Chapter 266: The Busy Minister of Agriculture
"Furthermore, we need to make greater use of the Church's influence," Joseph instructed. "In many cases, the Church is far more efficient than our bureaucratic system, and farmers trust the word of a priest more."
Vergniaud nodded in strong agreement. "That's certainly true, Your Highness. The Church contributed significantly to promoting the new composting methods."
Joseph chuckled, "We can't let them collect so much tithe for nothing, can we?"
In this move to weaken feudal privileges, Joseph had temporarily left the Church untouched to minimize resistance. After all, the current Chief Minister himself was an Archbishop from Toulouse. Even Foreign Minister Talleyrand, though a man of the cloth more interested in worldly pleasures, was still an Archbishop in name.
Since the French Church was heavily reliant on the monarchy and generally cooperated with the Royal Family, reforms could be introduced gradually in the future. Ultimately, they would be much easier to deal with than the nobility.
However, Vergniaud was taken aback by Joseph's remark. In those times, one couldn't casually joke about the Church. He immediately turned his head, pretending he hadn't heard anything.
Joseph continued with his agricultural plans: "A large number of former lords' hunting grounds will gradually be converted into farmland."
The abolition of hunting privileges was a crucial part of the recently enacted "Decree on the Abolition of Noble Privileges," which returned many common lands, previously monopolized by nobles as hunting grounds, to farmers for cultivation. This significantly increased the amount of arable land—though, of course, it would only truly become farmland once a scheme for farmers to redeem the land was established.
"You need to make plans to encourage farmers to plant vegetables, especially in parishes close to cities. For example, in the initial stages, we can provide financial subsidies and have the government organize transportation to carry vegetables to cities for sale, reducing the farmers' transportation costs."
As Joseph spoke, he looked down. "That's why we still need to build more rail transport. If we had wooden tracks, vegetables from the countryside could be transported dozens of kilometers away."
Vergniaud hesitated. "Your Highness, from what I understand, the cities already have enough onions and carrots..."
Onions? Carrots? Joseph couldn't help but rub his forehead. To him, coming from a nation renowned for its diverse cuisine, the Minister of Agriculture's words were practically sacrilege.
Yet he knew that these were the staples of the French diet at present. To put it another way, having a vegetable soup alongside black bread at every meal was considered a rather good living condition.
"You cannot limit yourselves to just these items," Joseph said, helping him broaden his perspective. "First, chili peppers. Planting just a little of this can greatly enhance the flavor of food.
"Then there are tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes are indeed difficult to grow and not easy to preserve, but you can promote making them into tomato paste—the method is very simple, you just need glass jars. More on this later.
"Besides these two, you should also plant asparagus and artichokes in poorer soils. These are easy to grow and yield a high harvest."
These vegetables he mentioned had long been introduced to France and were grown at the Palace of Versailles, but their cultivation among the common people was still very limited.
Vergniaud meticulously noted the Crown Prince's instructions, but still wasn't quite sure. "Your Highness, why expend effort on vegetables? I mean, grains and potatoes are the most important, aren't they?"
"Commercial value," Joseph smiled. "With just a small amount of land resources, we can significantly improve the quality of life for both farmers and citizens. Why wouldn't we do it?"
Joseph understood clearly that even after the abolition of noble privileges, the lower classes were barely able to survive, and they were still far from having their discontent with society quelled.
With restlessness among the Old Nobility and the military, this situation was quite dangerous.
Therefore, improving the quality of life for the lower classes was also an extremely important task at hand.
In fact, if the monarchy could gain the absolute support of the vast majority of the lower classes, they would fear no one... Of course, with the current level of productivity, satisfying over 96% of the population was basically an idiot's daydream.
However, improving their quality of life as much as possible was achievable.
For instance, by making their three meals more varied.
And this could be achieved with just some inexpensive vegetables, coupled with some cooking techniques.
As for cooking, French chefs certainly had their skills. At the same time, Joseph could also impart the culinary heritage of his homeland, ensuring that even ordinary cabbage could be stir-fried into a delicious dish.
When people returned home after a hard day's work, being able to eat stir-fries, stews, and the like in addition to their black bread, they would undoubtedly be grateful to His Majesty the King.
Joseph told Vergniaud, "You also need to collaborate with the Church to publish a simple cookbook and have priests or nuns organize women to learn cooking every week.
"And remember to include this slogan: 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.'"
As he was speaking, the carriage suddenly came to a halt.
Eman leaned out the window for a look, then turned and bowed to Joseph. "Your Highness, the wooden track has reached its end. We'll have to switch to a horse-drawn carriage from here."
Joseph nodded. The wooden track currently only stretched a little past western Reims. Its construction was still quite expensive, so it only radiated out a few tens of kilometers from Paris to nearby cities.
Before boarding the carriage, he inadvertently caught sight of the three horses pulling it, and a thought struck him. He turned to Vergniaud. "By the way, are you familiar with soybeans?"
Vergniaud, being quite knowledgeable, immediately nodded. "Are you referring to those beans from the Far East? Some botanists are quite interested in them. Oh, some farmers in Georgia State in America grow them to feed cattle."
Joseph was relieved to hear that soybeans had already been introduced to France. He had genuinely worried he would have to acquire seeds from Asia.
"I need you to promote this crop throughout France, especially in the northern provinces."
"Yes, Your Highness. Are we also to use this to feed cattle?"
Joseph gestured for him to get into the carriage. "Normally, yes, they can be fed to cattle, or used to brew soy sauce... which is a type of seasoning. But during wartime, soybeans make the best fodder for warhorses—they're compact, easy to carry, and feeding just a small amount to a warhorse can significantly boost its stamina."
Compared to oats, which were currently used as a "nutrient supplement" for warhorses in Europe, soybeans offered an unparalleled advantage. Just one-third the amount of soybeans could achieve the same effectiveness as oats.
This would be a significant improvement for logistical transport—warhorse fodder constituted the largest portion of logistical supplies.
Moreover, soybeans were easy to carry. Cavalrymen could simply fill their pockets with a few handfuls to sustain their warhorses for several days, eliminating the need for frequent resupply trips to the camp.
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