The real France (4,000-word chapter)

"Your Highness, are you saying that blood is used to transport nutrients and Oxygen?" Perna's large, bright green eyes blinked, her pretty face full of seriousness. "So, if we draw blood from patients, it will make them even weaker?"

Joseph clapped gently. "Indeed, you've discovered the truth. 🎉✌ 👣♔"

"Then why do we need to perform Bloodletting Treatment?"

That was a mistake.

"No wonder you've always refused Bloodletting Treatment. Are all the doctors wrong?" Perna nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly looked at Joseph, hesitating slightly, and said, "Your Highness, what if... your conclusion is incorrect?"

"Scientific research requires a spirit of skepticism; one must not blindly follow any authority." Joseph nodded in approval of the female doctor before adding, "Actually, knowing whether something is right or wrong is quite simple: just conduct Double-blind Experiment."

"Double-blind Experiment? What's that?"

Joseph said, "Simply put, it means finding patients with the same illness and similar physical conditions, dividing them into two groups, and preventing them from meeting each other."

"Then, one group of patients underwent Bloodletting Treatment, while the other group was not. The group that recovered first determined whether the bloodletting was effective."

Perna copied these notes into her Notebook, nodding in surprise. "This is indeed a very feasible testing method. Saint Mary, how come no one thought of doing this in the last few centuries! What if bloodletting really does only have adverse effects..."

Her eyes lit up immediately. "Your Highness, perhaps we can also use this... oh, Double-blind Experiment, to test whether a certain drug is effective, or whether certain factors may affect the condition."

Joseph gave her an approving look at her insightful observation. "You're absolutely right, these things can indeed be verified using Double-blind Experiment."

Perna's hand trembled with excitement as she held the pen, her eyes shining as she stared at Joseph: "You... you're amazing! How did you come up with all this?"

She glanced at the notes again. "Your Highness, may I tell Father about this method?"

"Sure."

As the two were talking, a "pitter-patter" sound came from the roof of the Carriage, indicating that it was raining heavily outside.

Before long, the carriage came to a slow stop. Guard Captain Kexer called out from outside the window, "Your Highness, the road ahead is flooded; it's probably not safe to continue."

Joseph was somewhat helpless and could only instruct his men to find shelter from the rain nearby.

This was his first time leaving Paris. He had thought that even if other places were worse than Paris, they wouldn't be too far behind. But he didn't expect that less than a hundred miles outside the Paris Region, the whole place would look like a poor, remote area.

For example, the road we are walking on now was obviously built with shoddy workmanship. The road surface is loose and uneven, and in slightly lower areas, it becomes difficult to walk after being soaked by rainwater.

Especially for Carriage, if they try to force their way through, they will most likely get stuck in the mud and be unable to move.

In order to speed up his journey, he specifically instructed that officials along the way should not be allowed to greet or see him off, but unexpectedly, he was stuck here due to heavy rain.

After a while, the cavalrymen who had gone out to scout reported back that there was a small village to the east. Kexer quickly ordered the caravan to turn around and head there to take shelter from the rain.

After Joseph's Carriage got stuck in the mud five or six times, it finally arrived at a dozen or so dilapidated Farmhouse with thatched roofs.

Kexer chose the largest Farmhouse, knocked on the door, and gave the owner 8 Livre. The owner was immediately overjoyed and thanked him profusely.

Joseph entered the house and was immediately hit by a musty smell. The house wasn't spacious; newspapers were pasted on the walls, and the only furniture was a wooden cabinet and a crooked wooden table. Fortunately, it was enough to keep out the wind and rain.

Because the lodging fee given by Kexer was so generous, the peasant woman felt she had to treat her distinguished guest well. So she took out the best food in the house and had her children borrow a lot of things from the neighbors. Finally, she made a "sumptuous" meal and carefully brought it out from the inner room.

"Oh, no need, we brought food..."

Kexer stepped forward and stopped the peasant woman. Joseph saw the nervous and disappointed look on her face. Not wanting to disappoint her, he ordered the Guard Captain to let her bring the food over.

Eman dutifully tasted all the white bread, cured meat, roast chicken, and vegetable soup on the table before nodding to the Crown Prince to indicate that it was time to eat.

Joseph took a few bites; the taste was very bland, but not so bland as to be unpalatable.

