castle, a blond youth in a blue double-breasted coat was inscribing runes onto a conical glass bottle. Immediately, colorful mist began swirling inside the bottle.

The elderly man in front of him, wearing a robe, glanced at the bottle and said with a cold voice: "Thanks for the gift of the elements. My dear Hunter, I regret to inform you that you have only reached Alchemy Level 3."

Immediately, mocking voices could be heard around:

"Oh, am I hearing things? Our genius has only reached Level 3?"

"He must have been forsaken by the elements, not making any progress over the years..."

"I never imagined a genius would fall so quickly..."

Joseph didn’t expect that the actors, apart from some exaggerated expressions, were actually quite good. Just as he was focused on enjoying the performance, he heard someone knock on the door of the box.

Eymond glanced outside and leaned toward Joseph, whispering in his ear, "Your Highness, it's the British ambassador."

"Let him in."

The box door was then opened, and a middle-aged man dressed in a dark gray robe with very thin lips took off his hat and bowed to Joseph, saying, "Your Royal Highness, I didn’t expect to encounter you here. It’s truly an honor."

"You may not know me, but I am David Hartley, the current British Ambassador to France. Of course, I am here today in a private capacity to visit you."

Joseph nodded at him and gestured, "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ambassador. Please, sit."

Hartley sat down at the rear side of the box, a position that couldn’t be seen from other boxes. As an ambassador of one country, it was very inappropriate for him to privately meet with the French Crown Prince, as it could even lead to diplomatic disputes.

"Your Royal Highness, I often hear people sing your praises," Hartley smiled. "The talent of the 'Son of God' astonishes the world, you are incredibly merciful, and full of wisdom..."

After some extravagant flattery, the British Ambassador finally continued, "Your Highness, as you know, I have always advocated for the steadfast development of the traditional friendship between Britain and France..."

Joseph’s eyelid twitched, thinking, is there really a traditional friendship between Britain and France? Are you referring to the kind of friendship where we plot to dig each other's graves?

Hartley, a seasoned politician, spoke his lies with great sincerity, "However, due to some instigations by ambitious individuals, the two countries have experienced many frictions. This is truly regrettable."

"Even now, many people are unwilling to see our friendship flourish."

He glanced at Joseph, then cautiously asked, "So, I believe we should work harder to promote this precious friendship. What do you think?"

Joseph had no idea what he was getting at, so he followed along, "Yes, long live the friendship between Britain and France."

Hartley's eyes lit up. He had completely underestimated the thirteen-year-old boy in front of him, thinking to himself: This Crown Prince is indeed pro-British, the intelligence was correct.

He then went on to talk about the broad prospects for British-French cooperation. After some time, he shifted the topic, "Your Highness, in fact, I have a proposal that would benefit both our countries."

Joseph put on an interested expression, "Oh? Please elaborate."

Hartley straightened up, "I’ve heard, Your Highness, that you strongly oppose wasting funds on the construction of large warships. I completely agree with this."

Joseph’s eyes narrowed. This was something mentioned in the cabinet meeting, how did the British get wind of this? Looks like I need to investigate the issue of leaks.

Hartley continued, "In fact, there are some people in Britain who keep advocating for building warships, wasting taxpayer money. I believe this money is entirely unnecessary to waste, as long as everyone stops the reckless shipbuilding, the mutual threats will disappear."

"So, I suggest that we push for a treaty to limit the scale of shipbuilding among nations."

"For example, the British should not build warships exceeding 5000 tons annually, and France should not exceed 2000 tons. Oh, you know, Britain’s maritime trade scale is large, so we need more ships."

"Of course, Spain, the Netherlands, and other countries should also participate in signing the treaty..."

Joseph couldn’t help but frown. Is he really trying to fool me like a child?

Historically, whether it was Napoleon or Kaiser Wilhelm II, they had both learned bloody lessons that European continental countries without powerful fleets would be locked into death by a blockade.

I paused the navy’s production of sailing warships just to avoid waste, but unexpectedly, the British misunderstood this as a sign that I am giving up the challenge against the British navy.

Seeing Hartley still speaking passionately, Joseph immediately interrupted him, taking the conversation in his preferred direction:

"Mr. Ambassador, a shipbuilding treaty seems quite distant. How about we first discuss the existing treaties?"

"Existing ones?"

"Such as the Eden Treaty."

Hartley immediately became alert, "Your Highness, I believe this treaty is already very complete and reasonable, there’s nothing much to discuss."

"Yes, it’s very reasonable, but there’s still room for improvement," Joseph smiled, "In fact, France’s industrial manufacturing capacity is quite weak, and many essential goods cannot be produced domestically, while Britain’s high-quality and affordable products are exactly what we need."

"But you know, the tariffs stipulated in the Eden Treaty are still too high, causing these goods to be overpriced. The French people are spending too much money on them."

Hartley was taken aback: This doesn’t sound right. Normally, the French are pushing to increase tariffs to protect their own industries. This Crown Prince actually thinks they’re too high...

He is indeed pro-British, no doubt!

Hartley cautiously asked, "So, what is your suggestion?"

Joseph spoke firmly, "I believe we should continue the negotiations of the Eden Treaty and further lower the tariffs! This is in the best interest of both our countries."

Hartley smiled, "Could you elaborate?"

"Firstly, the tariffs on industrial goods like textiles, steel, and paper should be reduced by at least half," Joseph looked at the British Ambassador’s expression, then added, "To reflect the equality between our two countries, the tariffs on French industrial goods should also be lowered by Britain."

Hartley nodded, "Equality, yes, you’re right, it must reflect equality."

Currently, Britain’s industrial scale and technology had far surpassed that of France, so they had no fear of competition from French industrial products. To him, even if the tariffs on British industrial goods were reduced to zero, it wouldn’t matter.

Seeing Hartley struggling to suppress his excitement, Joseph knew it was time to reel him in, "But, you know, if I want to push for treaty negotiations, I must first silence those guys at home. They love to say things like 'this damages France’s interests.'"

"So, I’m thinking of trying a different approach, like temporarily raising the tariffs on French industrial goods to 25%, and then gradually lowering them, down to 5% in seven years. That way, they’ll gain short-term benefits and won’t resist so much."

Currently, the Eden Treaty stipulated that tariffs on French industrial goods were between 12%-15%. With this model, it would take just three years to bring them to the current level.

Table of content - Next Chapter >>>