Capítulo 96: Chapter 96: Under Tremendous Pressure
Chapter 96: Under Tremendous Pressure
DePol sighed but didn't argue with Luio. When it came to opposing the Supreme Court, they were on the same page. However, the situation was out of their control.
He glanced towards the door; the representatives from the Supreme Court were just in the room opposite. Shaking his head, he said, "But no one wants to end up like Count Vézinier…"
He didn't finish his sentence before the other council members' pupils contracted.
Just a moment ago, the Supreme Court representatives had delivered a message saying that, due to the strong demand from the people of Paris, His Majesty the King was considering reopening all major cases handled by the High Court in recent years.
Institutional corruption was rampant within the High Court, meaning that any judge who had worked there would inevitably be tainted by it. These council members were just as compromised as Vézinier!
And there was no way to prevent a retrial—Parisians were so agitated that if the Supreme Court called out, they could instantly rally thousands of people to surround the court, just like what had happened to Vézinier.
After a long silence, it was DePol who first weakly raised his hand, his expression heavy. "Register it."
His position was slightly different from that of the other judges—beforehand, the Supreme Court had informed him that once the bill passed, they would fully support his appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court.
Of course, this was also at Joseph's suggestion. When dealing with opponents who seem cornered, it is crucial to divide and conquer, preventing them from resorting to desperate measures.
So, for DePol, although the High Court's power would be greatly restricted, his personal authority as Chief Justice would somewhat compensate for it, making the situation more bearable.
Judge Vadiyeh sighed deeply and raised his right hand. "I agree. Let's get it over with…"
Grete and Orrell reluctantly followed suit.
Thus, the judges grudgingly passed the bill granting the Royal Supreme Court the authority to oversee the High Court.
As for the clause at the end of the bill that removed the High Court's control over the news censorship office, they barely noticed it—when the ox is dead, who cares about the hide?
Surprisingly, this highly significant bill didn't cause much of a stir among the nobility.
From the nobles' perspective, the High Court was still the High Court, and the Assembly of Notables was still the Assembly of Notables. It seemed that nothing had really changed.
Oh, there's a new Royal Supreme Court? But wasn't that just the old Royal Court, which had existed for over a century?
In stark contrast to the nobles' indifference, the common people of Paris were ecstatic. Their long-held grievances against the High Court found an outlet in Vézinier.
For several days, people could be heard shouting in the streets, "Long live the King! Long live the Royal Court!"
"Execute the shameless judge!"
Especially those who had suffered under Vézinier—they went around praising the King's wisdom and mercy in establishing the Royal Court to punish evildoers.
Soon, under the leadership of Le Journal de Paris, various Parisian newspapers began publishing articles with titles like "The Glorious Victory of Our Great King" and "The King's Just Verdict."
For the first time, the public's negative opinion of the monarchy began to shift.
...
Versailles Palace.
When Joseph learned that the bill regarding the Supreme Court had passed, he wasn't surprised.
Given the current situation, the High Court had no choice but to accept the bill.
But with the High Court no longer a stumbling block, he felt much lighter, finally able to focus on more important matters.
Speaking of important matters, he immediately thought of the imminent great famine, which gave him another headache.
France had over 20 million people, and even with a 30% shortfall in food, it was a terrifying number. And he knew that the poor harvests would continue until early 1790.
Joseph looked out through the tall arched windows at the falling snow; it was already mid-January.
There were six and a half months left until the famine would hit hard in July. Where could he find so much grain?
He had some ideas before, but the closer the crisis came, the more inadequate they seemed.
For instance, buying grain from abroad would require a large sum of money, and with France's current financial situation, there was no spare cash to buy that much grain.
Moreover, storing such a large amount of grain would require storage facilities and measures to prevent looting during the most desperate times.
From what he had recently learned about the grain market, simply relying on foreign purchases would not be enough to fill France's shortfall.
And that was assuming the grain market remained stable. If some unscrupulous merchants tried to profit from the situation, the shortfall would only grow larger.
As for preventing hailstorms... According to historical records, this year's hailstones were as large as a grown man's fist. Unless every crop was armored with steel, there was no way to prevent the damage.
Joseph's thoughts moved from the cost of buying grain to France's overall financial situation.
Before he took over financial affairs, it hadn't seemed so daunting. But now, those over 20 billion pounds of debt weighed on him like a mountain, making it hard to breathe just thinking about it.
Selling his carefully managed Paris Angel enterprise wouldn't fetch more than a million livres—meaning he'd need to create 200 more Paris Angels just to plug the fiscal gap!
He took a deep breath to ease the tightness in his chest.
To truly solve the debt problem, it all came down to the Industrial Revolution.
On one hand, the massive production of industrial goods would generate substantial economic benefits, directly addressing the fiscal deficit.
On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution would greatly enhance the nation's power, enabling greater gains in war and colonial expansion, which could then be reinvested in industry, creating a virtuous cycle.
In fact, in the early 19th century, Britain faced a severe debt crisis, much like France does now. But they managed to turn the situation around by leveraging the benefits of the Industrial Revolution.
Joseph picked up his warm teacup and took a sip. To drive industrialization, he would first need to gain control over national industrial policy.
He couldn't help but shake his head. France didn't even have an industrial ministry right now; the Minister of the Interior was also in charge of industry. With someone like Monnot at the helm, getting the Industrial Revolution off the ground would be a miracle.
But fortunately, he had recently gained some leverage that he could use to negotiate with Monnot, convincing him to hand over control of industrial matters.
Night fell.
At one of Versailles Palace's ever-present balls, Joseph navigated through a crowd of young ladies, finally making his way to Monnot's side. He grabbed the minister by the arm.
The young women had thought the Prince was going to ask one of them to dance, but when they saw him holding onto the Minister of the Interior instead, they couldn't help but exchange puzzled glances...
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