Thereafter, Eman presented the report sent by the officials from Marseille.
Joseph unfolded the report and after reading just a few lines, his eyebrows involuntarily raised.
The report said that the King of Spain had sent a total of 1.8 million livres' worth of grain, and its quality was quite good.𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
You should know that although the drought had a smaller impact on Spain, it still had an effect. That Charles III squeezed out such a large quantity of grain to give as a gift showed tremendous sincerity!
Two days later, a special envoy of Charles III arrived in Paris, first visiting Louis XVI and the Queen, and then hurriedly sought out Joseph.
After the exchange of routine formalities, the envoy requested Joseph to send the others away before taking out a personal letter from Charles III, which he handed over with great respect.
"Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, His Majesty the King sincerely thanks you on his behalf," said the envoy, his expression somewhat awkward. "You have helped the Royal Family maintain the purity of its bloodline, and... ah, you have kept the secret for His Highness Antonio."
"His Majesty the King learned of the hail disaster that France had recently suffered, so he sent some grain to express his condolences."
Joseph nodded to himself, thinking that Charles III was indeed one of Spain's enlightened monarchs, handling interpersonal courtesies quite perfectly. It was a pity that the old gentleman was already a fading light, unable to hold on much longer; otherwise, Spain could have offered France even more support.
The envoy continued, "As for the Crown Princess, His Majesty the King has already sent people to keep an eye on her, please be at ease."
As Joseph had predicted, upon learning that Louisa had engaged in an affair with his son and the Crown Prince of France right before their eyes, Charles III immediately exploded with fury. He ordered the Crown Princess to not step outside the palace and arranged for a lady-in-waiting to follow her 24/7.
If it were not for the fact that Spain was a devout Catholic nation and divorce was not taken lightly, the old gentleman would have definitely had his son divorce her.
Although the Spanish nobility did not know what exactly had transpired with Louisa, it was obvious that the King held her in disregard, and as a result, they all began to distance themselves from her, especially important high-ranking officials.
Originally, since Charles III's health was failing, many state affairs had already been handed over to Antonio to handle. However, the latter, immersed in machinery and hunting, had delegated these tasks to Louisa.
Now, Spanish officials would rather bring their documents to Antonio's workshop and force him to deal with them than allow Louisa to be involved once more.
Of course, given Antonio's "ear-pulling" character, once Charles III passed away and met with the Creator, the restrictions imposed on Louisa would gradually diminish, but this incident had severely reduced her political standing and the chances of her solely wielding Spain's power in the future had likely diminished significantly.
...
A "gemstone"-shaped carriage with a brand-new design sped past Mirabeau, kicking up dust that covered his face.
Mirabeau frowned as he took the handkerchief handed to him by a servant, wiping off the dust from his face and body, and couldn't help but shake his head.
There were already many tram services in Paris, with five intersecting lines that could reach every corner of the city, but many nobles, feeling it beneath their dignity to share a carriage with commoners, still chose to travel by horse-drawn carriage instead.
In reality, these tram cars, even when carrying more than twenty people, were faster than the average carriage.
Capitalist Nobility like him—the term proposed by the Crown Prince was now widely accepted—dismissed such attitudes with contempt.
He grumbled to himself: Nobility is derived from their wealth, capabilities, and efforts, not from whom they share a carriage with. All citizens should be equal; an incompetent or morally deficient noble is no match for those intelligent and industrious commoners. On what basis do they believe themselves to be inherently superior?
Although many of Rousseau's views were nonsensical, he was quite correct on the subject of equality. Those people should really read his book...
Mirabeau shook his head again at the thought and dismissed it; Rousseau's ideas were too dangerous, and most nobles, unlike himself, did not possess discernment—no telling what adverse effect it might have on them after reading it.
The ringing of a bell sounded, and Mirabeau collected his thoughts, straightened his collar, and stepped onto the tram that looked like an oversized cigar.
The commoners on the tram, recognizing his attire, conscientiously stood up to offer him a seat and maintained a certain distance.
Mirabeau, without being courteous, sat in the most satisfactory seat and took the "Paris Commercial News" from his servant.
Just as the carriage had not gone far, Mirabeau smelled a foul stench through the window.
