The Fox of France

Chapter 292: The Key to the World Empire

After reaching a basic agreement, both sides began to discuss the future education of the people of Saint-Domingue.

Dessalines said to Lucien, "I've noticed that France's prosperity is closely tied to its advanced industry and agriculture. Advanced science and technology play a vital role in this equation. We hope that France can assist Saint-Domingue in the field of education."

Lucien responded, "Helping people worldwide achieve prosperity is a responsibility France cannot shirk. France is willing to offer any assistance within our capacity to any nation pursuing freedom, democracy, and prosperity."

So, an agreement was reached regarding the education and training of black officials from Saint-Domingue in France. From now on, Saint-Domingue could send a group of officials to France each year for various technical training. This would help them acquire new ideas and skills to better serve the people of Saint-Domingue.

In reality, this was a way of nurturing France's advocates of interests in Haiti, or, to put it more plainly, creating a pro-French party.

When the Saint-Domingue issue first arose and the three brothers discussed how to handle the situation, Joseph brought up the concept of "soft colonization" versus "hard colonization."

"Our productivity is increasing rapidly, and European demand can hardly support our rapid development. We need more colonies. However, there are two modes of colonization: hard colonization and soft colonization. Hard colonization means seeing a piece of land and then sending troops to seize it, making the indigenous people there slaves or killing them. Then, they put their people there to cultivate the land. This is what the Spanish and British did.

As for 'soft colonization,' there is a precedent for it as well. In the past, Europeans organized 'slave-hunting teams' to capture black slaves in Africa. However, the black people resisted fiercely, and the Europeans suffered losses. Moreover, there were losses during the transport of black slaves, which made the cost of acquiring black slaves too high, and they couldn't be sold, or even if they were sold, they wouldn't make much profit. If this situation continued, the black slave trade would have collapsed long ago.

But some ingenious Europeans invented a high-end method of 'using black to control black.' They no longer captured black slaves themselves but used various industrial goods to buy off certain black tribes, making them attack other tribes and then selling the captured black people to them.

As a result, white people supported one tribe, and other white people supported another tribe. Black people fought against each other, turning other black people into slaves. White people reduced their costs, avoided risks, and made a lot of money. Well, this is the precedent for what I call 'soft colonization.'

However, these operational methods are still too crude and can only be considered at the beginner level of soft colonization. True soft colonization means that this piece of land is not marked as a colony of a certain country on the map but is directly marked as that country. It looks like a completely independent country, but its economy is closely connected to ours. They provide us with raw materials, and we sell industrial goods, or we use them as a base to sell industrial goods to more places.

The rebellion of the black people in Saint-Domingue is just the beginning, indicating that hard colonization is beginning to encounter increasingly significant problems. In the Americas, both North and South, the situation is becoming less optimistic. In North America, with the example of the United States, the stability of Spain's colonies is deteriorating. This is one of the reasons why they were so generous in returning Louisiana to us. But once we take over Louisiana, can we keep it?

France does not have so many surplus populations to transfer to Louisiana, so the population that moves there will primarily come from various European countries. The French will not have a significant advantage, but that is not the most significant issue. The most significant problem is the inherent tendency of traditional hard colonies to separate from the motherland because their interests do not align with the motherland. This is true even if they share the same bloodline and culture."

"So, can soft colonization solve this problem?" Napoleon asked.

"Not necessarily, but it will improve the situation. The hostility of the colony's population will no longer be directly pointed at us; instead, it will be aimed at figures like Dussan Lavidor or Dessalines. This creates an extra layer of buffer. If we can establish a genuine 'democracy' there that allows them to change governors peacefully, avoiding violent revolutions, our control may become more covert and long-lasting. Moreover, by making their economy entirely dependent on us, we can give them a slightly better life, reducing centrifugal forces. Also, we can stir up conflicts between them and neighboring regions, forcing them to rely on our protection."

"Like what's happening between Canada and the United States today?"

"If we can solve the communication technology, we could simply make Louisiana part of mainland France and call it the Province of Louisiana, just like any other province in France. But now, Joseph, when will your contraption be ready? I've already poured so much money into it! If this money were turned into cannons, I could land in Britain," Napoleon exclaimed.

"Rubbish! How much have you spent on this, really?" Joseph retorted. "Land in Britain? Where are you going to land? Dover? Have you even seen the terrain at Dover? The British fortifications there are so strong that you couldn't beat them even if you dragged your entire navy up there! The whole English Channel, on our side at least, is cliffs and steep cliffs. To land, you'd have to go around to Scotland, and with such a long supply line, what are you waiting for? Will that amount of money be enough?"

"That's because of you! It's your invention in Verdun that has turned Dover Fort into what it is now. You're ripping me off!" Napoleon retorted, unfazed, as he swung a massive pot down on Joseph's head.

"It's almost ready, I promise you, Napoleon. The crucial preliminary technology is on the brink of realization. It's really close, and I assure you, Napoleon, give me another month, and I won't need your funds anymore; I can get it done," Joseph responded in a somewhat unusual manner, without the usual argument.

"No, something's not right," Napoleon said. "You must be hiding something from me. You've undoubtedly been taking my money and using it for something else, haven't you, Joseph?"

"Not at all; it's all been spent on research into preliminary technology," Joseph explained. "Moreover, the research itself can be profitable."

"You're using the country's money for personal affairs."

"What country's money? What personal affairs? The country is ours, isn't it? To borrow a line from the Sun King, 'We are the state!' What country's money?" Joseph scoffed.

"All right, I like that saying," Napoleon admitted. "So, tell me, what is this preliminary research of yours and what have you gained that can make money?"

"Well, this involves some highly advanced science. Currently, these things haven't been made public, and very few people know about them. Of course, you can take a look, but whether you'll understand it, I can't guarantee... In any case, based on certain experimental phenomena, along with mathematical calculations, we've drawn a conclusion that there is a form of wave that can travel through space at the speed of light. We call it an electromagnetic wave. We believe this can be used for information transmission, just like sound waves..."

"You told me about this last time; I understand that part. I figured that out," Napoleon said, slightly irritated by Joseph's condescension. "Have you forgotten? It seems your brain is deteriorating."

"Okay, I must have remembered incorrectly," Joseph admitted, unfazed. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Fine, cut to the chase. What exactly is this preliminary research and what can be gained from it?" Napoleon demanded.

"We've developed a lamp that uses electricity for illumination," Joseph explained. "We discovered before that an electric current causes heating. When a conductor becomes very hot due to the current, it emits bright light. This led us to one of our research goals: developing an electric lamp. While researching electric lamps, we stumbled upon a new phenomenon: when one electrified conductor is at a high temperature, it can induce an electric current in another conductor that is not in direct contact with it. Based on this phenomenon, we created a device called the oscillatory circuit, which is a key technology for wireless communication. However, the lifespan of this device is quite short, and it quickly becomes damaged. We combined it with our research on electric lamps and, lately, have finally seen the dawn of success. As for the byproduct, it's the electric lamp for illumination. It won't be long before you can build another grand spectacle in Paris, Napoleon."