"Your Highness, are you saying that blood is used to transport nutrients and oxygen?" Perna's large green eyes glittered, her pretty face full of earnestness, "So, if we let blood from a patient, wouldn't that make them even weaker?"
Joseph clapped his hands gently, "Indeed, you've uncovered the truth."
"Then why do we perform bloodletting as a treatment?"
"That is a mistake."
"No wonder you have always refused bloodletting treatments. Could all the doctors be wrong?" Perna nodded thoughtfully and then, suddenly looking at Joseph, hesitated a bit before saying, "Your Highness, what if... what if your conclusion is incorrect?"
"To study science is to have a spirit of doubt, to not blindly follow any authority." Joseph first nodded in approval of the female doctor, then continued, "Actually, it's quite simple to find out if something is right or wrong, we just need to do a double-blind experiment."
"Double-blind experiment? What is that?"
Joseph explained, "In simple terms, it involves finding some patients with the same condition and similar physical constitutions, dividing them into two groups, and ensuring they cannot see each other."
"Then one group receives bloodletting treatment, and the other does not. We see which group recovers first to determine whether bloodletting is effective."
Perna jotted this down in her notebook, nodding in amazement, "This indeed seems like a very feasible method to test. Oh, Mother Mary, how has no one thought of doing this over the past several hundred years! What if bloodletting therapy actually has only adverse effects..."
Her eyes suddenly lit up, "Your Highness, perhaps we could also use this... oh, double-blind experiment, to assess whether a certain medication is effective, or whether some factors might affect the illness."
Joseph gave her a look of approval for her quick understanding, "You are quite right, these can indeed be verified through double-blind experiments."
Perna's hand trembled with excitement as she held her pen, her eyes filled with light as she gazed at Joseph, "You, you are truly amazing! How did you come up with these ideas?"
She glanced at her notebook again, "Your Highness, may I tell my father about this method?" Exclusive content from freewebnovel
"Of course, you may."
As they were talking, the sound of "pitter-patter" came from the roof of the carriage, clearly indicating that it had begun to pour outside.
Soon, the carriage came to a slow stop. Kesode, the captain of the guard, announced from outside the window, "Your Highness, the road ahead has been flooded by the rain; it's probably not suitable to continue."
Joseph, somewhat helpless, ordered to find a place nearby to take shelter from the rain.
This was his first time leaving Paris, and he had thought that even if other areas were somewhat inferior to Paris, they wouldn't be far off. Yet to his surprise, not even a hundred miles out of the Île-de-France region, everywhere looked impoverished and neglected.
Take the road they were currently on, for instance; it was obviously constructed with work skimped and materials scrimped, resulting in a loose and crumbly surface. In places where the ground was slightly lower, the rainwater had pooled, and it quickly became impassable.
Particularly for a carriage, if one were to insist on passing through, it would most likely get stuck in the mud and become immovable.
This time, in order to speed up the journey, he had specifically instructed to avoid local officials from coming to meet and see him off, but here he was, stopped by the heavy rain.
After a while, a scout from the cavalry reported back, saying there was a small village to the east. Kesode hurriedly directed the convoy to turn that way to take shelter from the rain.
After Joseph's carriage got stuck in the mud five or six times, they finally arrived at a group of decrepit cottages with thatched roofs.
Kesode picked the largest one, knocked on the door, and gave the owner eight livres. Immediately, the owner was overjoyed and could not stop thanking him.
Upon entering the house, Joseph was hit by a musty smell. The place was not spacious, with newspapers pasted on the walls and furniture comprising only a wooden cabinet and a wobbly wood table. Still, it was enough to serve as a shelter from the wind and rain.
Because the lodging fee Kesode had given was excessive, the farmer's wife felt she needed to provide exceptionally good hospitality. She took out the best food they had, borrowed quite a bit from neighbors, and finally prepared a "lavish" meal, bringing it out carefully from the back room.
"Oh, there's no need, we brought our own food..."
Kesode stepped forward to stop the farmer's wife, and Joseph then saw the tense and disappointed expression on her face. Not wanting to dismiss her kindness, he ordered the captain of the guard to let her bring the food over.
Eman tested the white bread, pickled meat, roast chicken, and vegetable soup on the table meticulously and only then nodded to the Crown Prince that it was safe to eat.