Kexer and Eman also ate some, while Perna was the least picky about food, ate almost her entire portion and even went to the inner room to praise the hostess's cooking.

Sitting there was rather boring, so Joseph started chatting with the man of the house. "Do you know about the government allowing Potato planting?"

The farmer bowed and nodded very stiffly. "Yes, sir. Father Marmont came and said it was a gift from the Lord."

Would you like to plant some?

The farmer shook his head.

"Why not plant them? After the harvest, you only need to repay two-thirds, which is a great deal."

The farmer hesitated for about ten seconds before whispering, "Viscount Cobert said it's best not to plant that stuff..."

Kexer quickly whispered in Joseph's ear, "Your Highness, I just inquired and found out that Cobert is the landowner here. The people around here are all his tenant farmers."

Joseph nodded, then asked the farmer, "But isn't it up to the farmer to decide what to plant?"

The farmer replied woodenly, "But Viscount Cobert won't allow it."

Joseph sighed. In recent Annual Tribute Farmer —the largest group of tenant farmers—were supposed to be free to cultivate the land and only needed to pay rent, but in reality, they were still very much dependent on the feudal lords who owned the land.

For example, they could not leave their land at will, had to perform a lot of Corvée for the feudal lords, and even disputes could be decided by the feudal lords if they lived nearby.

Therefore, these tenant farmers were usually less likely to disobey the wishes of the large landowners. The resistance of the Old Nobles to Potato also prevented a large number of Annual Tribute Farmer from growing Potato.

Joseph chatted with the farmer for a while and gained a general understanding of the family's living conditions.

The farmer, named Gaizika, cultivated 27 acres of land Viscount Cobert, earning an annual income of around 200 Livre from grain.

However, after paying Cobert's rent, the family still had to pay a long list of taxes, including Poll Tax, Military Service Tax, Tithes, Twenty-first Tax, Road Corvée Tax, and so on.

In their later lives, they also had to pay Mill Tax, Press Mill Tax, Salt Tax, Commodity Tax, Transit Tax, and so on.

The remaining amount is barely enough for the family to eat black bread every day.

As for the surplus, Gaizika said that the frequent droughts in recent years have led to poor harvests, and the family has long since run out of savings. They are now in debt to others for nearly 50 Livre.

Because Gaizika was relatively strong, his family was considered one of the better off in the village. According to him, as many as one-fifth of the villagers couldn't get enough to eat every day.

Joseph sighed inwardly, realizing that there were over twenty million sharecroppers like Gaizika in France, who would be virtually defenseless against a severe natural disaster. He knew they would undoubtedly join the uprising without hesitation to prevent themselves and their families from starving.

He sighed. Solving problems like France's enormous debt and the livelihoods of the lower-class peasants would require many difficult reforms, such as promoting industrial development, adjusting land distribution, and weakening the feudal privileges of the Nobility and the Church...

As he pondered this, he walked to the window, where he caught a glimpse of Madame Gaizika carefully collecting the leftovers from their meal inside. She poured the half-bowl of vegetable soup Eman had left into a pot, added water and a few leaves, turning it into a large soup. She also carefully sliced a piece of cured meat the size of Walnut into almost transparent slices and placed them between two loaves of black bread.

Two children, around eight or nine years old, watched their mother busily working, occasionally wiping their mouths as if they were witnessing the most delicious delicacy in the world.

Joseph felt a pang of sadness. In Paris, all he saw was the power struggles among the elite, the extravagant lifestyles of the Noblewoman, and the endless balls and salons of the Nobility. But today, at the Gaizika's house, he finally saw the true face of France.

Poverty, dilapidation, conservatism, crumbling...

Just then, there was a knock on the door behind me.

Gaizika hurried to open the door and let a short man in a long gray coat into the room, saying respectfully, "Mr. Barbot, what brings you here?"

The man named Barbot nodded in response, then went straight to Eman and bowed humbly. "My lord, I am the Stadtholder here. You may call me Barbot. May I ask where you come from?"

The term "Stadtholder" sounds impressive, but it actually refers to an official responsible for managing the lower parishes—that is, villages. They are essentially village chiefs.

As Barbot was speaking, the parish priest, having heard that a high-ranking official had come to the village with a large retinue, rushed to Gaizika's house.

