Stuart nodded with a smile:
“Indeed, Your Grace, the French simply forget our close trade relations with the Ottoman Empire. These Frenchmen might do well in fashions and jewelry, but when it comes to strategy, they are still somewhat lacking,”
The ship slowed to a halt, and the Duke of Leeds, guided by the captain, made his way to the deck, his mind inevitably drifting back to the meeting three months ago at 10 Downing Street.
It was also a clear day like today…
“Mr. Fox finally kept his silence,” said the 29-year-old Prime Minister William Pitt, delightedly motioning towards the sofa, “Please have a seat, Duke of Leeds, General Jervis.”
Congress had just approved the special funding he put forward for the situation in North Africa, putting him in a great mood.
He gestured for a servant to bring tea and pastries and then pointed to his not-so-spacious office and complained to the two men:
“Getting Congress to allocate funds is no easy feat, is it? Look at this place, to this day there’s not even a decent meeting room. We can only discuss matters in this cramped space.”
General Jervis took his seat and immediately asked:
“Mr. Pitt, the report you submitted to Congress this morning, ah, about the rise in grain prices, does it really have to do with the French? I haven’t heard a thing.”
Pitt smiled:
“To be precise, it is very likely. Those people are quite cunning and have not left much in the way of clues.
“It was an accident that I saw a report from the Dublin Intelligence Department, stating that at the beginning of the year, some Irish had helped two grain merchants purchase a large amount of grain, worth several hundred thousand British Pounds.”
The Dublin Intelligence Department he mentioned was specifically responsible for dealing with the Irish Revolutionary Forces, one of the British Government’s most capable intelligence departments.
At this time, the British Empire was nothing like the world intelligence godfather of later times, with MI6, Scotland Yard, and the likes, yet to emerge. The British, having adopted liberal ideas earlier, were very resistant to government intelligence agencies, leading to a rather average intelligence capability among powerful nations.
Pitt continued: “You know, those Irish have always been unclear with the French, so I had some suspicions and commissioned Lloyd’s of London to continue the investigation[Note 1].
“They did indeed find something, such as British grain merchants saying that the people who bought those grains often conversed in French in private and had paid them in livres. In addition, there was a serious shortfall in France, which had a great need for grain.
“In short, the investigation suggested that the fluctuations in our grain market were very likely caused by the French.”
This year England also faced a severe drought, drastically reducing grain yields. However, England had been a grain exporting country for the past few decades. With a significant supply of grain stockpiled domestically and an efficient river transport system, famine was not imminent.
By the time Pitt thought to reallocate grain to the disaster areas, he was shocked to find that since the beginning of the year, there had been large-scale grain purchases, even buying up the reserves of many cities!
As the news spread, grain prices on the British market soared, and although the government strictly regulated grain prices, they couldn’t control the prices in private transactions—as had happened before with the Paris bakers.
With some areas of Britain about to experience unrest due to a lack of food, Pitt regrettably had to stabilize grain prices through government subsidies. Although eventually, he managed to avert outright riots, this action resulted in a loss of five to six hundred thousand British Pounds.
At the current exchange rate, that was a staggering 14 million livres!
The opposition party, including Fox and others, seized upon this to furiously attack Pitt, causing him to lose face.
On hearing this, the Duke of Leeds laughed:
“From what you’ve said, it’s as if the French knew they were going to face a shortfall this year. Regardless, it doesn’t matter now; we can use this to garner Congress’s support for your special funding bill.”
Pitt gave him an approving look:
“Indeed. As soon as Congress learned that the French caused the grain price fluctuation, there were immediately no more objections to the funding,”
The Duke of Leeds nodded: “Those fellows in Congress have no idea about the seriousness of France’s grand campaign to ‘exterminate the pirates’!
Your next read is at empire
“Once they take control of North Africa, that will greatly compensate for the loss of their colonies in the Americas.
“You know, for those colonies, we lost so many soldiers and so much money during the Seven Years’ War. Yet, for the sake of a little funding, Fox and his ilk are willing to let France have its way with North Africa.”
Peter said, “Fortunately, we now have the allocation, with 500,000 British Pounds, which is not a small sum.”
“Regrettably, we have to consider the attitude of the Russians,” General Jervis frowned and shook his head, “so we cannot send troops directly to North Africa.”
“Send troops?” the Duke of Leeds gave him a very covert glance, “No, that’s not within our sphere of influence, too close to Spain and France. Supporting the local forces is already the best choice.”
Peter nodded, looking at Jervis:
“Your Excellency, in your professional opinion, what is the real target for the French people?”
Although the British had learned about France’s North Africa strategy from their intelligence system in France and the Duke of Orleans, they could only infer the specific details on their own.
General Jervis, chairman of the Naval Committee, thought for a while and said, “I believe it should be Algiers.”
“Can you explain your reasons?”
Jervis nodded: “Firstly, Morocco is far from France and is within the sphere of influence of Spain, so it is unlikely that the French will go there.”
“And the Bey of Tunisia has had a stable power after more than twenty years of rule. Given that Tunisia is very wealthy, France would find it difficult to achieve a quick victory if they rashly conflicted with it.”
“Tripoli is similar. Its Pasha holds real power, and although it isn’t as wealthy as Tunisia, its military strength, especially the navy, is quite formidable.”
“So, whether Tunisia or Tripoli, as long as they can hold off the French for a few months, the Ottoman Empire would most likely step in to provide support.”
“Moreover, the French people also know that we will not ignore their expansion. When that time comes, they can only retreat in disappointment back to the northern coast of the Mediterranean.”
Peter pondered and nodded:
“It seems Algiers is indeed the best target.”
Jervis, rubbing his forehead, said, “The Imperial Guard and navy of Algiers are at odds, and local powers are not to be underestimated either. The infighting among the three parties is very chaotic.”
“If the French win one or two battles there, the locals are likely to tilt towards them.”
“Moreover, I’ve heard that the fleets of France and the United States have just sunk two ships of the Algiers Navy.”
Peter then looked at the two senior ministers in front of him:
“So, what strategy do both of you think we should adopt in response?”
The Duke of Leeds took a sip of his tea cup and said:
“It will be very difficult for us to intervene in North Africa rashly, after all, it is not our traditional sphere of influence.”
“So, first, we need to establish connections with the forces there.”
Peter nodded and said:
“You are the Foreign Minister. You’ll have to exert some effort in this aspect.”
“The Ottoman will be key,” said Leeds, “we have a good trade relationship with the Ottoman, and we can use that to influence them. And although the Ottoman no longer have much control over North Africa, they most definitely do not wish for the French to become the master there.”
“Thus, we can support Algiers through the Ottoman. We might even give a position like an advisor to our people through the Ottoman.”
Jervis added, “If we want to prevent the local forces in Algiers from tilting towards the French, it’s best to keep the French fleet off the Mediterranean.”
“You mean?”
“Send people to help Algiers fortify their coastal defense fortresses.”
[Note 1] Lloyd’s of London was the largest insurance service company in England at the time. To investigate the policyholders’ situation and whether there was suspicion of insurance fraud, they employed a large number of intelligence personnel, causing the company’s domestic intelligence capabilities to exceed those of the British Government at one point.