He frowned and looked out, only to see several blackened, highly decomposed corpses hanging from the street lamp on the roadside—the suffocating smell was emanating from there.
Without needing to ask, he knew these were the bodies of Barbary pirates who had been hanged recently, as well as Bouvarandere, who had murdered Necker.
Mirabeau signaled his servant to close the window, shook his head, and muttered softly, "Although he deserved to die, hanging a former banker alongside pirates is still somewhat inappropriate..."
He then buried his head in his newspaper; the headline of the front-page news made his eyelids twitch—"Marquis of Ludo, Second Chairman of the Banking Guild, Assassinated, Gravely Wounded, Assailant Captured on the Spot."
He read the news detail eagerly, turning out that someone named Elonc had sneaked into Marquis of Ludo's villa in the middle of the night and shot the Marquis in the thigh with a pistol.
Elonc Mirabeau, as a capitalist, naturally had frequent dealings with banks, and knew this man was Necker's steward, whose death was likely linked to the Marquis of Ludo.
Mirabeau heaved a sigh and thought wistfully, "This steward is truly a loyal servant who values deep relationships..."
Before long, the carriage stopped outside the University of Paris.
Mirabeau and his servants and guards alighted, to be greeted by a large group of the school's senior officials, who bowed and greeted him attentively.
Now a Minister of Industry, he was a senior official who could speak before the King; naturally, the school authorities did not dare to neglect him.
Like stars circling the moon, the group escorted Mirabeau to the main building engraved with the word "Sorbonne," where colourful ribbons were everywhere, bands played in unison, and the wooden sign at the entrance bore gold-embossed letters — The French Standards Committee Measurement Standards Release Conference.
The journalists lingering outside recognized Mirabeau. Dozens of them suddenly gathered around, bombarding him with loud questions.
With the guards' escort, Mirabeau made his way through the crowd of journalists and headed to the first floor's hall with the school officials, where many old friends awaited.
The venue was an assembly of stars, with nearly all of France's famous academics present if they could attend. There were even a large number of foreign scholars present.
With Mirabeau at the forefront, all government officials related to the industrial sector had also arrived, along with people from Paris City Hall, packing the large hall so tightly there was barely room to move.
It took Mirabeau over ten minutes to exchange greetings with everyone before he finally managed to take his seat at the front and heave a sigh of relief.
He glanced at his watch; there was still a little time before the conference would start. He started a conversation with the thin-faced, bushy-browed, long-nosed middle-aged man beside him, "Dear Sylvain, how's the situation in Nancy?"
The middle-aged man showed a weary smile, "Look, assigning me such a high position has really put me in a tough spot. I've been busy for over two months, and only one-third of the track to the mining area in Nancy is finished. I'm utterly exhausted.
"The good news is that a large coal mine has been discovered on the western side of the mine, and the coal seam is quite shallow. Now, the daily coal production is tens of thousands of pounds, and it is still expanding."
"You've done very well, indeed," praised Mirabeau, "That area is rather remote and funds are tight; laying the tracks is certainly no easy task."
This scholar named Jean Sylvain Bailly was the current assistant to the Minister of Industry of France. At the time Mirabeau recommended him, he worried there would be resistance, but the Crown Prince seemed to appreciate him and agreed immediately.
Joseph certainly remembered Bailly, a Feuillants party heavyweight with decent administrative skills, and as a scientist, was quite suitable for the industrial position.
Bailly continued, "I'll try to speed up. Perhaps you could allocate more British technicians to me. I must admit, they lay the tracks remarkably fast.
"Once this railroad is finished, the output of the United Steam Engine Company will soar. That British engineer is always complaining to me about the lack of pig iron, while the mine area is full of iron ore."
Mirabeau nodded; France was suffering from a severe drought, and pumping machines, that is, steam engines, were crucial for ensuring agricultural output. The Crown Prince had repeatedly instructed that production must be increased as quickly as possible.
He contemplated, "Some crude iron has been shipped by Russian merchant ships recently. I'll see about getting some for the steam engine factories."
The quality of Russian iron ore was somewhat superior to France's, but the transportation costs were also higher. To resolve the iron shortage, it would be necessary to expedite the exploration of iron mines in France and enhance smelting techniques.
