Panic and countermeasures

"Honey, is everything nailed up?"

His wife's voice startled Gaizika from his reverie. He hurried towards the eaves and said, "Oh, everything's ready. We can lay down the straw now."

His gaze fell on the scar on his wife's forehead, a cut from a piece of broken wood from the roof on the day of the hailstorm. Luckily, the wound wasn't deep, and she and the children escaped unharmed by hiding under the dining table.

Madame Gaizika tied up a large pile of thatch with rope and watched her husband pull it up to the roof and spread it evenly little by little.

By noon, the roof of the Gaizika house had finally been mostly restored to its original state.

Gaizika, wiping the sweat from his brow, entered the house and saw his wife come out from the inner room, placing a plate with a large piece missing on the table—this was the most intact plate they had—and smilingly inviting him, "You must be tired, have something to eat."

Gaizika casually ate a few spoonfuls of bread soaked in the vegetable soup, then pushed the plate away. "Save this for tonight. I'll go back to the field and see if there's anything else I can gather."

There are still more than half a month until the Wheat ripens, but quite a few green wheat kernels have already formed. Although they were all mixed in with mud after being hit by hail, some can still be salvaged.

He had to get every single grain of food he could! After this crop failure, his family's food reserves were only enough for three months, and as a tenant farmer, he hadn't yet paid his rent to Viscount Cobert.

Gaizika sighed silently, pondering how much money he needed to borrow to buy enough seeds for the next six months of planting and to sustain his family until the autumn harvest.

He suddenly made the sign of the cross on his chest, thinking to himself: Thank you, Your Crown Prince, may God bless you and may you live a long and healthy life!

If it weren't for the Crown Prince helping him pay off his previous debts, this crop failure would most likely have bankrupted his family...

He stepped outside, and after only a few steps, he heard a child crying coming from the nearby Geoffrey's house, and he could vaguely hear the child saying "I'm hungry."

Madame Gaizika heard the noise and came out. She exchanged a glance with her husband and said, "There's still some barley berries left from last night's cooking, would you like some...?"

Gaizika nodded.

Geoffrey contracted tuberculosis at the beginning of the year, and his family was already destitute. After this disaster, his family's bankruptcy became inevitable.

Gaizika took the broken bowl his wife brought, saw a piece of black bread on top of the boiled wheat, said nothing, picked it up and walked toward the neighbor's house.

Geoffrey's wife accepted the food with trembling hands, thanking him repeatedly, while the three emaciated children eagerly surrounded them, grabbing food and stuffing it into their mouths.

Gaizika hesitated for a moment before managing to squeeze out, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that's all..." Madame Geoffrey handed the empty, broken bowl back to Gaizika, her head bowed, seemingly hesitant to speak. "This food has already been a great help."

She knew that although her neighbor was doing alright, he certainly couldn't afford to support her all the time.

There was still a small half-bag of broken wheat under her table, enough to last her at most half a month, no matter how thrifty she was. As for the livestock, they had all been slaughtered and eaten last year. In other words, after half a month, her only option was to take her whole family to the city to beg.

Yes, given her family's circumstances, they couldn't even get a loan from loan sharks.

Gaizika sighed and was about to turn and leave when Father Marmont from the parish walked in and said somewhat anxiously to Madame Geoffrey, "God help you, you can apply for the ' Bread Loan ' now!"

The village woman was taken aback, bowed first, and hurriedly asked, "Reverend Father, what is a ' Bread Loan '?"

"His Majesty the King has arranged for the Parish Bank to lend you money to help families like yours," Father Marmont said. "Go to the church first, fill out an application there, and starting next month, you will receive a loan of 4 Livre per month, or the equivalent in grain. The interest rate is only six percent."

"Go quickly, I still need to inform the Julian."

He turned and took a couple of steps, then quickly turned back and said, "Oh, by the way, you probably haven't found the seeds you were using for planting yet, have you?"

"Then remember you also need to apply for government-provided seeds. But all you get are Potato."

"Actually, that stuff tastes pretty good, at least it's better than starving, right? And there's no interest, you just borrow whatever you want and pay it back at the end of the year."

After Father Marmont and Gaizika left, Madame Geoffrey's eyes suddenly reddened. She knew that although it was only 4 Livre a month, it was barely enough to keep her family alive!

