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Chapter 578: Every Account Must Be Settled Clearly

One must know, Achard received a substantial salary for his research at the French Academy of Sciences. If he achieved results, he could earn an enormous sum under patent law.

Furthermore, the Talent Committee would provide him with a butler and maids—he wouldn't have to pay for any of these servants.

Even if one calculated blindly, Achard's income was far higher than her fiancé's—his business only earned four to five thousand francs annually.

More importantly, Achard's income was extremely stable, free from business competition or market fluctuations, and he held a very high social status, often frequenting the Palace of Versailles.

Marianne Schumann took a deep breath, desperately summoning her courage, and walked up to Achard's villa. Just as she was about to knock, a gentle voice drifted from behind her: "Are you looking for Monsieur Achard?"

She turned her head and saw a very beautiful, elegant girl standing not far away, smiling at her.

"And you are?"

"I am Monsieur Achard's fiancée. You may call me Ariel."

Marianne froze. She had intended to use Achard's past affections to try and mend their relationship, but she hadn't expected to be caught by the 'rightful owner.'

Hearing Ariel's pure courtly aristocratic speech, and seeing her captivating eyes and expensive silk gown, Marianne's face immediately turned pale. She lowered her head, turned, and fled.

She knew she stood no chance against her.

Every second she lingered would only make her more humiliated.

The door opened; Achard's old servant, having heard his mistress's voice, quickly came out to greet her.

Ariel pointed to Marianne’s retreating back and asked him, "Monsieur Arsen, do you know that young lady?"

"Oh, it seems to be Mademoiselle Schumann."

Ariel tilted her head slightly, offering a polite smile. "Why did she leave so suddenly? I should have invited her in to sit down."

Meanwhile, in the eastern suburbs of Paris, Achard had received about 8 acres of experimental land allocated by the Academy of Sciences, along with 120,000 francs in research funding.

Truthfully, agricultural research didn't truly require such a large sum. The Crown Prince's intention was for Achard to use this opportunity to cultivate sugar beets and establish an agricultural breeding laboratory.

Before the end of the year, scholars from the Academy of Sciences responsible for cultivating new varieties of wheat, corn, and potatoes would also gradually move into this laboratory.

Achard would impart his knowledge of genetics to them, thereby significantly accelerating France's agricultural product improvement rate.

Subsequently, based on this foundation, the French Agricultural University would be established.

Concurrently, Minister of Agriculture Vergniaud, following the Crown Prince's instructions, traveled to northern France to begin promoting sugar beet cultivation among the farmers there.

Although only varieties with an 8% sugar content could currently be grown, farmers needed time to accept sugar beets, and factories for refining sugar from beets could be established concurrently.

Once higher-sugar content varieties were developed in the future, they could be rapidly deployed, becoming a potent weapon for France to strike at the British sugar industry.

Naturally, for now, farmers cultivating sugar beets still required subsidies, much like Emperor Napoleon's approach in his time. However, with Achard and advanced hybrid genetics theory, this situation wouldn't last much longer.

As long as the sugar beet's sugar content could reach 12%, the cost of sugar production could be compressed to 1.6 pounds of sugar per franc.

Moreover, by refining sugar domestically, France could save substantial shipping costs—transporting it from the Caribbean Sea to Europe meant crossing the entire Atlantic Ocean—so after factoring in refining, packaging, and sales costs, the price could almost match sugarcane sugar from the Caribbean.

At that point, Britain's sugar hegemony would be completely shattered!

At the Palace of Versailles, Joseph began persuading his mother to make sugar beets a staple dish for every meal.

Queen Mary, who loved sweets anyway, showed no aversion to the vegetable.

At the same time, he offered 5,000 francs as prize money for a sugar beet cooking competition among the court chefs, with Queen Mary herself serving as judge and the nobles of Versailles publicly tasting and scoring the dishes.

The Paris Business Journal, moreover, provided full coverage of the competition.

Soon, starting from the court, sugar beet fever spread throughout Paris, and citizen demand for sugar beets increased tenfold.

...

Vienna.

Schönbrunn Palace.

French Foreign Minister Talleyrand declared loudly and righteously, "It is precisely due to the malicious fraud of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce that a large number of French factories have gone bankrupt! This gravely endangers France's national stability and drags the government's finances and taxation into an abyss!"

Baron Thugut, the Austrian Foreign Minister, hastily interjected, "Archbishop Talleyrand, this order incident is entirely the personal crime of Klester. Our country will conduct a severe trial against him..."

"Isn't Klester the president of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce?" Talleyrand interrupted him. "And after the matter came to light, he was immediately assassinated, which clearly indicates there's another mastermind behind him."

"Given the scale of the order scam—exceeding 30 million francs—I have reason to believe that at least the Vienna Chamber of Commerce was involved. Klester alone couldn't possibly have afforded the deposit."

Thugut whispered, "The Vienna Chamber of Commerce doesn't have that much money either..."

Talleyrand ignored him and turned to Leopold II. "Your Majesty, on behalf of His Majesty the King, I formally demand that your country compensate the victimized French factories. The total amount is 32.7 million francs, and that you investigate the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and severely punish the culprits."

Leopold II cursed Klester and the Dutch in his heart a thousand times over. More than 30 million francs, which was 13 million florins.

He might as well sell Vienna!

However, knowing he was in the wrong, he could only try his best to appease the French anger. "Archbishop Talleyrand, I can assure you that all those involved will be brought to justice... but regarding France's losses, as you know, the Austrian government was not aware of it and simply doesn't possess such a large sum."

Talleyrand knew Austria couldn't possibly compensate such a large amount; he had merely been asking an exorbitant price.

What followed was a tug-of-war lasting several hours. As dusk approached, Talleyrand's resolve remained undiminished. "His Majesty the King, in consideration of the Franco-Austrian alliance, has made significant concessions. At a minimum, your country should permit the goods produced from these orders to be sold in Austria, with a corresponding 80% reduction in tariffs."

Thugut immediately shook his head. "That would cause our country's tariff system to collapse."

"Then let them be sold within the Southern Netherlands and Tuscany, with corresponding tariff cooperation."

"Oh, God. Those two small places simply cannot withstand such turmoil..."

Leopold II rubbed his forehead, stating wearily, "A 30% tariff reduction for the Southern Netherlands and 18% for Tuscany—that is the absolute limit of what I can do.

"As compensation, I can offer you a piece of important intelligence."

"The tariff reduction is too small," Talleyrand immediately retorted, dissatisfied. "Furthermore, these two regions must accept francs for trade hereafter."