Chapter 611: Cake and Conflict
Thanks to the booming smuggling trade, factory production across France increased significantly, boosting tax revenues considerably.
However, Joseph was fully aware that the smuggling business could not last indefinitely. For now, France was exploiting a gap in Britain's attention. Once the British authorities caught on and intensified their navy's inspections and blockades, smuggling volumes would inevitably decline rapidly.
Joseph estimated that the "special trade" boom could sustain itself for no more than another year. Without a strong navy, France could never truly compete with Britain at sea.
That said, France had already completed a tax reform, eliminating regional taxes and most tolls, which fostered robust industrial and commercial growth.
Even without these "abnormal" revenues, Joseph believed that France's finances could at least avoid slipping into deficit this year.
The Challenges of Reform
As he thought about tax reform, Joseph felt the weight of enormous pressure. Over the past two years, he had implemented a series of highly aggressive reforms in France. But he was not naive enough to believe that simply pushing these reforms through was enough to declare success.
This was merely the beginning.
Every reform involved a large-scale redistribution of interests.
While most people might benefit from the reforms, there would inevitably be others—entire classes, even—who lost their privileges. These individuals would not surrender their advantages without resistance.
For instance, the tax farming class: although the heads of the tax farming system had been executed, each of them had employed thousands of people who depended on their operations for a livelihood. With the collapse of tax farming, these individuals faced diminished prospects and undoubtedly harbored resentment toward the government.
Similar resentment existed among the old aristocracy, the old military factions, and even the former police forces.
For now, France's rapid economic growth masked these tensions. Many discontented groups enjoyed the benefits of the country's progress, temporarily pacifying their grievances.
But if growth slowed, all these conflicts could erupt simultaneously.
At that point, even if the military suppressed unrest, France would suffer enormous damage. Should foreign powers exploit such instability, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Surrounded by the enthusiastic cheers of his ministers, Joseph found himself lost in thought:
To stabilize France, the country's rapid growth must be maintained. By continuously "expanding the cake," the allure of a larger share would offset dissatisfaction from various factions.
If this balance could be sustained for a decade, France would naturally reconstruct its interest groups, stabilizing the new order. At that point, anyone seeking to disrupt the system would face opposition from those protecting their own gains.
To "expand the cake," there were only two paths: domestic development and foreign expansion.
Industrial Growth
Once Brienne concluded his financial report, Mirabeau, the Minister of Industry, rose to present the year's industrial achievements. A broad smile lit his face:
"Last year, France's industrial output grew by an impressive 76%!"
While the figure seemed extraordinary, such rapid growth was possible in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution. France remained an agricultural nation with very low industrial output, so even modest additions to factory capacity translated into significant growth.
The exceptional growth was partly driven by the earlier "order fraud" incident, which led to a rush in factory expansions. Later, the "special trade" fully utilized this newfound production capacity, resulting in the impressive surge.
Mirabeau enthusiastically highlighted the growth across various industries:
Machinery manufacturing: 110% growthSteel industry: 72% growthCoal production: 265% growthChemical industry: 175% growthWinemaking: 12% growth
He continued listing other sectors such as papermaking, furniture, and pharmaceuticals.
The extraordinary growth in coal production, for example, stemmed from the use of coal gas for street lighting. Paris alone consumed more coal for its gas plants in a single day than the entire greater Paris region—including Versailles and surrounding towns—had used in 12 days previously.
This enormous demand spurred rapid development in coal mining. A wooden rail line from the Nancy coal mines to Paris had been completed, allowing coal extracted with steam engines to be transported directly to the capital without needing to switch carriages.
The large volume of coal shipments significantly reduced transport costs and coal prices, prompting many households to switch from wood to coal for heating, further boosting demand.
In the near future, as cities like Lyon and Reims installed coal gas streetlights, coal from Wallonia in the Southern Netherlands would begin flowing into France. At that point, France's coal industry could potentially surpass Britain's in scale.
Chemical Industry Breakthroughs
The chemical industry was another standout performer. The first French factory using the "Royal Soda Process" had started producing soda ash, with a daily output of 2,000 kilograms. This process was highly cost-effective, reducing production costs to just one-third of traditional methods.
France sold soda ash at 70% of the market price, virtually monopolizing the soda ash market across Europe, including Britain.
Although demand for soda ash was still limited due to the underdeveloped state of European industry, the industry generated several million francs annually in profits.
Furthermore, the reduced price of soda ash significantly lowered costs for soap-making, papermaking, dyeing, and pharmaceuticals, boosting the competitiveness of French products internationally.
In Southern Germany, which had a trade agreement with France, French soap, paper, dyes, and medicines now controlled 70% of the market.
When these agreements were signed, Southern German states had never imagined France would even dump soap on their markets. Thus, such products were not protected by tariffs.
Agricultural Advancements
Following Mirabeau's presentation, Agriculture Minister Vernier eagerly took the floor:
"The Valois beet sugar factory began production at the end of last year, producing 80,000 pounds of white sugar in its first month. With current cultivation and refinery expansions, this year's output is expected to reach 600,000 pounds per month!"
Though 600,000 pounds was modest—equivalent to just one week of output from Saint-Domingue—the ability to produce sugar domestically in Europe had transformative implications for the sugar trade.
Vernier also proudly discussed advancements in fertilizer production and olive cultivation in regions like Tunisia.
France had built four "stone fertilizer" mills in cities such as Marseille and Paris, processing phosphate rock from Nauru and Tunisia. The powdered phosphate, sold through agricultural consulting firms, provided farmers with a superior alternative to untreated phosphate, offering 30% higher fertility rates.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10