Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 752: Chapter 660: Monopolizing Mediterranean Trade Chapter 752: Chapter 660: Monopolizing Mediterranean Trade “I understand your good intentions,” Mekka Mohammed adjusted his large white turban and stood straight, “However, His Majesty the Sultan has already decided that our country’s trade will now lean entirely towards England.”

Talleyrand shook his head, “The girl you’re enchanted with might still be smiling sweetly at you, but you may not know that she turns around and meets with your enemy.

“Ah, I mean the one who took the Northern Border Peninsula from your home.”

The only peninsula in the northernmost part of the Ottoman Empire is Cremea, so he clearly referred to Russia.

Mekka Mohammed squinted his eyes, “Russian-British trade relations have always been close, but this does not affect the increasing number of British merchant ships coming to Constantinople.

“Moreover, the massive commercial influence of England on Russia can sometimes be used to help us balance Russia.”

“Ha ha,” Talleyrand laughed heartily, “You actually have expectations for a fickle woman?

“Oh, you just mentioned merchant ships.

“I almost forgot, the main reason I came to see you was to talk about merchant ships.”

A flicker of displeasure crossed the face of the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, “Although your country has obtained control of the ports of Tunis and Tripoli through some improper means, British merchant ships can completely bypass these places, take rowers from Mitidja, and then go directly to Constantinople.”

“I must remind you that our country was merely clearing out pirates. These pirates were all from Anatolia. The Duke of Tunis was grateful for our country’s act of justice, and thus decided to pledge loyalty to His Majesty the King,” Talleyrand first rebutted righteously, then changed to a business-like tone,
“Let’s get back to merchant ships. You should be well aware that the rowers who embark from Mitidja will exhaust their strength by the time they reach Egypt. Afterward, they either have to stay several days in Alexandria or take on new rowers there.

“Either way, it will significantly increase the transportation cost.”

Mekka Mohammed seemed to lose patience a bit, “This small cost is acceptable, Mr. Talleyrand. If you plan to use this as a bargaining chip, I’m afraid…”

Talleyrand deeply inhaled the aroma of his coffee, showing an intoxicated expression, “This coffee cannot be found even in the Palace of Versailles. Oh, if this cup of coffee could be delivered to France within 6 days, I believe it could sell for more than 1 franc.”

“6 days?” The Grand Vizier shook his head, “If it’s an emergency shipment, the cost of this cup of coffee would exceed 8 francs.”

People mention coffee, and most will think of Europe’s coffee culture, subconsciously regarding it as the center of the coffee trade.

In fact, the Ottoman Empire is the coffee powerhouse at this time. From Yemen to Ethiopia, they produced more than a third of the coffee Europe required, making it an important export commodity of the Ottoman Empire.

Less than a hundred years ago, this figure was 90%! It was only when Indonesia and America began cultivating coffee extensively that the Ottoman monopoly was broken, but Yemeni coffee continues to dominate in both quality and price.

The “emergency transport” mentioned by Mekka Mohammed refers to ignoring the life and death of rowers, allowing ships to pass through the Mediterranean at the fastest speed, usually only used for delivering urgent messages.

But if used in the commercial field, the cost would be prohibitively high.

Just like the 8 francs coffee he just mentioned. In the Ottoman Levant Port, its price would not exceed 2 sous; everything else is the cost of the rowers.

Talleyrand pleasantly swirled his coffee cup, smiling as he said, “What if my merchant ships can maintain a speed over 8 knots without using rowers?”

“How could that be possible?” Mekka Mohammed said. “Simply relying on sails would not achieve such speed.”

“By using coal. The steamships from Brittany have already started production and can reach here from France in just six days,” Talleyrand replied, his tone somewhat proud.

“The cost is only slightly higher than that of regular sailing ships. Oh, and if British ships resupply in Algiers, then the cost would even exceed that of the steamships.”

Yes, steam paddle ships mainly operate on inland waterways, but they could be used perfectly well on the calm seas of the Mediterranean.

Of course, currently, only around Tunisia in the coastal Mediterranean are there scant amounts of coal, so acquiring coal along the route is very difficult. Merchant ships could only carry large amounts of coal when they set sail, which reduced cargo capacity.

However, that did not stop Talleyrand from using the bright prospects to impress the Ottoman People.

Mekka Mohammed’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Are you serious?”

“Look, I am the most straightforward person,” Talleyrand gestured westward, “A steam transport ship will arrive at the port in three days; you can see for yourself.

“Oh, that ship set off from Nantes when I left Marseille. It traversed a great part of France and arrived only three days after me.”

Indeed, after Talleyrand had returned to Marseille and signed the trade promotion agreement with Mohammed, he heard the news from Brest Shipyard about the production of steam paddle ships and immediately realized their potential for renegotiating trade with the Ottoman People.

However, his main reason for rushing back to Constantinople was that the Crown Prince had given him a diplomatic task regarding the situation in Poland.

Upon hearing this, Mekka Mohammed felt a storm surge in his heart.

If there really were such ships that did not need rowers and could maintain high speeds, one could foresee that the Mediterranean shipping would soon be monopolized by them!

You see, the major limiting factor for the sailing ships was not the cost, but the rowers.

At every port, be it Alexandria or Levant, one could see a multitude of merchant ships lining up to hire rowers every day. Of course, wealthy shipowners could buy slaves to row, but that cost was astronomically high, and slaves also needed regular rest to recuperate.

Any merchant wishing to send goods to Italy or France would undoubtedly opt for the unrestricted travel of a steamship. This ensured that their goods arrived on time.

Moreover, the steamships were much faster by nature—it usually took 12 days or even half a month for ordinary sailing ships to travel from Constantinople to Marseille.

No wonder the lame man before him confidently stated that France would become the Ottoman Empire’s biggest trading partner.

They indeed could not eat an entire sheep at once, but perhaps in the future, the meat from his own shop would need to be shipped out on their vessels.

With such a significant gap in costs and efficiency, no bans would be effective. His merchant ships would take goods out of the port and immediately transfer them to the steamships waiting off-shore. Anyone not doing this would be unable to compete.

The Grand Vizier suddenly thought of a problem and put his hand on Talleyrand’s coffee cup: “The British would not sit idly by as you monopolize Mediterranean shipping. Their fleet would control the entire Aegean Sea up to the Gulf of Sidra.”