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0.14% Life of Being a Crown Prince in France / Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Introduction
Life of Being a Crown Prince in France Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Author: Mount Tianhai

© WebNovel

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Introduction

In the early winter of 1787, in the east wing of the Palace of Versailles.

Joseph sat in a room adorned with rococo gold trimmings and large oil paintings, shaking his head with a wry smile at the exam paper in front of him.

The light from a luxurious two-meter diameter crystal chandelier flickered, casting reflections on his fair skin, as well as his youthful and delicate features, making him look like the handsome Paris from a painting.

At his side, an elderly man with a white curly wig and wearing a lace cravat sighed and with disappointment flashing in his brown eyes, he bowed to Joseph and said, "Crown Prince, if you find this difficult, perhaps you can start with the basic courses..."

Joseph was startled and quickly returned to his senses from his reverie, nodding politely to the old man:

"Mr. Lagrange, I think you may be mistaken, I meant to take your course's final examination, not the entrance exam."

Indeed, this unassuming old man was none other than the founder of analytical mechanics, a pioneer of group theory, and the celebrated French mathematician and physicist known as the prince of mathematics—Lagrange.

"Final examination?" Lagrange frowned at the boy of only thirteen, "Your Highness, the courses I teach are university level, you might..."

The other extravagantly dressed noble youths who were taking the exam immediately turned their heads and looked over, their eyes filled with curiosity.

At that moment, a sixteen-year-old boy wearing an embroidered silk coat with laced collar and with slightly droopy eyes showed a disdainful expression and loudly said,

"Crown Prince, I remember you still have two years to complete the basic courses." He nodded to the old man, "Mr. Lagrange often says that one must climb the ladder of mathematics step by step, aiming too high will surely lead to a nasty fall. Perhaps Your Highness should heed this advice."

Joseph ignored him and earnestly said to Lagrange:

"Sir, I have studied university mathematics courses on my own. I really do need to take the final examination."

The elderly mathematician sighed with resignation and turned to his assistant, "Andrei, please bring me the exam paper from the very bottom of my folder."

"Certainly, Professor."

Soon, several exam papers were laid out in front of Joseph.

He quickly scanned them and found that the difficulty had increased several times compared to the previous one, but most of it was still high school level from later generations, involving a limited amount of calculus content—it really wasn't difficult for him.

Yes, just over half a month ago, he was still in the 21st century, studying for his master's degree. That day, he went to France with his tutor to work on a wind turbine project, accidentally fell from the top of a tower, and when he woke up, he found himself reincarnated as Louis XVI's eldest son—Louis Joseph. Perhaps due to the effects of time travel, Joseph was born a few years earlier than in history, and was already thirteen.

As Joseph quickly wrote down the answer to the first question under Lagrange's scrutinizing gaze, his mind wandered to France's historical trajectory: the French Revolution would erupt next year, the royal family would be executed, and as the Crown Prince, he wouldn't be able to escape... King Louis XVI was inept at everything except locksmithing, France was in debt for more than two billion, but had an annual income of only 500 million.

Due to financial collapse, civil servants were backlogged with wages, government operations were struggling, foreign trade stalled, and the colonies were deteriorating. In order to bolster the finances, the Cabinet had no choice but to levy heavy taxes, sucking the common people dry to the bone, while the tax-exempt nobility lived a life of extravagance.

Moreover, next summer France would face a severe hailstorm, and with the impact of previous years' droughts, a national famine was imminent. This would be followed by a mob of hungry people storming the Bastille, triggering the immense upheaval of the Revolution, with hundreds of thousands meeting their end at the guillotine...

So, to keep his own head, he counted his options on his fingers: one, solve France's fiscal deficit; two, secure enough food to prevent starvation; three, deal with treacherous nobles; and lastly, fend off the covetous British and Prussians.

With a famine starting in July, he had barely more than half a year left, and he rubbed his forehead in annoyance, for being too young to participate in state affairs, having no outlet for his efforts.

