บท 87: Chapter 87: Switching Sides
Chapter 87: Switching Sides
Joseph noticed that Mirabeau was deep in thought, so he decided it was time to get to the point. "Let's talk about the tax bill now," he began.
Upon hearing this, Mirabeau immediately became alert. "Your Highness, you know that when it comes to the bill, the nobility stands united."
Joseph replied seriously, "Actually, in this matter, you've been used by the old nobility."
Mirabeau chuckled and waved it off, "Your Highness, how could that be?"
Joseph casually picked up a small wooden stick from a nearby pile of paper pulp, saying, "If I may ask, how much land do you own?"
"Uh?" Mirabeau was a bit surprised by the question, but he answered, "About ten hectares in Paris and forty more in Reims."
Joseph nodded. "And do you know how much land the Duke of Orléans owns?"
"I'm not sure of the exact amount, but it must be at least four or five thousand hectares."
"And how many estates?"
"Around a dozen, I'd say."
"There you have it," Joseph said. "The core of the tax bill is the land tax."
Joseph lifted the small wooden stick in his hand. "For example, this represents the amount of land you own. The land tax hardly affects you."
He then pointed to a drying rack, supported by thick poles as wide as a child's waist, towering over two meters high. "And that represents the amount of land owned by someone like the Duke of Orléans. The land tax would mostly be paid by them, which is why they strongly oppose the tax bill. But you, as part of the bourgeoisie, have been dragged into opposing the bill, putting in a lot of effort, yet only serving their interests."
Mirabeau paused, knowing that the Prince was right, but he quickly countered, "What about the stamp tax? The bill also includes a stamp tax, which greatly impacts commerce."
The so-called stamp tax was a tax levied on documents and contracts.
Joseph smiled. "As one of the leaders of the Assembly of Notables, you must have seen the text of the bill. The rate for the stamp tax is very low. In fact, its primary purpose is to allow the government to act as a guarantor of contracts."
He had lowered the stamp tax rate when the bill was last revised, specifically to win over the bourgeoisie.
Seeing that Mirabeau was still hesitant, Dupont couldn't help but interject, "Count Mirabeau, it's clear that the tax bill is beneficial for the country's finances. We have no reason to oppose it. Moreover, His Highness has promised that if the bill is passed, he will reopen negotiations on the Eden Treaty and significantly raise tariffs."
Dupont was strongly opposed to the Eden Treaty, so when Joseph told him that the treaty could be renegotiated, he quickly reached an agreement with the Prince. Although Dupont didn't have much political influence, he could sway bourgeois figures like Mirabeau, which is why he facilitated this meeting.
Mirabeau immediately turned to Joseph, "Are you sure the British will agree?"
Joseph nodded. "I've already spoken with the British ambassador. France's industrial tariffs will be raised to 25%, while Britain's alcohol tariffs will be lowered to below 10%."
Mirabeau's pupils contracted. "That's impossible! How did you convince the British?"
"We can discuss that later, but I assure you that the new treaty will be signed. Of course, if you're not convinced, you can verify this with your sources in Britain."
As a heavyweight in the political scene, Mirabeau certainly had his own channels to gather information from Britain.
Mirabeau finally began to waver. He knew that at the current tariff levels, France's industry would collapse within two years. If that happened, his enterprises would inevitably suffer. If he could exchange a tax bill that had little impact on him for the renegotiation of the Eden Treaty—and the implementation of the Company Law and Patent Law mentioned earlier—it would be a very worthwhile trade.
He bowed slightly to Joseph. "Your Highness, this matter involves many people. I need to go back and discuss it with Viscount Duquesnoy, Viscount Périer, and others."
These individuals were key representatives of the bourgeoisie in the Assembly of Notables. Given what the Prince had just proposed, Mirabeau felt confident he could persuade them to switch sides.
"Of course. I look forward to your reply."
Joseph smiled and nodded, then gestured toward the pulp tank beside them. "Now that we've covered the important matters, we can finally talk about papermaking."
Mirabeau was caught off guard. "You mean, papermaking?"
"Yes," Joseph replied. "I mentioned this when you first arrived."
"But…"
Joseph led him to the giant "boiling pots" and asked the worker standing by, "Can you tell Count Mirabeau what's boiling in this pot?"
The worker respectfully bowed his head and replied, "It's wood, sir."
"Wood?" Mirabeau looked at Joseph in surprise. "Didn't you say you were making paper?"
Joseph nodded. "This is the first step in papermaking. Once the wood is thoroughly boiled, it can be turned into paper—using a new technique I've developed."
Mirabeau was incredulous. "You can make paper from wood?"
He had some knowledge of papermaking, knowing that the usual raw materials were rags, flax, or at most, some bark fibers.
"Yes, using willow and pine," Joseph said, pointing outside the workshop. "These were just chopped down this morning."
He then asked the nearby worker, "How long has this been boiling?"
The worker checked his watch. "Six and a half hours, sir."
"That should be about right..." Joseph wasn't entirely sure, having only seen the wood-pulping process in documentaries, so he instructed the workers, "Please pour out the pulp for filtering and bleaching. Just use the usual method."
"Yes, sir."
Seven or eight workers gathered around, lifting the large pot onto a wooden frame, removing the lid, and pouring the boiling yellow liquid into a rectangular stone trough.
Mirabeau watched in amazement as the liquid poured out, unable to believe that wood could be boiled down to this.
The workers began removing debris from the mixture, while one of them carefully poured a small bottle of chlorine bleach into the trough, stirring constantly.
They then added a large amount of water, stirred and filtered the pulp, following a series of complex processes that took more than half an hour.
Before the pulp had fully cooled, another group of workers arrived with rectangular "screens," carefully dipping them into the pulp and gently lifting them, allowing the excess liquid to drain.
When Mirabeau saw the thin layer of "film" on the bottom of the screen, his heart skipped a beat—if this method truly produced paper, it would be a revolutionary technology!
Compared to the traditional papermaking materials like rags and flax, wood was practically free, meaning the cost of paper would drop significantly. This also meant that this new papermaking technology would dominate Europe's paper market!
(End of Chapter)
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