She took a deep breath, turned and summoned her three children, instructing them to kneel with her. In a trembling voice, she said, "Thank you, Your King, for your mercy! Thank God! We are saved..."

She stood up under the child's bewildered gaze, turned her face away, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and hurried towards the parish church as fast as she could.

Situations like the Geoffrey family's are playing out in rural areas throughout France.

Thanks to Joseph's preparations months in advance, although the horrific natural disaster still struck as expected, France did not experience the hellish conditions of its history.

If families like the Geoffrey go bankrupt, they will be forced to flock to the cities to beg, and most of them will become the backbone of the future Great Revolution. There are as many as a million families like this throughout France!

At the same time, the city gained millions more mouths to feed, which immediately and dramatically drove up bread prices, making them unaffordable for city dwellers. Historically, after hailstorms, bread prices in Paris quickly doubled, becoming a direct trigger for the outbreak of the Great Revolution.

At present, the introduction of Steam Engine to the countryside has helped Farmland that would otherwise have yielded no harvest due to drought to produce some crops. Although it is only green wheat, and only about 30% of the normal harvest, it is better than nothing.

Furthermore, the impact of hail was very limited in provinces where Potato are widely cultivated. Especially in the South, where Potato were already mostly ripe, farmers only needed to dig Potato out of the ground after the hail to ensure their food supply for the second half of the year.

Meanwhile, Joseph's "parish bank," which he had previously established to help rural areas purchase Steam Engine, played an unexpected role this time.

Because he now has the French Reserve Bank as a powerful tool.

Following the disaster, Joseph and Cabinet cabinet decided that the French Reserve Bank would provide loans directly to Parish Bank, which would then distribute the loans to impoverished farmers to ensure that the affected farmers would not starve.

This model of large-scale government-funded Disaster Relief was unheard of in the 18th century. In fact, such Disaster Relief did not cost too much money, nearly four million Livre per month, totaling 12 to 14 million livres by the autumn harvest, in exchange for the stability of the France lower classes.

For a country, chaos is always a severe drain.

It's not just about wasting money; it's about eroding the nation's foundation and development prospects, and eroding people's confidence in the country. These are things that no amount of money can buy back.

Historically, after the chaos of the French Great Revolution, it took more than a decade for the country to gradually return to normal and begin to develop again. This was only Napoleon, a figure capable of turning the tide; otherwise, it might have taken another ten years.

Furthermore, Joseph had an additional plan for the $12 million in Disaster Relief: to use it to accelerate the circulation of Paper Money.

The French Reserve Bank will officially begin issuing Paper Money next month, and all loans obtained by Parish Bank from the French Reserve Bank will be disbursed in Paper Money.

Of course, for the sake of rural stability, the French Reserve Bank would also transport Silver Coin of equivalent value to various parishes in the first two months, so that farmers could exchange them for Paper Money at any time.

Once people have become accustomed to and have developed a certain level of trust in Paper Money Paper Money, the distribution of Silver Coin can be gradually reduced.

According to Joseph's plan, the initial issuance of Paper Money was 50 Livre, with an over-issuance of 5%. In other words, the French Reserve Bank actually prepared 47.5 Livre of Silver Coin.

Such a small over-issuance ratio will not have any impact on the national financial system. In fact, moderate Inflation is beneficial to economic development.

Therefore, the funds used for Disaster Relief only need to be covered by issuing 200 million Livre in Paper Money, which can basically cover the excess amount.

However, Joseph was also well aware of the importance of currency stability, especially in the early days of Paper Money. He knew that excessive issuance was unacceptable and would inevitably backfire. The core reason why the Pound Sterling Paper Money remained strong and was gradually accepted by Europe countries was its very stable value.

During this period of gradual transition from gold and silver Silver Coin to Paper Money, the Gold Standard was the most suitable monetary policy, which also determined that a large amount of Paper Money could not be over-issued.

In a big city like Paris, people don't feel the despair of the farmers at all. The impact of the drought and hail on them, apart from repairing damaged buildings and public facilities, is mainly reflected in the price of bread.

When news of crop failures across the country reached Paris, despite no actual food shortages, the price of bread immediately began to rise due to public panic.

The price of bread in Paris is always the most important issue for the France Cabinet, without exception. Because every time Paris Citizens complain about bread prices, it means a riot is imminent!

