The current situation in France is such that it should thank Providence simply for being able to pay the interest on its debts, as for repaying the principal? Ha, one doesn’t even dare to dream of it in one’s sleep.
Joseph’s face tightened as he shook his head, thinking to himself that it would be great if all those banks that lent to the government could just go bankrupt…
Besides debt interest, another major “bleeding point” of France’s finances is taxation.
The French Government now entrusts most of its tax collection to “Tax Farmers.” Every year, Tax Farmers pay a lump sum to the government, after which they are free to collect taxes.
Estimates by later historians suggest that the actual amount of taxes collected by Tax Farmers each year exceeds the fee they pay to the government by more than one-eighth.
Based on last year’s tax revenue in France which totaled 500 million livres, one-eighth amounts to forty million. This money goes straight into the pockets of the Tax Farmers.
In fact, the profits of Tax Farmers may well exceed this figure, as some statistics show that nearly 20% of tax revenues are pocketed by them.
That is to say, if the Tax Farmers’ system were abolished, the French Government could increase its annual income by at least forty million livres!
Of course, attempting tax reform is extremely difficult.
One very important reason for this is that the Tax Farmers are also creditors of the French Government. They pay the entire annual tax fee to the government at the beginning of the year and only then collect the taxes.
If the Tax Farmers’ system were suddenly abolished, it would mean the French Government would have no tax revenue for a year!
Joseph suddenly realized that whether increasing revenue or decreasing expenditure, neither was an easy matter…
As he pondered, the Versailles Palace Square came into view.
Joseph stepped down from his carriage when a court official, who had come to deliver a message from Louis XVI, quickly approached from the car ahead, a wide smile on his face, “Your Highness, the King said he’s waiting for you at the Royal Workshop.”
Joseph nodded his thanks to the man and headed towards the King’s lock-making workshop.
Just as he rounded the column in front of the staircase, he encountered a man with a look of distress on his face coming towards him—it was Nico Herve, the Minister of the Interior.
Upon raising his head and seeing the Crown Prince, Nico Herve promptly bowed, “I haven’t seen you in a while, Your Highness. May the Lord bless you.”
Joseph smiled back at him, ready to ask about the signing of the “Eden Treaty,” when Nico Herve seemed rather listlessly to make his excuses and left.
Joseph, somewhat surprised, looked at Eman, “He seems to be troubled by something?”
Eman caught up with Nico Herve’s attendant and asked in a low voice before returning to relay to Joseph, “Your Highness, it seems that Earl Nico Herve wasn’t in the best of spirits during the negotiations with the British. Archbishop Brienne reprimanded him for it, so he’s feeling a bit down.”
Joseph nodded, understanding that Nico Herve really didn’t appear to have much diplomatic talent, but it wasn’t too worrying as the content of the Anglo-French trade negotiations had already been agreed upon by himself and the British Ambassador Hartley, so it was unlikely to affect the treaty signing.
By the time Joseph arrived at the entrance of the Royal Workshop, the door was opened from the inside, and out shuffled a middle-aged man dressed as a Priest, with a round pancake face and thick lips, sighing heavily.
The Priest, upon seeing Joseph, paused briefly before putting on a radiant smile, and enthusiastically greeted and bowed to the Crown Prince.
Seeing the Crown Prince looking puzzled, Eman quietly informed him at his side, “Your Highness, this is Principal Talleyrand of the Saint-Denis Monastery.”
Talleyrand? Joseph blinked, recalling the shrewd political survivor who had managed to thrive through several major eras including those of Louis XVI, the National Assembly, Napoleon, and Louis XVIII?
Talleyrand once served as the Archbishop of Autun before successively becoming Napoleon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Louis XVIII’s Prime Minister.
It’s hard to say in other respects, but in diplomacy, he was definitely a first-class master.
Joseph nodded and smiled at Talleyrand. Before he could exchange a few words, he heard Louis XVI’s voice coming from the workshop, “Joseph, is that you? Oh, dear, I’ve been waiting for you for so long, come in quickly.”
Talleyrand gracefully bowed and excused himself. Joseph stepped into the workshop and bowed to Louis XVI, placing his hand on his chest.
The King didn’t wait for him to finish his ritualistic words and came over excitedly, grabbing him and almost dragging him to the workbench. Pointing at something covered with blue cloth on the table, he asked mysteriously, “Guess what this is?”
Joseph guessed that it might be the finished caplock gun, but he still exaggeratedly said, “Is it… a pile of jewelry?”
Louis XVI shook his head proudly, “No, this is something far more precious than jewelry.”
As he spoke, he yanked off the blue cloth, “It’s the world’s best gun, developed by me and my dearest son!”
Then, two caplock guns that had been meticulously polished and were as beautiful as works of art appeared before Joseph.
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“Don’t you want to give it a try?” Louis XVI gestured towards the guns.
Joseph nodded, reached out and picked up one of them, examining it closely.
The positions of the barrel, trigger, and stock were basically the same as the Charleville 1776 flintlock gun, probably using mature parts.
The biggest changes were in the lock and the priming chamber.
The lock had been altered from the beak-shaped flintlock to a hammer shape. The priming chamber was completely removed, replaced with a date stone-sized cylindrical prominence.
Joseph pulled the lock hard. Immediately, Louis XVI took a brass “green bean” from a wooden box beside him and handed it to Joseph.
Looking at the percussion cap in his hand and then at the wooden box, which still held dozens of caps scattered inside, Joseph thought to himself: The lack of safety precautions is appalling. Lucky there wasn’t a fire, that would have been quite the spectacle…
He inserted the cap onto the nipple. Louis XVI hurriedly pointed to an empty space in the corner, indicating it was for test firing. It seemed he had already tried many times there.
Joseph pointed the gun at an empty space and pulled the trigger, producing a “puff” sound. The gun wasn’t loaded with gunpowder, only a little smoke from the burning fulminate mercury billowed from the barrel.
From the force and stability of the lock, Joseph could clearly tell that there was absolutely no problem with this gun.
The finest craftsmen of France would indeed not disappoint; he now had another powerful weapon in his own hands!
“Craftsman Louis XVI,” however, seemed not quite satisfied with his performance, muttering, “I had thought it would be ready a month ago, but the airtightness issue turned out to be very complex.”
He gestured towards the Palace of Versailles waterwheel system outside the window, “If it weren’t for the British boring machine you recommended, oh, and your invention of the ‘spiral micrometer’ that was a great help, maybe this gun would still have leakages now.”
“You are truly the greatest master in this world!” Joseph lifted the gun in his hand and praised, “Without you, this gun probably wouldn’t have appeared until decades later.”
Louis XVI squinted with pleasure, then said in a low voice, “Let’s go to the woods east of the square to test fire. I often go there to try out guns.”
Joseph, however, smiled and shook his head, “Testing guns in the woods lacks atmosphere. Let’s go to the shooting range and fire a few shots there!”