Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

In this era, only the industrialized large farm model could rapidly advance the development of agricultural production technology.

For the farmers, although they would take great care of their land, their lack of funds and technology meant they were utterly incapable of improving agricultural techniques.

At the same time, small farmers were also very conservative.

Joseph remembered that in the 19th century, French farmers still maintained their ancient farming habits, preferring the simplest and cheapest farm tools, and they firmly resisted the cultivation of cash crops, believing that a full granary would provide peace of mind for the family.

However, large farms backed by capital were not aiming for self-sufficiency, but rather pursuing higher profits!

Facing the pressure of profitability, they had to continuously upgrade to new agricultural machinery, develop more advanced planting techniques, try more expensive but better new fertilizers, as well as cultivate crops with higher economic value.

This would greatly stimulate the development of both agriculture and industry in France.

Indeed, farming was also the foundation for industrial development.

The simplest example was England’s textile industry, which relied on massive amounts of domestically produced wool and South Asian cotton to dominate the world.

And if France wished to challenge England in the textile industry, it first needed sufficient cotton production. If all the farmers cultivated food crops and relied on imported cotton, it would be extremely difficult to come close to England in terms of cost.

Moreover, in the traditional areas of strength of the French textile industry—silk, there was a need for the large-scale plantation of mulberry trees.

These projects were best suited for large industrialized farms to exercise their capabilities.

People like Mirabeau had a keen sense for things that could make money. With just a little hint from the Crown Prince, they immediately realized the vast "monetary" prospects of the future modern estates.

Taking advantage of the favorable land purchasing system, they decided to invest a large sum of money and enter the market of industrialized estates for a fierce competition.

Of course, Joseph wanted to vigorously develop agricultural consulting firms precisely because he wished to use a unified management model to gather scattered small farmers, enabling them to have a certain degree of competitiveness of large farms.

Watching Viscount Dico still excitedly discussing the bright future of the new-type estates, Mirabeau just responded with a smile.

What he was pondering over was the words that the Crown Prince had said to him a few days ago.

The Crown Prince had mentioned that, after industrialized large farms had been put into operation, land that originally required three or four hundred people to cultivate could be managed in an orderly fashion with less than one hundred workers by utilizing a large number of livestock, machinery, and new farming tools combined with strict standardized management.

It didn’t take long for him to think about where those other two or three hundred people would go.

There was only one answer: they would have to go to the big cities to make a living. Besides, with the help of agricultural consulting firms, ordinary farming families no longer needed all family members to be involved in farming to ensure the land’s yield, and with the difficulty in acquiring more than thirty acres of land per person, the family members who became idle would likewise go to the cities to earn money.

After these people poured into the cities, the availability of labor in factories would become extremely abundant, and one of the biggest factors restraining factory expansion would thus disappear.

And these people living in the cities would need to purchase all of their necessities, meaning they would bring with them a huge consumer market.

Having foreseen these developments, Mirabeau repeatedly calculated and found that investing in large farms at this time would not be as profitable as strategically investing in industries such as textiles and steel that required a large workforce.

Thus, he only purchased some lands suitable for investment, ready to sell them as soon as they appreciated in value. He placed the majority of his capital in the automatic loom factories in Lyon, with a small portion invested in the coal mines of the Southern Netherlands.

Indeed, the latter was an investment made following the recommendation of His Highness the Crown Prince. Although the area was currently engulfed in conflict, he trusted the Prince’s insight more.

Actually, Mirabeau had still missed one point.

Joseph had foreseen the situation of land speculation arising as early as half a year ago—he had experienced the real estate frenzy of the early 21st century and was well versed in the tricks of land speculation by major corporations—so he had planted a trap in the "Agricultural Yield Bill" early on.

Any land designated by the government as cultivable had to meet a certain yield obligation as soon as the buyer acquired ownership. Even if the land was sold, if the minimum yield was not reached during harvest season, all the landholders for that planting season would bear joint liability.

Of course, this did not include situations of disaster.

So Mr. Mirabeau would find that, upon acquiring the land, he would have to immediately start sowing, or he would face fines until the High Court forcefully auctioned off the land!

While the capitalist nobility were pondering how to invest for maximum benefit, nearly half of the aristocrats among the petitioners outside the Petit Trianon Palace still looked tense, and some had even crumpled their Royal Fund Application Forms into balls and thrown them to the ground.

They were the "time-rich class" among the aristocracy, maybe because they had little land and limited annuities, or perhaps their lives were too extravagant, leading to expenses exceeding income—in any case, they had no spare money. Many were even relying on loans to sustain their lifestyles—maintaining formal attire for various occasions, paying for the living costs of illegitimate children, participating in routine salons, hunting, or gambling, which all required a considerable amount of silver coins. And for the nobility at the Palace of Versailles, these were the basic elements of life.

They simply had no money to invest in the Royal Fund, meaning that in 8 years they would be cut off from income and starve to death.

Soon, a tall nobleman with noticeably unkempt curly hair forcefully made his way through the crowd going to subscribe to the fund, stepping forward and calling out loudly to the Crown Prince on the steps:

"Your Highness, the land tax is the traditional right of the nobility, the honor bestowed upon our ancestors by the old King, and you cannot just abolish it so easily!"

Immediately, voices of agreement rose from around:

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"Right, we want traditional rights, not the fund!"

"Those annuities were inherited from my father, and they rightfully deserve respect!"

Joseph simply looked at these people impassively, having anticipated this situation and having already made contingency plans.

The aristocrats who did not go and subscribe to the Royal Fund were the poorest, thus their influence was the weakest, but their potential for causing damage to the country in their desperation still needed to be taken into account.

The postman clerk surnamed Li from the East had directly overturned an empire in such circumstances.

Joseph cleared his throat, his sharp gaze falling on the tallest nobleman who had jumped forward, and he said in a cold voice:

"Perhaps you still remember how your ancestors obtained their fiefs?"

The latter was somewhat stupefied by the sudden question: "It is… well…"

Joseph pointed at him with commanding presence:

"It was because they followed the King’s army, demonstrating extraordinary bravery and fearlessness on the battlefield, and earned their own glory!"

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