บท 20: Chapter 20: The Budget Proposal
Chapter 20: The Budget Proposal
The Marquis de Castries turned pale, his eyes wide with shock. "Your Highness, how can you say that? The fleet is France's sharpest spear! We absolutely cannot—"
Joseph calmly looked at him and asked, "Marquis de Castries, when we build one warship, how many can the British build?"
"Well," Castries faltered, "probably one and a half..."
Seeing the Prince's silent smile, he grew frustrated and admitted, "Two ships. The British launch new ships very quickly, maybe even more than two!"
Joseph nodded. "So, no matter how hard we try, we can't outbuild the British Navy."
He said what everyone in the room already knew but never dared to voice openly, leaving the room in dead silence.
Joseph continued, "If that's the case, why waste resources on shipbuilding? For escorting merchant ships, our current fleet is sufficient."
He understood the importance of the navy and didn't oppose expanding it. What he opposed was wasting money on outdated, large, and cumbersome sailing warships.
Britain had a significant advantage in shipbuilding—not only in terms of numerous shipyards, skilled craftsmen, and ample funds, but also because the British Isles could divert land resources to the navy. France couldn't do that.
If France focused solely on building more ships, it would surely lose. The Battle of Trafalgar years later would prove this. Despite France's best efforts and the combined fleets of Spain and Holland, they were still crushed by the British Navy.
After the defeat, Britain would block France's maritime trade routes entirely, leading to Napoleon's decline and Britain's rise as a global power, the "Empire on which the sun never sets."
The only solution was to abandon the current trend of multi-deck sailing warships and instead leverage advanced technology—Joseph's knowledge from the future—to develop ironclad ships equipped with steam engines and more powerful cannons, giving France a significant advantage.
But these plans couldn't be discussed openly in the cabinet, especially since the Duke of Orléans might leak the information.
"But..." Castries knew the Prince was twisting the argument but couldn't find a way to counter it. He was only worried that the Queen might actually listen to Joseph and scrap the new ships altogether.
Brienne gave Joseph an approving look, pleased that the young prince understood the art of negotiation. And he was relieved to see that Joseph, having just taken office, was already helping to reduce the financial burden. Perhaps Joseph would turn out to be a good assistant after all.
Brienne cleared his throat and, pretending to be concerned, said, "Your Highness, while our finances are indeed tight, we cannot afford to abandon naval development entirely. Cutting one battleship is the absolute limit."
Monot also urged caution. "Our overseas colonies need warships for protection. Without them, the local insurgents would cause trouble all the time."
In the end, Queen Marie made the final decision. "Joseph, reducing expenses is important, but we must not go too far. Marquis de Castries, let's follow Archbishop Brienne's plan to cut one battleship and two second-class ships. However, I want you to review the rest of the new shipbuilding projects carefully to avoid waste."
Castries, whose fleet had narrowly escaped complete annihilation, weakly nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."
He sighed inwardly. The Prince is too young to understand the importance of the navy to our nation. He only cares about reducing expenses. I'll have to talk to him more in the future to change his views.
Brienne, having successfully tackled the most difficult issue with the navy, felt much more at ease and moved on to the next budget cut. "As you all may know, the Patriot faction in Holland has been crushed by the Prussian army in less than a month. Therefore, I propose that we stop aiding the Dutch Patriots, which will save the treasury 250,000 livres each month."
Joseph frowned slightly, recalling information about the Dutch Patriot movement.
This uprising, led by Dutch capitalists and citizens, aimed to overthrow William V. With France's support, they had successfully expelled William V and established the States General.
However, with the intervention of Prussian troops, the Patriots were defeated, and William V was restored to power, nullifying France's initial investment.
The other ministers quickly agreed to abandon the Dutch rebels. After all, with 20,000 Prussian regulars in Holland, the Patriots had no chance. It was better to cut losses sooner rather than later.
Queen Marie surveyed the room. "Does anyone have any other opinions?"
"I believe..." Joseph stood up.
The Minister of War, Saint-Priest, who had hoped to keep struggling for the Dutch cause despite the odds, felt a chill when the Prince spoke. Given that Joseph had just tried to cancel all new shipbuilding, he was likely an anti-war advocate. And since the Queen doted on him, any hope of continued aid for the Dutch seemed lost.
Joseph spoke confidently, "Your Majesty, I believe we must not only continue supporting the Dutch Patriots but also increase our support and even prepare to confront Prussia directly. We cannot allow the Patriots to collapse!"
"Oh?" The Queen was surprised. "Please explain your reasoning."
"Firstly, Holland controls the mouth of the Rhine River. If we hold Holland, we can effectively counter Prussia.
"Secondly, Holland is a prosperous trading nation. Bringing it into our sphere of influence will generate enough trade revenue to recoup our aid.
"Lastly, in the future, we will inevitably go to war with Prussia. Holland can tie down a significant portion of Prussia's forces on its western front.
"If we allow Prussia to take control of Holland, all these advantages will turn against us!"
There were two other points Joseph didn't mention.
First, Holland had abundant coal and iron resources. With the industrial revolution just beginning, the country with more coal and iron would have a significant advantage.
Second, the Dutch Patriots were skilled agitators. Once driven out of Holland, they would flood into France, where they had caused significant unrest during the French Revolution.
As soon as Joseph finished speaking, the ministers' expressions changed. What the Prince said made perfect sense, but he had just opposed building warships and now supported aiding Holland. And his statement about an inevitable war with Prussia... Did that mean...
They all lowered their heads, trying to avoid considering the worst-case scenario.
Brienne was the first to speak. "Your Highness, our financial situation no longer allows us to send more money to the Dutch."
Joseph replied, "Didn't we just save some money by cutting shipbuilding? Let's allocate some of it to them."
The Navy Minister, Castries, nearly cried. Thank you so much, Your Highness.
The War Minister, on the other hand, was overjoyed. Thank you so much, Your Highness!
"Well..." Brienne was even more grateful that he still held the final say in financial decisions.
Queen Marie stepped in to help him out. "Joseph, your reasoning is sound, but even if we provide more aid, the Patriots might not be able to stop the Prussian army."
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