章 246: Chapter 201 Target, Tunisia!_2

Annual expenditures exceeded income by 20.7 million livres.

Compared to last year's deficit of 130 million, this indeed represented a significant reduction, yet it was still an extremely terrifying figure!

Especially since next year there was the prospect of exhausting food reserves, necessitating the expenditure of a great deal of money to purchase food. Should anything go awry, the recently improved financial situation could quickly deteriorate.

Historically, France nearly doubled its national debt from 1787 to 1789 over the course of three years in order to deal with famine and riots!

And Joseph knew that the drought would continue until the second half of next year before any relief could be expected, so he could not afford to take it lightly before then.

To deal with the food crisis, one first needed money in hand.

Whether it was to purchase food or, in a last-resort scenario, to seize it, substantial capital was required for support.