It was an absolute hellish start, with scant hope...

```

Not far away, the young man with the droopy eyes saw his movements and assumed he was fretting because he couldn't solve the problem. He immediately sneered with disdain: "What an idiot, actually coming here claiming he can handle university courses, how embarrassing! Why is this strawman the Crown Prince and not me?!"

While thinking about how to save his life, Joseph quickly wrote down the answers, soon completing the first page of the exam.

He flipped through the pages with some impatience, for once he had passed Lagrange's subject, he could consider his studies at the University of Paris complete!

Half a month earlier, he had proposed to Queen Mary, his stepmother, that he wanted to participate in politics in order to reverse the dire situation he was in, but she promptly refused him, telling him to focus on his studies and wait until he had achieved academic success.

So he had to make an agreement with the queen that after finishing his courses at the University of Paris, he would formally join the political scene.

Of course, with his level of knowledge during that era, he was a study prodigy among the fighter jets. In the past half-month, he had already passed most of the subjects, and that was because he had to remember incorrect knowledge which delayed his time—many truths widely accepted in that era were actually errors.

Lagrange, watching the Crown Prince's pen fly across the paper, had stopped paying attention to the other students, his eyes growing wider and wider.

This was work meant to be completed with five years of study at the University of Paris, yet the Crown Prince was answering effortlessly, with clear thoughts and not a single mistake!

He was only 13 years old, and he was self-taught! Lagrange's heart shook violently—could it be that another Leibniz had been born?

Suddenly, Lagrange glanced at his assistant, his eyes narrowing slightly, wondering if Andrei had leaked the exam questions to the Crown Prince. After all, the Crown Prince's performance was too unusual, considering that a super prodigy like Leibniz had only started attending university at the age of 14.

He immediately took a piece of paper and quickly wrote down a few lines and handed them to Joseph, saying,

"Your Highness, there is no need to finish the rest; just complete these few questions and I'll consider you to have passed."

Seeing this, the young man with droopy eyes sneered to himself: Hah, is Lagrange trying to make it easy because he sees that he doesn't know how? What a fool clinging to the royal family! I must find a way to let everyone see the Crown Prince's exam paper later, to let him properly embarrass himself.

Joseph looked at the paper in surprise—there were only 5 questions. The difficulty remained the same, but the quantity was less. Good news.

He quickly finished the first two questions, and then he saw the third question, "Please write out the proof of Rolle's Theorem." This he knew very well, without a second thought, he wrote on the blank space:

Rolle's Theorem states that for a continuous function f on a closed interval [a, b], and f is differentiable on the open interval

(a, b), if f(a) = f(b), then there exists at least one point c in the open interval (a, b) such that the derivative of f at that point is zero.

Proof: Because the function f(x) is continuous within [a, b], it attains its maximum value (M) and minimum value (m)...

Joseph completed the proof quickly but then felt Lagrange's breath quicken next to him. He looked up and saw the old mathematician looking at the exam paper with the excitement of seeing a first love.

Joseph immediately looked down at the questions again, and hesitated, "I shouldn't have written it wrong, should I?"

Lagrange grabbed the exam paper and after examining the proof several times, muttered to himself, "So it holds true for differentiable functions as well! Why didn't I think of it?"

He then turned his fervent gaze back to Joseph: "Your Highness, how did you come to think of this?"

"Ah? Isn't it just..." Joseph suddenly recalled that Rolle had simply proven that in a polynomial equation with two adjacent roots, the equation has at least one root in between, and it was not until the nineteenth century that it was extended to differentiable functions.

He had been careless and not careful enough...

"Cough!" He hurriedly took back the paper, changing the subject, "Lagrange, sir, I'm going to do the last two questions now."


next chapter

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Favored Son of God

```

"No, no need to continue!" Lagrange gripped Joseph's shoulders tightly, excited, "This entirely new derivation is enough to prove your capability, I will go back to the university today to apply for your degree certification."

"Thank you so much!" Joseph beamed with joy, breaking free from the old mathematician's grasp, he bowed to him and rushed out the door.

Lagrange had intended to deliver a speech, but found that the man had run off.

He paused for a moment, then hurriedly followed, calling out urgently:

"Your Highness, how did you think of differentiable functions? Tell me about your thought process!"

The young men in the classroom looked at each other in bewilderment, and it took a while before someone hesitantly said, "Can anyone tell me if the Crown Prince has graduated?"

"It seems so."

"But he only came today..."

The youngster with the corner-upturned eyes stared at Joseph's retreating figure, bitterly saying, "No, he must have cheated!"

Andrei glanced at him expressionlessly, placing the problem Lagrange had posed before him:

"The question was made up on the spot by the professor, and the Crown Prince's proof is an entirely new mathematical discovery. Duke of Chartres, if you think cheating could achieve this, perhaps you might like to try it yourself."

The Duke of Chartres stared at the formulas he couldn't understand at all, as if struck by lightning; he had always considered himself the cream of the crop among the royal youth, yet now he couldn't even comprehend the written proof...

Could it be that Joseph's previous incompetence was all an act, just to make a fool of himself?

He clenched his fists tight, Joseph, you wait, I will have you crawling at my feet sooner or later!

Joseph, of course, couldn't hear the others' conversation, but even if he had, he wouldn't have cared—just the prattle of children. Right now, all he was thinking about was that he could finally participate in politics, how to reorganize France, and avoid the outbreak of the Revolution and the risk of losing his head.

Lagrange, panting, caught up to him, pestering him with numerous questions for a while, then suddenly, he felt as if he had grasped something from the Crown Prince's proof, muttering to himself:

"What if, f(a) isn't equal to f(b)..."

He repeated it several times, his expression growing serious, then he hastily took his leave from Joseph, returning directly to the office at the university.

Joseph watched him walk away, whispering softly:

"If f(a)≠f(b), then that's your Lagrange's Mean Value Theorem. Good luck with proving it a few years early."

Once the old mathematician's silhouette was out of sight, he waved over the attendant who had been following close behind:

"Eman, where is Queen Mary now?"

