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“Hmm, grilled lamb chops, beet truffle thick soup, roasted bread.”
Alexei casually ordered a few dishes from the waiter beside him, then turned to Joseph and said, “I’m quite curious, what do you mean by ‘business unrelated to politics’?”
“Bring me a cup of black tea, no milk, spices, or sugar.”
Having dismissed the waiter, Joseph smiled and said, “For instance, engaging in some business. If you had your own trade in Paris, then the Empress would not recall you back to Russia for fear of your conduct—oh, please excuse my choice of words.”
Business? Alexei blinked, sensing some logic in the proposal. No one would associate a busy merchant with a position in the line of succession to Saint Petersburg. It was indeed a good way to stay away from politics and to some extent shed the image of a wastrel.
In fact, that was exactly what Alexei’s descendants did. To stay away from politics, they started doing business and eventually established Russia’s largest sugar company.
However, Alexei immediately shook his head, “Thank you for your suggestion, Your Highness. But I know nothing about business, and every year the Empress has to subsidize me with tens of thousands of rubles. I don’t want to lose even more of her money.”
“No, I believe you will make money,” Joseph said with a smile, “and significant amounts at that.”
“Your Highness, if I may be so bold, this seems rather unlikely. I know my capabilities.”
Joseph, sniffing the aroma from the teacup the waiter brought, glanced at the illegitimate child and said, “Actually, it is not as difficult as you think. All you need is a good partner.”
“A partner?”
Joseph gestured with a small spoon towards himself: “For instance, me.”
Alexei exclaimed in surprise, “You mean, go into business with you?”
Joseph nodded: “We could jointly invest in and establish a trade company, focused on trade between France and Russia.”
His suggestion was not impulsive; he had long harbored such a plan.
In fact, France and Russia had already signed a trade agreement the year before last, but on one hand due to France’s tight finances, and on the other because there were not many products of mutual interest between the two countries—other than wine and Enlightenment ideas, France had little else to offer Russia.
Likewise, Russia’s main exports such as flax, oil, and timber did not see high demand in France.
This led to lukewarm trade between the two parties.
Yet, both countries were eager to substantially increase their trade volume with each other.
For Russia, there was an ongoing concern about being too reliant on trade with England and a desire to change the trade structure. For example, by increasing France’s share in trade to reduce the risk of being manipulated by the British.
As for France, increasing trade volume with a large country like Russia would certainly greatly improve its financial situation.
But desire is just desire. Historically, until Napoleon came to power and Russia joined the Anti-French Alliance, trade between the two countries had not significantly improved.
This was the situation that Joseph wanted to change, and he had the means to do so.
Historically, France’s demand for Russian goods wasn’t high because France’s textile industry was crushed by England. But now, under Joseph’s guidance, France’s textile industry would challenge England’s dominance, and thus would need a large amount of textile raw materials, flax among them. As for cotton, wool, and the like, those would need to be sourced from North America and Australia later on.
At the same time, since England’s flax supply was highly dependent on Russia—about eighty percent of its consumption—should France consume a large quantity of Russian flax, it would inevitably cause a flax shortage in England, subsequently leading to higher prices for British flax textiles.
It was a classic win-win situation.
On the other hand, France’s industry would enter a period of explosive growth and would urgently need markets to sell its products. Russia, with a population of over thirty million, was an enormous market that definitely needed the participation of French products.
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Originally, Joseph had planned to wait for Talleyrand to make contact with the Russians and then push forward with the trade issue.
But upon meeting Alexei today, he felt this might be an even more suitable opportunity.
“You need not worry about management; we can hire professionals to run the company,” Joseph said, “I’ll provide some merchant ships as my share. These ships will fly the Russian flag, enjoy your ‘armed neutrality’ policy, and avoid British interference.”
“And you could have someone in Russia buy up flax, grease, perhaps even iron, as your share.”
“After these goods arrive in Marseille, they’ll be loaded with French wine, textiles, and in the future possibly paper and machinery as well, and sent back to Crimea.”
The so-called “armed neutrality declaration” referred to the Russian trade policy announced by Catherine II in 1780, the main content of which was “As a neutral country, Russian ships can freely navigate between ports and along the coasts of warring nations, unless they carry wartime contraband, in which case the belligerent nations must not impose restrictions.”
This policy had been recognized by England. Thus, Alexei’s “Russian ships” transporting the cargo could ensure normal trade regardless of any tensions between England and France.
Besides, Joseph had another card up his sleeve.
He had previously reviewed the Anglo-Russian trade agreement, which allowed Russian merchant ships to transport goods from the East to Europe unobstructed by the British fleet. The British had reckoned that Russia had little presence in the East and had readily agreed, a point Joseph planned to exploit through his trade company with the illegitimate child in the future.
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