Dismissing officials was easy; a single decree would do it. The troublesome part was how to clean up the mess after dismissing them.
The facts proved that the farm projects led by bureaucrats had already failed.
To solve the problem, they needed to replace them with people who were loyal, incorruptible, capable, indifferent to fame and profit, and willing to endure hardship in the colonies.
Such bureaucrats might exist, but they were definitely few and far between. They were treasures wherever they went, and there were simply no extras to throw into the colonies.
Prime Minister Terence Bulkin proposed, "Your Majesty, dismissing them now serves no purpose. The most important thing at present is still to ensure that these projects are actually carried out.
"I suggest allowing them a grace period and ordering them to complete their tasks by a deadline. Punish only those who fail to do so."
A grace period was necessary. The French Government could not possibly find so many replacement officials in such a short time.
Most crucially, even if these people were removed, the money would not come back. No bureaucrat would be foolish enough to keep all his assets under his own name.
Besides, embezzling public funds was not the work of just one or two people. Everyone from top to bottom had taken part, so there was no way to investigate it too deeply.
After calming down, Napoleon IV asked, "If we give them a grace period, will they be able to complete the tasks?"
By this point, everyone knew that the project funds allocated by the government had been swallowed up below. The officials directly in charge might have taken the biggest share, but that was not all of it.
To carry out the original plans, the greatest problem was money. The