I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 524: Money Power, Start! (Seeking monthly tickets!)

With such a scale, it is indeed a fantasy to want to fill one-third of France's trade gap.

Joseph, however, looked confident and said, looking around at everyone:

"What if I inject 2 million francs into the Trade Union?"

The room suddenly became quiet.

Even though these political and business leaders have seen the world and are even wealthy themselves, the figure of 2 million francs still makes their heads buzz.

What is the concept?
50 francs is enough to build a large caravan - one that can affect the trade volume of a big city.

Last year, the total profit of all French caravans was estimated at only 5 to 6 million francs.

With this one move, the Crown Prince spent almost half a year’s profits of all the caravans across the country!
Immediately, several people swallowed their saliva, and excitement began to jump in their eyes.

Generally speaking, if there is sufficient funding, it takes about two months to prepare for forming a large caravan, and then slowly become familiar with the market and start normal operations.

But at the moment, the funds are not only sufficient, but also extravagant! They are seriously overflowing!

If each caravan invested an additional 10 francs in recruiting personnel, the framework could be set up almost overnight - as long as the wages were high enough, employees from other caravans would come to join the team overnight.

Even more, they could just buy out other caravans. With a 20% premium, many caravans would be willing to sell themselves.

They would then allocate a few thousand francs to advertise in the city and hire people to spread word of mouth. With the royal family and the government backing their credit, those factories suffering from a backlog of goods would certainly choose the trade alliance's caravans without hesitation.

In this way, after spending 2 million francs, the size of the existing trade alliance can be expanded exponentially in a week at most and the market can be quickly captured.

Dupont nodded subconsciously:
“If we invest so much money, it won’t be a problem to quickly restore the trade routes!”

As a cabinet minister, Mirabeau had a relatively clear understanding of the country's financial situation. He said with a worried look:

"Your Highness, if we mobilize so much money, I'm afraid the finance department will not be able to bear the pressure..."

You must be kidding. After the tax reform, the government hasn’t even gathered enough money for next year’s operating expenses, and now they’re taking out another 2 million. I’m afraid the government will have to shut down next year.

Joseph said calmly, “Don’t worry about the money, I will take care of it.

"Please ask Mr. Bai to set up the trade alliance as quickly as possible, and the rest of you to contact your respective caravans to sign the agreement and join."

He didn't even ask the caravan whether they were willing to join the trade alliance. With an astronomical investment of 2 million, anyone who refused must be crazy.

As for the funding issue, he planned to borrow 2 million from Royal Insurance Company. The insurance company was now enjoying a boom in sales, had ample liquidity, and was looking for places to invest.

As for how to repay this huge sum of money in the future?
Of course, the tax farmers will pay it back.

After causing such a big trouble, they still think they can get away with it?

Originally, each family could have bought 1 million francs of government bonds, but these greedy guys insisted on doing so, so now let's change it to a 1 million franc fine!

By the way, we can also use their money to integrate the domestic trade system, improve the management level of caravans, speak with one voice in foreign trade, and thus greatly enhance trade competitiveness.

Mirabeau and the others did not expect that the Dauphin would spend 2 million francs so casually. They wanted to persuade His Highness to be more cautious, but they saw that Joseph had already turned to the Viscount of Besançon, the chief of the police department: "Please leave for Marseille immediately and personally monitor the order of the port.

“Anyone who incites a strike without reason will be arrested immediately. We must ensure that the port of Marseille can operate normally.”

The head of the police department immediately stood at attention and said loudly, "Yes, Your Highness!" Then, there was some hesitation in his eyes, "Your Highness, if those people are very violent..."

"You are allowed to shoot at any time." Joseph said without hesitation, "But try not to hurt the ordinary porters and crew members."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Besancon suddenly seemed confident.

Joseph looked at the assistant manager of the twin subsidiaries again:

"Mr. Volante, you will also follow Viscount Besançon to Marseille. When you get there, spread the news that a large number of urgently needed goods will arrive at the port of the Twin Companies in the near future, and that the wages of the porters, trackers, and port managers will be increased by 20%.

“If there really is unrest at the port, you can keep increasing the amount until the wages are doubled.

"At the same time, you need to contact the captains of other ships that have arrived at the port privately and ask them to increase their wages as well. We will pay the extra fees."

"Yes, Your Highness." Volante bowed and saluted, "I will definitely satisfy you."

Joseph took out another bill from the drawer, signed his name, stamped it, and handed it to Volant:
"Please go to the French Reserve Bank to confirm that the Marseille branch can pay 150 million francs at any time. If that is not possible, then bring the money directly from Paris."

After he had distributed the tasks in a swift and decisive manner, Mirabeau and the others all took their orders and left, carrying out their tasks separately without any delay.

Joseph summoned Marat again and ordered him to send people to keep an eye on the funds he had allocated this time.

After all, the amount is too huge, and it has to be spent in a short period of time using unconventional means, which makes it difficult for those who handle it not to have the idea of ​​stealing.

At the moment, he could think of only people like Mara who could resist the temptation of money.

……

A week later.

Robespierre came to the Tuileries Palace with a gloomy face, straightened his collar, and strode to the second floor.

Behind him were three men from the State Administration of Taxation, each holding a wooden box filled with reporting materials.

Soon, Joseph looked at the documents spread out on the table, his face even gloomier than Robespierre's.

These are the accounts of tax farmers that were recently found to be problematic by the State Administration of Taxation based on complaints from the public.

This is not just a matter of accounts, it is simply horrifying!
Robespierre narrated in a low voice: "This Leonor's family originally had 47 acres of land, which was inherited from their ancestors. Their family almost never defaulted on taxes.

"Until the tax farmer Jacques-Etoile de Pocca suddenly collected taxes ahead of schedule, and the cold spring that year caused the wheat to mature late, causing 18 farmers in the village to go bankrupt. Including the annual tribute farmers who abandoned their land, a total of more than 30 households gave up their land. In the end, Pocca obtained most of the land in the village..."

Joseph looked at the information about Leonor in his hand, anger surging in his eyes. It showed that Leonor's second son had a miscarriage in the incident, and his mother died of illness the following year after leaving the village.

Robespierre continued: "Four years ago, after a series of heavy rains, Lecornu, a tax farmer in the town of Sty, set up a hunting lodge 4 miles away from the town to pay taxes..."

(End of this chapter)