More than an hour later, the two playwrights had carefully questioned him about nearly every character and plotline in the play before solemnly putting away their pens.
Joseph gave his final instruction:
"Please remember at all times that this play is written for ordinary shipowners and sailors. Avoid complicated sentences and overly ornate language. We must ensure that even the illiterate deckhands aboard ships can understand it."
Edan and LeBlanc hurriedly bowed. "Yes, Your Highness. We will take the utmost care."
Beaumarchais, standing nearby, pondered for a moment before asking Joseph, "Your Highness, are you hoping to use this play to encourage those engaged in maritime trade to seek opportunities in the Caribbean Sea?"
"Indeed, Mr. Beaumarchais."
The president of the Playwrights' Association continued, "Your Highness, forgive my frankness, but those sailors simply cannot afford theater tickets. You know that even in Dunkirk or Rouen, the cheapest ticket costs two Francs—a sum that is practically their living expenses for an entire week."
Joseph nodded slightly. He had indeed overlooked that issue. Fortunately, Beaumarchais, an experienced playwright, was present.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then the Treasury Department will provide subsidies and bring the ticket price down to six Sou apiece."
Beaumarchais shook his head. "I'm afraid that will not work either, Your Highness. Those theater troupes will use every possible trick to defraud the subsidies. For example, if there are only forty people in the audience, they will report one hundred and forty. They may even merely make a round through some remote town, then claim they performed three shows there."
Do not ask why he knew so much. Before he became famous, he had once paid a theater troupe to perform his own plays in order to promote his scripts.
They had charged him for five performances