Joseph ate a few bites, finding the taste quite bland but not to the point of being inedible.
Kesode and Eman both ate some as well, and Perna, the least picky about food, nearly finished her portion and even complimented the hostess's cooking skills in the back room.
Sitting idly and quite bored, Joseph struck up a conversation with the male homeowner, "Do you know about the government encouraging potato cultivation?"
The farmer bowed stiffly and nodded, "Yes, my lord. Father Marmont talked about it, saying that it was a gift from the Lord."
"So, are you planning to plant some?"
The farmer shook his head.
"Why not plant them? After the harvest, you only need to pay back two-thirds, which is quite beneficial."
The farmer was silent for about ten seconds before quietly saying, "Viscount Colbert said, it's best not to plant those things..."
Kesode hurriedly leaned in to whisper to Joseph, "Your Highness, I inquired just now; Colbert is the landlord here. Nearly everyone around is his tenant farmer."
Joseph nodded and then asked the farmer, "But isn't it up to the farmers themselves to decide what to plant?"
The farmer said monotonously, "But Viscount Colbert won't allow it."
Joseph sighed. These serf farmers—also known as tenant farmers—were, in name, free to cultivate the land and simply had to pay rent, but in reality, they were still largely beholden to the feudal lord who owned the land.
For example, they couldn't freely leave their land, they had to undertake numerous tasks for the feudal lord, and even disputes could be adjudicated by the feudal lord—if the feudal lord lived nearby.
Therefore, these tenant farmers usually wouldn't go against the wishes of the landlord. The Old Nobility's boycott of potatoes also led to a large number of tribute farmers being unable to plant potatoes.
Joseph chatted with the farmer for a while and gained a general understanding of the household's living conditions.
The farmer was named Geiszler, who farmed 27 acres of Viscount Colbert's land, with an annual grain income of around 200 livres.
However, after paying the rent to Colbert, this family still had to pay the Poll Tax, Military Service Tax, the Tithe, the Vingtième, and the Road Labor Tax, among a long list of other taxes.
In daily life, they also had to pay the mill tax, press tax, salt tax, goods tax, and tolls, among others.
What was left was barely enough for the family to eat black bread every day.
As for savings, Geiszler said that in recent years droughts had been frequent, leading to poor harvests, and the family had already gone into debt for nearly 50 livres.
Since Geiszler was relatively strong, his family was still considered to be better off in the village. According to him, one-fifth of the village couldn't manage to eat their fill at every meal.
Joseph sighed in his heart; tenant farmers like Geiszler numbered over twenty million in France, and in the face of severe natural disasters, they had almost no ability to resist. When the time came, they would undoubtedly join the ranks of the rioters without hesitation to prevent themselves and their families from starving.
He sighed, knowing that whether it was France's enormous debt or the livelihood of the lower-class farmers, a lot of difficult reforms would need to be made to solve these problems, such as promoting industrial development, adjusting land distribution, weakening the feudal privileges of the aristocracy and the Church...
As he was pondering, he walked to the window and saw from the corner of his eye that Lady Geiszler in the other room had carefully collected the leftovers from their meal. Half a bowl of vegetable soup that Eman hadn't finished was poured into a pot, water and a few leaves were added, turning it into a large pot of soup.
Another piece of preserved meat, the size of a walnut, was carefully sliced into almost transparent thin slices and tucked into black bread.
Two children, about eight or nine years old, looked on with longing as their mother busied herself, occasionally wiping their mouths as if they were gazing upon the most delicious delicacies in the world.
Joseph felt a pang of sorrow; in Paris, he saw nothing but the power struggles of the elite, the decadent lives of the noble ladies, and the endless balls and salons of the aristocracy. Yet, it was only today, at the Geiszler's home, that he truly saw the real face of France.
Poverty, decay, conservatism, teetering on the brink...
Just then, a knock came from behind.
Geiszler hurried to open the door and let in a small man in a grey overcoat, respectfully saying, "Mr. Babo, what brings you here?"
The man named Babo nodded at him and went straight to Eman, bowing humbly, "My lord, I am the stadtholder here; you can just call me Babo. May I ask where you are from?"
The title of stadtholder sounds impressive but is actually an official in charge of managing the lower parish—that is, the village—equivalent to the village head.
As Babo was speaking, the priest of the parish, having heard that someone of importance with many attendants had come to the village, also hurried to Geiszler's house.
