At present, with the advent of the Steam Engine sent to the countryside, lands that would have produced no crops due to drought managed to yield some harvest. Although it was only green wheat and amounted to only about thirty percent of a normal harvest, it was indeed better than nothing.
Furthermore, in the provinces that had extensively planted potatoes, the impact of hail was very limited. Especially in the south, where potatoes were nearly ripe, after the hail, the farmers only needed to dig out the potatoes from the ground to ensure their food supply for the latter half of the year.
At the same time, the “Parish Small Bank” that Joseph had set up earlier to help the rural areas purchase Steam Engines played an unexpected role this time.
Because he now had the powerful tool that was the Bank of France Reserve at his disposal.
After the disaster struck, Joseph and the Cabinet decided that the Bank of France Reserve would directly provide loans to the parish banks, which would then divide and lend to impoverished farmers, ensuring that the disaster-stricken farmers wouldn’t starve to death.
Such large-scale government funding for disaster relief was unheard of in the eighteenth century. In fact, disaster relief wouldn’t cost much — nearly four million livres a month, totaling between twelve and fourteen million by harvest time. The payoff was the stability of the entire lower class of France.
For a country, chaos is always a severe drain.
It’s not just about spending money; it also drains the nation’s foundation and prospects for development, diminishing people’s confidence in the country. These are things you can’t buy back with any amount of money.
Historically, after the chaos of the French Revolution, it took the country a good ten years to gradually get back on track and start developing again. That was only because of the arrival of Napoleon, a man capable of turning the tide; otherwise, it might have taken another ten years.
As for the twelve million for disaster relief, Joseph had his own additional plan: it could be used to accelerate the circulation of banknotes.
Beginning next month, the Bank of France Reserve will officially issue banknotes, and the loans that the parish banks receive from the Bank of France Reserve will be disbursed entirely in banknotes.
Of course, to ensure stability in the countryside, for the first two months, the Bank of France Reserve will also transport an equivalent amount of silver coins to each parish, allowing farmers to exchange banknotes at any time.
Once everyone is accustomed to banknotes and has developed a certain level of trust in them, they will gradually reduce the amount of silver coins distributed.
According to Joseph’s plan, the initial issuance of banknotes would be fifty million livres, with an over-issuance of 5%. In other words, the Bank of France Reserve actually prepared forty-seven and a half million livres in silver coins.
This small degree of over-issuance would not affect the national finances in any way. In fact, a moderate inflation is actually beneficial to economic development.
Therefore, the funds needed for disaster relief would only require the issuance of two hundred million livres in banknotes, which could basically be covered by the over-issued portion.
However, Joseph was well aware of the importance of maintaining stable currency values, especially during the initial introduction of banknotes. Reckless over-issuance could not be afforded; otherwise, it would backfire. The reason British Pound banknotes had remained strong and gradually accepted by other European countries was precisely because of their stable value.
In this transition period from gold and silver coins to banknotes, the gold standard was the most suitable monetary policy, which also meant that excessive issuance of banknotes could not happen.
…
In a large city like Paris, people were completely unaware of the farmers’ despair. The impact of drought and hail on them mostly manifested in the price of bread, besides repairing damaged buildings and public facilities.
When reports of failed crops from all over the country gradually reached Paris, even though there were no actual signs of food shortage, the price of bread immediately began to rise under the influence of public panic.
The price of bread in Paris was always an issue of utmost concern for the French Cabinet, without exception. Every time Parisians had complaints about the price of bread, it signaled that a riot was on the verge of breaking out!
Palace of Versailles.
“So, many nobles have protested against these regulations?”
Joseph flipped through the “Millers’ Duties Act” in his hand and looked at Brian in front of him.
The Finance Minister nodded somewhat helplessly, “You know, the mill tax is a significant source of income for those people. Although the act only stipulated certain scenarios, they are still very resistant.”
This was the bill that Joseph had submitted last month, yet it had still not been approved.
Its main content was: millers are obligated to maintain the normal operation of their mills meticulously. If a mill can’t be used for two consecutive months, the local parish would have the right to build a public mill.
At present, in most European countries, the right to mill flour was still held by the Feudal Lords. Even if farmers had wheat, they had to pay a tax and go to the Feudal Lord’s mill to have it ground into flour.
Joseph thought for a moment, then changed one word in the document, turning it into “Mill Owner Rights Act.”
“This way, we first describe the traditional mill rights in detail, and the duty part only needs to take up half a page at the end. No one should object to this.”
Currently, the rights of mill owners are inherited according to medieval customs, and there really are no specific written laws, but the power of custom is as solid as a rock, implemented everywhere, and even courts would make judgments based on it.
So, Joseph directly wrote them into the legislation, seemingly endorsing the nobles, but in reality, they didn’t gain any benefits. And the duties that followed were indeed added in earnest.
Brian immediately showed a smile, “Your Highness, I think they will surely look forward to the bill’s swift passage.”
While they were talking, a finance official knocked and entered, hurriedly saluted them, and then rushed to say:
“Your Highness, Archbishop, we’ve just received news from Paris, bread has risen to 4 livres 8 sous 7 deniers per loaf.”
Upon hearing this, Brian’s expression immediately turned serious, “It’s gone up by 7 deniers in just two days?”
“It seems so.”
“Those scoundrels!” Brian stood up, “Immediately have someone inspect all the bakeries, arrest anyone who dares to hoard or secretly raise prices on the spot!”
Presently, the bread price control law in Paris was just this stringent—anyone who dared to raise the price, even by 1 denier, would be immediately arrested.
Joseph expressed some doubt, “Archbishop Brienne, with the government emphasizing price controls every day since the hailstorm, and even the police helping to monitor, why would anyone dare to raise prices?”
“You may not know,” Brian sighed, “those bakery owners, they comply with the stipulated price publicly, but secretly they employ various methods to effectively raise prices.
“For example, they only sell 40 pounds of bread at the regular price each day and then announce they’ve sold out. Whoever wants to buy bread has to go to the back kitchen of the shop and pay a ‘query fee’ to make a purchase.
“Or they engage in tie-in sales—smear a bean-sized dollop of jam on the bread and claim it’s jam bread, increasing the price by a few deniers.”
Joseph raised an eyebrow and said, “In that case, sending even more people to inspect won’t do much good.
“I think, while the price increase isn’t too significant yet, we should use the reserve grains to stabilize the price.”
Brian shook his head, “Your Highness, there is still plenty of grain in the market for now, it’s not necessary to do this yet.
“You know, those merchants, once they learn that there is a grain shortage, will hoard food like mad, waiting to sell at high prices. Thus, most of the grain we put into the market now will be bought up by them.”
Joseph smiled with confidence:
“Archbishop Brienne, how could you forget that we now have this ‘weapon’ called identity cards?”
“Identity cards?”
“Yes. You first set up ‘ticket distribution points’ around Paris. Anyone can collect a food ration ticket every day with their identity card.
“And the reserve grain depots will sell grain at fixed prices, but purchases must be made with food tickets. Each ticket can buy enough grain for two pounds of bread a day and cannot be used the next day.
“Those grain merchants themselves only have one identity card, so they simply cannot buy up large quantities of reserve grain.”
Brian, who was still not accustomed to the concept of identity cards, found his eyes lighting up when the Crown Prince explained, “No wonder you had given each identity card a different number, it can also be used this way!”
He hurriedly called several of his subordinates, repeated Joseph’s method to them, and had them go and carry it out immediately.
Joseph thought for a moment and then said:
“The current rise in bread prices is mostly due to panic. So, we need to divert the public’s attention as much as possible, to make them pay less attention to the food issue.”