I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 962 School Factory and Football League

Joseph didn't think Brian was slow.

He knew that this meant formulating a standardized process for the powers and responsibilities of the entire cabinet. How could it be so easy?

Historically, the British did not attempt similar administrative reforms until 1833, and did not see any results until 1854.

Of course, the British were the first to do so, and everyone had to figure everything out on their own.

Joseph directly gave the standard answer, which certainly wouldn't take that long. But he certainly couldn't skip the necessary steps.

After the cabinet has been "standardized", efficiency should also be improved accordingly, and administrative reforms in provinces and cities will be carried out at an increasingly faster pace.

When the word "standardization" was mentioned, Joseph suddenly remembered the previous standardization of industrial production.

He personally supervised the work for about two months, and then asked Sonnet and Mirabeau to push forward for another half a year before they had a general understanding of the subject.

In fact, the processes of administrative reform and production standardization are very similar.

This is also why administrative reforms in history occurred after the Industrial Revolution - factory management played a huge role in guiding government management.

Joseph immediately said to Brian: "You can transfer Mr. Jeansonnet to Paris.

"He has quite a few staff members there, and can alleviate your shortage of staff. Moreover, he is very familiar with writing standard documents."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will contact him later."

Brian finished talking about the cabinet's administrative reform and continued, "Your Highness, regarding your request to conduct the unified entrance examination for the Royal Administrative University...

“I am truly sorry, but after my assessment, I am afraid it will be difficult to complete the National Simultaneous Exam.

"You know, cities like Paris, Reims, and Lyon might be OK, but places like Foix and Gueret, where the city hall officials may not be able to read, will definitely cause chaos if they want to organize hundreds or even thousands of people to take the exam."

Mirabeau added: "Perhaps their officials will sell the test questions before the exam even starts."

Yes, this is the “original version of the French civil service exam” designed by Joseph.

Administrative universities set different admission scores for different majors, and the graduation years are also different. Naturally, the positions after graduation also vary greatly.

It takes three years to study to become a provincial finance commissioner.

Some tough jobs only require two months of training.

But one must at least pass the entrance examination to qualify as a government official.

However, the French government is currently stuck with just organizing the exams...

Joseph couldn't help but hold his forehead when he heard this.

After all, France is still an agricultural society with extremely poor administrative and organizational capabilities.

This is one of the reasons why he is eager to carry out administrative reforms.

He thought for a moment and said, "Then let the cabinet take charge and send people to various cities to preside over the examinations. Who is usually responsible for similar matters?"

Brian immediately said, "The church is responsible for education and examinations, Your Highness."

Joseph rejected the plan immediately.

He knew the church group very well. If you dare to give them the examination involving the selection of officials, they will dare to sell the examination papers openly.

He sighed inwardly.

It seems that the reform of the education system should also be put on the agenda. The deeper the industrial revolution progresses, the more it needs a large number of industrial workers who have received basic education.

Even in jobs like spinning and screwing, people with an education are much more efficient than illiterate people.

Now the church has set up many free church schools. But whether or not to enroll is entirely voluntary. Most French people would rather let their children work in factories to earn a few deniers than waste their time learning to read.

And even if you go to a church school, the most you can do is learn to read.

At the same time, the church will use most of its limited teaching time - usually 2 to 3 hours a day - to teach theology.

Therefore, we still have to provide serious basic compulsory education.

Being free from the interference of the church and only teaching children cultural courses would be more efficient and the financial cost should be lower than that of church schools.

Joseph suddenly thought that it seemed that the current church schools did not require government funding, but were all borne by the church.

Wait, where does the church get its money?
Church land revenue and tithes.

This is also the theoretical basis for the church to collect taxes - we are responsible for national education, of course we need money. Another area that the church needs to be responsible for is charity, such as helping the homeless.

Thinking of this, Joseph couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

If the church no longer has to be involved in education, wouldn't it be a good opportunity to abolish the tithe and even take back the church's property?

Well, my mother is in charge of charity, and it is more effective than the priests. At least Her Majesty the Queen will not embezzle the relief funds.

Joseph wrote "Prepare to establish the Ministry of Education" in his notebook and temporarily withdrew his thoughts.

After all, the church still has a very large influence in France. If you want to touch their interests, you must make adequate preparations in advance.

Joseph looked at Brian again and said, "How about this? Let people from remote areas go to the nearest big city to take the exam. Each person will be subsidized 1 to 3 francs for travel expenses."

This amount of subsidy is certainly not enough for going to other cities to take the exam, but if the subsidy is larger, it is very likely that some people will register falsely in order to make money and just go to the examination room for a stroll.

"Yes, Your Highness."

After Briand sat down, Mirabeau began to report on the construction of the Rhineland, which is the current focus of the French government.

"Your Highness, the two quarries in Cologne and Koblenz have been completed and are currently producing nearly two ships of stone every day."

Mirabeau glanced at the document, "According to the plan, production will be increased to 4 ships by the end of this year. They will recruit 900 and 750 workers respectively.

“The expansion of the salt mines in the Palatinate has also been largely completed. 360 additional workers have been added.

"The potash mine at Mount Donnas officially started mining last month, but due to the lack of a processing plant, the output is only 800 kilograms per day. We have recruited 400 workers. However, after the potash fertilizer processing plant is built, the number of workers will increase to more than 1..."

Joseph nodded slightly.

The industries he first promoted in the Rhineland were of the type that required low investment and low profits, but required a large number of workers.

A few hundred workers in a factory may not sound like a lot, but the entire Rhineland region has a population of only 170 million.

Considering that each worker has three or four family members, as well as the livelihoods of people who provide services to the workers, such as vendors or coachmen, these factories can support tens of thousands of people.

Their income, when distributed with daily expenses, will greatly improve the stability of the Rhineland region.

After Mirabeau finished talking about the factory, he continued, "Your Highness, there are currently five clubs in the Rhineland region that have begun operations, with a total of 5 players. The league is held every 102 days."

Yes, the league he was talking about was the French Football League.

(End of this chapter)