Capítulo 64: Chapter 64: The Eden Treaty
Chapter 64: The Eden Treaty
Regarding the first matter, Hartley had already begun working on it. With the new orders from London, all that was needed was to assign more people to investigate the Prince of France's political leanings.
Hartley deduced from the Prince's opposition to naval development that he wasn't anti-British, which meant establishing a relationship with him could be arranged sooner rather than later. It was also said that the Prince of France was a capable mathematician. Hartley quickly decided to send a scholar to make contact with him.
As for the second matter, it was more troubling.
Since Prussia had withdrawn from the Netherlands, there hadn't been much interaction between them and France. Hartley pondered for a long time but couldn't find a solid approach, aside from spreading rumors and defamation. For now, he could only wait for a better opportunity to arise.
Hartley carefully stored the secret letter and immediately called a meeting with his staff to delegate the tasks mentioned in the letter.
...
Early the next morning, Joseph received a distinguished guest.
It was his former teacher, the "Prince of Mathematics," Mr. Lagrange.
In fact, Lagrange came to Versailles every two days to give lessons, but Joseph had been so busy lately that they hadn't crossed paths.
After exchanging formalities, the old mathematician handed Joseph an elegant invitation and spent some time persuading him to attend an academic conference in two days.
Joseph had already received two invitations from the French Mathematical Society but had declined both due to his busy schedule.
A few weeks earlier, Lagrange had published Joseph's extended work on Rolle's Theorem in a journal. Now, Joseph was gaining some recognition in the French mathematical community.
The Mathematical Society also hoped to use the Prince's presence to boost their influence, so they sent a heavyweight like Lagrange to personally invite him.
Since his teacher had come in person, Joseph couldn't refuse and promised to attend.
The next day, in the Saint-Germain district of Paris, several dozen scholars from the fields of mathematics and physics gathered in the luxurious villa of the noble widow, Madame Josneau, to pay their respects to the Prince.
In this era, the boundaries between physics and mathematics weren't as distinct. Physicists often mingled with mathematicians.
An official from the Mathematical Society gave an enthusiastic speech and then formally introduced the Prince before announcing the start of the conference.
One by one, speakers took the stage, presenting on the cutting-edge mathematical topics of the day, creating a serious atmosphere.
Over an hour later, the conference shifted to a free discussion phase. Servants began bringing out various delicacies, and soon the room was filled with the aromas of food and drinks.
Laughter and animated conversations filled the air, transforming the conference into something more like a mathematical salon.
Joseph had considered leaving, but Madame Josneau kindly brought him a cup of fine tea and enthusiastically seated him in the center of the room. It was clear that the Prince's presence was a point of pride for her.
Somewhat resigned, Joseph sat down next to Lagrange, enjoying the fragrance of the tea while listening to an elderly scholar on his left describe a method he had devised for deriving discrete probability distributions in probability theory.
When the old scholar finished, the room buzzed with discussion. Joseph could vaguely tell that the scholar was referring to something akin to the Poisson distribution, though it seemed incomplete. Hmm... he wondered if Poisson had even been born yet.
Next, Lagrange stood up with some notes and began discussing his thoughts and ideas on the relationship between functions and their derivatives. After their deep discussion of Rolle's Theorem, Lagrange had been delving into this area and had recently made significant progress.
The audience responded with high praise and engaged in a lively discussion.
Several other scholars also spoke. Though they weren't as profound as the two masters, their ideas were clever and their perspectives fresh, contributing significant academic value.
At that moment, a young scholar in a dark gray jacket cleared his throat, drawing attention, and began a passionate speech on the negative impact of Protestantism on science.
Joseph was somewhat taken aback and quietly asked Lagrange to confirm that the speaker wasn't a clergyman but an assistant professor of physics at the University of Paris.
To Joseph's surprise, the young professor received enthusiastic applause. Apart from Lagrange and a few others, most of the audience loudly praised or agreed with his words.
From that point on, the discussion began to veer off course.
A short, stout middle-aged man angrily spoke about British industrial espionage's rampant theft of French science and technology, claiming that such actions cost France tens of millions of livres each year.
Joseph frowned slightly. In this era, there were no patent laws, and it was common for Britain and France to steal each other's technological advances. However, the reality was that France stole more from Britain than the other way around. But discussing this at an academic conference seemed rather inappropriate.
