Joseph saw that Mirabeau had fallen into deep thought and knew that the groundwork had been sufficiently laid, so he began to get to the point, “Let’s talk again about the tax legislation.”
Mirabeau became immediately alert upon hearing this, “Your Highness, you know that the nobles are united in their attitude towards the bill.”
Joseph spoke seriously, “Actually, on this matter, you have been used by the Old Nobility!”
Mirabeau laughed and gestured dismissively, “Your Highness, how could that be?”
Joseph casually picked up a small stick for picking impurities out of paper pulp and said, “If I may ask impertinently, how much land do you own?”
“Ah?” Mirabeau was somewhat surprised but still answered, “Over ten hectares in Paris and another forty in Reims.”
Joseph nodded, “Do you know how much land the Duke of Orleans owns?”
“That, I’m not quite certain about, but at least four or five thousand hectares, I would guess.”
“And the estates?”
“Perhaps around a dozen?”
“That’s just it. The most core part of the tax legislation is the land tax.”
Joseph raised the stick in his hand, “For instance, this represents the scale of the land you own; the land tax has almost no impact on you.”
He pointed toward a paper-drying rack support, which was twice a man’s height and as thick as a child’s waist, “And that’s the scale of land owned by the Duke of Orleans and the Old Nobility like him; the land tax is essentially paid by them. That’s the reason they fiercely oppose the tax law.”
“But you and the Capitalist Nobility like you are also being dragged along with them, opposing the bill together and exerting considerable effort, yet you’re only safeguarding their interests.”
Mirabeau paused for a moment, knowing the Crown Prince wasn’t wrong, but he immediately retorted, “The stamp tax, the legislation also introduces a stamp tax, which has a significant impact on industry and commerce.”
The so-called stamp tax is a tax levied when signing contracts or applying for documents.
Joseph said with a smile, “As one of the leaders of the Assembly of Notables, you must have read the text of the bill, the rate for the stamp tax is very low. In actuality, the main purpose of the stamp tax is to have the government act as a notary to the contract.”
During the last amendment of the bill, he had already reduced the rate of the stamp tax, precisely to win over the Capitalist Nobility.
Seeing Mirabeau still hesitating, Dupont couldn’t help but say, “Count Mirabeau, it’s quite clear that the tax legislation is beneficial to the nation’s finances,,we have no need to oppose it.
“Moreover, His Highness has promised that once the bill is passed, he will restart the negotiations for the ‘Treaty of Eden’ and significantly raise the tariffs.”
Dupont was highly opposed to the ‘Treaty of Eden.’ Therefore, as soon as Joseph told him it was possible to amend the treaty, he immediately reached an agreement with the Crown Prince.
Although he didn’t have much political influence, he could affect Capitalist Nobles like Mirabeau, so he facilitated this meeting.
Mirabeau immediately looked at Joseph, “Are you sure the British will accept?”
Joseph nodded, “I’ve already spoken with the British Ambassador. France’s industrial tariffs will be raised to 25%, and England’s liquor tariffs will be reduced to below 10%.”
Mirabeau’s pupils contracted, “That’s impossible! How did you persuade the British?”
“We can discuss this slowly later on, but I can assure you, the new treaty will definitely be signed. Of course, if you are not reassured, you can inquire about the situation from the British side.”
As a heavyweight in the political arena, Mirabeau certainly had his own channels of obtaining news from England.
Mirabeau finally began to waver.
He was well aware that, given the current levels of tariffs, France’s industry would not survive two years before completely collapsing.
By then, his own industries would inevitably suffer as well.
If he could secure the renewal of the “Eden Treaty,” oh, and the implementation of the “Company Law,” “Patent Law,” and the like, previously mentioned by the Crown Prince, with a tax bill that had little impact on him—that would definitely be a very worthwhile deal!
He bowed to Joseph and said, “Your Highness, this matter will involve many people. I need to go back and discuss it with Viscount Dico, Viscount Peillier, and the others.”
The individuals he mentioned were representatives of the Capitalist Nobility in the Assembly of Notables. Considering the conditions laid out by the Crown Prince just now, he felt quite confident that he could persuade them to switch their stance.
“Of course, I look forward to your response,”
Joseph nodded with a smile and then gestured towards the pulp pool at his side, “Now that we’re done with serious matters, we can finally talk about papermaking.”
Mirabeau was a bit slow to react, “You mean, papermaking?”
“Yes,” Joseph said, “I mentioned it when you first came here.”
“But…”
Joseph led him to the huge “cooking pots” and said to the workers standing by, “Please tell Count Mirabeau what is being cooked in this pot?”
The worker immediately bowed respectfully and said, “It’s wood, sir.”
“Wood?” Mirabeau looked at Joseph in surprise, “I thought you said we were going to make paper?”
Joseph nodded, “This is the first step in papermaking. Once the wood is boiled down, we can make paper. Of course, it’s with a new technique I’ve created.”
Mirabeau said in disbelief, “You can make paper out of wood?!”
He had some understanding of papermaking. Typically, the raw materials for making paper were scraps of cloth, flax, and at most, a blend of some tree bark fibers.
“Yes, willow and pine,” Joseph gestured outside the workshop, “just cut down this morning.”
He turned to ask a nearby worker, “How long has this pot been boiling?”
The worker glanced at his watch and replied, “Six and a half hours, sir.”
“It should be about done…” Joseph wasn’t certain either, as he had only seen the wood papermaking process in a documentary, so he instructed the workers, “Please pour out the wood pulp and carry out the filtering and bleaching. Oh, using the old method will do.”
“Yes, sir,” they complied.
Seven or eight workers gathered around, lifting the huge pot onto a stand, opened the lid, and poured the boiling yellow liquid into a square stone trough.
Mirabeau watched the liquid with astonishment, unable to believe that wood could be boiled down to this state.
The workers began to remove debris from the water with various tools, and one of them carefully added a small bottle of chlorine bleach, dripping it slowly into the trough while constantly stirring.
Then the workers added a large amount of water to the pulp pool, stirred, filtered, and engaged in a series of complex processes, busy for more than half an hour.
Before the pulp had completely cooled, another group of workers surrounded with square “sieves,” carefully soaked the bottoms with the pulp, and then gently lifted them with a shaking motion.
When Mirabeau saw the thin “film” on the bottom of the “sieve,” his heart skipped several beats—if this method could really produce paper, it was undoubtedly a revolutionary technology!
Compared to the usual papermaking materials like scraps of cloth and flax, wood was practically free, and the cost of paper would significantly decrease.
This also meant that this brand-new papermaking technology would dominate Europe’s paper market!
