I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 425 Currency Reform
Western Bavaria.

On the outskirts of Nordlingen, a row of knights holding dolphin and iris flags passed on the muddy road. Behind them was the French crown prince's motorcade surrounded by a large number of guards.

In the carriage, Joseph rubbed his sore shoulders and turned to look at the old town outside the window. This was the battlefield of the famous Battle of Nördlingen during the Thirty Years' War, but after the erosion of time, it has returned to tranquility and peace.

The blonde girl sitting opposite him saw his action, stood up quickly, and whispered:

"Your Highness, let me give you a massage."

Joseph was slightly startled, mainly because he had never received such considerate service in his previous long-distance journeys, but he quickly nodded and smiled:
"Then thank you for your hard work."

"It's my honor to serve you." Camelia bent over and came to his side from the low carriage. Her slender fingers pressed on Joseph's shoulders. The force was neither too light nor too heavy, and he immediately squinted his eyes in comfort.

After a moment, Joseph's fatigue was swept away.

The girl noticed that his coffee cup was empty and immediately picked up the coffee pot and filled it halfway for him - it was not advisable to fill it up in a bumpy car as it would easily spill.

Yes, after leaving Vienna, Camelia took on almost all of Joseph's servant work, and was even more meticulous and thoughtful than the three previous servants. These were all taught to her by Madame Delvaux - to be a wet nurse for an Austrian princess, one must be quite capable, and she was even better than her teacher.

Originally, Camelia was very hesitant about Mr. Bazel's suggestion, but after the French Crown Prince severely taught a lesson to the bastard who had threatened and harassed her for more than a year and gave her the 15 florins in compensation, she made up her mind completely.

The teacher was right! No, to be more precise, she herself was deeply attracted by His Highness's temperament, charm, and the sense of security he brought.

Joseph nodded to her in thanks and took a sip of coffee, which was mellow and pleasant. He couldn't help but nod again - this girl's coffee making skills were also first-class - and then picked up the pen and continued to write the investment development plan for Wallonia.

The agreement with Austria stipulated that both parties could invest in the "Wallonia Special Trade Zone". Joseph hoped to complete the layout of the Wallonia region as soon as possible while Austria was busy with the Silesian War.

For example: implementing preferential immigration policies to allow more French people to invest and live in Wallonia.

In addition, the first batch of Walloon policemen is planned to be recruited with 4000 people, half of whom will be sent to France for training and then rotated. The senior officers of the police department are all French - after a large number of immigrants, soon no one can tell whether they are native Walloonians or immigrants - the two sides have a seamless connection from language to living habits.

After French investors took control of almost all the coal mines in Wallonia, France would have actual control over the area as long as the above two points were achieved.

At dusk, the convoy stopped east of Stuttgart.

Joseph looked at the investment and development plan in his hand and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. After two years of operation, he had created a good situation for France.

In addition to the Southern Netherlands, the situation in Tunisia has also stabilized and started a second wave of immigration.

In terms of domestic industry, coal, iron, textiles, chemicals, etc. have all entered the fast lane, waiting for the accumulated quantitative changes to usher in an explosion.

However, all of this requires money. Whether it is the investment in Wallonia, the development of Tunisia, the training of the army (police), or the promotion of the industrial revolution, a large amount of funds are needed.

According to Joseph's plan, tax reforms and the expansion of the navy will be carried out in the future. These are all huge money-eating beasts.

At present, France still has a huge deficit of more than 20 billion livres, and has fought many wars in the past six months, spending a lot of military expenses. It is more difficult to squeeze out some money to complete the above tasks than to squeeze water from a stone.

Joseph followed Csode into the manor where they were staying, thinking that now that the army had won a series of victories in the Southern Netherlands and North Africa and the royal prestige was at its peak, perhaps he should make up his mind to carry out currency reform.

Replacing gold and silver coins with paper money throughout France, coupled with the two huge markets of Wallonia and Tunisia, the minting dividend alone can ease the current financial constraints.

With France's current industrial and agricultural development speed, it is entirely possible to raise inflation a little bit - this is even beneficial to economic development. Printing the currency corresponding to the materials before the country's overall materials continue to increase can effectively avoid the situation where trade is affected by insufficient currency. At the same time, the moderate depreciation caused by inflation can also encourage people to invest more instead of hoarding their money.

The extra money printed is controlled by the French Reserve Bank and can be quickly invested in the areas most in need, thus shortening the waiting time for investment to a minimum.

In addition, as France continued to trade with other countries, French paper money was bound to flow into other countries.

In this era, countries had a weak sense of protection for their monetary sovereignty - this was due to the trading habits brought about by the long-term use of gold and silver coins. Most currencies of other countries could be circulated in their own countries - at least in the short term, French banknotes could be circulated in small quantities in neighboring countries.

Although each country may not hold much French paper money, because most merchants will tend to exchange it for gold and silver coins, but even if the paper money stays in their hands for only one or two months, all countries added up will be a huge sum of money.

It was equivalent to France exchanging paper for their goods.

After a simple dinner, Joseph walked into the bedroom tiredly. He smelled a faint scent of incense, and then saw that Camelia had made the bed neatly. Well, she even placed the pillow in the most comfortable position.

The girl seemed startled by the noise, and hurriedly turned around and knelt slightly to the prince. Under the candlelight, her cheeks suddenly flushed.

Joseph noticed that the atmosphere was a little subtle, and looked at her in surprise and asked, "You, is there something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing..." Camelia suddenly lowered her head and ran towards the bedroom door, "Please, please go to bed..."

The two servants at the door were stunned. Why didn't the new lady finish her work? They hurried back into the house and helped His Royal Highness change into his nightgown.

In fact, Joseph really didn't like others helping him change his clothes, but in the Palace of Versailles, it was a necessary etiquette for others to change his pajamas for him - usually it had to be done by nobles of status - so he could only let it happen.

Camelia returned to her room, closed the door, and covered her face with her hands. Her heart was pounding as she muttered to herself, "This, this is too difficult... What should I do..."

(End of this chapter)