Joseph pondered for a moment and signaled to Eman: "Please have Archbishop Brienne and Archbishop Talleyrand come see me immediately. Oh, and Mr. Lavallette as well."
Half an hour later.
After Bailly had briefed the principal Cabinet ministers on the situation, Joseph looked around at everyone and solemnly said:
"The British are stockpiling large quantities of sugar, evidently preparing to short the price of sugar, and even aiming to seize pricing power over sugar."
Brienne and the others all wore worried expressions, glancing at each other with furrowed brows.
Sugar was not only an important fiscal pillar that brought France tens of millions of francs annually, but also the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of French beet farmers.
If sugar prices were to collapse, a huge number of farmers would be bankrupted. When that happens, riots would come as no surprise.
