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Chapter 97: Crushing Pressure

Duport sighed, but did not refute Luault. On the matter of opposing the Royal Supreme Court, their positions were consistent.

However, circumstances were beyond their control.

He glanced towards the door. Representatives from the Royal Supreme Court were in the room opposite, and he shook his head, saying, "But no one wants to end up like Count Vezinier..."

Before he could finish speaking, the eyes of several High-Ranking Councilors narrowed.

Just moments ago, the Royal Supreme Court's delegates had delivered a message: in response to the strong demands of the Parisian populace, His Majesty the King was considering reviewing all major cases handled by the High Court in recent years.

The High Court was riddled with systemic corruption; it was impossible for any judge serving there to remain untainted.

Their own records were no cleaner than Vezinier's!

Moreover, they couldn't prevent the re-trials. Paris was currently in an uproar; if the Royal Supreme Court's people simply shouted outside, thousands would immediately gather to surround the court, just as they had when Vezinier faced them.

After a long while, it was still Duport who, with a grave expression, weakly raised his hand and declared, "Let's register it."

His stance, however, differed slightly from the other judges. The Royal Supreme Court had previously informed him that, once the bill passed, they would fully support his appointment as President of the High Court.

Of course, this was also Joseph's directive. When dealing with an opponent seemingly backed into a corner, it was crucial to 'divide and conquer' – to attack one faction while drawing another to one's side, thereby preventing a situation where 'the fish dies or the net breaks'.

So for Duport, although the High Court's authority would be severely curtailed in the future, his personal power would be compensated by the presidency, making it a reluctantly acceptable outcome.

Judge Vadier let out a long sigh and raised his right hand. "I agree. Let's just get this over with..."

Glette and Aulard had no choice but to reluctantly raise their hands as well.

And so, the judges reluctantly passed the bill granting the Royal Supreme Court supervisory power over the High Court.

As for the clause at the end of the bill, which abolished the High Court's authority over press censorship, they barely even noticed it. 'With the ox dead, who worries about a few stray hairs?'

Most surprisingly, this momentous bill didn't cause much of a stir among the nobility.

From the nobles' perspective, the High Court was still the High Court, the Assembly of Notables was still the Assembly of Notables. Nothing seemed to have changed.

Oh, there's a new Royal Supreme Court? Wasn't that just the old Royal Plenary Court by another name? It's been around for centuries...

In stark contrast to the nobles' indifference, the common people of Paris were immensely excited. Years of accumulated resentment towards the High Court found its release through Vezinier's downfall.

For several days, shouts of "Long live the King! Long live the Plenary Court!" could be heard intermittently in the streets.

"Execute the shameless judges quickly!"

Vezinier's victims, in particular, spread the word everywhere, proclaiming the King's benevolence and wisdom for establishing the Plenary Court to punish evildoers.

Soon, led by the Paris Business Journal, various Parisian newspapers began publishing articles with titles like "His Great Majesty's Glorious Victory" and "His Majesty's Righteous Judgment."

Public opinion regarding the monarchy began to shift positively for the first time.

...

Versailles.

Joseph wasn't surprised when he learned that the bill concerning the Royal Supreme Court had passed.

Given the prevailing momentum, the High Court had no choice but to accept the bill.

However, with the High Court's obstruction removed, he felt a great weight lift from his mind. He could finally unleash his full potential and tackle more crucial matters.

Speaking of crucial matters, he immediately thought of the impending Great Famine, which once again gave him a headache.

France had over 20 million people. If the food shortage was calculated at 30%, that was an incredibly terrifying figure. And he recalled that the crop failures were expected to continue until early 1790.

Joseph watched the snowflakes falling outside the tall, arched French windows. It was already the end of the snow month, which meant mid-January by the Gregorian calendar.

There were still six and a half months until the famine was projected to break out on a large scale in July. Where could he possibly acquire so much grain...?

He had some ideas before, but the closer the problem's outbreak loomed, the more insufficient his plans felt.

For example, buying from abroad would require a substantial amount of capital. Given France's current financial situation, there was simply no spare money to purchase that much grain.

Furthermore, stockpiling such a massive quantity of grain would necessitate storage facilities, and measures would be needed to prevent looting during the most difficult times.

From what he had recently learned about the grain market, simply buying from foreign sources would be nowhere near enough to cover France's deficit.

And this was assuming the grain market remained stable. If unscrupulous merchants seized the opportunity to profit, the deficit would only grow larger.

As for preventing hail in advance... historical records indicated that this year's hailstones would be the size of an adult's fist. Unless the crops were clad in steel armor, there was simply no way to protect them.

The funds needed for grain purchases brought Joseph back to France's financial predicament.

Before he took over financial affairs, the burden hadn't felt so pronounced. But now, those two billion-plus livres felt like a mountain pressing down on his chest, making it difficult to breathe whenever he thought of them.

His Paris Angel company, which he had painstakingly built over a long time, if sold off entirely now, would be worth at most ten million livres. In other words, he'd need 200 Paris Angels to fill this massive hole!

He involuntarily took a deep breath, hoping to ease the pressure in his chest.

Therefore, to solve the debt problem, the fundamental solution still lay with the Industrial Revolution.

On one hand, the massive quantity of industrial goods produced by the Industrial Revolution could generate enormous economic benefits, directly filling the financial deficit.

On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution could also significantly boost national strength, leading to greater gains in warfare and overseas colonies, which would then feed back into industry, creating a Virtuous Cycle.

In fact, Britain also experienced a severe debt crisis in the early 19th century; its situation was no better than France's current one. However, by leveraging the dividends of the Industrial Revolution, they managed to successfully overcome their predicament despite shouldering immense debt.

Joseph picked up the warm teacup and took a sip. To drive industrialization, he first needed to gain control over the nation's industrial policy.

He couldn't help but shake his head. France didn't even have a Ministry of Industry at the moment; the Interior Minister also oversaw industrial affairs. With a figure like Monnot in charge, the Industrial Revolution would be doomed.

Fortunately, he had recently acquired a few more 'cards' up his sleeve. He could negotiate with Monnot and make him relinquish control over industrial matters.

Night fell.

At the perpetually bustling ball in Versailles.

Joseph gritted his teeth and maneuvered through a throng of chattering young women, finally squeezing to Monnot's side and quickly grabbing hold of him.

The young women had initially thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was going to ask someone to dance, but seeing him now gripping the Interior Minister's arm so tightly, strange expressions bloomed on all their faces...