Chapter 89: Papermaking Factory Consensus
The papermakers lifted the paper mold, essentially a sieve, and placed it on a rack. Several stoves were arranged around it to raise the temperature.
Another half hour passed. A craftsman removed the paper mold, carefully peeled off the paper, and respectfully presented it to Joseph. "Sir, look, it's already dry," he said.
In truth, a normal drying process would take at least half a day. Drying it with high heat now was purely for Mirabeau's benefit.
Joseph crumpled the paper in his hand. It was brittle and quite thick, with an uneven internal texture. Its quality was rather poor, yet it was undeniably paper—paper made from wood.
He handed the paper to Mirabeau and said with a touch of regret, "These craftsmen and I are trying this new technology for the first time, so the quality of the finished product isn't quite up to par."
<If exported throughout Europe, it would be a market worth at least tens of millions!
Furthermore, it was foreseeable that the papermaking technology in any other European country would have significantly higher costs than wood-based papermaking. In other words, there would be no way to stop the dumping of wood paper.
Joseph observed his excited expression and smiled. "Using my method, the price of paper can be pushed down to one-seventh of the current market price. Of course, we don't need to go that low; selling it at two-thirds of the market price will suffice, leaving us with a healthy profit margin."
Mirabeau keenly caught the word "we" and immediately looked at the Crown Prince with eager anticipation.
"Therefore, I would like to invite you—and, of course, your friends—to invest together. We can swiftly establish a large number of papermaking workshops to capture the market. This papermaking technology will serve as my capital contribution."
"This is excellent!" Mirabeau exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with delight. He stroked the head of his cane thoughtfully. "So, approximately how many shares will you take?"
"Twenty percent, I suppose." The papermaking technology was a tool to win over and divide the Assembly of Notables, so Joseph wouldn't demand too many shares.
Mirabeau understood perfectly that the Crown Prince was making a concession, and he immediately broke into a brilliant smile. "You are truly too generous! I believe we can arrange a time—with Vicomte du Coudray, Vicomte Perier, and the others—for all of us to discuss investing in papermaking. Oh, and the Tax Bill, of course."
Joseph smiled and nodded. "I wholeheartedly agree with your proposal," he affirmed.
After settling the time and place for their meeting, Mirabeau returned to Paris with eager impatience, preparing to meet his political allies.
Once inside the carriage, unable to contain his curiosity, he turned his head and asked, "Your Highness, can you tell me how those pieces of wood were boiled into a liquid?"
"Some chemicals need to be added," Joseph replied, smiling as he helped close the carriage door for him.
He naturally wouldn't reveal that it was simply a matter of adding sulfites. But that was the nature of knowledge: simple to state once known, but without guidance, wood-based papermaking technology wouldn't appear for another half-century.
The next day.
Mirabeau brought three nobles to Joseph's papermaking workshop—Joseph had already purchased the small workshop to prevent leaks.
"Your Highness, this is Vicomte du Coudray. And this is..."
Following Mirabeau's introductions, the three men successively bowed to Joseph.
Not long after, another carriage arrived. Archbishop Brienne stepped down from the carriage.
And so, in a dilapidated and crude workshop, the Crown Prince sat on a paper drying rack, the Chief Minister and Count Mirabeau sat on a cart used to transport paper, and the others stood leaning against the workshop shed, beginning a discussion concerning the future of France.
The negotiation process, however, went very smoothly.
Brienne promised to work with the Crown Prince to promote the implementation of laws such as the Company Law and Patent Law, and to further reduce the rate of some Stamp Duty.
Joseph reiterated that Anglo-French trade negotiations would restart within two months, and the Eden Treaty would be re-signed according to the previously discussed tariffs.
Mirabeau and the others, in turn, guaranteed they would persuade their allies within the Assembly of Notables to support the Tax Bill. Since the High Court was ultimately controlled by the great nobles of the Assembly of Notables, this effectively meant their representatives in the court would no longer obstruct the Tax Bill.
What took the longest time and garnered the most interest, however, was the discussion about establishing a papermaking company.
The final outcome of the discussion was that the five individuals present, excluding Joseph, would collectively invest 3.6 million livres to build one large papermaking workshop in each of Saint-Antoine Town, Lyon, and Bordeaux. These workshops were to reach a production capacity sufficient to meet all of France's paper needs within half a year.
Afterwards, depending on the situation, additional investments would be made to expand capacity and commence exports, ultimately aiming to capture the entire European market.
Joseph would provide the technology, taking 20% of the shares, while the others would divide the remaining 80% according to their investment.
However, to support France's numerous existing papermaking workshops, Joseph specifically required the new company to provide pulp to other workshops, allowing them to perform downstream processing and maintain their livelihoods.
After all matters were discussed, everyone was greatly pleased.
Brienne was the first to rise and take his leave. Half an hour later, Mirabeau and the others followed.
...
On the street opposite the Parlement of Paris, a wooden platform, six or seven meters square, had been erected.
The wooden platform was draped on all sides with dark gray cloth. Two or three hundred people crowded below, intently watching the performance on stage.
When the main villain, portraying an Ottoman judge, mistakenly ate a poisoned cake out of greed and died with wails, the audience erupted in thunderous cheers.
Someone turned, pointed at the distant Parlement of Paris, and shouted:
"Do you see? This is the end for shameless corrupt officials!"
"You should suffer the same fate!"
"You bunch of rats, you maggots, dare you come out?"
In the meeting hall on the third floor of the Parlement of Paris, several judges sighed in relief when the play's music ceased, redirecting their attention back to the conference table.
Vezinier, with a disdainful expression, tossed the stack of documents in front of him forward and snorted coldly. "There's nothing to deliberate! No matter how Brienne changes it, this thing can never be registered!"
What he had tossed was precisely Brienne's new version of the Tax Bill, submitted just that morning.
Duport exchanged glances with a sharp-chinned judge beside him, whose eyes seemed perpetually widened in surprise. Duport slowly opened his own copy of the bill and said calmly, "I think it's still worth discussing. Perhaps we might reach a different conclusion?"
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