Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Chapter 146 Preparing for War

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Leaf springs were a well-established technology, and Joseph had simply tasked the craftsmen with adapting it for a new application, so the technical discussions with the craftsmen were concluded rather quickly.

Upon leaving the carriage workshop, Joseph entrusted his newly appointed workshop manager, “Mr. Raspina, your most important task now is to recruit skilled craftsmen as quickly as possible—even if it means spending more to poach them from other workshops.”

“Yes, Your Highness, I will make sure it is done,” responded the manager from Parma, nodding with respectful haste.

Joseph continued, “Once the new leaf spring suspension prototypes are complete, our workshop will only manufacture the chassis while the carriage bodies will be custom-ordered from other carriage workshops, using only the most luxurious materials and accessories.”

Raspina cautiously said, “Your Highness, this will make the costs very high…”

“Don’t worry about the costs; we will have plenty of profit margins.”

Joseph smiled and added, “Remember, all carriages must bear the engraving ‘Royal Certified’ on the body and ‘Royal Carriage standard chassis’ on the rear. The word ‘chassis’ should be engraved smaller.”

Getting a “Royal Certification” was simple for Joseph; a word with his mother would do the trick. As for “standard with the Royal Carriage,” it required offering one of his own produced carriages to his father, so he could take it for a few spins. Of course, it could only be the same in terms of the chassis. The court officials would certainly raise objections if the carriage bodies were identical too.

“Next, we need to increase our advertising efforts. I’ll have a word with the Paris Commercial News for the best spot. Paris Fashion Week is coming up, and you must seize this opportunity to make our carriages the latest trend among the nobility.”

Joseph was quite confident about the sales prospects of his carriages.

His design, which faithfully copied the shock-absorbing structure of a modern small truck, would match the current spring suspension in terms of comfort, but at only a tenth of the cost. This allowed for a larger budget to be spent on enhancing the luxury of the coach, and even then, the overall cost of the carriage was much lower than those using spring suspension. This meant that the selling price could be reduced accordingly.

Currently, spring suspension carriages were a rarity, only affordable by the very wealthy—a definitive symbol of ultra-luxury, akin to later epoch’s Maybach and Porsche.

Joseph planned to set the price of his new carriages at around 60% of the spring suspension models, roughly equating to the cost of a Mercedes or BMW in later times. Those nobles who couldn’t afford “ultra-luxury” were bound to eagerly embrace a “Royal Certified” carriage that appeared even more luxurious than the ultra-luxury models and matched them in comfort.

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The only thing that worried Joseph was the workshop’s production capacity.

If demand truly exceeded supply, he considered opening the patent to other workshops for a fee. Unlike the brewing technology patent, where he charged only 3% royalties—a decision meant to persuade plantation owners to grow potatoes—carriage production was purely a commercial operation. The patent fees would have to be at least 30%.

…

The next day, in the eastern hall of Palace of Versailles where the Cabinet was conducting its meeting in the usual orderly fashion.

“Is this sufficient?” Queen Mary asked as she returned the document appointing Talleyrand as a senior foreign advisor to Brienne, with her signature already on it.

Brienne promptly nodded with reverence, “Yes, thank you, Your Majesty.”

The ministers present didn’t pay much attention to a Cleric Lang, and since the position of foreign advisor wasn’t considered crucial, they passed the appointment almost immediately after Brienne made the proposal.

Archbishop Brienne tucked away the appointment document and signaled his assistant to distribute copies of the letter from Catherine II to those seated.

Although this is a letter, the content is actually a diplomatic document, and there is nothing that needs to be kept confidential.

“The origin of the Russo-Turkish War,” said Brian, “was last year when the Ottoman Empire demanded the return of Crimea from Russia and attacked Russian escort ships.

“As for the current state of the war, the Ottoman forces have attacked Kinburn Port several times, but have been repelled by the Russian Army each time. Especially at the end of last year, when the main force of the Ottomans was almost completely annihilated by Suvorov’s Corps, halting their offensive. On the Russian side, they are gathering troops and warships.”

Vilran, the Foreign Minister who had just returned from Russia, added, “According to what I heard in Saint Petersburg, the Empress of Russia is very determined this time and plans to take Ochakov in one fell swoop.”

Ochakov is a strategic stronghold between Russia and the Ottoman Empire; whoever wishes to attack the other must pass through here. It also serves as an important military port overlooking the Black Sea.

Brian continued, “At present, it seems very likely that Austria will support Russia and send troops to attack the Ottoman Empire. While Sweden is gathering forces and appears to be preparing to support the Ottomans from the north and strike at Russia.”

Queen Mary slightly furrowed her brow as if speaking to herself, “So what?”

“Your Majesty,” Brian hurriedly analyzed for her, “although Hamid I has reformed the military and made full preparations, looking at the previous battles, Russia still holds the advantage. Moreover, Saint Petersburg is very eager for us to join the war against the Ottomans, for which they should be willing to offer some benefits.”

Hamid I is the current Ottoman Sultan.

Brian exchanged a glance with Joseph and continued, “If we involve ourselves in the Russo-Turkish conflict, now would be a good time.”

The Queen was somewhat puzzled, “But our troops would have to cross Austria and march four thousand miles to reach Crimea.”

Joseph interjected, “Your Majesty, we don’t need to go to Crimea. If Sweden can support its ally from Russia’s north, we can also make a move on the western side of the Ottoman Empire.”

“The Crown Prince is absolutely right,” said Brian. “Merely by showing our strength in the Mediterranean, we can greatly constrain the Ottomans’ deployments.”

Upon hearing that there was action to be taken in the Mediterranean, the Navy Minister immediately became interested, “I agree with Archbishop Brienne’s view. If we just take a cruise around the Gulf of Sidra and receive Russia’s gratitude for it, that would be very cost-effective strategically.”

Joseph sighed internally, What are you thinking? Where do we have the military budget right now to flaunt our might around the Ottoman Empire? Wouldn’t it be more lucrative to take advantage of the situation near the Barbary Coast?

The Gulf of Sidra, located in the southeast Mediterranean near the southern coast of the Ottoman Empire, indeed presents a significant threat to the Ottomans but is also far from France. Currently, France cannot truly go and attack the Ottoman homeland, or else it would be helping Russia out of a predicament.

Meanwhile, the Barbary Coast lies in the central western part of the Mediterranean, near the southern coast of France, and connects to North Africa to the south. This is where France’s interests truly lie.

He hurriedly said, “Marquis Castries, our target for this operation should be the Ottoman naval forces in the western Mediterranean.”

“The Ottoman Navy in the western Mediterranean…” It took the Navy Minister a full two seconds to catch on, “You mean the Barbary pirates?”

“Yes,” Joseph nodded. “Including their naval bases.”