Chapter 107: The Flour Riots
Chapter 107: The Flour Riots
Joseph didn't even need to look to know that the following reports had all been commissioned by him from renowned scholars at the French Academy of Sciences. These individuals lacked Lamarck's academic integrity; after pocketing seven or eight hundred livres each, they took less than half a day to fabricate reports of "severe drought."
Archbishop Brienne patiently waited for him to finish reading the first two reports, then said with a face full of worry, "Your Royal Highness, the subsequent reports all reach similar conclusions. If such a situation truly arises, it will surely lead to serious trouble..."
Joseph inwardly rejoiced. These reports were originally meant to test the waters with Archbishop Brienne, allowing him to naturally bring up the issue of famine response.
He hadn't expected Archbishop Brienne to be so cooperative, bringing it up himself.
In fact, ever since the Tax Bill incident, Archbishop Brienne had developed a habit of consulting the Crown Prince whenever major issues arose.
"Just like what happened in Normandy the year before last, oh, and even earlier in Burgundy and Reims," Archbishop Brienne said, looking at Joseph. "Actually, I was just about to report this to Her Majesty the Queen, so we could prepare in advance for..."
Joseph thought he was about to say "relief provisions" and was preparing to nod in agreement, only to hear Archbishop Brienne say, "prepare the army in advance, to deal with potential riots."
Joseph almost sputtered in exasperation. 'So, after all that, your plan is to suppress it with force?'
For over a decade, natural disasters had been frequent, leading to poor harvests across France and, consequently, numerous "Flour Riots."
From Reims to Burgundy, then to Normandy, and even in the regions surrounding Paris, starving people stormed into bakeries or the homes of great nobles, stealing flour and bread, and leaving behind some money at what they considered a fair price.
This behavior even had a specific term: the "People's Tax."
The most recent Flour Riot had occurred in Normandy the year before last. To suppress the uprising, the French government deployed over 20,000 soldiers and arrested more than 500 people, barely managing to quell the unrest.
And currently, the French government was utterly broke, completely unable to provide disaster relief funds. Seeing the signs of famine, Archbishop Brienne genuinely had no other option besides preparing the army for suppression.
Joseph set the reports aside. "Archbishop Brienne," he said, "I have actually seen these reports through other channels before. I came here today precisely to discuss this matter with you."
"Oh? And what does Your Royal Highness propose?"
"We should find a way to provide food for the populace, preventing riots from occurring. As you know, both riots and military suppression cause severe damage to the local regions."
Archbishop Brienne said with a pained expression, "Your Royal Highness, you are correct, but given our financial situation..."
Joseph quickly cut to the chase:
"If we promote the cultivation of potatoes nationwide, we can largely offset the impact of natural disasters.
"On the same amount of land, potatoes can yield four to six times as much as wheat.
"Prussia and Austria have also frequently suffered natural disasters in recent years, yet they've experienced far fewer famines than we have. In fact, their agricultural productivity cannot compare to France's at all."
At that time, Prussia and Austria still operated under serfdom, and their agricultural productivity was quite low.
"The only reason they were able to weather the crisis was through large-scale potato cultivation. Without this extremely high-yield crop, the Prusso-Austrian War ten years ago probably wouldn't have lasted even two months."
He was referring to the War of the Bavarian Succession. Both Prussian and Austrian forces, lacking supplies, subsisted on freshly dug potatoes and stubbornly fought for a full year. Consequently, this conflict also became known as the "Potato War."
In reality, at present, only Catholic nations in France and Italy were highly resistant to potatoes; elsewhere in Europe, potatoes had long been a staple on people's tables.
Joseph tapped the reports on the table. "If we also cultivate potatoes on a large scale, even if a disaster causes reduced yields, the harvest will still be far greater than that of grains. Then, the government would only need to spend a small amount on disaster relief to weather the crisis."
Archbishop Brienne still looked troubled. "Your Royal Highness, I am familiar with this crop, and the method you propose is certainly worth a try.
"However, to widely promote potatoes still requires a significant amount of funds. Moreover, farmers are very resistant to potatoes..."
Joseph knew he was right. Farmers typically purchased seeds for the next season in advance. If you suddenly asked them to switch to planting potatoes, most would be unwilling and couldn't afford to buy the potatoes needed for planting.
He pondered for a moment, then told Archbishop Brienne, "I will find a way to address people's resistance to eating potatoes. Of course, this will also require the Church's cooperation in promoting it.
"As for the money to buy the potatoes, you can allocate a portion from the treasury, and I will cover the rest.
"You will need to send people to purchase large quantities of potatoes from the northeastern provinces and transport them to other provinces. Distribute them free of charge to farmers for planting, and after the harvest, they will only need to repay two-thirds of the amount."
"If no one truly wishes to plant them, leave the potatoes in the local area and store them as emergency relief food."
Archbishop Brienne calculated roughly and said with a frown, "Your Royal Highness, to achieve a sufficient planting scale, at least five million livres must be invested, but the government treasury can only provide a maximum of one million."
Joseph nodded. "Very well, within half a month, I will arrange a loan of four million livres for the government through the French Reserve Bank."
Although he didn't have much ready cash on hand, he could pledge his shares in the paper mill to Mirabeau and others to borrow a sum, and then sell some shares of Paris Angel. Gathering around four million wouldn't be difficult.
And in a few months, Paris Fashion Week would bring in substantial profits.
The two then discussed the details of the potato promotion effort, after which Archbishop Brienne summoned his subordinates and began to formulate a detailed potato promotion plan.
This undertaking sounded simple, but it involved the food production of all France, with many intricate and trivial matters, and was certainly not something that could be implemented casually.
For example, how many potatoes to transport to each region, and how to allocate them if some areas were willing to plant or needed more. Once potatoes were shipped out of the northeastern provinces, how would new potatoes be purchased from Prussia or Austria to replenish their rations? How would the Church accompany the potato transport teams to convince farmers to change their prejudice against potatoes, and so on.
All of this required extremely detailed planning.
Seeing that he had nothing more to help with, Joseph prepared to take his leave.
Archbishop Brienne escorted him to the gates of Versailles, still asking with apprehension, "Your Royal Highness, do you truly have a way to make those farmers willing to eat potatoes?"
Joseph sighed and nodded. "Please rest assured. With continuous promotion, even if only two or three out of ten people accept potatoes, it will play a significant role in alleviating the famine."
In truth, he had already instructed Denico yesterday to begin printing informational pamphlets about potatoes, and he had already planned more promotional methods in his mind, which would soon be implemented.
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