By the time the French Army defeated the rebels of Brabant, Prussia would certainly not be willing to accept Austria’s rise in the Southern Netherlands and would thus have to divert some of its forces to support the Southern Netherlands.
Joseph had even prepared to create the appearance of the French Army running out of steam there, encouraging the Prussians to believe they might have another chance.
As the Prussian Army moved toward the Southern Netherlands, the troop strength in Silesia would inevitably decrease, and consequently, the pressure on the Austrian forces there would also lessen.
Feeling the supportive role that the battle in the Southern Netherlands played for operations in Silesia, Joseph II would definitely encourage the French Army to continue tying down the Prussians there.
At that time, the French Army’s military presence in the Southern Netherlands would amount to de facto Austrian approval.
During the conflict between the French Army and the Prussians, the extent of the battlefield would be beyond Austria’s control.
Even then, Joseph II might hope for the French to control a larger area, preferably extending the battlefield to Saarlouis—Prussia’s territory located northeast of the Southern Netherlands.
Of course, Joseph would not be foolish enough to be the first to provoke Prussia limitlessly.
In fact, he didn’t even want to meddle with the Flemish Region in the Southern Netherlands; securing the Walloon Region, the French-speaking southwestern part, would already fulfill his strategic goal.
The Walloon Region, where the population mostly spoke French and was naturally pro-France, posed hardly any difficulty in governance.
Most importantly, the Walloon Region was an essential coal-producing area in Europe, and securing it could provide strong support for France’s industrial revolution.
Furthermore, the Walloon Region bordered Luxembourg, which had rich iron ore deposits and had been under French rule 80 years earlier. The war in the Southern Netherlands could easily spread there.
Once the conflict between Prussia and Austria ended, with the Walloon Region and Luxembourg filled with French soldiers and even their bureaucratic systems adopting the French model, the question of who would own these areas would become a matter for France and Austria to discuss.
As for the Flemish Region in the northern part of the Southern Netherlands, although it could control the Rhine River estuary, it was a hot potato at the moment.
Firstly, most of the Flemish Region’s population spoke Dutch, which would make governance extremely challenging—Austria’s struggles with the Brabant rebellion provided a clear precedent.
Secondly, the British valued the Rhine estuary highly since nearly half of their trade with the European Continent passed through there. Incidentally, Le Havre, the Seine River estuary, was equally important.
Therefore, the British would never accept their long-standing adversary, France, controlling their trade lifeline with the extensive German market.
For this reason, they would declare war on France without hesitation. Historically, the core reason the British invested so heavily in the Second Anti-French Alliance was that at that time France had occupied the Southern Netherlands and against prior agreements, decided to control the Rhine river traffic to restrict British river trade.
Joseph’s current strategic focus was on domestic industrial construction, to quickly enhance national strength and use the dividends of industrial development to fill the substantial fiscal deficit.
Before this, he did not want to compete with the British, as they were still the most powerful country in Europe at the time.
Hence, for now, leaving the northern part of the Southern Netherlands in Austrian hands was most appropriate.
These were Joseph’s strategic designs for France on the European front. As for flexing France’s muscles on the European Continent, that would have to wait until France’s economy had developed.
War, in essence, is a competition of a nation’s foundation, and the economy is the most important aspect of that foundation.
It was past 10 p.m. by the time the Minister of War and the Chief of the General Staff finished their report on the French Army’s war preparations.
Joseph, following Bertier’s earlier report, had roughly calculated the time. It would take nearly a month for the Austrian attack on Silesia to have repercussions in the Southern Netherlands.
He sorted through the matters at hand and instructed Eman, standing by the door, “Please make the preparations, we’re heading to Lyon early tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
One month was enough time to make a trip to Lyon and back.
Joseph knew that once the Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement was signed, a vast market would open up before France.
Yet, thus far, the all-important automatic loom had yet to be fully deployed.
This was simply a waste of a historic opportunity!
In fact, the automatic loom had already begun mass production, with Mirabeau recently shipping thirty to forty units to Lyon.
However, due to the slow spread of information in that era, combined with the conservative mindset of the factory owners in Lyon who dared not invest heavily to experiment, the automatic loom had failed to make even the slightest splash.
Joseph rubbed his sore shoulders, sighing deeply to himself, truly feeling that nothing could get done without his personal involvement…
Seven days later.
Joseph gazed out the carriage window at the Rhone River docks, where textile products were piled up like mountains, and workers bustled like ants, loading the goods onto ships.
Vehicles continuously arrived, bringing more fabric and clothing, with the people on them shouting loudly to gather the dock workers to unload.
It was indeed the image of a thriving center for France’s textile industry.
However, Joseph was well aware that in comparison with the developed textile industry of England, it still lagged far behind.
In reality, if it hadn’t been for his own “undermining” of the British by altering the Treaty of Eden, giving a respite to Lyon, it would have already been filled with bankrupt workshops and unemployed workers, full of decay and ruin.
Of course, even now it was merely a temporary relief.
Stay tuned with empire
France lacked colonies to dump goods, and without large cotton and wool-producing areas, it naturally couldn’t compete with the British in terms of cost and sales.
So, if France wanted a slice of the largest sales in the industry of textiles, it had to work on its production process.
Although the British were still unparalleled in this field, the use of the automatic loom and the steam engine presented France with a rare opportunity.
Joseph’s entourage continued on to the Royal Square, where the surroundings instantly became lively.
The municipal commissioner and the president of the chamber of commerce led hundreds of officials and factory owners who respectfully stood on both sides of the road, welcoming His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
This had also been arranged by Joseph beforehand, asking them to wait in the square rather than meeting him outside the city, which would have otherwise wasted half a day.
After a series of routine greetings and salutations, Joseph, accompanied by music and cheers, made his way through the crowd and went directly to the central platform in the square.
As he raised his hand to signal, the surrounding area quickly fell silent.
He surveyed his surroundings, not wasting a moment, and declared loudly, “Now, it’s Lyon’s last chance!
“According to the provisions of the Treaty of Eden, starting from the end of next year, tariffs on British textile products will be significantly reduced.
“According to the current costs in Lyon, by then all domestic markets will be lost!”