Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1550 - 1456: Honey Trap

Joseph was somewhat puzzled, “The Ottoman forces in the north are far more numerous than Persia, so how did they get defeated so badly?”

Bertier replied, “It seems that the Russians are secretly aiding Persia, Your Highness. The rebels from Western Georgia were able to quickly reach Tbilisi, most likely through Gori.”

“What’s the reaction from Constantinople?”

“Salem III has already dispatched Imanzade with 80,000 troops to reinforce Transcaucasia, Your Highness,” Bertier said, “They are estimated to arrive in Armenia within a month at most.”

Joseph narrowed his eyes: “So, a massive battle is about to erupt in Transcaucasia, and Russia won’t need to invest too many forces in this direction for quite some time.

“Then, where will the Russian Army originally stationed in Georgia go?”

Bertier reacted swiftly: “You mean, they will be transferred to the western front.”

“Alexander’s strategic deployment skills are quite impressive,” Joseph nodded, “In that case, the Polish Army is in even greater danger.

“Please also inform the Poles about the situation in Transcaucasia and urge them to withdraw as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Bertier respectfully left, yet Joseph still worried about the Eastern European war situation, contemplating whether to send Charles to Poland personally, when he saw Eman approaching briskly with the Director of the Security Bureau.

“Your Highness the Regent,” Lavallette bowed, glanced around to ensure the guards and clinic staff were distant, then stepped forward, “There is some news about Prince Charles.”

Joseph nodded: “Please, go ahead.”

“First, the woman involved with Prince Charles can be basically confirmed as Queen Louise of Prussia,” the Security Director said, “They probably met the year before last, during the additional clause negotiations of the France-Prussia armistice agreement.

“From the vague phrases uttered by Baron Mosten after drinking, it seems Queen Louise took the initiative with His Highness.”

Joseph frowned and stopped beside a red pine.

This Louise was quite notorious in this regard; historically, Napoleon had utterly routed the Prussian Army at the Battle of Jena, and then proceeded to sack the Prussian Royal Palace, intending to completely dismantle Prussia.

At that time, William III and the Prussian Nobles fled eastward to Konigsberg, while Louise went alone to Tilsit to meet Napoleon.

In that little tent in the town, Napoleon was quickly enamored by her beauty, agreeing to many compromises in the treatment of Prussia.

He later mentioned, “She was very charming, extremely seductive to me, but the price I paid was too high.” He even “almost yielded” on core conditions like leaving Magdeburg with Prussia.

Joseph did not expect Louise to apply this strategy on Charles.

One could imagine, even someone as skilled in romantic affairs as Napoleon couldn’t resist her tactics; the young Charles was certainly “a sheep entering the tiger’s den.”

Fortunately, that Prussian Noble was a big mouth, otherwise, who knows how long Charles would be controlled by this woman.

Lavallette paused with him, adding, “Your Highness, from what we obtained from her personal physician, she should not have any diseases.”

Joseph nodded, looking at the Security Director, “Then, what does she intend to gain from Charles?”

“We can only guess a part, Your Highness,” Lavallette replied, “Firstly, Prince Charles once asked Mr. Godan if the war reparations from Prussia could be turned into a loan, falsely claiming he bought Prussian railway bonds, suggesting that deferring the reparations would significantly increase his returns.”

Joseph exhaled, “How did the Ministry of Finance handle it?”

“Mr. Godan brushed off Prince Charles, making no adjustments.”

“Very well. What else?”

Lavallette took out a notebook and read, “We also noticed that Prince Charles transferred shares of the Alphonse-Boutin Steel Factory under his name to someone named Maréchal not long ago.”

Joseph frowned, “Alphonse-Boutin Steel Factory?”

“It’s a company in Saint-Etienne; they purchased about a third of the coal mines in Nassau, Westphalia, and other places.”

“Please continue.”

“That Maréchal has a coking plant in Cologne, and by holding shares in the Alphonse-Boutin Company, he’s purchasing large amounts of cheap coal. But our investigation found that this coking plant’s output doesn’t exceed 10 tons a month, with most of the purchased coal diverted to Stendal.”

Stendal is a city in western Prussia.

“Recently, the Prussian government also announced several targeted procurement plans funded by their Royal Family, mainly purchasing railway tracks and other steel products. Among the more benefited steel mills, such as the ‘Krupp Iron Foundry’, its production capacity doubled in less than four months due to this plan.”

Joseph’s eyes flashed with a cold smile.

It seems Prussia doesn’t intend to honestly cultivate beets; they are still thinking of making a move militarily.

He was all too familiar with the name Krupp, which would become Germany’s number one armaments factory, manufacturing numerous of the world’s most advanced cannons at the time.

Clearly, without access to the coal and iron mines of the Ruhr District, Prussia now must obtain a large amount of coal from elsewhere to develop its steel industry.

And Charles is the “supplier” Queen Louise selected.

Lavallette cautiously asked, “Your Highness, do you believe Prince Charles should be brought back to the homeland?”

Joseph instinctively wanted to nod but suddenly paused.

He remembered this might be the first time his brother fell for a woman, and forcibly bringing him back would surely trigger his rebellious nature—Charles was currently at the “rebellious phase.”

Even if he could reason with him, it would inevitably leave a psychological scar, or even lead to the case where “what he can’t have is perceived as the best.”

He thought for a moment and said, “Let Charles return on his own initiative.

“You are to coordinate with Governor Trudeun, have him go to Cologne…”

Baron Trudeun is the newly appointed Governor of Aisen, the French enclave on the northwestern side of Prussia.

Lavallette carefully noted it down, somewhat surprised, “Your Highness, do you mean not to manage the Alphonse-Boutin Company’s coal sales to Maréchal?”

The Regent’s earlier instructions mentioned repeatedly utilizing the Alphonse-Boutin Company, and he previously thought it would likely involve confiscating Prussia’s stake in the company.

Joseph smiled and nodded, “Of course, not only do we not need to manage it, but I will also strongly support that Maréchal fellow. And, help Queen Louise achieve her dreams.”