But the others clearly didn't think so and immediately launched into an attack on the British, with jeers and insults flying around the room.
A young man with brown hair sitting behind Joseph on the right loudly extolled France's leading history in academia, harshly criticizing the British for plagiarizing French achievements and expressing deep contempt for the British scientific community.
Someone shouted passionately:
"That's why the British will never surpass France in the world of science!"
"Exactly! Just look at their ridiculous papers—they even claim that light is a wave, haha!"
"They're always coming up with laughable ideas and then patting themselves on the back."
"Only France can lead the progress of science; it's the will of God!"
At this time, the French academic community was quite arrogant, and with the long-standing rivalry between England and France, bashing the British had become a form of political correctness.
"Have the British ever produced a great scholar? No!" The brown-haired young man shouted, waving his hand excitedly.
Then he looked at Joseph, seemingly seeking support, and bowed slightly. "Your Highness, wouldn't you agree?"
Joseph sighed, shook his head slightly, and said quietly, "They have Newton."
The room fell silent as dozens of eyes turned to Joseph, seemingly surprised that the Prince would speak in defense of the British.
Joseph thought for a moment and then decided to address the room. The atmosphere and the previous comments were too frustrating for him to stay silent. "In fact, Britain has made many valuable contributions to science.
"Besides Newton, I'm sure you're all familiar with Mr. Taylor, whose Taylor series we often use when calculating trajectories.
"And there's Maclaurin's Treatise of Fluxions.
"And then there's Mr. Watt's steam engine, which may have an even more astonishing impact, particularly in the textile industry, where all of France is already feeling the threat.
"Speaking of textiles, a British man recently invented an automatic loom..."
A middle-aged man with sharp eyes and a large nose whispered, "That would be Cartwright."
"Oh, yes, Cartwright." Joseph nodded. "If that loom is combined with the steam engine, it could revolutionize the global textile industry.
"France indeed has many outstanding scholars who have made incredible academic achievements, but we must also recognize that in many areas, the British have already moved ahead of us..."
Joseph said this to remind the French scholars present that the industrial revolution was just around the corner and that the next wave of technological breakthroughs was imminent.
Steam engines and textile technology were crucial areas to watch, as they would be the pillars of the industrial revolution.
Being trapped in the glory of France's past academic achievements or being envious of Britain's progress would only lead to losing the industrial revolution entirely.
When he finished speaking, the room fell silent, with no one else rising to speak, as they seemed to be grappling with the conflict between their pride and the reality.
The middle-aged man with the large nose leaned over to Joseph and whispered, "Your Highness, that was brilliantly said! I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable about Britain."
Joseph smiled and nodded.
The man continued, "A few years ago, I conducted an in-depth study of British industry and technology while negotiating Anglo-French trade deals. As you said, Britain has already gained a significant technological lead over France in many areas. Unfortunately, there are too few people with your insight; most are still lost in their arrogance..."
"Trade negotiations?" Joseph asked, looking at the man. "May I ask your name?"
"Oh, I was so excited that I forgot my manners. I apologize. My name is Pierre DuPont."
The name sounded very familiar. Joseph immediately asked, "Were you involved in the American independence negotiations, and do you run a chemical company?"
"Oh, yes, Your Highness," DuPont replied, surprised. "You've heard of me?"
Joseph nodded to himself. It was indeed the famous industrialist DuPont from history. He hadn't expected to meet him here.
"I've heard of you."
They then began discussing British industry and technology, and soon the conversation turned to Anglo-French trade negotiations.
"Your Highness, since the death of Count Vergennes, our negotiations with the British have stalled... The single tax plan hasn't been implemented either." DuPont said worriedly, "As you know, the negotiations are still incomplete, and the current Eden Treaty is very unfavorable to France."
The Eden Treaty he referred to was the Anglo-French trade treaty signed just last year, which imposed a series of tariff restrictions—France significantly lowered tariffs on British industrial goods, while Britain reduced tariffs on French wine and some agricultural products.
The result was that France's industry lost its tariff protection and was overwhelmed by the technologically superior British. The increase in wine and agricultural product sales couldn't make up for the massive losses in industry.
Joseph nodded. "That treaty was indeed poorly negotiated and has had disastrous effects on French industry."
(End of chapter)
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