Chapter 27 Sharp Sword

Joseph smiled and said to himself:

"If I have the chance, I'll have to open a bank."

After reading the financial information, he pushed the document basket aside, rubbed his sore shoulders, and then picked up the documents on the new tax bill and started reading them.

There are many provisions in the bill, covering more than thirty pages.

The more Joseph read, the more he frowned. The people who compiled these bills were really smart. They included all the messy and irrelevant things. As a person with higher education in the 21st century, he felt dizzy. He expected ordinary people to understand this. The things above are simply a dream!

And it seems that they were worried that the bill would be blocked by the nobles, so the compilers deliberately added some taxes that favored the noble class and were unfavorable to ordinary people.

But they didn't expect that this tax item, which had almost no impact, would become the starting point for the nobles to attack the tax bill. Ordinary people simply did not understand the details of the bill's provisions. They heard public opinion propaganda that the bill would harm their own interests, so they joined in to oppose it.

In fact, the core content of the bill is to cancel the land tax privileges of the nobility and let the nobility bear some of the national finances.

In addition, it stipulates that grains can be freely transported and bought, and eliminates tariffs between various domestic regions to promote economic development.

This bill fully reflects the weakness and compromise of the Louis XVI government...

Sugar mixed with feces - He wanted to please both the nobles and the common people, but in the end, neither side wanted to see him.

Thinking of this, Joseph picked up his pen and checked off all the taxes that were unfavorable to ordinary people and small businesses.

Pulling a group of people and beating a group of people is the way to do politics.

After deletions, this bill is no longer a bargaining chip for the aristocracy to use against the government, but a sword to attack them!

Joseph checked it carefully again, and when he wanted to hand it over to his assistant for re-copying, he realized that it was already dusk.

"Forget it, let's talk about it tomorrow." He stretched out and threw the text of the bill into the drawer. Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. There is no emergency and he will not do the unethical thing of forcing subordinates to work overtime.

As soon as he walked out of the office, he saw Eman coming with a maid: "Your Highness, Her Majesty the Queen is holding a gambling game in Mars Hall and invites you to participate."

Joseph wanted to laugh a little in his heart, why did it feel so weird for a mother to drag her son to gamble.

But he also knew that this was a very normal entertainment item in the Palace of Versailles. Even the Sun King Louis XIV specifically requested the palace to engage in more such activities in the "Instructions to the Crown Prince" to enhance the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

Joseph nodded: "Okay, I'll go right away."

He went back to the palace first to change into the light and luxurious suits he wore for entertainment, and then followed the queen's maid to the Mars Hall.

Still far away, bursts of noise accompanied by cheerful piano music came from the hall. The guard at the door bowed to Joseph and pushed open the two-person high door.

Queen Marie, who was playing baccarat under the huge portrait of Louis XIV, saw her son at a glance and immediately waved with a smile on her face:

"My dear, you are finally here!"

Joseph hurriedly walked over and bowed, and the queen was obviously in a good mood: "I heard that you have been busy all day in Brianna. Come and have some fun and relax. Oh, you know? I just won ten in a row. A handful! I hope you have the same good luck as me!"

When the nobles around heard that the crown prince was coming, they all stopped and saluted him, especially the young girls in silk costumes, all of whom had peach blossoms in their eyes and smiled coquettishly.

Joseph looked at the nobles surrounding Queen Mary who were constantly flattering, and the queen who was flushed and laughing because of winning money, but suddenly remembered the emotion of the later writer Zweig - "She was too young at that time. Know that all the gifts given by fate have already been marked with a secret price." [Note 1]

Just as Joseph was sighing secretly, Mono, whose face was white with powder, trotted over with a smile on his face, pulled him diligently and gestured behind him:

"Your Highness, you came at just the right time! We are worried about the lack of someone, come and play cards with us."

A young nobleman at the card table was startled when he heard this, and disappeared at an extremely fast speed, realizing the "missing man" situation.

Joseph couldn't refuse the hospitality, so he followed the interior minister and sat down at the card table under the oil painting of the God of War. Immediately, a servant brought wine and drinks.

"Two 10s." Count Pappus, who was at the top, played the card.

The gameplay is similar to "Run Fast", but the smallest card is a, and k represents the king, which is the largest.

Joseph took a glass of juice, looked at the cards in his hand, shook his head and said, "No."

When he saw the gold coins and silver rivers piled on the table, he couldn't help but think of France's 2 billion debt. Then he looked at the cabinet ministers opposite who were carelessly swaying gold coins and having fun. He shook his head and smiled bitterly in his heart: Maybe it's necessary to have a big fortune...

He was thinking about the national debt, and coupled with his poor poker skills, he soon lost three games in a row and lost 12 gold coins.

Not far away, more than ten aristocratic girls were staring at his table intently. Seeing that the crown prince was a little distracted, they thought he was unhappy because he lost cards, and they immediately clenched their pink fists and gritted their silver teeth. .

Several girls took action immediately.

Some of them walked around to face their fathers or uncles, shrouding them with murderous intent and resentful eyes respectively.

Some came to their brother's side, seemingly asking him how the cards were, and secretly pinched a piece of flesh on his arm and vigorously rotated it 180 degrees.

In fact, according to the tradition of the French court, you cannot deliberately lose when gambling, but the three people at the table with Joseph decided to abandon this practice without hesitation at this moment.

Mono split the straights from 6 to 10 from the middle and got an 8. Count Pappus looked at the 7 issued by the Crown Prince, squeezed the 10 and q in his hand, and firmly shouted "No"...

Joseph's "luck" suddenly improved. He could win no matter how hard he played. There was even a game where the biggest card was only j, which was almost all single cards, and he still won.

The winning streak greatly increased his interest, and he forgot the time for a while. Until he felt a little tired, he looked up at the clock and found that it was already 11:30 pm.

He hurriedly stood up and said goodbye to several poker friends, asking Eman to pack up the winnings and drag his tired body towards the palace.

After leaving the hall, Eman followed and whispered excitedly:

"Your Highness, you have won a total of 156 crowns."

1 Ecu is equal to 6 livres. In other words, Joseph won nearly a thousand livres in one night!

"Not bad," Joseph said with a sense of accomplishment, "I didn't do any work in the middle of the night, and I earned so much!"

But then he remembered the terrifying debt of 2 billion, and couldn't help but do some calculations in his mind. According to the way he won tonight, the 2 billion could be paid off in about 550 years.

Joseph sighed. To repay such a large sum of money, it is not enough to just start some money-making projects on his own. He must use himself as a fulcrum to leverage the industrial revolution in France. This is the way to solve the financial problem.

Therefore, steam engines and textile technology need to be developed as soon as possible, as well as supporting financial, patent and other policies.

Joseph was thinking about the Industrial Revolution. He didn't know where he was going when he suddenly heard his stomach growling. He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. He had been winning money all night and didn't even bother to eat supper.

When he looked up, he found that the kitchen was right in front of the corridor, and the lights were still on inside. Apparently there was an imperial chef on duty.

This place is quite far from the crown prince's palace. I don't know how long it will take to have food delivered to me when I get back.

Just ask the chef to get some food and make up for it here. With this thought in mind, he walked towards the kitchen.