Chapter 118: The Old Nobility's Undying Ambition
As ships laden with potatoes harvested from Metz, Lorraine, and other regions began their journey south, Joseph sat in the office of the Director of the Industrial Planning Bureau in Paris, sifting through a thick stack of reports.
A bespectacled official, in his fifties with numerous pockmarks on his face, stood respectfully to the side.
He was the Commissioner for Agricultural Financial Affairs, reporting to the Minister of Finance's office, and these were the documents he had just delivered.
The documents detailed the number of estate owners and farmers in various provinces who had expressed willingness to plant potatoes, along with the proposed planting areas they had submitted.
Since Archbishop Brienne, the Minister of Finance, was currently in Caen negotiating trade with the British, these documents had been sent to Joseph, the second-in-command of finance. Normally, such matters fell under the purview of the Minister of the Interior, but Brienne and Joseph had previously agreed that the promotion of potatoes was too crucial to let that old schemer Monnot get too involved.
Joseph had not even finished half the reports before his brow began to furrow.
Although he had launched an intensive public relations campaign nationwide to promote potatoes, spending forty to fifty thousand livres on printing brochures alone, the Church had been cooperative. Churches in various regions had begun sending people with the new version of "The Last Supper" to preach to their congregations that potatoes were not "devils from the underworld" but "God's gift."
Yet, judging by the planting intentions in various regions, the promotional efforts were far from optimistic.
Apart from northern France, particularly around Lille and Valenciennes, and the provinces near the Rhine River, where potatoes had a relatively high acceptance rate, the land designated for potato cultivation in other areas still accounted for less than 2% of the total arable land...
This diverged significantly from his initial expectations. If only 2% of the land was planted, it would do little to prevent droughts and hailstorms.
He suddenly noticed a new issue in the documents. He quickly re-examined the types of people accepting potato cultivation and looked up at the Agricultural Financial Commissioner beside him. "Viscount Nassienne, why are so few large estates willing to plant potatoes?"
Most of those accepting potato cultivation were independent farmers, with a small number being annual tribute farmers. Across the entire nation, fewer than twenty estates had indicated they would allocate some of their arable land to potatoes. The owners of these estates included the Duchesse de Villars and Count Monnot, among others.
Nassienne hesitated before bowing slightly. "Your Royal Highness, from what I've heard, those estate owners are demanding a reduction in the land tax before they'll consider cultivating potatoes."
Joseph's eyes narrowed at that. The so-called estate owners were the landed nobility.
He had thought the Tax Bill issue was resolved, but these Old Nobility were still unwilling to give up, attempting to leverage their obstruction of government affairs to haggle over the land tax.
The land tax absolutely could not be reduced. Once that precedent was set, not only would the nobility become increasingly emboldened, using various pretexts to demand tax cuts, but it would also severely undermine the authority of the Crown.
Nassienne added, "Your Royal Highness, potatoes can also be eaten directly without being milled into flour. So, planting potatoes would also affect the income of the mills, and therefore..."
Joseph nodded in silent understanding.
According to current French law, ordinary tenant farmers were required to take their grain to mills for grinding and pay a certain "Milling Tax." The owners of these mills were also the Old Nobility. The milling tax was a significant source of income for them.
Given these various factors, it was hardly surprising that they would strongly resist potatoes.
Joseph's brows furrowed even deeper. He hadn't expected his potato plan to encounter so many obstacles before even taking its first step.
These Old Nobility, who occupied vast amounts of land and tenant farmers, only knew how to ruthlessly exploit their tenants through feudal privileges. They were the biggest impediment to industrialization. At the same time, they constantly obstructed government policies and hindered national development; they were simply an immense bane!
To thoroughly resolve France's various problems and successfully develop industry, this parasitic class of Old Nobility had to be dealt with.
Joseph sighed. 'It's too early to think about such things now. One step at a time. The most pressing issue at hand is how to deal with the famine and prevent the nation from falling into chaos.'
Purchasing grain alone was far from enough to solve the problem; potato cultivation truly had to be spread throughout the country.
'But how can I break through the Old Nobility's resistance...'
Nassienne cautiously reminded him, "Your Royal Highness, the first batch of potatoes bound for Bordeaux has already departed. Given the current planting intentions, do you think it would be wise to reduce the quantity of subsequent shipments?"
Upon hearing the name "Bordeaux," Joseph's heart suddenly stirred.
Undoubtedly, the most important matter to the people of the Bordeaux region was winemaking. Not only was it Bordeaux's pillar industry, but it was also a crucial export for all of France, bringing in enormous revenue each year.
At present, "pasteurization" had not yet been invented, and the wine industry lost a quarter or even more of its wine annually due to lactic acid bacteria contamination. Even successfully brewed wines often had a faint sour taste, severely diminishing their quality.
If he could offer a solution to prevent wine from souring, all the vineyards in Bordeaux would surely go mad for it. At that point, if he proposed certain conditions, such as planting some potatoes, he believed they would not refuse.
Spring sowing was imminent, and there was no time to lose. Realizing this, Joseph immediately stood up and told Eman, "Please prepare for me. I need to depart for Bordeaux as quickly as possible."
"Bordeaux?" Eman paused, then bowed. "Yes, Your Royal Highness."
Joseph then looked at Nassienne. "Send dispatches to the northeastern provinces, instructing them to continue transporting potatoes south without reducing the quantity."
While Eman prepared for the journey, Joseph made a trip to the Palace of Versailles and sought out the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Baron Breteuil, entrusting him to recommend Berthier to the Minister of War.
He chose to route the recommendation through Breteuil to prevent anyone from detecting Berthier's connection to the Royal Family, thereby eliminating the possibility of Berthier being ostracized by the military nobility.
...
Early the next morning, a convoy of seven or eight carriages, escorted by over sixty cavalry guards led by Clauzel, departed Paris and headed south through France.
Inside the Crown Prince's carriage, Perna was diligently taking notes, occasionally posing questions.
Joseph, seated opposite her, was explaining the working principles of red blood cells—although he himself had only a superficial understanding from popular science videos, in the late 18th century, this was cutting-edge medical knowledge.
Yes, Dr. Perna, upon learning that the Crown Prince was going to Bordeaux, immediately declared that the current cold weather was highly detrimental to pulmonary diseases and required constant monitoring. She then volunteered to accompany the Crown Prince south.
Joseph felt a little guilty for disrupting her blood circulation lessons, so he casually chatted with her about common knowledge in that field.
This, however, would be tough on Dr. Lamarck—upon her return, his daughter would undoubtedly tell him with a stern face, "Many of the things you taught about blood circulation are incorrect!"
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