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Chapter 610: The Cake and the Conflict

Moreover, thanks to the sales generated by smuggling operations, factory output across France surged significantly, causing tax revenue to also see a substantial increase.

However, Joseph knew that smuggling operations could not last forever. For now, France was merely exploiting a loophole that Britain hadn't yet taken seriously. Once the British reacted, with their navy's strict inspections and blockades, the smuggling volume would undoubtedly plummet.

Joseph estimated that the dividends from this "special trade" would last for at most another year. Without strong naval support, France simply couldn't compete with Britain at sea.

Of course, France had now completed its Tax System Reform, abolishing local taxes and most road tolls, and the development of industry and commerce showed strong momentum.

So, even without these two "irregular income" sources, this year's finances could still be guaranteed to avoid a deficit.

At the mention of Tax System Reform, Joseph immediately felt immense pressure again.

Over the past two years, he had implemented numerous radical reforms across France. He wasn't naive enough to think that merely implementing the reforms meant victory was assured.

This was just the beginning!

Any reform involved a significant redistribution of interests.

These people wouldn't simply accept their fate.

Under the pressure of royal authority, they had temporarily gone dormant, licking their wounds, but given any opportunity, they would not hesitate to stir up trouble.

Take the Tax Farmers, for example. Although the chief Tax Farmers had been executed, each of them had thousands of subordinates who depended on them for their livelihoods, or even more.

After the downfall of the chief Tax Farmers, these individuals' lives were undoubtedly worse than before, and they certainly harbored extreme dissatisfaction with the French government, though they dared not show it.

Similarly, there were also the Old Nobility, the former military establishment, and even the old police force.

It was only because France's current development momentum was still good that these people could enjoy the dividends of this progress, which had masked these conflicts.

But once the pace of development slowed, all sorts of conflicts would immediately erupt in concentration.

At that point, even if they could suppress it with the army, France would suffer immense destruction. And if foreign powers were to exploit the weakness, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Joseph's ears were filled with the ministers' cheers, but his mind was lost in thought: 'So, France must maintain its rapid development, continually expand the "cake," and use the allure of its distribution to offset the dissatisfaction of various factions.'

'If this situation could be maintained for another decade or so, France would rebuild a new balance of interests.'

'By then, even if someone wanted to dredge up old grievances, he wouldn't need to act himself; others would suppress them for the sake of their own rights and interests.'

And this 'expanding the cake' really came down to two paths: internal development and external expansion.

After Archbishop Brienne completed his report, Minister of Industry Mirabeau stood up, unable to hide his smile: "Last year, our nation achieved tremendous industrial development, with its overall scale expanding by 76%!"

This figure sounded extremely astonishing, but in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, it was indeed achievable.

One must remember that France was still an agricultural nation with a very small industrial base, so simply building a few factories could lead to a substantial increase in industrial scale.

However, France's industrial scale saw such rapid growth partially due to the frenzied expansion of production originally undertaken to fulfill goods for the order scam.

Afterward, the "special trade" utilized this capacity, which made the growth rate so extraordinary.

Mirabeau then enthusiastically presented his achievements from the past year:

The machinery industry grew by 110%...

The Steel industry grew by 72%...

The coal industry grew by 265%...

The chemical industry grew by 175%...

The brewing industry grew by 12%...

The papermaking industry...

The furniture manufacturing industry...

The Medicine industry...

Among these, the astonishing growth rate of the coal industry was primarily due to the implementation of Gas Streetlights.

Paris's distillation workshops alone consumed daily what the entire Greater Paris area, including Versailles and surrounding towns, used to consume in 12 days!

Such astonishing demand greatly stimulated the development of France's coal industry.

Currently, wooden rail tracks from the Nancy coal mines directly to Paris had been completed. After steam engines hoisted coal from the mines, the wagons didn't even need to be switched; they could be transported directly to Paris.

At the same time, because of the enormous quantity of coal transported to Paris, transportation costs were significantly reduced, and coal prices subsequently dropped.

Many households that previously burned wood began opting for coal, further boosting the coal industry.

Currently, the coal mines in Wallonia in the Southern Netherlands hadn't yet been fully exploited. Once cities like Lyon and Reims also installed Gas Streetlights, coal from Wallonia would continuously flow into various parts of France.

At that point, France's coal industry scale would likely surpass Britain's in one fell swoop.

As for another astonishing industrial growth point, the chemical industry, it was mainly because France's first factory using the Royal Soda Process to produce soda ash had officially commenced operations, capable of producing 2000 kilograms of soda ash daily. Its costs were also extremely low, only one-third of the original soda production method.

France was currently selling soda ash at 70% of the market price, virtually monopolizing the entire European continent's soda ash market, including Britain.

Although industrial development in various countries wasn't very advanced, meaning the demand for soda ash wasn't excessive, it still generated several million francs in annual revenue.

Furthermore, thanks to the drop in soda ash prices, the costs of French products like Soap, paper, Dye, and Medicine also decreased significantly, rapidly enhancing their international competitiveness.

Especially in the South Germany region, which had trade agreements with France, the aforementioned products accounted for at least 70% of its market!

When these countries originally signed the agreements, they never imagined that France would even dump Soap, and thus hadn't imposed protective Tariffs on such products.

After the Queen led the congratulations to Mirabeau, Minister of Agriculture Vergniaud eagerly began his presentation.

"Valois's sugar beet factory began production at the end of last year, producing 80,000 pounds of white sugar that month. Based on the current cultivation scale and the progress of refinery construction, this year should see monthly production reach 600,000 pounds!"

While 600,000 pounds wasn't a huge amount, it was less than a week's output from Saint-Domingue. However, the ability to produce sugar on the European continent would have a transformative impact on the entire sugar trade landscape.

Vergniaud then excitedly detailed France's fertilizer production, as well as olive cultivation in Tunisia and other regions.

Currently, France had established four "Stone Fertilizer" crushing plants in Marseille, Paris, and other locations to crush and grind Phosphate Ore shipped from Nauru, Tunisia, and other places, after which it would be distributed and sold to farmers by the Agricultural Services Consulting Company.

Compared to farmers simply dissolving "Stone Fertilizer" directly in water, the crushed Phosphate Ore was less prone to loss, and its fertilizing power was more than 30% higher.