Flour Riot

Joseph knew without even looking that the following reports were written by renowned scholars he had commissioned from the French Academy of Sciences. Those people lacked Lamarck's academic ethics; after each receiving seven or eight Livre, they produced a report on a "severe drought" in just half a day.

Brienne waited patiently for him to finish reading the first two reports before saying with a worried expression, "Your Highness, the later reports reach similar conclusions. If this situation were to occur, it would definitely cause a huge mess..."

Joseph was secretly pleased. He had originally intended to give Brienne a heads-up, and then use the opportunity to bring up the issue of dealing with the Famine.

Unexpectedly, Brienne was so perceptive that he brought it up himself.

In fact, after the Tax Law incident, Brienne developed the habit of consulting with the Crown Prince on important matters.

"Just like what happened in Normandy two years ago, oh, and even earlier in Burgundy and Reims," Brienne said, looking at Joseph. "Actually, I was just about to report this to Her Majesty the Queen, so that I could prepare in advance..."

Joseph, thinking he was going to say "Disaster Relief grain," was about to nod in agreement when Brienne said, "Prepare the army in advance to deal with any possible riots."

Joseph nearly coughed up blood. "After all this talk, are you planning to use force to suppress us?"

Brienne was actually quite helpless as well.

Since more than a decade ago, frequent natural disasters have led to frequent crop failures across France, resulting in several "Flour Riot."

From Reims to Burgundy, then to Normandy, and even to the areas surrounding Paris, starving people stormed into bakeries or the homes of Nobility, looting Flour War and bread and leaving some money at what they considered a reasonable price.

This practice even has a specific name. "People's Tax."

The most recent Flour Riot occurred in Normandy two years ago. The French Government deployed over 20,000 soldiers and arrested more than 500 people to quell the unrest.

The French Government is currently dirt poor and has no money to provide Disaster Relief. Brienne sees signs of Famine and has no other option but to prepare the army to suppress it.

Joseph set the reports aside and said, "Archbishop Brienne, I had actually seen these reports through other channels before. I'm here today to discuss this matter with you."

"Oh? So Your Highness means...?"

"We should try to provide food for the people to prevent riots. As you know, both riots and military suppression cause serious damage to the local area."

Brienne said with a pained expression, "Your Highness, you are right, but given our Finance situation..."

Joseph quickly got to the point:

"If we promote Potato cultivation nationwide, we can largely offset the impact of natural disasters."

"On the same land, Potato can yield four to six times more than Wheat."

"Prussia and Austria have also frequently suffered from natural disasters in recent years, but they have experienced far fewer Famine than we have. In fact, their agricultural productivity is nowhere near that of France."

At this time, Prussia and Austria were still under Serfs, and agricultural productivity was extremely low.

"Their ability to weather the crisis was entirely due to large-scale Potato cultivation. Without this high-yield crop, the Austro-Prussian War ten years ago probably wouldn't have lasted even two months."

He was referring to the War of the Bavarian Succession. Both Prussia and Austria, lacking supplies, relied on freshly dug Potato to survive, and managed to fight for a year. Hence, this war is also known as the "Potato War."

In fact, currently only Catholicism countries like France and Italy in Europe are very averse to Potato; in other parts of Europe, Potato have long been a common sight on people's tables.

Joseph slammed his hand on the report on the table, "If we also plant Potato on a large scale, even if the disaster causes a reduction in production, the harvest will still be far higher than that of Grain. At that time, the government will only need to allocate a small amount of money for Disaster Relief to get through the crisis."

Brienne still looked troubled. "Your Highness, I have actually learned about this crop, and the method you suggested is indeed worth a try."

"However, a large amount of capital is still needed to promote Potato on a large scale. Moreover, farmers are very resistant to Potato..."

Joseph knew he was right. Farmers usually buy seeds for the next season in advance. If you suddenly ask them to switch to planting Potato, most people won't be willing, nor can they afford to buy enough Potato for planting.

He thought for a moment and said to Brienne, "I will find a way to address people's resistance to eating Potato. Of course, this will require the Church to cooperate in spreading the word."

"As for the money to buy Potato, you can allocate part of it from the Finance, and I will cover the rest."

"You need to send people to purchase large quantities of Potato from the Northeast Provinces and transport them to other provinces. Distribute them to farmers for free first, and after the harvest, they only need to repay two-thirds of the amount."

"If no one is willing to plant them, leave the Potato in the local area and store them as Disaster Relief food."

Brienne did a rough calculation, then frowned and said, "Your Highness, to achieve a sufficient scale of cultivation, at least five million Livre will be needed, while the government's Finance can only provide a maximum of one million."

Joseph nodded. "Okay, I will provide the government with a loan of four million Livre through the French Reserve Bank within two weeks."

Although he didn't have much cash on hand, he could mortgage his Paper Mill shares to Mirabeau and others to borrow money, and sell some Paris Angel shares to raise about four million.

And a few months later, Paris Fashion Week will be able to generate substantial profits.

The two then discussed the details of promoting Potato, and Brienne gathered his men to begin developing a detailed Potato promotion plan.

This matter sounds simple, but it involves the entire food production of France, and there are many trivial details involved. It is by no means something that can be implemented casually.

For example, how many Potato should be transported to each region? If some areas are willing to grow them, or if there isn't enough, how should they be allocated? And after the Potato from the Northeast Provinces are transported out, how should Potato be purchased from Prussia or Austria to supplement their food rations? And how should the Church accompany the Potato transport team to persuade farmers to change their prejudices against Potato, etc.

These all require very detailed planning.

Seeing that there was nothing more he could do to help, Joseph prepared to get up and take his leave.

Brienne escorted him to the gates of the Versailles Palace, still uneasy, and asked, "Your Highness, do you really have a way to get those farmers to eat Potato?"

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Please rest assured, as long as we keep spreading the word, if two or three out of ten people accept Potato, it will play a significant role in alleviating the Famine."

In fact, he had already instructed Denico to start printing Pamphlets about Potato yesterday, and he had already planned out more promotional methods in his mind, which would be put into action soon.

(End of this chapter)