Chapter 582: Lamarck's Resentment
Bailly commented, quite surprised:
"Your Highness, for centuries, the essentials for marriage have been the same. What new things could possibly be 'manufactured'?"
Joseph offered a slight smile:
"With enough packaging and promotion, marriage can demand everything in the world. By the way, what are the goods we have the largest surplus of this time?"
"Ah," Bailly enumerated on his fingers, "Textiles, ironware, furniture, alcohol, paper products, and carriages."
Joseph frowned upon hearing this. 'That damned Hope, he's practically targeted every product France excels at.'
He pondered for a moment, then said, "Among these, textiles, ironware, and furniture are the least suitable for long-term storage. So, let's start there. For example, we can heavily promote the idea that a happy married life now requires 'three essential items'."
"'Three essential items'?"
"Precisely: a set of French fashion, a set of particleboard furniture, and a set of French iron cookware. We must approach this from a woman's perspective, making them believe that 'it's shameful to get married without these three essential items.'"
First, through popular rumor. Spread gossip like 'This is the latest wedding trend for the French,' and 'French women absolutely refuse to enter a church without the three essential items.' Whether it's trade caravans or diplomatic staff, anyone heading to the German or Italian regions must mention these things to at least ten people.
Second, through newspaper advertisements. Hire some renowned journalists to write articles on 'the latest scientific research.' For instance, 'Ordinary iron pots contain harmful components that affect future generations; only high-quality iron from Nancy, France, or Luxembourg can guarantee health.'
Furthermore, we'll incorporate promotions for the three essential items into plays. Oh, The Marriage of Figaro would be quite suitable; I'll discuss copyright and adaptation with Mr. Beaumarchais. We'll arrange numerous additional performances in Vienna, Florence, Brussels, and other locations soon."
Bailly's eyes widened as he listened—he could already imagine how obsessed young women would become with these so-called essential items after such promotional tactics.
Joseph added, "Hmm, we also need to include a slogan: 'French girls know that for a once-in-a-lifetime marriage, you simply must treat yourself well.'"
Bailly suddenly smiled, bowing slightly. "Your Highness, I believe these goods might not even need to be shipped to the Southern Netherlands and Tuscany. With your methods, French newlyweds will eagerly snap them all up."
"What are you saying?" Joseph, however, looked at him sternly and shook his head. "This scheme absolutely cannot be promoted domestically!
Not only must we forbid promoting the 'three essential items' at home, but to counteract any negative influence from news returning from abroad, we must also conduct counter-propaganda domestically. For instance, 'Love is everything in marriage,' and 'Do not let material possessions tarnish the purity of matrimony.'"
"Ah? Why is that?"
"Because it would severely harm our nation's population growth rate."
"No, surely not that much..."
Joseph sighed, explaining, "The price of these three essential items isn't cheap; ordinary families would struggle to afford them. Even if they grit their teeth and buy them, it would require saving money for a long time, inevitably delaying marriages.
Furthermore, couples, considering the enormous expenses their descendants would face when marrying, would likely have fewer children.
We absolutely cannot allow France to fall into the trap of insufficient population just to sell a few more goods right now!"
He recalled that Emperor Napoleon, due to the family and inheritance clauses in his Code, directly halved France's newborn birth rate.
This led to France's traditional advantage in military recruits being greatly diminished during the Franco-Prussian War decades later, becoming one of the significant factors in its defeat.
Population would always be one of a nation's most crucial competitive strengths!
A strange expression flickered across Bailly's face. 'So, to sell products, the birth rates of other countries don't matter, do they?' he thought.
But he still offered a compliment: "Your Highness truly racks his brains for France; may God bless you."
As the two conversed, their carriage slowly came to a halt.
Eman pulled open the carriage door, and Joseph immediately saw an endless expanse of green before him—neatly planted sugar beets.
He sighed inwardly. 'France truly is the most suitable place in the world for growing sugar beets. This breeding laboratory has only been established for a little over a month, yet the planted sugar beets are already so lush.'
Achard and several agricultural experts from the breeding laboratory, learning of the Crown Prince's arrival, hurried to greet him.
Then, Joseph spotted a familiar figure he hadn't seen in a while among the crowd—Doctor Lamarck.
After they had exchanged greetings, he asked Lamarck, a little curiously:
"What brings you here?"
Lamarck reported to him every six months on the progress of penicillin research. Although the concentration of penicillin they obtained was steadily increasing, it was still a considerable distance from being medically usable.
'Could it be that his work stress became too much, and he came here to enjoy the greenery and relax?'
Lamarck quickly replied, "Your Highness, I heard you recently invented a theory for rapidly cultivating improved crop varieties, so I came to learn from Mr. Achard."
"Ah? You're interested in breeding as well?"
Lamarck replied with a mournful expression, "Your Highness, the key to developing Type I Antibiotic is cultivating high-yield bacterial strains. And there's a great deal of common ground between cultivating strains and crop breeding. If your genetics theory had been created two years earlier, my progress would undoubtedly be much faster than it is now."
'Type I Antibiotic' was the secret research codename for Penicillin.
Joseph immediately froze. 'That's right, I actually overlooked the role of genetics knowledge in cultivating Penicillium molds. This is a huge missed opportunity...'
Awkwardly, he changed the subject, gazing at the green ocean before him, and asked Achard, "How is your progress coming along?"
"By the grace of God, everything is progressing smoothly, Your Highness," Achard said excitedly. "My assistants and I have conducted hundreds of hybridization experiments during this period, and combined with our previous work in Bavaria, I believe we'll obtain new varieties with even higher sugar content by next summer.
Oh, and the sugar beet seeds. Over sixty-six hectares of 'high-sugar beets' have already been planted; they will mature in September, providing enough seeds for farmers willing to cultivate sugar beets."
The "high-sugar beets" he referred to were the 8% sugar-content variety he had previously cultivated. Thanks to Vergniaud's relentless promotion over the past few months, many farmers in central and northern France had expressed their willingness to plant them.
However, only one small sugar refinery had been completed this year, so most of the harvested sugar beets would have to be eaten as vegetables. It wouldn't be until next autumn that sugar production could reach a monthly level of 5,000 tons.
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