"My lord, is there anything I can do for you?" Babo, taking Eman to be the core of the group, asked with a smile covering his face.
Eman, seeing from the doorway the priest had come through that the rain outside had stopped, pointed in the direction of the road that had been damaged by the rain: "Mr. Babo, the road outside the village has been spoiled by rain; could you trouble your people to fix it?"
"Oh, of course, of course, we can."
Babo nodded repeatedly and then turned to the priest: "Father Marmont, please entertain the distinguished guests; I will go and lead the people to fix the road."
He walked a few steps and then turned back to signal to Geiszler: "Did you hear that? They're going to fix the road; you come too."
"Oh, yes, Mr. Babo."
Geiszler responded and went to get his coat hanging on the wall.
Joseph casually asked, "Mr. Geiszler, for work like repairing the roads, how much do you get paid?"
"Wages?" Babo immediately replied eagerly, "My lord, it's just fixing a road; there is no payment."
"Oh?" Joseph frowned slightly, "Is the road outside the village also owned by Viscount Colbert?"
Babo shook his head, "That's not it."
"Then has Mr. Geiszler paid the road labor tax?"
Babo was taken aback, nodded, and said, "Yes, paid."
"Since the road labor tax has been paid and it's not the lord's labor, why not pay him for the road work?"
"This..."
Joseph smiled at him and said, "Mr. Babo wouldn't be unfamiliar with the law, would he?"
Babo startled, as an official in France, you could be incompetent, but you absolutely could not be unfamiliar with laws and regulations, for that could cost you your job!
He hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, you are quite right, he should indeed be paid. Ah, 2 sous per person, do you think that would do?"
"You just follow the regulations."
"Oh, right, right. Follow the regulations."
Geiszler bowed deeply to Joseph in gratitude and then hurriedly followed the stadtholder out.
Three hours later, Joseph's entourage continued along the road that was now paved with branches and gravel, heading back towards Bordeaux.
Geiszler and his wife stood by the side of the road, watching until the last of the cavalry escort had disappeared before returning home.
Lady Geiszler prepared to cut some dark bread for her husband, who had been busy half the day, to stave off hunger, only to suddenly discover a small cloth bag on the stove.
She hesitated, then carefully opened the cloth bag and immediately cried out, "Lord Almighty! Adam! Come and see!" Continue the journey with freewebnovel
Geiszler hurried into the room and saw his wife holding a cloth bag and a large handful of silver coins.
He took the bag and found a note inside, he unfolded it and read: Mr. Geiszler, thank you for showing me another side of France. Please do not refuse this token of my appreciation.
He looked in the direction where Joseph had left, made the sign of the cross over his chest, and murmured, "May God bless you, kind young master."
Lady Geiszler quietly counted the silver coins, a total of 50 livres. She excitedly grabbed her husband and jumped for joy, tears in her eyes, "Adam, we have enough to pay off our debts!"
You see, the interest on the debt they had taken was as high as 15%; if they could not pay it back quickly, with the state of their home, they would likely never be able to settle it...
Eight days later.
On the avenue north of the Bordeaux Exchange Palace, a large crowd gathered on both sides of the road, eagerly awaiting the passage of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Soon, several elegant and luxuriously made carriages approached from afar, and the people immediately burst into cheers, waving their arms vigorously.
In one of the middle carriages, the Governor of Bordeaux, Count Montsorro, respectfully said to Joseph, "Your Highness, most of them arrived last night, and indeed, you could convene a meeting anytime you really need to. However, the banquet is ready, or perhaps you could first..."
Joseph nodded with a smile, "You have worked hard, Count Montsorro."
He looked at his pocket watch, which showed it was one-thirty in the afternoon, and then said, "Let's start at three then."
"As you wish, your esteemed Highness."𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
The carriages passed through the crowd, and Joseph occasionally waved in acknowledgement to the citizens who welcomed him. Meanwhile, the people arranged by Eman in the carriage behind followed tradition, scattering coins and sweets among the crowd.
The heart of Bordeaux, Exchange Square, had been taken over by Kesode and his guards. Joseph didn't even go to the villa that Montsorro had prepared for him to rest, but headed straight to the Exchange Palace, ready for the three o'clock meeting.
The potatoes would be arriving soon, and he did not want to waste a minute.