Chapter 1321: 1226: The Railway Is the Main Artery

Chapter 1321: Chapter 1226: The Railway Is the Main Artery

One hour later.

The Minister of Transportation almost had a gleam in his eyes upon hearing that he had received 27,000 free laborers, all robust workers.

“This is wonderful, Your Highness,” he quickly estimated in his mind, saying, “The construction progress of the Nancy railway will accelerate by about 30%, and we can reduce the construction cost by 3.5 million francs!”

“Only 3.5 million?” Joseph felt a bit disappointed, “I thought we could save more.”

Theresa quickly explained, “Your Highness, actually we won’t be able to employ more than 9,000 prisoners of war on the Nancy line. You know, the scale of the construction site is only so large, and sending more people would be difficult to utilize effectively.

“Moreover, some of the work with higher technical requirements, those Russians can’t do either.

“At the same time, managing so many people also requires considerable expense, even if we don’t pay them wages, we still have to feed them.”

Actually, this is already a big win for France, as it speeds up the construction while reducing expenses.

Joseph furrowed his brow, with 18,000 prisoners of war remaining, it seems they can only be sent to Tripoli to plant potatoes.

Such excellent labor, it’s really a bit wasteful.

Theresa glanced at the Crown Prince’s expression, hesitating a bit, “Your Highness, I know the country is currently focusing all efforts on the war…

“But I think perhaps the saved expenses could be used for building the Luxembourg to Verdun railway. Oh, of course, it will still require a bit of additional funding.

“You see, it’s only over 50 kilometers from Luxembourg to Verdun, if connected by rail, it can lower the cost of quality steel for the Nancy industrial area by a quarter, and transport coal from Lorraine to Luxembourg in large quantities. Moreover, this project can better utilize those free laborers.”

Joseph nodded slightly at this.

This railway line is indeed significant. Although Lorraine has large iron mines, it produces low-grade brown iron ore, so for the past two years, Nancy has been buying a lot of high-quality iron ore from Luxembourg.

At the same time, Luxembourg itself doesn’t have any coal mines. In recent years, as the coal and iron industries in the Walloon Region have continued to develop, Luxembourg’s ironworks operation rates have been decreasing, almost turning into only an iron ore exporter.

If there is a railway, coal from Lorraine can be transported to Luxembourg at a lower cost, helping these ironworks regain vitality.

He looked at Theresa, “So how much more investment is needed?”

“About 3 million francs, Your Highness.”

Joseph sighed. France’s mobilization was very successful; in just over a month, approximately 120,000 new recruits were enlisted, even though the southern provinces were slower and their numbers weren’t counted yet.

But as the influx of new recruits continued, military expenditures also increased rapidly. Many military uniforms were produced with funds advanced by textile factories.

He was genuinely uncertain if the Ministry of Finance could squeeze out an extra 3 million in free cash.

Fortunately, Finance Minister Godan was at the Palace of Versailles at this time and was quickly brought into the Crown Prince’s audience chamber by Eman.

Joseph briefly explained the construction of the Luxembourg-Verdun railway to Godan and then said, “This will require an additional investment of 3 million francs. If the finances are tight, you can plan to issue a third round of war bonds…”

“No need to issue bonds, Your Highness,” Godan immediately replied, “Actually, I’m currently discussing the latest loan agreement with the Bank of France Reserve, and we can temporarily increase the loan limit by 3 million francs.”

“The Bank of France Reserve?” Joseph was a bit puzzled, “They still have funds?”

He spoke lightly because when France began preparing for war, the Bank of France Reserve had already drained the funding pool considerably.

Godan smiled and nodded, “Yes, Your Highness. Recently, the enthusiasm for savings among the public has been remarkably high, with the Bank of France Reserve seeing a deposit increase of 18 million francs within a month. Mr. Lafitte believes that at least 10 million francs could be used for government loans.

“Moreover, the deposit amount continues to rise.”

Joseph indeed didn’t expect that “Citizens’ property is sacred and inviolable” would bring about such an effect.

Since John Law created the “Mississippi Bubble Event,” French people, especially older ones, have been cautious of the Bank of France.

Although the event occurred 78 years ago, French people still have the habit of holding cash.

But now, with clear legal protection, people naturally want to earn bank interest. If it weren’t for so many buying bonds previously, this wave of savings would have been even more aggressive.

In essence, the underlying logic of finance is always confidence.

Upon hearing that the Ministry of Finance just obtained a loan of over ten million francs, Theresa immediately started calculating again, rubbing her hands together with a smile, “Your Highness, if a bit more funding can be allocated, the railway could be extended to Trier. That location is only less than 40 kilometers from Luxembourg, and the terrain is flat…”

Joseph replied bluntly, “Focus on planning the Verdun to Luxembourg segment first, we’ll talk about other extensions later.”

Actually, connecting Trier by railway is also very important for France. Trier is a transportation hub in the Rhineland; building the railway here effectively revives the entire Rhineland’s economy.

Additionally, France’s efficiency in dispatching troops to the Rhineland region via railway would increase significantly compared to before.

From this point, it’s evident that Theresa, the Minister of Transportation, has thoughtfully researched France’s strategic layout.

It’s just that France has to conduct a national war now and indeed doesn’t have funds to initiate large-scale construction projects.

Shortly after Theresa and Godan left, Talleyrand rushed in.

“Your Highness,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs made a chest salute, “News just arrived from Milan, the Mediterranean Security Organization meeting did not pass the proposal to split Sardinia.”

Joseph immediately frowned, “What happened?”

Talleyrand quickly explained, “The Milanese negotiation representative insists that Osta to Brusson should be allocated to our country. The Security Organization is currently revising the proposal.”

Joseph finally smiled. The Milan people are indeed considerate.

Osta is a small region, mostly on the Alps, with only Brusson Town at the foot of the mountain.

It seems these small Northern Italian countries feel uneasy handing over Sardinian land without France taking action, so they insist on giving France a piece too.

He nodded, “Then let it be, complete the voting as soon as possible.”

Even a small piece has value; besides, at least half of the population in the Osta region speaks French, making integration relatively easy.

Talleyrand continued, “Moreover, there’s the issue of war reparations from Sardinia.

“Sardinia hopes the compensation does not exceed 10 million francs.

“Sardinia has a total of 7 million francs worth of deposits and investments in Milan and Genoa, and both nations have indicated they can directly transfer them to our country.”

Joseph’s eyes lit up; it seems the railway to Trier can begin construction.