I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 611 Cake and Contradiction

And thanks to the sales of smuggling trade, the output of factories across France has increased significantly, which has led to a significant increase in tax revenue.

But Joseph also knew that the smuggling business would not last long. At present, it was just taking advantage of the loopholes that the British had not paid attention to. Once the British reacted, under the strict inspection and blockade of their fleet, the smuggling amount would surely drop rapidly.

Joseph estimated that the dividends of the "special trade" could only last for another year at most. Without a strong navy, they would still be no match for Britain at sea.

Of course, France has now completed its tax reform, abolished local taxes and most tolls, and its industry and commerce are developing well.

Therefore, even without these two items of "abnormal income", this year's fiscal deficit can at least be guaranteed.

Speaking of tax reform, Joseph suddenly felt tremendous pressure again.

He has carried out a lot of very radical reforms in France in the past two years. He is not naive enough to think that as long as the reforms can be implemented, they will be successful.

This is just the beginning!

Any reform will involve a massive redistribution of benefits.

That is to say, while most people benefit from the reform, many people, or even a certain class, will lose their vested interests.

These people will not accept their fate easily.

Although they have temporarily laid dormant and licked their wounds under the pressure of royal power, they will jump out and cause trouble without hesitation as long as the opportunity arises.

Just like the tax farmers. Although the big tax farmers were beheaded, each of them had thousands of subordinates who depended on them for food, or even more.

After the fall of the big tax farmers, these people's lives must have been much worse than before. They must have been extremely dissatisfied with the French government, but they just didn't dare to show it.

Similar groups include the old aristocratic group, the old military group, and even the old police force.

Only because France's current development momentum is good, these people can enjoy the dividends of development, which covers up the contradictions.

Once the development momentum slows down, various contradictions will immediately erupt.

By then, even if the army could suppress it, France would still suffer great damage. If foreign forces took advantage of the situation and invaded, the consequences would be disastrous.

Joseph's ears were filled with the cheers of the ministers, but his heart was lost in thought:
Therefore, it is necessary to maintain France's rapid development, continuously make the cake bigger, and use the temptation of sharing the cake to offset the dissatisfaction of various forces.

As long as this situation lasts for a decade or so, France will be able to reconstruct a new balance of interests.

By then, even if someone still wants to bring up old issues, they don’t have to do it themselves, as others will suppress them for the sake of their own rights and interests.

There are only two ways to "make the pie bigger": internal development and external expansion...

After Briand finished his report, Mirabeau, the Minister of Industry, stood up and smiled: "Last year, our country made great progress in industry, and the overall scale expanded by 76%!"

This number sounds extremely shocking, but it was possible in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.

You have to know that France is still an agricultural country with very low industrial stock, so just building some factories can significantly increase the scale of industry.

However, the rapid growth of France's industrial scale was partly due to the crazy expansion of production in order to produce the goods of the order scam.

Later, "special trade" utilized these production capacities, which made the growth rate so exaggerated.

Mirabeau then excitedly introduced his achievements last year - the machinery industry grew by 110%...

The steel industry grew by 72%...

The coal industry grew by 265%...

The chemical industry grew by 175%...

The wine industry grew by 12%...

Paper industry...

Furniture manufacturing...

Pharmaceutical industry...

Among them, the terrifying growth rate of the coal industry is mainly due to the use of gas street lamps.

The distillation workshops in Paris alone consume as much coal as the entire Greater Paris area, which includes the Palace of Versailles and surrounding towns, consumed in 12 days!
Such astonishing demand greatly stimulated the development of the French coal industry.

Now the wooden track from the Nancy coal mine to Paris has been built. After the steam engine brings up the coal from the mine, it can be transported directly to Paris without even changing carriages.

At the same time, because of the huge amount of coal shipped to Paris, the freight rate was greatly reduced, and the price of coal also fell accordingly.

Many households that previously burned wood began to choose to burn coal, which further promoted the coal industry.

At present, the coal mines in the Wallonia region of the southern Netherlands have not been liberalized. Once cities such as Lyon and Reims install gas street lights, the coal from Wallonia will continue to flow into all parts of France.

By then, the scale of France's coal industry is likely to surpass that of Britain in one fell swoop.

As for another amazing industrial growth point, the chemical industry, the first French factory using the "Royal Soda Process" to produce soda ash has been officially put into operation, capable of producing 2000 kilograms of soda ash per day. At the same time, the cost is very low, only one-third of the original soda process.

Currently, France sells soda ash at 70% of the market price and has almost monopolized the soda ash market in the entire European continent, including the UK.

Although the demand for soda ash is not too high due to the underdeveloped industries in various countries, there is still a revenue of several million francs each year.

Moreover, thanks to the drop in the price of soda ash, the cost of French products such as soap, papermaking, dyes, and medicines has also been greatly reduced, and France's international competitiveness has rapidly increased.

Especially in the southern German region that has a trade agreement with France, the above-mentioned products occupy at least 70% of its market!
When these countries signed the agreement, they never imagined that France would even engage in dumping of soap, so they did not set protective tariffs on such products.

After the queen took the lead in congratulating Mirabeau, Minister of Agriculture Vergniaud began to tell the story impatiently:

"The beet sugar factory in Valois was put into operation at the end of last year, producing 8 pounds of white sugar that month. According to the current planting scale and the construction of the sugar refinery, the output should reach 60 pounds per month this year!"

Although 60 pounds is not a lot, less than the weekly output of Saint-Domingo, being able to produce sugar on the European continent will have a subversive effect on the entire sugar trade pattern.

Vergniaud then excitedly introduced the fertilizer production in France and the olive planting in Tunisia and other places.

At present, France has built four "stone fertilizer" crushing plants in Marseille and Paris to crush and grind phosphate ore shipped from Nauru and Tunisia, which is then sold to farmers by agricultural service consulting companies.

Compared with farmers who use "stone fertilizer" directly by soaking it in water, the crushed phosphate ore is not easy to be lost and its fertility is more than 30% higher.

(End of this chapter)