Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1108: Chapter 1014: Fulcrum

Half a month later, Muhammad Ali’s “gang” had crossed the Stara Mountain Range in the southern part of Serbia and appeared in the city of Clawao, southwest of Wallachia.

Yes, there were fewer than 500 garrison troops in the city, who were no match for him.

After entering the city, Muhammad Ali immediately ordered a looting but only allowed the robbing of Romanians, especially Catholic scorched earth, while strictly prohibiting harassment of the “Fanar” nobles.

The political structure of Wallachia is such that the Fanar nobles are of Greek descent, sent by the Ottoman Sultan to manage Wallachia seventy or eighty years ago. They speak Greek, follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and monopolize Wallachia’s bureaucratic stratum.

Meanwhile, the numerous Romanians have always been discontented with the Fanar. The nobles among them are referred to as “boyars.”

After Austria took control of Wallachia, some boyars converted to Catholicism, becoming agents of Austria.

Currently, the Fanar barely sustains itself through political inertia, while the Catholic Romanians continuously erode their power.

Romanians following Eastern Orthodox Christianity are exploited by both sides, often rebelling and then being suppressed by both sides together.

Two days later, Muhammad Ali, carrying countless treasures of gold and silver, continued northward, leaving one-fifth of the loot for the “Sultan’s servants,” the Fanar nobles.

The news spread, and along the way, the Fanar nobles in the towns opened their gates to welcome the army of the Agha, even bringing their own weapons to join Muhammad Ali’s forces in an attempt to gain some benefits.

When the “plundering army” reached the major town of Volcha in central and western Wallachia, the Austrian officials in Bucharest finally responded by dispatching 3,000 soldiers to the west to intercept this “Albanian band of robbers.”

Bucharest had only a little over 4,000 garrison troops in total, so it was impossible to dispatch more. However, in the Austrian mindset, 3,000 were enough to deal with 20,000 Albanian tribal soldiers—Archduke Karl had just defeated an Ottoman army of 110,000, and they were brimming with confidence at the moment.

Muhammad Ali, on the other hand, did not engage the Austrian Army directly but divided his troops into three groups—his forces had now grown close to 30,000—sending them to various parts of Wallachia with only one mission: to madly loot the Romanians.

Under the huge proceeds of robbery, the enthusiasm among the three “legions,” whether Albanian or “Fanar,” was frighteningly high, advancing almost twenty kilometers daily, with seven or eight towns quickly falling.

Moreover, their forces continued to grow; not only the “Fanar,” but even Greek-speaking Romanians joined in, following the others to rob other towns—during the Fanar’s rule, Greek was the official language, and many Romanians had learned it.

At this point, Muhammad Ali had essentially lost control over these troops, but he didn’t care. He quietly withdrew to Clawao, bringing with him over 13,000 of his strongest soldiers and those eight cannons.

The Austrian Army dispatched from Bucharest soon split into two groups, heading towards Lokric and Severin to quell the unrest.

Upon receiving the news, Muhammad Ali immediately detoured along the south via the Danube River to launch an attack on the defensively weak Bucharest.

Thus, with just 20,000 Albanian tribal soldiers, he managed to leverage the entire situation in Wallachia.

…

London.

Ten Downing Street.

William Pitt Junior was discussing with Lord Grenville about potential issues they might encounter in their speech at the Congress when Foreign Minister Fox knocked and entered.

Fox glanced at William Pitt Junior and bowed slightly to Grenville, saying, “I hope I’m not interrupting you, Mr. Prime Minister.”

“Oh, it’s fine; we’ve almost finished. What is it you have?”

“One good news and one bad news, which would you like to hear first?”

“The bad news,” Grenville said, “this gives me more time to think of a countermeasure.”

“The French refuse to sign the armistice agreement,” said the Foreign Minister, shrugging. “Now we have to consider the reason for lifting the naval blockade.”

According to their previous plans, England and France would conduct face-saving armistice negotiations, with England proposing some innocuous conditions, like France clamping down on smuggling ships at Ostend Port, and then smoothly retracting the fleet blocking the French coast.

But the French negotiators refused without hesitation, demanding that England immediately and unconditionally lift the blockade, while France would not agree to any demands.

Yes, Joseph was not in a hurry to cease fighting with Britain.

In a state of war, it was indeed difficult for French merchant ships to venture into the Atlantic Ocean, but neither could Britain conduct trade in Italy. Even British cargo ships passing the Rhine River would occasionally be stopped and inspected by the garrison at Cologne Fortress, the decision of whether to let them pass ultimately depending on the goodwill of the buyer.

Grenville sighed and said: “Simply say that at the request of numerous countries conducting maritime trade with France, our country has decided to lift the blockade.”

“Yes, Mr. Prime Minister.”

“And the good news?”

Fox placed a document in front of him: “Prince Henry wants us to provide £700,000 in aid to deal with the Austrian Army in Silesia.”

Grenville frowned: “Do you consider this good news?”

“It indicates that Prussia’s reliance on us has deepened,” murmured Fox. “I dislike saying ‘oh, there are two bad news.’”

Grenville shook his head: “We are currently implementing many reform measures, which require a significant amount of funds. I think, at this time, we should tighten our fiscal policy without involving ourselves in the Silesian situation.”

But William Pitt Junior cautiously said: “If Prussia loses Silesia, it will not be able to serve as our foothold on the European Continent.

Grenville: “£700,000? Oh God…”

William Pitt Junior thought for a moment and said, “To my knowledge, the Prussians plan to increase their beet cultivation area by 3 to 5 times next year, and this money can be used to pre-order sugar.

“And they are in urgent need of military funds, so we can take the opportunity to drive the price down.

“Once we have this batch of low-priced sugar, we will have the power to stir sugar prices on the Paris Futures Exchange. By depressing sugar prices by 30%, no, even 20%, we can significantly alleviate fiscal pressure.”

Yes, if the British Government has a large stockpile of refined sugar on hand, it can repeatedly sell low-priced contract orders on the Paris Futures Exchange through white gloves, thus pushing market prices downward.

Currently, the British Government needs to spend more than £2.6 million a year on sugar subsidies to stabilize domestic sugar prices. The difference between input and output is a guaranteed gain.

Grenville’s brow finally eased a bit: “Then deduct this money from next year’s sugar subsidies.”

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