Chapter 498: 411: England's New Strategy - Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 498: Chapter 411: England’s New Strategy

Old Mr. Grenville sighed and continued to persuade:

“But now, with this mess… you could very well become the scapegoat for the future disasters. I mean, the Marquess of Wellesley is an extremely outstanding politician, and even he’s been left in a rather sorry state.”

“You’re absolutely right,” said Lord Grenville, nodding earnestly, “I’ve never been very outstanding since I was a child, far less so in politics and strategy than the Marquess of Wellesley, uh, and not as much as the former Foreign Minister, the Duke of Leeds either.”

He smiled somewhat awkwardly: “To tell you the truth, I still haven’t quite understood by what trickery the French people managed to defeat the Marquess of Wellesley.”

“Then you still…?”

Lord Grenville straightened his back and said, “However, I grew up among those excellent fellows, so I learned a skill, which is to quickly recognize others’ strengths.”

“Hmm, so?”

“What do you think has kept the French undefeated in their recent encounters with England?”

Old Mr. Grenville was startled, shaking his head:

“I’m old, these international matters have long since become too complex for me to understand.”

His nephew said with a smile:

“Actually, I haven’t figured it out either. But I’ve discovered a tremendous strength of the French—over these two years, their international environment has been exceptionally good. This has allowed them to leverage external forces in everything they do. We, er, were even questioned by all of Europe not long ago for ‘encouraging the export of revolution to the Southern Netherlands’.”

If Joseph had heard this conversation, he would have surely given Lord Grenville a thumbs-up and then told him that it was all the international environment painstakingly created by his elder brother—who would have guessed they’d read history books?

Old Mr. Grenville’s gaze sharpened, and he nodded slowly:

“That is indeed the case, so what do you plan to do?”

…

The Palace of Versailles.

In the spacious palace theater, a wave of excited discussion emerged:

“Wow, it’s His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he’s really on stage!”

“He’s truly so handsome; my heart is melting…”

“The Prince looked at me, did you see? He’s looking at me!”

“Your Highness, you’re truly perfect, who could possibly capture your heart…”

Joseph, dressed in a costume of blue and white, ascended the stage. He first made a respectful bow to today’s “birthday star,” Queen Mary, and then began his performance.

After several bouts of rehearsal, he had overcome his previous embarrassment and confidently picked up the glass bottle from the wooden table, took a large gulp, and then, looking at the bottle in his hand, praised:

“Indeed, you need a bottle of Paris Cola to enhance the efficiency of alchemy!”

As he finished his line, several servants who were prepared in advance distributed exquisite glass bottles to the aristocrats in the front rows.

The recipients curiously examined them, seeing the label “Paris Cola” on them, with “Royal Endorsed Beverage” written in small letters below.

Realizing this was the very drink the Crown Prince was enjoying, they all uncapped their bottles and began to taste.

“Er—” A duke couldn’t help but let out a loud burp, feeling a sudden relief throughout his body, while the sweet taste accompanied the burp to his tongue, utterly delightful.

Ignoring the indecorous nature of his burp just then, he immediately chugged several more gulps of Paris Cola, squinting his eyes with pleasure.

This effervescent beverage was simply fantastic! He decided on the spot that he would buy several crates to store in his cellar.

The nobles who hadn’t received a drink at the back rows craned their necks to watch those in front enjoying big sips, and they couldn’t help but swallow hard with envy.

It wasn’t that Joseph hadn’t prepared enough drinks; he had deliberately employed a hunger marketing strategy—the less available the drink, the more delicious it must be perceived to be.

In the VIP seats in the center of the second floor, Louis XVI also let out a burp and raised his glass bottle to Queen Mary beside him:

“You must try this. How does our son always manage to come up with such amazing surprises?”

Then Alexandra, playing the role of Annie, made her entrance and headed straight for her cousin Hurter, but first, she raised her hand to caress the tall bookshelf:

“The precious alchemical tomes of the family must be stored in cabinets made of synthetic boards to be truly safe.”

Joseph nodded, “You’re absolutely right. Furniture made from synthetic boards is not only sturdy and durable, outlasting ordinary wood furniture by several times, but it’s also naturally resistant to insects, which reduces the risk of the books being damaged by pests.”

“Where might one purchase such novel and excellent furniture?”

“I’ve heard that a new furniture store called ‘Liveable’ has just opened in the southwest of the Louvre District…”

The nobles in the audience who had seen other troupes perform this scene were stunned—how was this completely different from the previous performances?

Shouldn’t Annie and Hurter be discussing the matters of fifth-level alchemy? Why had they started talking about furniture?

However, that “synthetic board furniture” they spoke of, what exactly was it? It sounded truly magical…

London.

10 Downing Street.

“Have a taste, this is one of my prized selections,” William Pitt Junior offered a glass of wine to his old friend, “Now, based on what you said, how should we break the French’s diplomatic advantage?”

Lord Grenville smiled as he sniffed the aroma of the wine:

“Firstly, we can’t be too greedy. If we try to grab everything, we’ll end up with nothing. Take the Southern Netherlands, for instance. To keep it out of Austria’s hard-to-control hands, we expended a great deal of funds and diplomatic resources, only for France to end up with Luxembourg.”

William Pitt Junior nodded thoughtfully, “Please continue.”

“And this has pushed Austria toward France,” Grenville continued, “Now is the time to give up on the Southern Netherlands.

“Austria will be grateful to us, and it will make France less significant.

“Furthermore, Prussia retracting its forces back to Silesia will put more military pressure on Austria, and we can take the opportunity to mediate between the two countries.

“Then, whether we divert Austria’s attention to Serbia or Poland, we can minimize their dependency on France.

“This is the international situation we need. A head-on ‘duel’ with the French will only deplete our strength; using the power of other nations to deal with them is the correct path to victory.”

“Abandoning the Southern Netherlands strategy…” William Pitt Junior inhaled deeply, “This will make the attacks from the Whig Party against me even fiercer.”

“I will do my utmost to persuade the old fellows in the party,” Grenville said with a smile, raising his glass, “Once we curb the French momentum, they will naturally be satisfied.”

…

France.

Palace of Versailles.

Louis XVI lifted the glass bottle and offered it to his son, who was dripping with sweat:

“Joseph, perhaps you could use a drink.”

Queen Mary said with a beaming smile:

“Dear, you performed brilliantly! Oh, and Alexandra was exceptional too; you both look so well-matched. I mean on the stage, of course.”