Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1215: Chapter 1120: Trade Surplus and Market Expansion

After lunch, the cabinet meeting entered a rather dull segment—beginning to discuss the main issues facing various departments.

The biggest challenge for the Ministry of Agriculture was the Crown Prince’s demand to control the scale of beet cultivation.

Farmers who previously planted beets made money due to high sugar prices. Now, if you prevent others from planting them, they will certainly have objections.

There are even instances where people secretly plant beets in wheat fields.

Venio has already suggested imposing a tax on beet seeds.

Additionally, there is a shortage of manpower to cultivate the vast lands in North Africa. Keep in mind, Tunisia and Algiers are fertile lands stretching for miles; with just a little labor and sowing, they yield good harvests.

But only the very impoverished French people are willing to settle in North Africa.

As for Saint Louis Louisiana, there’s no need to mention. The French Government offers free tickets, providing 70 acres of land and a small wooden house, along with a high subsidy of 120 francs for males and 160 francs for females. Yet, in a year, only over 7,000 people have immigrated to North America.

As France continues to develop, many issues indeed perplexed even Joseph.

He thought for a moment and instructed Venio: “The main thing is to strengthen publicity, get someone to paint some beautiful North American landscapes.

“And also, to quickly promote the French language. Mr. Rahman’s simplified French can make this process easier. When more people speak French, they will feel more at home, and it can also speed up the construction of towns.”

Imagine having a French architect direct a group of Algonquin speakers to build houses and roads; it would undoubtedly drive him mad.

The main issue for the Ministry of Civil Affairs is the shortage of funds.

There’s nothing anyone can do about it, just wait for the finances to improve so more funds can be appropriated.

Then, over at the Ministry of Industry, Mirabeau seriously stated that starting next year, the growth rate of France’s industry might gradually slow down.

Joseph immediately frowned: “Please explain the basis for your judgment.”

“The market, Your Highness,” the Minister of Industry said, “Our sales market is already nearing saturation. In fact, last year, there were some factories that closed down due to product backlog.

“The Industrial Development Fund has already started to limit the expansion of the steel, paper, and other industries, but many companies without government shares are still desperately expanding.”

Joseph was somewhat surprised: “Is the Italian market also saturated?”

Bear in mind, the Italian regions joined the Iberian-Apennine Common Market only three and a half years ago. How could it become saturated so quickly?

Mirabeau helplessly said: “Your Highness, the wealthy areas of Northern Italy, such as Genoa and Venice, have relatively small populations. And the densely populated regions like Piedmont and Emilia aren’t actually wealthy; at most, they buy some of our textiles.”

Bailly added from the side: “Moreover, people in Northern Italy are also beginning to reject our goods, further impacting the market.”

Joseph’s face darkened: “Reject? What’s going on?”

Bailly cautiously explained: “Ah, it’s statements like ’France treats Italy as a dumping ground,’ or ’We’re about to become a colony of the French people.’ You know, there are always some ill-intentioned folks who love to fabricate such things.”

Hearing this, Joseph was momentarily stunned, then pressed his forehead irritably.

Although these claims are biased, France’s industrial capability and size far exceed those of the various Italian countries. With both sides implementing low tariffs, France indeed seems like it’s dumping on them.

Hmm, even a few years ago, Austria couldn’t stand France’s “dumping,” leading to the continuous deterioration of its finances. It’s said that abolishing the Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement was one of the important reasons for its decision to join the Anti-French Alliance.

Continuing this way is like draining the pond for fish, and sooner or later, it will incite anti-French sentiment among the Italian populace.

But what should be done?

Surely, we can’t let the various Italian countries raise tariffs again; wouldn’t that render the common market pointless?

Joseph recalled those small European countries in later generations, like Switzerland, Finland, and the like. They are similarly small, yet they thrive before industrial powers.

Why is that?

It’s quite simple; they all hold some advantageous industries.

Due to their small size and population, any small-scale industry, as long as it is executed well and strongly, can easily sustain themselves.

Thinking of this, Joseph couldn’t help but nod to himself.

Although the various Italian countries have some characteristic industries now, they aren’t yet to the “advantageous” stage.

Thus, the key to breaking the situation is to help them establish industries that can sustain them.

For instance, Florence’s leather industry, Venice Murano’s glass processing industry already have good foundations. As long as they are supported to strengthen them, a solid industrial chain can be built, substantially increasing profits.

Take Florence’s leather industry; it mainly produces leather boots, which sell fairly well in France, but the income is far from enough to cover the trade deficit with France.

However, the industry can definitely expand from this foundation.

Things like handbags, leather gloves, leather hats, even whips could be tried.

Just take handbags for example. As long as the packaging and marketing are done well, women would immediately spend a lot buying them. Just look at how sought-after the limited editions of Chanel are in later generations.

At most, let my mother carry the handbag around the Palace of Versailles a few times, and it would soon sell well all across Europe.

Similarly, for Murano’s glass industry, currently it’s about window glass and drinking glasses. If development starts on optical lenses, laboratory beakers, condensers, etc., the sales revenue could easily multiply several times.

This is just widening the product line. If industrial chains are built, the competitive advantage would be even greater.

There are many other small-scale industries overlooked by France, like musical instrument manufacturing, art processing, candle production, etc., enough for the various Italian countries to share.

Even less important industries like papermaking could be partially moved to Italy. Of course, it should be moved to a country like Modena, a “friendly” one, and some patent fees need to be charged.

Once the various Italian countries get their industries up and running, not only will they increase their income and enhance their purchasing power, effectively expanding the market for France, but it can also foster the notion in the Italian populace that “France helped us become prosperous,” thus enhancing their centripetal force towards France.

Joseph immediately looked at Brian: “Archbishop Brienne, please inform the member states of the Iberian-Apennine Common Market to convene a summit in Paris in a month. I want to discuss trade and industrial issues with them.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

…

Poland.

Warsaw.

In the conference hall of the Royal Castle, a sturdy congressman was enthusiastically speaking: “The Tsar has already demonstrated sincerity; this is a great opportunity for us to improve diplomatic relations with our neighboring countries!”

Immediately, someone next to him said coldly: “Why should we improve relations with savage invaders?”