Mirabeau added, "Once the track construction in Nancy is finished, you'll need to head to Saint-Etienne."
Bailly looked surprised, "You mean the new industrial development area there?"
"Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already asked me to prepare the planning proposal."
"But that would require a substantial investment, wouldn't it?"
Mirabeau smiled slightly, "Do you know about the Bank of France Reserve issuing banknotes?"
"Of course, I do. Half of the salary I received last month was in banknotes," Bailly's tone was clearly disgruntled. There is currently only one branch of the Bank of France Reserve in the entire Lorraine Province, a bit far from Nancy, and he had wasted quite a bit of coach fare to exchange the banknotes for silver coins.
And that is for those in the provinces. If you were an official in Paris, your salary would be entirely in banknotes.𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Mirabeau lowered his voice, "As far as I know, the Cabinet will soon pass the 'Banking Industry Management Bill.'
"What is that?"
"Essentially, it means all banks will be under governmental supervision. For example, banks will have to undergo fiscal inspection by the government, accept banknotes from the Bank of France Reserve, and moreover, hand over 10% of their deposits as a reserve fund."
Upon hearing that banknotes could be exchanged at any bank, Bailly's expression instantly brightened, but then he asked, "What do you mean by 'reserve fund'?"
"It's meant to prevent the bank from accidentally going bankrupt and being unable to pay back depositors. Therefore, 10% of the funds must be given to the government for safekeeping. If anything goes wrong with the bank, the government can return this money to depositors. It's said that this 10% is just the start; later on, the proportion may be increased."
Reserve requirements are a common financial regulatory tool in later eras, but they first appeared in the mid-19th century. This is also one of the major powers of central banks in various countries.
After these past few months, the Bank of France Reserve had completed the absorption and reorganization of the banks it had merged with. Thus, implementing the "Banking Industry Management Bill" and completing the transformation of the Bank of France Reserve into a central bank was immediately put on the agenda.
What Mirabeau didn't know was that the "Banking Industry Management Bill" would also stipulate that the banknotes issued by the Bank of France Reserve would become the sole legal tender of France, with their value directly linked to gold and silver. The current practice of paying officials with paper currency was to get everyone accustomed to it ahead of time.
With a central bank in place, along with the enactment of the banking law, any bank that wanted to collude with officials to profit or threaten the French government with loans would have to think twice.
As for any banks that might object?
There just weren't any.
Almost half of the big shots in the Banking Guild were under Joseph's control. The influential banks in Paris had mostly signed agreements to accept paper currency, coupled with the government's focus on financial issues, and the current influence of the Bank of France Reserve, non-compliant banks were destined to be only knocked about.
Mirabeau's voice dropped even lower: "The Crown Prince hinted to me that the reserve funds collected by the Bank of France Reserve would be channeled into the Industrial Development Fund."
Bailly immediately understood and smiled with comprehension. The Industrial Development Fund was intended to support French industry; as long as the fund had money, it would naturally be invested in the development zones.
As they were speaking, Venio from the row behind came over, bowed to them, and then asked Mirabeau, "Count Mirabeau, excuse my boldness, but I heard that the Cabinet is going to issue a 'Guild Restructuring Bill,' is that true?"
Now serving as a Commissioner for Industrial Technical Management, subordinate to the Minister of Industry, Mirabeau didn't hide it from him: "Indeed there is such a bill, and it is to be implemented soon."
"According to the Crown Prince's wishes, all existing guilds will be abolished. The government will organize personnel uniformly, assess the technical abilities of craftsmen, and issue certificates."
Enthused, Venio said that his job was to promote the transformation of old workshops into factories, but the current guild system caused him great impediments. In some places, guilds even threatened workshops en masse, forbidding any improvements in management.
Mirabeau continued, "But as you know, guilds have a substantial influence, so abolishing them will have to be carried out gradually. The first step might be to turn the current guild leaders into government employees and then abolish the apprenticeship system. To completely remove the guilds' influence on factory production will take at least a year or two, or even longer."
At that moment, academics such as Lavoisier, Lagrange, Monge, Condorcet, and others arrived at the front of the hall.
The Chancellor of the University of Paris presided over the meeting in person, made some routine pleasantries and exchanges, and then announced loudly, "The French standards of measure will be officially published today!"