Chapter 625: Contract Agreement
After a while longer, a smile finally reappeared on Camelia's face.
She affectionately linked arms with Perna, and they left the small prayer room together, having already become the most trusted of sisters.
Joseph cautiously raised his head, confirming that the two young women had vanished from sight before finally standing up. 'No wonder they both requested leave yesterday,' he thought, 'they were here for Valentine's Day "religious activities".'
He rubbed his numb thigh, their earlier conversation replaying in his mind, and felt quite pleased. Perna was gracious and intelligent, Camelia sweet and charming... but given his current status, he certainly couldn't marry either of them. Was he truly expected to take them as mistresses? 'Ugh,' he sighed, 'it's still hard to fully embrace 18th-century customs. For now, I'll just pretend not to notice...'
While he was pondering this, the priest from before bowed at the doorway and said:
"Your Highness, the ceremony outside has concluded. Would you like me to summon Archbishop Beaumont?"
"Oh, thank you for your trouble, then."
More than ten minutes later, in a reception room on the second floor of Notre Dame, Beaumont, accompanied by several high-ranking priests, respectfully bowed to Joseph and smiled.
"Your Highness, are you also here for the Valentine's Day celebrations?"
"Ah, yes. This is also an opportunity to be blessed by God's gaze, and of course, I wouldn't miss it."
"You are truly devout!" Beaumont exclaimed, immediately making the sign of the cross. "May God bless you."
Joseph sat down in a chair and immediately got down to business. "Archbishop Beaumont, I have an excellent business opportunity that I hope to pursue in cooperation with the Church."
Beaumont immediately looked interested, leaning forward. "Your Highness is always thinking of the Church; you possess the most devout soul in this world... Oh, what sort of business opportunity are you referring to?"
The last time the Crown Prince advised the Church to sell "Blessing Cards," it became one of the French Church's core sources of income. He was eagerly hoping for another similar "good business opportunity."
Joseph smiled and nodded. "Archbishop, you must be quite familiar with sugar beets, aren't you?"
The Church had participated in the recent promotion of sugar beet cultivation, so Beaumont naturally had to be knowledgeable about the crop.
"Yes, Your Highness, I even personally planted some of Monsieur Achard's sugar beets."
Joseph also leaned in closer. "Have you heard about the situation in the Caribbean Sea, then?"
"Are you referring to the uprisings by the Black population?"
"Precisely. It's foreseeable that before long, Saint-Domingue will struggle to provide us with enough sugar," Joseph stated. "Sugar beets will be the most crucial source of sugar in the future. I hope the Church can assist me in expanding the cultivation area for sugar beets."
Beaumont nodded vigorously. "Your Highness, the Church has indeed been actively encouraging farmers to switch to sugar beet cultivation."
Joseph looked at him and said, "No, what I mean is, using the Church's own arable land to grow sugar beets."
Beaumont froze for a moment, then immediately offered a disarming smile. "Your Highness, you know that recently, the Church's expenses have become enormous due to your military academies, the Mechanical and Chemical University, and the Taxation University. If our land income were to decrease further, I'm afraid..."
"No, you misunderstand. The profits from growing sugar beets will be very high."
Beaumont internally shook his head. With the sugar beet's meager yield, the government had to provide substantial subsidies to farmers growing it, just to barely match their income from cultivating wheat.
Just as he was about to put on a troubled expression, Joseph promptly stated, "Currently, sugar beets are indeed not profitable. However, once sugarcane production in Saint-Domingue decreases, sugar prices will immediately soar. You must look further ahead."
Beaumont replied, "Your Highness, at that time, sugar from Jamaica and the West Indies will flood the market, and prices will likely..."
He took a breath and smiled again. "What if the Church designates 666 hectares for sugar beet cultivation?"
Joseph thought to himself, 'The sugarcane plantations in Jamaica and the West Indies will soon run out of slave labor. Where would this influx of sugarcane into France even come from?'
But this matter involved too much, and he couldn't tell Beaumont.
"I want the Church to allocate 200,000 hectares of arable land for growing sugar beets."
Beaumont's eyes nearly popped out. "You mean... 200,000 hectares?! That, that's impossible..."
Although the income from sugar beets was acceptable with subsidies, he wasn't willing to stake everything on them. Given the French government's financial situation, there was no guarantee that subsidies wouldn't fail to be paid one day.
If they had to switch back to wheat later, the hassle of acquiring new farm tools, seeds, and sales channels all over again would cost a fortune.
Joseph tried to persuade him for a while longer, but Beaumont would only agree to increase the cultivation area to 5,300 hectares and refused to budge further.
Joseph shook his head in resignation. 'They truly can't recognize a money-making opportunity when it's handed to them.'
He had no choice but to say, "Archbishop, how about this: I can sign a 'contract agreement' with the Church."
"Ah, what is that?"
"The Church will hand over 266,000 hectares of land to the Minister of Agriculture for management. In return, the government will pay the Church annually, based on the annual tribute paid by tenant farmers, plus an additional five percent. Of course, the Church must assist the government in requiring the Annual Tribute Farmers to cultivate specific crops."
Currently, although France had undergone land reforms, these had not involved the Church. Thus, the Church's land still primarily operated under the Annual Tribute Farmer system, and the Church maintained considerable influence over the tenant farmers on its lands.
Beaumont still looked extremely reluctant. Dealing with tenant farmers was always much easier than dealing with the French government; after all, if the government were to default on contract fees, the Church would certainly have a difficult time reclaiming them.
"Your Highness, could we perhaps reduce the amount a bit, say to 33,000 hectares..."
Joseph's expression immediately darkened.
Truth be told, the power of the monarchy was no longer comparable to when he had first borrowed grain from the Church. The nation's politics, economy, military, judiciary, and propaganda were all firmly in his grasp. If not for the need for the Church to maintain social stability in France, he could simply confiscate Church lands by force, and these priests would have no choice but to meekly obey.
"Archbishop Beaumont, I have another matter to discuss today." Joseph suddenly changed his previously calm tone, declaring loudly, "The Saint-Domingue expeditionary force has just suffered a defeat, and the General Staff Headquarters has decided to dispatch an additional 8,000 expeditionary troops to the Caribbean Sea. This will require a substantial amount of military funding.
"The Church bears an unshirkable responsibility for the future of France, and His Majesty the King requires the Church to provide 8 million Francs for the expeditionary force's expenses."
Beaumont immediately panicked. "Your Highness, where would the Church possibly get that much money? And military expenses have never been the Church's responsibility..."
Joseph feigned rising to leave. "I trust in the Church's financial capacity. Please inform the other archbishops of this matter. I expect these funds to be deposited before the expeditionary force departs."
Beaumont's face crumpled, and he hastily stopped Joseph. "Your Highness, perhaps we could discuss the 'contract agreement' again..."
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