Chapter 1332: Math Prodigy
Chapter 1332: Math Prodigy
Paris.
The Palace of Versailles.
France's Minister of Trade, Bailly, hesitated as he handed the signed document to his assistant, then looked at the Minister of Finance across from him. "I'm not questioning His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but this will have a considerable impact on us... Is it truly worth it?"
"Undoubtedly, it is," Godan said, glancing at his pocket watch before gesturing towards the door. "Would you care for some tea? Mediterranean frosted cakes are quite popular these days, it's my treat."
Bailly nodded, stood up, and then sighed as he thought of the document he had just signed. "Indeed, I should make the most of tea while I can. Next month, it might become too expensive to drink."
The order he had just given his assistant required all government trade channels to immediately purchase tea at a 5% premium above market price, and to increase the purchase price by another 3% each week.
For this plan, the Ministry of Finance had allocated 7 million Francs, with an anticipated loss of around 900,000.
Godan put on his hat and smiled. "There will be even greater impacts next month. You'll have to get used to it."
"But the 'restriction order' seems like it will only cause greater shock to our own factories."
Godan, with a hint of pride, 'showed off' the economic theories he had learned from the Crown Prince. "Do you remember the causes of inflation?"
"Of course. P=k·M; an increase in the amount of circulating currency relative to the total supply of goods leads to currency devaluation."
This was David Hume's classic explanation of inflation.
"Indeed." Godan nodded. "So, put simply, inflation is the decrease in the 'value' of a nation's currency.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince categorizes the causes of inflation into several types: demand-pull, cost-push, imported, and structural."
"For example, the British government extensively issuing paper currency is demand-pull inflation. They are already doing this.
"And previously, His Highness had the Danes restrict Russian merchant ships from leaving the Baltic Sea to reduce the raw materials available to British factories. Afterwards, they would either have to cut production or purchase materials from other sources at higher prices.
"Both scenarios would lead to increased costs for their manufactured goods and rising prices. Relatively speaking, this is equivalent to a decrease in the value of the Pound Sterling.
"This is cost-push inflation."
Bailly's eyes widened. He had never heard such a detailed explanation of the principles of inflation.
Godan continued, "Subsequently, we began restricting grain sales to Britain, and combined with this current tea acquisition, it will cause the prices of wheat and tea entering Britain to skyrocket, again equivalent to a decrease in the value of the Pound Sterling. This falls under imported inflation."
Bailly, being a clever man, immediately drew a parallel. "Rising wheat prices will also lead to cost-push inflation in their food processing industry."
Godan smiled and nodded. "So, you must understand the purpose of the 'restriction order' now, correct?"
Bailly suddenly realized, "To reduce the purchasing power of the Pound Sterling!"
"Precisely," Godan continued. "Due to the impact of the Stuttgart Trade Agreement, Britain's exports to Germany have sharply declined, and the North American market is also shrinking. With no significant development in emerging industries like steam engines, railways, and chemicals, they will face not just inflation, but stagflation."
As France's influence on the European continent rapidly increased, Joseph had more and more financial tools at his disposal, allowing him to orchestrate a combination of financial attack strategies from later eras against Britain.
Even if William Pitt Junior was a genius, without proper guidance in financial knowledge, he would likely be overwhelmed just trying to cope.
Moreover, France was essentially leveraging the power of other nations to wage financial warfare, incurring very low costs itself.
In comparison, historically, Napoleon, who controlled most of the European continent, only managed a crude and inefficient "Continental Blockade," which was a severe waste of diplomatic resources.
After listening to Godan's explanation of "stagflation," Bailly remained stunned for a while before finally nodding seriously. "If what His Highness says is true, then a slight loss in trade is absolutely worth it."
Yes, if they could defeat Britain, their most formidable opponent, no one in Europe would be able to stop France's soaring ambition!
...
In the grand hall on the south side of the Tuileries Palace, hundreds of prominent figures from France's education, academia, and political spheres were gathered.
Naturally, the most distinguished person present was the Crown Princess, Alexandra.
On the podium, Le Roy, President of the French Academy of Sciences, first bowed to Alexandra with a hand over his chest. Only then did he turn around, face the expectant gazes of everyone present, take out a list, and announce loudly:
"The tenth-place winner of this year's Paris Youth Math Competition is Marlot Philippe Chevalier, from the 'New Primary School' on Vassar Street in Reims!"
A wave of congratulations and applause immediately erupted in the hall.
"The ninth-place winner is Henri Gustave, from the 'New Primary School' at Grenelle Bridge in Paris!
"The eighth-place winner is..."
Soon, he finished announcing the second-place winner. Only the fifth-place recipient was a disciple of the great mathematician Mons; the other eight were all students from the New Primary Schools across the country.
The people present were already accustomed to this; the New Primary Schools' teaching methods were very advanced and highly effective at nurturing students' talents.
Only Archbishop Boissy, Archbishop Asseline, and other high-ranking church officials still watched Le Roy with unconvinced expressions.
"The first-place winner of this competition is—" Le Roy deliberately drew out his voice, "—Angelique Ferrini, from the Oratorian Order, and the church school on Notre Dame Cloister Street!"
"Excellent! Thanks be to God!"
Archbishop Boissy immediately stood up, overcome with excitement. He exchanged nods of celebration with the archbishops beside him and accepted congratulations from other scholars and nobles.
Ever since the New Primary Schools emerged, church schools had been consistently suppressed by them, and even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had expressed considerable criticism towards them.
This time, they had finally staged a counterattack, reclaiming the glory that rightfully belonged to the church schools!
The Crown Princess personally presented medals and certificates to the top three winners, delivered a routine concluding speech, and then smiled and gestured to the timid boy beside her.
According to the custom of the math competition, the champion was expected to give an acceptance speech.
Angelique quickly bowed in return, then nervously scurried to the center of the podium, wiping the sweat from his palms. He froze for a few seconds until Archbishop Boissy pointed to his own pocket as a reminder, and only then did the boy remember to retrieve his speech.
He unfolded the paper from his pocket, but again froze, his face pale and cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Seeing this, Archbishop Boissy discarded all pretense of etiquette and walked directly to the front of the podium, asking softly, "What's wrong?"
Angelique turned the paper in his hand towards him, and the Archbishop's chest tightened instantly – the speech he had personally drafted had now become a scrap paper used for calculations!
It was clear that this math prodigy was extremely careless with everyday details and had mistakenly brought the wrong speech.
Alexandra looked over and smiled. "Everyone is looking forward to it. Please, just say whatever comes to mind."
The boy seemed very unaccustomed to public speaking; his face grew even paler, and he stammered, unable to utter a single word.
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