Chapter 566: What You Meticulously Plan Might Just Be What I've Grown Tired Of
Joseph was somewhat surprised, and asked, "It seems you need to mobilize a lot of funds. Could you elaborate for me?"
"Oh, certainly, Your Highness," Mirabeau said quickly. "In fact, the Industrial Development Fund has experienced rare rapid growth in recent months.
"This is undoubtedly thanks to the excellent tax and market environment brought about by your reforms. Factory revenues in Lyon, Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and even the Southern Netherlands have significantly increased. Did you know, orders for March and April doubled consecutively, and factories are massively increasing their workforce.
"Consequently, factories are facing a crunch in production funds. After all, to handle so many orders, just procuring raw materials requires a substantial amount of money.
"Recently, the Industrial Development Fund headquarters has been busier than a ball, filled daily with managers from various factories, all seeking increased investment from the fund."
He said with a helpless expression, "But the Industrial Development Fund's accounts currently hold only a little over 4.2 million francs, and that's already set aside for the next dividend payment..."
Joseph looked at him and said, "So, you want to use this money for investments, including the second phase construction costs for the Grand Scholars' Palace?"
"I do have that intention," Mirabeau nodded repeatedly. "Injecting capital into factories now can yield very high returns. The Industrial Development Fund can promise subscribers a significant increase in the next dividend payment, with the current one deferred. I believe many people would be happy to accept that.
"As for the Grand Scholars' Palace, the completed section currently has only a 12% occupancy rate, even with your special approval for many Academicians to reside there.
"Adding the funds raised by the Industrial Development Fund from the public, a total of 10 million francs, immediately invested into factories across the country for expansion, could increase our nation's industrial scale by at least 20% this year!"
Joseph observed his excited expression, appearing relatively calm himself. With the profound market and tax reforms, coupled with the new technologies he had introduced, the explosive growth of French industry was not unexpected.
He nodded and said, "Please draw up a proposal on this matter and submit it to me as soon as possible."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The plan had already been prepared, so the very next morning, documents regarding the Industrial Development Fund's additional fundraising were delivered to the Tuileries Palace.
Joseph reviewed Mirabeau's plan, a smile gracing his lips.
Lyon's factories had received over 3 million francs in new orders in April alone. Nancy's steam engines had achieved large-scale exports for the first time. Iron products, paper, alcoholic beverages, furniture, carriages, and even Paris Cola all saw explosive growth.
He turned to the order trend chart at the back and saw a line shooting upwards at an almost 90-degree angle starting from mid-March.
At this point, he paused slightly, quickly finding the page detailing order sources.
On the order composition pie chart, the German and Italian regions appeared like two enormous folding fans, squeezing France's domestic orders into a tiny sliver.
He immediately thought of something, turning to Mirabeau. "Do you know the domestic sales growth in the German region—oh, for example, Austria and Bavaria—over the past six months?"
Mirabeau pondered for a moment, then replied, "If I recall correctly, it should be 2% and 1.6%, Your Highness."
"What about Sardinia and Tuscany?"
"3.5% and 3%, Your Highness."
Joseph immediately frowned. "Their own sales growth is so minimal, yet they've ordered a massive quantity of goods. Who are they planning to sell them to then?"
Mirabeau quickly explained, "Your Highness, there are many possibilities. For instance, the data collected by our intelligence agencies might have significant discrepancies."
In this era, there was no custom for government agencies to publicly release various national statistics in real-time; such information was often classified.
Therefore, intelligence agencies from different nations had to send their own people to investigate. And target countries would also have intelligence officers deliberately misleading them. This meant the information obtained could be far removed from the actual situation.
Mirabeau continued, "Additionally, it's possible that our nation's goods are eating into market share that previously belonged to other countries. For example, with iron products, the German region used to be dominated by goods from Austria and Bavaria, but now our nation has gradually captured over a third of the market."
Joseph calmly continued reviewing the proposal, soon noticing that the new orders over the past two months had primarily gone to France's medium and large companies, with small factories receiving hardly any benefit.
A strange feeling swelled within him. 'Austria was one thing, but had even the Italians' purchasing power become so strong that they no longer bothered with cheaper goods?'
He closed the proposal and looked at Mirabeau, stating gravely, "For now, do not inject large amounts of capital into factories. No, not only should you refrain from investing, it would be best to have them slow down their production first. I have a bad feeling about this.
"I will have people conduct a thorough investigation, and then we will make further decisions."
Mirabeau immediately grew anxious. "Your Highness, this is a God-given opportunity for development! If they lack funds, many factories might be unable to complete orders on time!"
"No, we cannot take that risk. Please do as I say."
Joseph was reminded of a common tactic employed by a certain financial empire in later generations—
First, they would release massive amounts of capital, specifically stimulating a country's economy, causing it to overheat in a short period. Then, they would suddenly raise interest rates and tighten liquidity, leading to a capital shortage in the target nation's overheated economy, thereby triggering an economic crisis.
Once the target nation's businesses collapsed en masse under the ravages of the economic crisis, that financial empire would sweep back in and buy up these companies at extremely low prices.
France's current situation made him detect a similar scent.
With Europe on the verge of entering an era of great power rivalry, he needed to be even more cautious. If the national economy suffered a severe blow, military endeavors would become impossible.
However, Mirabeau's concerns were also valid. If Joseph was simply overthinking, France might miss a golden opportunity for rapid growth, or even severely dampen the enthusiasm of domestic factories.
Joseph gestured to Eman, who was standing by the door. "Would you please fetch Director Fouché?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Two hours later, after Fouché had heard Mirabeau explain the current situation, Joseph instructed, "Monsieur Fouché, I need you to confirm as quickly as possible whether there are any issues with these transactions."
"That is my duty, Your Highness." Fouché immediately bowed in acknowledgment, then promptly added, "However, as Count Mirabeau mentioned, if the investigation drags on too long, it will severely impact numerous factories."
Joseph nodded slightly. "So, what is your recommendation?"
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