Capítulo 88: Chapter 88: The Papermaking Consensus
Chapter 88: The Papermaking Consensus
A worker carefully lifted the paper frame, known as a "mold," and placed it on a rack, surrounding it with several heaters to increase the temperature. After more than half an hour, a craftsman took down the paper frame, cautiously peeled off the paper, and respectfully handed it to Joseph. "Sir, it's dry now."
In a normal drying process, this would take at least half a day, but they used high heat to speed it up for demonstration purposes in front of Mirabeau.
Joseph rubbed the paper in his hands. It was brittle, very thick, and the texture was uneven—overall, the quality was quite poor. But it was definitely a piece of paper, made from wood.
He handed the paper to Mirabeau, with a hint of regret in his voice. "This was our first attempt with the new technique, so the quality isn't great."
However, he wasn't worried. The papermaking process relies heavily on experience. Factors like the amount of additives, the time and temperature for boiling the wood, the use of bleach, and drying techniques all require experimentation to find the best approach to produce quality paper. But with the right technical theory, it was only a matter of time before they perfected the process.
Mirabeau was thrilled as he looked at the paper in his hands, fully aware of its significance—just the paper market in France was worth millions of livres. If they could export to all of Europe, it would be a market worth tens of millions.
It was clear that, in terms of production costs, no other papermaking technique in Europe could compete with wood-based paper. This meant that nothing could prevent the mass production of wood paper from dominating the market.
Seeing Mirabeau's excitement, Joseph smiled and said, "With my method, the cost of paper can be reduced to one-seventh of the current price. Of course, we don't need to lower the price that much. We can sell it at two-thirds of the market price and still leave plenty of profit for ourselves."
Mirabeau keenly picked up on the word "we" and looked at the Prince with anticipation.
Joseph deliberately made him wait a few seconds before saying, "As you can see, rolling out this new technology on a large scale requires a significant investment of both money and effort. I can't do it alone. So, I'd like to invite you and, of course, your friends to invest. Together, we can quickly set up a series of papermaking factories and capture the market. I'll contribute the technology as my share."
"That's wonderful!" Mirabeau's eyes lit up with joy. He hesitated for a moment and then asked, "So, how much of the company would you like to own?"
"About 20%," Joseph replied. The papermaking technology was meant to win over the Assembly of Notables, so he wasn't asking for too large a share.
Mirabeau understood that the Prince was making a concession and immediately broke into a broad smile. "You're incredibly generous! I think we should set a time to meet with Viscount Duquesnoy, Viscount Périer, and the others to discuss the investment in papermaking. Oh, and the tax bill as well."
Joseph nodded with a smile. "I fully agree with your proposal."
After setting the time and place for their meeting, Mirabeau could barely contain his excitement as he headed back to Paris to meet with his political allies.
As he got into the carriage, his curiosity got the better of him, and he turned to ask, "Your Highness, could you tell me how those logs were turned into liquid?"
"You need to add certain chemicals," Joseph replied with a smile as he closed the carriage door. He wasn't about to reveal that it was simply a matter of adding sulfites. Knowledge can seem straightforward when explained, but without guidance, it would take another fifty years before wood-based papermaking would be discovered.
The next day.
Mirabeau returned to Joseph's papermaking workshop with three noblemen in tow. To prevent any leaks, Joseph had already purchased the small workshop.
"Your Highness, this is Viscount Duquesnoy, and this is..."
As Mirabeau introduced them, the three men each bowed to Joseph.
Before long, another carriage arrived, and Archbishop Brienne stepped out.
And so, in a worn and simple workshop, the Prince sat on a paper-drying rack, while the Chief Minister and Mirabeau sat on a cart used for transporting paper, and the others stood against the shed as they began a discussion that would shape the future of France.
The negotiations went smoothly. Brienne promised to work with the Prince to push for the implementation of the Company Law, Patent Law, and other similar legislation. He also agreed to lower certain stamp tax rates.
Joseph reaffirmed that the Anglo-French trade negotiations would be reopened within two months and that the Eden Treaty would be renegotiated according to the previously discussed tariffs.
Mirabeau and his associates pledged to persuade their allies in the Assembly of Notables to support the tax bill. Since the real power behind the High Court's resistance to the tax bill was the Assembly's great nobles, this effectively meant that their representatives in the court would no longer obstruct the bill.
However, the discussion that took the longest and generated the most enthusiasm was about establishing the papermaking company.
The final agreement was that the five individuals, excluding Joseph, would collectively invest 3.6 million livres to build large papermaking workshops in Saint-Antoine, Lyon, and Bordeaux, reaching full production capacity within six months to meet all of France's paper needs. Depending on the situation, they would make additional investments, expand production capacity, and start exporting until they captured the entire European market.
Joseph would contribute the technology and receive 20% of the shares, while the others would divide the remaining 80% according to their investments.
To accommodate France's many papermaking workshops, Joseph insisted that the company must supply pulp to these workshops, allowing them to perform downstream processing to stay in business.
With everything settled, everyone was delighted.
Brienne was the first to leave, and half an hour later, Mirabeau and the others followed.
…
Across from the Paris High Court, a large wooden platform, about six or seven meters square, had been erected. The platform was draped with dark gray curtains, and around two or three hundred people crowded below, engrossed in the performance.
When the main villain, who played the greedy Ottoman judge, mistakenly ate a poisoned cake and died in agony, the audience erupted in thunderous cheers.
Someone turned and pointed toward the distant High Court, shouting:
"Did you see that? This is what happens to shameless corrupt officials!"
"You should end up like that too!"
"You bunch of rats, worms, do you dare to come out?"
In the High Court's third-floor conference hall, several judges heard the play's music stop and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, turning their attention back to the conference table.
With a look of disdain, Judge Vézinier tossed the stack of documents in front of him and sneered, "There's nothing to review! No matter how Brienne revises it, this thing will never get registered!"
The documents he tossed were the revised tax bill that Brienne had just submitted that morning.
Viscount Dibourne exchanged glances with a sharp-chinned, perpetually surprised-looking judge sitting next to him and calmly said, "I think we should discuss it. Maybe we'll reach a different conclusion."
(End of Chapter)
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