I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1120 Period of Rapid Development
After the ball, Joseph politely escorted Count Ostermann back to his room, then immediately turned to Talleyrand and instructed him, "Once the Russian ambassador returns home, please go to Rome immediately."

Talleyrand immediately understood: "Your Highness, all you really need to do is write a letter to the Pope."

"If you are not at ease, then let His Highness Ludovico go to Rome to 'expose' him."

Joseph thought for a moment and nodded.

Reporting the Papacy's last order of knights for colluding with Orthodox Christians was indeed more appropriate for the Prince of Parma. Moreover, Ludovico was related to France by marriage, so he would certainly be diligent in his task.

The following day, Talleyrand continued dealing with the Russian Foreign Minister, while Joseph held what was then the most important cabinet meeting in recent times.

It was late February, and the statistics on France's industry and agriculture for the previous year had been completed. The data was now in front of Joseph.

Industry Minister Mirapo proudly announced the industrial achievements:

“去年的煤炭总产量已达到960万吨。其中无烟煤产量52万吨，70%的城市都已开始使用蜂窝煤。焦炭产量38万吨，炼钢业80%的产量都来自于焦炭……

Last year, a total of 6 large-scale furnaces, 7 forging plants, and 2 slitting plants were added nationwide...

"Pig iron production reached 11 tons, and refined steel production reached 1 tons, including 400 tons of the latest type of manganese steel..."

"Last year's phenol production exceeded 27 tons. Aniline black production was 10 tons. Soda ash production..."

After speaking at length for more than 20 minutes, he reluctantly put down the documents in his hand, straightened his chest, and said, "By the end of last year, we had completed all the goals set out in the Industrial Development Plan!"

Joseph immediately clapped and lavishly praised the Ministry of Industry.

In recent years, relying on the coal and iron resources of the Netherlands and Rhineland, as well as the markets of Italy, Spain and southern Germany, France has achieved unprecedented rapid industrial development.

According to data obtained by French intelligence, France's coal production has now surpassed that of Britain—largely thanks to the vigorous promotion of briquette briquettes.

Steel production is also very close to that of the UK. Last year, the UK's steel production was around 11.5 to 12.5 tons.

As for France's traditional advantageous industries such as chemicals, furniture, pharmaceuticals, and printing, they have left Britain far behind by several times or even ten times.

Currently, Britain is only temporarily leading in fields such as textiles, ceramics, and shipbuilding.

Agriculture Minister Venio eagerly stood up, his expression equally excited:

Last year, the total wheat production was 210 million tons.

He paused deliberately before continuing, "This does not include the production from the Algiers province. As everyone knows, the administrative system there is not yet fully developed, and there is a lot of newly reclaimed land, so production is not easy to quantify. However, a rough estimate should be around 30 to 35 tons."

This number may not seem like much, but you have to understand that Algiers has only about 170 million people, and there is so much food that they could eat half and throw the other half away.

Vinio continued his report: "Last year, the country also harvested 630 million tons of potatoes."

28 tons of oats...

"34 tons of sugar beets... 17 tons of alfalfa..."

"11 tons of soybeans. Oh, half of that is from St. Louis. That place is absolutely perfect for growing soybeans..."

After reciting a long string of numbers, Venio announced with great confidence: "From now on, our country will officially become a grain exporter. Last year's export volume was close to the total of the Netherlands and Prussia."

Joseph nodded to himself. After vigorously promoting chemical fertilizers and acquiring large tracts of high-quality grain-producing areas in North Africa, France had completely eliminated the possibility of famine—even in the event of a severe natural disaster like the one a few years ago, the grain production would be enough to feed the entire nation.

With the continued development of arable land in Tunisia and Algiers, grain exports will inevitably become one of the important sources of revenue for the French treasury.

Moreover, a bumper harvest in agriculture leads to lower food prices, which in turn encourages more farmers to choose to work in factories where they earn higher incomes.

After finishing his report on grain production, Venio lowered his voice slightly: "Last year, due to the impact of powdery mildew, wine production was only 1150 million barrels..."

"Mr. Dawburnton believes that the disease was brought by grape varieties introduced from North America."

1150 million barrels is about 25 billion liters, which is significantly higher than in previous years and far exceeds that of other European countries. This is despite the impact of disease.

Moreover, with the continuous development of French industry, the importance of wine exports to the French economy has greatly decreased, so Joseph only casually reminded him to find a solution as soon as possible and then stopped paying attention to it.

Vinio continued, "We built three new sugar refineries last year, and one more in North Germany."

"The two potash plants in the Rhineland region currently have an annual production capacity of 223,000 tons. A third plant is under construction and, once operational, will add another 130,000 tons of production per year..."

"The stone fertilizer plant in eastern Algiers started production at the end of last year... Now, North Africa alone produces 17 tons of stone fertilizer annually..."

Due to cost considerations, France no longer imports phosphate fertilizer from Nauru. However, if the west coast of North America develops in the future, it could sell phosphate fertilizer there.

Then, Minister of Civil Affairs Jean-Marie Rolland rose to give a report, mainly on the promotion of the pre-medical system.

"...Currently, only the southwestern mountainous provinces and parts of the Rhineland lack reserve doctors. Dr. Perna suggests transferring reserve doctors from the eastern regions to the Rhineland. However, this will involve providing subsidies, which may initially require more than 50 francs..."

"Oh, the second phase of smallpox vaccination was completed at the end of last year, with more than 400 million people vaccinated. There were very few adverse reactions, and the number of smallpox cases in the vaccinated areas was reduced by more than 90% compared to before the vaccination."

"Currently, the main issues are an insufficient number of sick cattle and the high price of syringes, so the third phase of the plan only aims to vaccinate 330 million people..."

Well, if the British, who use syringes that cost 300 francs, heard him say that, they would probably cry their eyes out.

It's important to understand that the French health authorities and medical device manufacturers have signed large-scale procurement agreements, bringing the price of syringes down to 24 francs each. However, for universal vaccination, the total cost remains an astonishing figure—each round of smallpox vaccination requires an investment of nearly 200 million francs.

However, this money was absolutely worth it.

Every year, 8 to 10 people die of smallpox in France. If these people could be saved, nearly a million people could be added to France's population over ten years, and the tax revenue alone would more than cover the costs.

If a million people were to be relocated to Algiers, it would immediately become a core province of France.

(End of this chapter)