I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 520: The Royal Family’s Precious Things

Less than ten minutes after Fulco and other senior officials of the General Tax Administration left, Brian followed Emman into the room and bowed to Joseph, saying, "Your Highness, there is a difficult matter that I'm afraid you need to come forward to deal with."

"Oh? What happened?"

Brian said with an embarrassed look on his face, "It was Her Majesty. She summoned Baron de Breteuil and me this morning and told us about the tax farmers who always forged documents. Her Majesty meant that this matter was not serious and that a fine would be enough, and there was no need to prosecute at the High Court."

Joseph was a little surprised: "Why would His Majesty suddenly ask about this?"

Brian came closer and said, "Your Highness, I heard that it was the Count of Artois who interceded for the General Council of Tax Farmers in front of Your Majesty. In addition, it seems that Your Majesty received an expensive diamond crown, and the Countess de Berninac also mentioned that the Palace of Versailles will undergo some renovations in the near future."

Joseph frowned immediately - these tax farmers had considerable power, they could even invite the king's brother and the queen's personal maid, and they went straight to the queen.

If my mother really wanted to intervene in this matter, it would be a bit troublesome. After all, forging documents is not a serious crime. It is not surprising that she lightly disclosed the matter because of the face of the Count of Artois and the maid.

At present, the verification of the accounts of tax farmers has not yet begun. Once there are no cases of forged documents, the time for "banking rectification" must be extended, otherwise the tax farmers are likely to flee abroad with the huge sums of money sucked from France.

The banking industry rectification has lasted for more than half a month. Any further extension will definitely have a negative impact on the French economy.

Brian said: "Your Highness, now it is up to you to persuade Her Majesty the Queen..."

Joseph nodded and motioned for Emand to get him his coat.

He was still somewhat confident that he could convince his mother, but the expensive diamond tiara and the temptation of renovating the palace must be great, so he would probably have to put in some effort to persuade her.

When he saw the Versailles Palace Square from afar, he suddenly felt something in his heart and narrowed his eyes slightly.

This time, even if I convince my mother, the Count of Artois can go to her again to complain. My mother has a very good relationship with her brother-in-law. If one of them can't help but sign the pardon, it will be troublesome.

Therefore, we have to solve the problem from the root.

The carriage stopped and Joseph got out, but instead of going to the Petit Trianon, he turned to the Count of Artois's residence.

The Count of Artois was obviously a little surprised by the visit of the Crown Prince. He and the Countess Maria Josepha came out to greet him and saluted:
"Dear Joseph, what brings you here? We are going to go camping, which should be quite interesting. Would you like to join us..."

Joseph nodded to them and smiled, "Let me guess, was it Viscount Fold who called the meeting, or was it Mr. Hope?"

The Count of Artois was stunned for a moment, then he let Joseph into the house and frowned slightly and asked, "What does Your Highness want to say?"

Joseph turned to look at him and said, "Dear uncle, you seem to have had a lot of contact with the Tax Farmers Association recently."

The Count of Artois smiled and said, "I have some personal relationship with Viscount Ford. Why does Your Highness suddenly care about this?"

Joseph nodded: "Well, then he must have shown considerable sincerity in asking you for help, right?"

The Count of Artois's expression changed. He had heard that the Dauphin had been increasingly involved in government affairs recently, but his impression of Joseph was still more of a young nephew, so he put on an elder's demeanor and said, "Your Highness, I don't know what you have heard, and I don't want to comment on it."

Joseph's tone turned cold. "Dear uncle, the investigation of the General Association of Tax Farmers is of great importance. I give you a suggestion: don't get too involved."

The Count of Artois did not expect his nephew to warn him so rudely. He narrowed his eyes and said rudely, "Your Highness, this does not seem to be any of your business, does it?"

Although he did not participate much in state affairs, he was the brother who had the closest relationship with the King, the best friend of Queen Marie, the uncle of the Dauphin, and had a very high status in the Palace of Versailles, but he was not very afraid of the Dauphin.

Most importantly, the tax farmers always gave him a bribe of 150 million francs to help him settle small cases of forged documents.

The Tax Farmers Association also sent a huge gift to Her Majesty the Queen, which was very valuable. This matter would definitely be easily accomplished, and the huge sum of 150 million would be obtained.

How could he possibly throw away the fat meat in his mouth just because of a few words from the crown prince?
Joseph picked up the hot tea that the Countess had just brought and said word by word: "Your behavior will cause France to lose hundreds of millions of francs. I am not here to discuss this with you. You must stop getting involved with those tax farmers."

"My dear Joseph, I don't know what you are talking about. But I don't need you to dictate my personal relationships."

Joseph sniffed the tea and said calmly, "You have shares in the French Reserve Bank, Paris Angel Company, and a large number of shares in the Industrial Development Fund. The income from these is enough for all your expenses, and there is even a lot of surplus."

He glanced at the Count of Artois and said, "It would be uneconomical to affect your stable income just for a little money from the tax farmers' association, wouldn't it?"

The latter was immediately shocked: "What does this mean, Prince?"

Joseph said, "You know, I am in control of the French Reserve Bank and Angel de Paris. There are many ways to dilute your shares. I can discount the dividends from the Industrial Development Fund and even your annuity."

The Count of Artois was immediately panicked - he currently receives nearly 180 million francs in income each year from various dividends and annuities. If this money is affected, he will really cry to death.

"No, you can't..."

Joseph put the teacup heavily on the table and said in a deep voice: "Your income from dividends and other sources is based on the vigorous development of France.

"You want to destroy your own foundation just for a little profit!"

He scolded loudly, and the Count of Artois blushed and listened with his head down, as if Joseph was his elder.

After a long while, Count Artois said with difficulty: "But, I have promised Viscount Ford to intercede for him..."

Joseph glared at him coldly. Even after things had come to this, he was still insisting on being stubborn!

He sighed softly and said, "If you still insist on intervening in this matter, I can only ask the Notary Investigation Bureau to persuade you."

"No! You, don't do this! We can talk it out!" The Count of Artois had heard about the behavior of those crazy people in the Notary Investigation Bureau - as a top noble, he usually did a lot of dirty things.

(End of this chapter)