"Sir, is there anything I can do for you?" Barbot asked with a beaming smile, treating Eman as the leader of this group.

Eman saw from the open door behind the priest that the rain had stopped and pointed towards the road that had been damaged by the flood. "Mr. Barbot, the road outside the village is damaged by the rain. Could you please have it repaired?"

"Oh, of course, of course."

Barbot nodded repeatedly, then turned to the priest and said, "Father Marmont, please entertain our distinguished guest. I'll go and get the men to repair the road."

He took two steps, then turned back to Gaizika and gestured, "Did you hear that? They're going to build a road. You come along too."

"Oh, yes, Mr. Barbot."

Gaizika responded and reached for the coat hanging on the wall.

Joseph casually asked, "Mr. Gaizika, how much pay do you get for road repair work like this?"

"Wages?" Barbot immediately replied ingratiatingly, "Sir, it's just road repair, there are no wages required."

"Oh?" Joseph frowned slightly. "Is the road outside the village also Viscount Cobert's?"

Barbot shook his head. "No, that's not it."

"So, did Mr. Gaizika pay the Road Corvée Tax?"

Barbot paused, then nodded and said, "I... I handed it over."

"Since he paid the Road Corvée Tax, and it wasn't the lord's Corvée, why not pay him for the road repairs?"

"This..."

Joseph smiled at him and said, "Mr. Barbot, are you perhaps unfamiliar with the legal regulations?"

Barbot was startled. As a France official, you could be incompetent, but you absolutely could not be unfamiliar with laws and regulations, or you would lose your job!

He quickly shook his head. "No, no, you're absolutely right, we should indeed be paid. Ah, how about 2 su per person?"

Just follow the rules.

"Oh, right, right. Follow the rules."

Gaizika bowed gratefully to Joseph and hurriedly followed the Stadtholder out.

Three hours later, Joseph's convoy resumed its journey towards Bordeaux along a road paved with branches and gravel.

Gaizika and his wife watched the rearguard cavalry disappear from the roadside before returning home.

Madame Gaizika was about to cut some black bread for her husband, who had been busy all day, when she suddenly noticed a small cloth bag on the stove.

She hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and carefully opened the cloth bundle, immediately exclaiming, "God! Adam! Come and see!"

Gaizika ran into the inner room and saw his wife holding a cloth bag and a handful of Silver Coin.

He took the bag and found a note inside. He quickly unfolded it and read, "Mr. Gaizika, thank you for telling me about another side of France. Please don't refuse this token of my appreciation."

He looked in the direction Joseph had left, made the sign of the cross repeatedly, and murmured, "May God bless you, kind young man."

Madame Gaizika quietly counted the Silver Coin; there were 50 Livre in total. She excitedly grabbed her husband's hand, jumping and skipping, tears welling in her eyes. "Adam, we have enough to pay off our debt!"

Keep in mind, they borrowed money at an interest rate as high as 15%. If they can't repay it quickly, given their family's situation, they might never be able to pay it off...

Eight days later.

On the avenue north of the Bordeaux Exchange Palace, large crowds gathered on both sides of the road, eagerly awaiting the passing of His Crown Prince's carriage.

Soon, several elegantly designed and luxuriously crafted Carriage drove up from afar, and the people immediately burst into shouts and waved their arms vigorously.

In the middle car, Governor Count Monsoreau, Governor of Bordeaux, respectfully said to Joseph, "Your Highness, most of them arrived last night, and you can certainly convene a meeting at any time if you truly wish. However, the banquet is ready, or you may first..."

Joseph smiled and nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, Count Monsoreau."

He glanced at his Pocket Watch; it was 1:30 PM. He then said, "Then let's begin at 3:00 PM."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

The Carriage drove through the crowd, and Joseph waved to the citizens who were welcoming him from time to time. Meanwhile, people arranged by Eman from a following Carriage, as was customary, tossed coins and sweets into the crowd.

The heart of Bordeaux — Place de la Bourse— has been taken over by Kexer and his Guard. Joseph didn't even go to the Villa prepared for him by Monsoreau to rest, but went straight to the Exchange Palace to prepare for the three o'clock meeting.

The Potato would be arriving soon, and he didn't want to waste a single minute.

Many thanks to Tianwu and the Arbitration Agency for their generous donations to this book! The author is deeply grateful! Thank you!

(End of this chapter)