The tall blond young man quickly bowed and responded, "Your Highness, Queen Mary is in her tea room."

Joseph nodded at him and ran towards the far end of the wide corridor. The vigorous exercise induced a bout of coughing, reminding him that his pneumonia had not yet healed—the original owner's physique was very weak, and the pneumonia had lasted for over a month with no signs of recovery.

He waved to Eman, who had come closer, to indicate that he was fine, then after meandering for over a hundred meters, he finally saw the door to the Queen's tea room.

Starting today, he could finally put his abilities to use, begin saving himself! He took a deep breath and pushed through the doors, between the guards on both sides, striding into the room.

In the tea room, decorated with a cozy elegance, sat Queen Mary, her hair in a complicated two-foot-high hairstyle, her skin fair, and with a pair of light blue beautiful eyes. She leaned on an armchair with oriental styling, holding documents in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, listening intently to a minister next to her—it appeared she was dealing with government affairs. With Louis XVI spending his days in a lock-making workshop, most of the time it was Queen Mary who governs.

Joseph sighed inwardly. Louis XVI was one of the rare benevolent rulers in the history of France, but he had inherited a deeply troubled nation. Coupled with his ineptitude in governance and his obsession with lock-making, he ended up driving the people to such despair that the Revolution broke out.

If it had been a more peaceful and prosperous time, Louis XVI might have been a beloved and good king. In fact, Joseph had a rather good impression of him and would actually like to save him if possible.

Then came the voice of the Ceremonial Officer: "The Crown Prince has arrived—"

Following court etiquette, Joseph stepped half a pace back with his right foot, facing Queen Mary, touched his chest, and bowed, then returned salutations to each minister in the room before excitedly stepping forward and saying to the Queen:

"Mother, I have passed the mathematics graduation examination at the university!"

```

"Joseph, you truly are the pride of your father and me!"

She had already sent someone to verify the Crown Prince's studies and confirmed that, aside from mathematics, he had passed all subjects with excellent grades, meaning, at this moment, he had completed the University of Paris's curriculum!

She looked at her son with a complex expression, "Why did you keep your self-study a secret from your father and me? I mean, you could have studied with a tutor."

To explain the sudden transformation into a top student, Joseph could only fabricate an excuse that he had studied privately for many years.

"Because..." Joseph said, bracing himself, "I wanted to give you a surprise."

"This surprise is really wonderful!" Queen Mary picked up a piece of pudding with strawberries and stuffed it into his mouth, then affectionately stroked his slightly curly hair, "How did all this knowledge fit into your little head?"

A tall, thin man in a dark blue patterned stuffed shirt with a collar adorned with sapphires furrowed his brow and whispered to the minister beside him:

"Bishop Brienne, did the Crown Prince just say he has completed university mathematics?"

The latter nodded, "It seems so."

"How is that possible?"

"I am also very shocked."

Behind them, Queen Mary's trusted Clerk softly added:

"It's not just mathematics. His Highness has completed over a dozen courses at the University of Paris, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, geometry, English, and more."

The few ministers around them immediately widened their eyes, "How is that possible?!"

"I remember, isn't the Crown Prince just thirteen years old?!"

"It's simply unbelievable!"

"Indeed." sighed the Clerk, "Those teachers who once taught His Highness all called him 'the Child of Divine Favor'."

"The Child of Divine Favor? Haha, with such a genius heir, France will surely shine even more brightly!"

"Truly, Heaven blesses France!"

Joseph ignored the ministers' flattery and eagerly pulled away from Queen Mary's hand, saying to her:

"Your Majesty the Queen, according to our agreement, I can participate in government affairs now, right?"

Queen Mary nodded indulgently, "Indeed, my genius son. Oh, by the way, I suggest you start at Paris City Hall, to gain some experience."

Joseph frowned, he was to reform France! To fundamentally prevent the enraged citizens from slaughtering the entire Royal Family! What could he do at the City Hall? Manage urban transportation or sewage treatment?

He had seen many documentaries about the French Revolution before and knew that France's core problem at the moment was finance—the collapse of administration, the inability to provide relief during disasters, the nobles' dissenting hearts, and so on, were all triggered by the financial collapse.

Therefore, to reform France, one must first reform its finances!

Joseph looked towards Queen Mary and ventured, "I think, perhaps the Finance Minister might be more suitable for me."

Queen Mary smiled kindly when she heard this. France's financial problems were a chronic illness, and since the ascent of Louis XVI, almost all efforts of the court had been focused on solving the financial crisis, yet they had always been helpless.

A thirteen-year-old boy, even if he was "the Child of Divine Favor," how could he possibly shoulder such a heavy burden?

She dropped her smile, thought for a moment, and said, "Joseph, if you are interested in finance, you can start at the Paris Tax Bureau."

Joseph knew this meant she did not believe in his ability, but it was normal; after all, his body was only thirteen years old. He had no choice but to request the next best thing:

"Then let me be the assistant to the Finance Minister?"

At that time, the role of the assistant was essentially that of a deputy Finance Minister, the second in command in financial matters.


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