Versailles Palace.

"Therefore, many Nobility protested these regulations?"

Joseph flipped through the "Mill Owner Obligation Act" in his hand and looked at Brienne in front of him.

The Minister of Finance nodded somewhat helplessly. "You know, the Mill Tax is a significant source of income for those people. Although the bill only assumes certain scenarios, they are still very resistant."

This is a bill that Joseph submitted last month, but it has yet to be passed.

Its main content is: millers are obligated to carefully maintain the normal operation of the mill, and if the mill is unusable for two consecutive months, the parish where the mill is located will have the right to build a new public mill.

At present, the right to grind flour in most Europe countries is still in the hands of feudal lords. Even if farmers have wheat, if they want to eat bread, they have to pay taxes to go to the feudal lord's mill to have it ground into flour.

Joseph thought for a moment, then changed one word on the document, turning it into "The Mill Owner's Rights Act".

"In this way, we can first describe the traditional rights of a mill in detail, and then only put the obligations in the last half-page. That should solve any problems."

The miller's rights at present are inherited from medieval customs, and there are no specific written laws. However, the power of secularism is as solid as a rock, and it is enforced everywhere. Even the courts will use it to make judgments.

So Joseph directly wrote it into the law, seemingly to endorse the Nobility, but in reality, the latter did not gain any benefit. However, the obligation that followed was added in a very real way.

Brienne immediately smiled, "Your Highness, I think they will certainly be looking forward to the bill being passed as soon as possible."

As the two were talking, a Finance official knocked on the door and entered, hurriedly bowing to them before urgently saying:

"Your Highness, Archbishop, news just arrived from Paris that bread has risen to 8.7 Denier for 4 pounds."

Brienne's expression immediately turned serious upon hearing this. "It increased by 7 Denier in just two days?"

"It seems so."

"These guys!" Brienne stood up. "Immediately have all bakeries thoroughly investigated. Anyone who dares to hoard goods or secretly raise prices should be arrested on the spot!"

The current price control laws for bread in Paris are so strict that anyone who dares to raise prices, even by just 1 Denier, will be arrested immediately.

Joseph asked with some doubt, "Archbishop Brienne, the government has been emphasizing price controls every day since the hailstorm, and even the Police are helping to monitor the situation. Why would anyone dare to raise prices?"

"You don't know this," Brienne sighed, "Those unscrupulous bakers will openly sell at the set price, but secretly they will use all sorts of methods to raise prices in disguise."

"For example, they only sell 40 pounds of bread at the normal price each day, and then they announce that they're sold out. Anyone who wants to buy bread has to go to the kitchen and pay a 'price inquiry fee' to get it."

"Or you could bundle it with other items, putting a tiny bit of jam (about the size of a pea) on the bread and calling it jam bread, thus increasing the price by a few Denier."

Joseph raised an eyebrow and said, "In that case, sending more people to inspect won't be of much use."

"I think we should use grain reserves to stabilize prices while the upward trend isn't too significant yet."

Brienne shook his head and said, "Your Highness, there is still plenty of food in the market, so there is no need for that for now."

"You know, when those unscrupulous merchants hear about a poor harvest, they hoard grain like crazy, waiting to sell it at a high price. So, most of the grain that's being put on the market now will be bought up by them."

Joseph smiled, appearing confident:

"Archbishop Brienne, how could you forget? We now have Identification Card as a 'weapon'."

"Identification Card?"

"Yes. You can first set up ' Ticket Collection Point ' throughout Paris, where anyone can collect one Grain Ticket per day by presenting their Identification Card."

"The Grain Reserve sell grain at a set price, but you need Grain Ticket to buy it. Each coupon can buy two pounds of bread per day and cannot be used on the next day."

"Those grain merchants only have one Identification Card themselves, so they have no way to buy up large quantities of reserve grain."

Brienne hadn't been used to Identification Card before, but after hearing the Crown Prince's explanation, his eyes lit up. "No wonder you gave each Identification Card a different number! So that's how it can be used!"

He quickly summoned several of his men, explained Joseph's method, and ordered them to carry it out immediately.

Joseph thought for a moment and then said:

"The current rise in bread prices is largely driven by panic. Therefore, we need to try to divert public attention and reduce their focus on food issues."

(End of this chapter)