Chapter 88: Changing Stances
Joseph saw Mirabeau lost in thought, realizing he had laid enough groundwork, and decided to get to the point. "Let's talk about the Tax Bill again."
Mirabeau immediately grew wary upon hearing this. "Your Royal Highness, you know that the nobility is united in its stance on this bill."
Joseph said gravely, "In truth, you are being exploited by the Old Nobility on this matter!"
Mirabeau chuckled, waving his hand. "Your Royal Highness, how could that be?"
Joseph casually picked up a small wooden stick used to pick out impurities from the pulp nearby. "If I may be so bold, how much land do you own?"
"Huh?" Mirabeau was somewhat surprised, but still replied, "I have over 60 hectares in Paris, and another 260 hectares in Reims."
Joseph nodded. "Do you know how much land the Duke of Orleans owns?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure of the exact figures," Mirabeau replied, "but at least twenty-five to thirty thousand hectares, I suppose."
"And estates?"
"Exactly. The core of the Tax Bill is the Land Tax."
Joseph raised the small wooden stick in his hand. "For instance, this represents the scale of your landholdings. The Land Tax will barely affect you."
He then pointed to a support beam of the drying rack, more than two people tall and as thick as a child's waist. "That, however, represents the landholdings of Old Nobility like the Duke of Orleans. They will bear the brunt of the Land Tax. This is precisely why they vehemently oppose the Tax Bill.
"Yet, Capitalist Nobility like yourself are being dragged along by them, fighting against the bill and expending considerable effort, all just to protect their interests."
Mirabeau paused for a moment. He knew the Crown Prince was right, but immediately countered, "Stamp Duty. The bill also introduced Stamp Duty, which will greatly impact industry and commerce."
Stamp Duty, as it was called, was a tax levied when signing contracts or filing documents.
Joseph smiled. "As one of the leaders of the Assembly of Notables, you must have seen the bill's text. The Stamp Duty rate is very low. In fact, the primary purpose of the Stamp Duty is for the government to act as an authenticator of contracts."
When the bill was last revised, he had already lowered the Stamp Duty rate. The aim was to win over the Capitalist Nobility.
Dupont, seeing Mirabeau still hesitating, couldn't help but say, "Count Mirabeau, it's clear that the Tax Bill benefits the national treasury. There's no reason for us to oppose it.
"Furthermore, His Royal Highness has promised that if the bill passes, he will reopen negotiations for the Eden Treaty and significantly raise tariffs."
Dupont strongly opposed the Eden Treaty. So, when Joseph informed him that the treaty could be revised, he immediately reached an agreement with the Crown Prince.
Although he had no significant political power, he could influence Capitalist Nobility like Mirabeau. Thus, he arranged this meeting.
Mirabeau immediately looked at Joseph. "Are you certain the British will accept?"
Joseph nodded. "I've already discussed it with the British ambassador. Tariffs on French industrial goods will rise to 25%, while British tariffs on wine will drop below 10%."
Mirabeau's pupils contracted. "That's impossible! How did you persuade the British?"
"We can discuss that in detail later," Joseph replied, "but I can assure you, the new treaty will definitely be signed. Of course, if you're not convinced, you can verify the situation through your own channels in Britain."
As a heavyweight political figure, Mirabeau certainly had his own channels to obtain information from Britain.
Mirabeau finally began to waver.
He was well aware that, at the current tariff levels, French industry would collapse completely within two years.
His own industries would inevitably suffer the same fate.
If a Tax Bill that would have little impact on him could secure the renegotiation of the Eden Treaty—and, crucially, the implementation of the Company Law, Patent Law, and similar legislations the Crown Prince had mentioned earlier—that would be an incredibly worthwhile exchange!
He bowed slightly to Joseph. "Your Royal Highness, this matter involves many people. I'll need to go back and discuss it with Vicomte du Coudray, Vicomte Perier, and the others."
The people he mentioned were all representatives of the Capitalist Nobility within the Assembly of Notables. Given the conditions the Crown Prince had just outlined, he felt confident he could persuade them to change their stance.
"Of course. I look forward to your reply."
Joseph smiled and nodded, then gestured with a raised hand towards the pulp vat beside him. "Now that business is concluded, we can finally talk about papermaking."
Mirabeau seemed a bit slow to react. "You mean, papermaking?"
"Yes," Joseph said. "I mentioned it when you first arrived."
"But..."
Joseph led him to the enormous "boiling vats" and instructed the worker standing by one. "Please tell Count Mirabeau what is boiling in this vat."
The worker immediately bowed his head respectfully and said, "It's wood, sir."
"Wood?" Mirabeau looked at Joseph in astonishment. "Didn't you just say you were going to make paper?"
Joseph nodded. "This is the first step in papermaking. Once the wood is pulped, we can make paper. Of course, it's using a new technique I've developed."
Mirabeau exclaimed in disbelief, "You can make paper from wood?!"
He knew a thing or two about papermaking. Traditionally, raw materials for paper were rags, flax, and similar items; at most, some bark fibers would be mixed in.
"Yes, willow and pine wood," Joseph said, gesturing towards the outside of the workshop. "Just cut this morning."
He turned and asked a nearby worker, "How long has this vat been boiling?"
The worker glanced at his watch. "Six and a half hours, sir."
'It should be ready now...' Joseph wasn't entirely sure; after all, he had only seen the wood pulping process in documentaries, so he instructed the workers, "Please pour out the wood pulp and proceed with filtering and bleaching. Oh, just use the usual methods."
"Yes, sir."
Seven or eight workers gathered around, lifted the enormous boiling vat onto a wooden frame, opened its lid, and poured the boiling yellow liquid inside into a square stone trough.
Mirabeau watched the liquid in astonishment, unable to believe that wood could be boiled down to such a state.
The workers began using various tools to remove residual impurities from the wooden liquid. Another carefully brought a small bottle of chlorine-based bleach, slowly dripping it into the stone trough while continuously stirring.
Next, the workers added a large amount of water to the pulp vat, stirring, filtering—a series of complex processes that kept them busy for over half an hour.
Before the pulp had completely cooled, another group of workers approached with square "sieves." They carefully saturated the bottom of the sieves with the pulp, then gently shook and lifted them.
When Mirabeau saw the thin "film" on the bottom of the sieve, his heart pounded vigorously—'If this method truly could produce paper, it would be a revolutionary technology!'
Compared to traditional papermaking raw materials like rags and flax, wood was practically free. The cost of paper would plummet.
This also meant that this entirely new papermaking technique would dominate the European paper market!
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