I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1177 France Getting Rich
As for staple food, after France acquired Algiers, a huge grain-producing region, it no longer had any worries.

Algiers' current wheat production, after setting aside enough for its own sustenance, is enough to feed one-fifth of the French population.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture began promoting potato cultivation in Tunisia and Tripoli last year. These areas have suitable climates and abundant water resources, and many of the lands are relatively infertile, where people are reluctant to grow wheat.

The Ministry of Agriculture encouraged people to plant potatoes on "rotten land," providing subsidies of 3 to 5 francs per acre. After that, no further care was needed; simply harvest when ripe. Even this method yielded nearly 40% of the output of arable land equivalent to that of Europe.

It can be said that France now has enough food not only to feed itself, but also to supply the entire Spanish and northern Italian armies.

So after the Crown Prince finished giving instructions about the cannery, the Minister of Agriculture had nothing else to do.

To everyone's surprise, His Highness the Crown Prince skipped over all the cabinet ministers and looked at the editor-in-chief of the Paris Business Daily, who was sitting by the east window.

“Mr. Denico, from this day forward, we will begin stricter control of the press,” Joseph said. “The direction of our propaganda is—first and foremost, to condemn the shameless aggression against our country by the anti-French coalition led by Britain, Prussia, and Austria. The British, in particular, have always aimed to destroy France; we must rise up in resistance in order to survive.”

Well, if the British heard this, they'd probably be devastated—forget about actively destroying France; if France even showed signs of collapse, they'd have to lend a hand, since what they most wanted was a balance of power across continental Europe. If France were gone, who would restrain Austria and even Russia?
But the propaganda machine is in my hands. If I say you have ulterior motives, can you come to France to publish a statement to defend yourself?

News control is intended to prevent a small number of pro-British elements in France from causing public confusion.

Joseph continued, "At the same time, we must present the narrative that our country will surely achieve final victory to boost public confidence."

"Among the large amount of news, we must also 'inadvertently' insert snippets about our military's strategic deployments. I will have the General Staff provide you with the specific details regularly."

This idea suddenly came to Joseph when he saw the strategic plan formulated by Berthier during a meeting with officers from the General Staff that day.

Since the French generals believed they should wage a defensive war, the high command of Britain, Prussia, and Austria would likely think the same way.

Therefore, he decided to use newspapers and public opinion to reinforce this perception. For example, he would occasionally mention in the news that a certain region had strengthened its defenses, or that a large amount of supplies had been transported to the Cologne fortress.

The intelligence agencies of Britain, Prussia, and Austria will surely carefully study all kinds of French newspapers, looking for clues, and eventually piecing together the conclusion that "France will defend itself to the death."

In fact, Napoleon used this tactic in history as well. He published news in the newspapers that France was deploying untrained new recruits to the Italian battlefield, which made Austria lower its guard. He then used veteran soldiers to break through the Lombardy defenses in one fell swoop.

At noon, apart from the King and Queen who went to the banquet hall according to court etiquette, everyone had a simple lunch in the meeting hall. The meeting continued after Louis XVI and his wife returned.

Joseph first discussed with Talleyrand, Berthier and others a plan to request member states of the Mediterranean Security Organization to send troops to cooperate, and then finally raised the issue that everyone was most concerned about - funding.

During today's meeting, he issued numerous orders requiring huge investments, such as "mass mobilization of war materials," "laying of railways," "expansion of arsenals," and "expansion of canneries."

The officials at the meeting only needed to do a quick calculation to know that this would be a bottomless pit of funds.

If war breaks out later, countless military expenses will definitely be needed. Where will this money come from?

Joseph gestured to Finance Minister Godin: "So how much money does the government have available right now?" "Only 4300 million francs are readily available, Your Highness." Godin didn't look at the documents, clearly having memorized the financial figures. "If we use the Industrial Development Fund to expand the munitions factory and cannery, as you know, this doesn't violate the fund's investment regulations, then we can add another 2700 million francs."

To be honest, after so many years of industrial development, France is now incredibly wealthy. Just over ten years ago, the finance minister was so poor that he had to borrow money from the bank even for a few hundred thousand livres, but now he can easily come up with more than 4 million francs.

Even the Industrial Development Fund has nearly 3 million in working capital.

Godan continued, "If all projects such as river dredging, agricultural irrigation, and road and bridge construction are suspended, nearly 140 million francs can be freed up within six months."

"In addition, there are loans and the issuance of government bonds. The French Reserve Bank can provide loans of about 7 million francs."

"Based on current market estimates, domestic and northern Italy should be able to sell 6 to 8 million francs worth of government bonds."

Well, he completely ignored Spain. Although Madrid has gained revenue from the North American gold mines, its fiscal deficit continues to increase due to the ongoing war, leaving it with virtually no spare cash.

Joseph did a mental calculation and figured that by around June of next year, he would be able to come up with at least 340 million francs.

The last war with the anti-French coalition cost 140 million francs in military expenses within six months.

Currently, the French army has more than doubled in size, and its normal military expenditure is estimated to be 3 million francs.

The funds available for pre-war preparations were only around 4 to 6 million.

按照铁轨每公里18万法郎的造价计算——使用之前木轨道的地基——仅是从巴黎到凡尔登的200公里，就需要投资3600万法郎。如果再加上修到斯特拉斯堡的170公里，全程造价6600万法郎。

The 3 million francs for expanding the arsenal and the 1.5 million francs for the cannery may seem insignificant, but once the cannons are cast, another 10 million francs will be needed.

This amount of money is barely enough to fill a tooth gap.

Of course, building railways can attract private investment, but before the trains demonstrate their power, it is estimated that not many people will be willing to invest money.

Godan glanced at the Crown Prince's expression and then cautiously said, "Your Highness, perhaps we could levy some temporary taxes."

Frankly speaking, with the rapid development of French industry and agriculture in recent years, people's living standards have improved considerably, and they can afford a small tax increase.

However, Joseph doesn't want to open the door to raising taxes for the time being—that's a last resort when things really can't take it anymore.

He pondered for a moment and shook his head slightly: "We should still try to find a solution with the national debt."

"This..." the finance minister hesitated, "market purchasing intentions won't change much. Unless we significantly raise interest rates."

(There's more tonight, the author isn't sleeping tonight!)
(End of this chapter)