Chapter 31: Exorbitant Profits
"Mr. Colbert, Special Envoy," Daendels said with a sigh, glancing at the several high-ranking Patriot Party members beside him, "After a vote by the States General, we have officially decided to cease hostilities and negotiate with the Orangists. The negotiation meeting will take place the day after tomorrow."
The "Orangists" he referred to were the royalist faction supporting the former Dutch Stadtholder, William V, named after William V's title as the Prince of Orange.
Colbert frowned, stood up, and declared in a loud tone:
"Mr. Speaker, the French cabinet's stance is this: no negotiations, no compromises!
"You and your army only need to repel the enemy once head-on and hold out for at least five days, and the glorious France will handle the rest. We will surely thwart the Prince of Orange's counterattack in the end!"
Daendels' face flushed crimson, and he clenched his fists, saying:
"Mr. Envoy, we don't want to yield either! But you know, Wilhelmina, that treacherous bitch, that traitor—she brought in the Prussian army, and she's spreading rumors everywhere, claiming we kidnapped her..."
Colbert gave a light cough, looked away, and said as if casually:
"In my personal opinion, the Princess of Orange merely did what she was supposed to do. It can hardly be considered treason."
He suddenly felt a pang of irony that the one helping the Dutch people resist a dictator was another dictator.
Perhaps this was the sorrow and helplessness of a small nation.
Daendels didn't dwell on this brief interruption and continued:
"Currently, over twenty thousand Prussian troops are at the gates of Amsterdam, demanding we release Wilhelmina. God, she's not even in our hands!
"And our army only consists of seven thousand soldiers, with equipment far inferior to the Prussians'."
This was Wilhelmina's plan to help her husband regain power: to make a high-profile appearance in The Hague, Netherlands, and provoke the rebels into arresting her. Of course, the rebels, wary of her status as a Prussian princess, quickly released her. Yet she publicly claimed that she was still being held by the Patriot Party, requesting Prussia to send troops to rescue her, while in reality, she had quietly slipped away to hide in the border city of Nijmegen.
Colbert nodded:
"I'm not asking you to defeat the Prussian army, only to make them realize they will face fierce resistance.
"Furthermore, I hear that three hundred young Frenchmen, out of sympathy for your plight, have voluntarily come to assist you in battle. They're bringing over two thousand muskets, and apparently, some cannons too."
"Two thousand guns, and cannons?" Daendels' mood lifted slightly. "That's exactly what we need! Where did you transport these cannons from? However, aren't three hundred men a bit too few?"
Colbert immediately denied:
"The cannons were perhaps stolen from a French warship by certain individuals. Please note, France has provided you with six hundred thousand livres in aid, but has never deployed troops.
"Oh, don't think three hundred men is a small number; most of them are artillerymen. You see, a single excellent artilleryman can potentially turn the tide of an entire battle. Remember, this might be your only chance to preserve your government!"
Daendels exchanged glances with the men beside him, then turned to Colbert and said:
"Mr. Envoy, we still need to discuss this among ourselves."
"Please do."
Just an hour later, the Patriot Party, after a vote, decided to break off negotiations, fortify the city of Amsterdam, and face the Prussian army in a decisive battle.
Two days later, more than a dozen people, disguised as merchants, artisans, and even beggars, entered the eastern Dutch border city of Nijmegen through various channels and soon made contact with two French spies.
In a small house on the outskirts of Nijmegen, these individuals gathered in a circle. Lieutenant Foix, in charge of the operation, pointed to the eastern side of the Nijmegen map on the table and said:
"Wilhelmina should be hiding in Countess Lipp's estate and rarely leaves.
"For the next few days, familiarize yourselves with the city's roads and environment. We'll make our move when she goes to church this Sunday."
...
Versailles Palace.
Joseph sat in a lounge chair, basking in the winter afternoon sun, and yawned widely.
The Tax Bill was still making its way through the High Court, there was no news from the Netherlands for now, and the police reforms had just begun, with nothing much happening yet...
Since arriving in this world, he had finally enjoyed a rare moment of leisure.
However, Dr. Lamarck, as if fearing he'd be too bored, had delivered the refined Salicin Joseph had requested last time.
Joseph hastily instructed him that he would send someone to pick it up in the future, so he wouldn't have to bother making the long trip from Paris.
After seeing Lamarck off, Joseph picked up the large bottle of nearly pure white powder, opened the cap and sniffed it. There was no trace of alcohol; it was incredibly pure.
He opened a box in his study, which contained pre-prepared auxiliary ingredients like glycerin and rose essential oil, as well as some weighing instruments.
He carefully measured out 1000 grams of glycerin, 60 grams of rose essential oil, and 22 grams of Salicin, mixing them together in a large glass beaker.
At this point, the solution had completely transformed into a powdery purple hue, emitting the fragrance of essential oils, with no trace of Salicin visible.
Then, Joseph diluted the mixture with water in a one-to-three ratio, creating the first batch of "Angel Water."
He frowned as he looked at the large bottle of thin liquid. 'As a cosmetic, its appearance is rather plain,' he mused.
He pondered for a moment, deciding that a thickening agent was needed. Immediately, he grabbed a candelabrum from the table and pulled off one of the high-grade beeswax candles from it.
The candle wax powder melted into the glycerin, and as Joseph stirred continuously, the solution quickly became viscous and opaque.
'Now this looks more like a skincare product,' he observed. He nodded with satisfaction, scraped a small amount of "Angel Water" with his finger, applied it evenly to the back of his hand. The texture was smooth and moisturizing, with a pleasant floral scent. It felt very comfortable.
After waiting for half an hour and observing no adverse reactions like allergies or irritation, Joseph summoned his beautician and had some applied to his face.
Subsequently, the beautician and his assistant were pressed into service. Under Joseph's direction, they filled the viscous, powdery purple gel into individual 7-ounce, flattened oval glass bottles, and then placed the glass bottles into exquisite wooden boxes hot-stamped with "Angel Water."
Even with their nimble hands, they were busy until 3 PM before finally completing the bottling of about fifty bottles.
Joseph confirmed that the beautician's skin felt fine, and instructed Eman to send forty of the bottles to famous luxury stores in Paris for consignment, each priced at 15 livres.
He, meanwhile, took the remaining ten bottles to Queen Marie. 'Who better than her to be a spokesperson for cosmetics?' he thought. 'And a free one at that.'
In the hallway, Joseph quickly did some calculations. Each bottle of Angel Water cost a little over 1 livre to produce, as glycerin in this era was refined from olive oil, making it expensive and accounting for ninety percent of the cost. Ironically, the main active ingredient, Salicin, was the cheapest component.
With a selling price of 15 livres per bottle, and deducting transportation and sales expenses, he could profit at least 12 livres and 10 sous!
He couldn't help but exclaim internally: 'Women's money truly is the easiest to earn!'
'Boss Ma certainly didn't lie to me!'
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