The scent of industry

Shortly afterward, at the coronation ceremony of Leopold II King of Bohemia, the French Envoy presented a gift to the public—an exquisite model of the Villa and a set of gold-plated keys. This represented a luxury property in the "Starry Garden" in Paris, worth 50,000 Florin.

Since Leopold II was to inherit more than ten King titles, this gift was the most expensive given at any single coronation ceremony.

Austria Nobility and foreign officials who came to offer their congratulations immediately began inquiring about the "Starry Garden." Meanwhile, the French Envoy's entourage enthusiastically became "salespeople."

Soon, with the Habsburg Family coat of arms hanging on a Villa in the "Starry Garden," and a large number of Germany Germans inquiring about the properties there, the rich in France could no longer sit still.

Then they encountered the unheard-of phenomenon of a lottery system for buying houses, which only fueled their desire to buy, with a single purchase number being sold for as much as 5,000 Franc.

More than half a month later, all the properties in "Starry Garden" were sold out, and some people even started inquiring about the second phase of the project.

Meanwhile, Joseph has launched a development plan for the wasteland between Paris and Versailles Palace. This includes the construction of a large number of affordable housing units to offset the impact of the "Starry Garden" on Paris property prices and to ensure the housing needs of ordinary Paris Citizens.

In a residential house in the Louvre Palace District of Paris, Antoine, a salesman for the French Royal Insurance Company, was enthusiastically explaining to the couple before him, "Whether it's an attack by thugs or a fall from Carriage, as long as you suffer injury, you can receive substantial compensation from ' Personal Accident Insurance.' Let me take a look..."

He flipped through the documents in his hand. "Ordinary disability can earn you 800 Franc in compensation. In the unfortunate event of death, you can receive 1,500 Franc. And all this coverage can be obtained by paying an annual premium of only 10 Franc. Oh, and the premium for women and children is as low as 7 Franc."

The Evans exchanged a glance, both somewhat tempted.

They have just finalized their purchase of an Education Insurance. They recently had a son and are discussing his future education. This Education Insurance costs 80 Franc annually, and after eight years, the Insurance Company will cover all of their son's tuition fees for regular schools and university, along with a monthly food allowance of 6 Franc [Note 1].

What pleased them most was that if their son didn't go to university, the money would be returned in full when he turned 20!

The insurance salesperson then introduced them to "Property Insurance," "Medical Insurance," "Pension Insurance," and so on, all of which were the latest insurance products launched by the French Royal Insurance Company.

Of course, all of this was planned by Joseph.

These insurance policies, which seem quite ordinary to people in later generations, were absolutely novel and attractive at a time when only "Marine Insurance" and "Fire Insurance" existed.

However, the chances of accidents were much higher in the 18th century than in the 21st century, so the Royal Insurance Company temporarily only targeted Nobility and wealthy merchants—people who were willing to spend money on insurance and were not as prone to accidents as ordinary people.

Ultimately, the Evans purchased an Education Insurance and also bought Personal Accident Insurance for Mr. Evans.

Salesman Antoine immediately accepted the deposit, issued a receipt, and arranged a time to sign the contract before rushing off to the next store.

Insurance sales have been booming lately; he can sell more than ten policies a day, earning commissions that make his hands cramp.

There are currently thousands of salespeople like him throughout France, actively promoting the company's latest insurance products.

The Royal Insurance Company's daily revenue was nearly 400,000 Franc, making its ability to attract funds comparable to that of banks!

Meanwhile, the French Royal Insurance Company also opened branches in the Netherlands, Austria, Sardinia and other places. In addition to the ordinary insurance products mentioned above, sales staff also focused on recommending a product called "Financial Insurance" to customers.

Purchasers "only need" to pay a certain amount of premium to the Insurance Company each year—a minimum of 300 Franc, with no upper limit—and after paying for 15 years, they can receive 3% interest from the Insurance Company every month until their death. Moreover, the premiums will be fully refunded when the purchaser reaches age 50 or dies!

People in their 20s already know that this kind of insurance is actually a trap, but it is undeniable that if you don't do the math carefully and only look at it intuitively, investment-linked insurance seems like a great deal.

Especially for people still living in feudal societies, the feeling of stability and security is highly valued, which is why investment insurance is selling like hotcakes in various countries. This alone can add two to three million Franc to the Royal Insurance Company's revenue every month.

As for the United Kingdom, the Royal Insurance Company did not directly open a branch there, but instead opened a new "Atlantic Insurance Company," which was ostensibly unrelated to the Royal Insurance Company.

If the United Kingdom ever dare to pursue any kind of Continental Balance with France, this Insurance Company will likely go bankrupt to prove them wrong.

According to Joseph's plan, once the Tax Farmers are abolished and the government reclaims the tax revenue, it should be able to raise more than 50 million Franc through the Real Estate and insurance industries.

Southern Suburbs of Paris.

In a luxurious yet understated Villa, Gordmide, led by his male servant, stepped into a spacious Meeting Hall.

There were already more than a dozen people in the room, sitting around an oval conference table, chatting in twos and threes.

When the others heard that someone had arrived, they glanced casually at Gordmide, but didn't pay much attention and continued their conversation.

Gordmide wasn't offended. He was just a small banker, and his business was mainly in the United Kingdom. He was already quite fortunate to be invited to this meeting, so naturally he didn't care about other people's attitudes.

At the valet's prompting, he sat down in the chair near the end of the table and immediately noticed the "Yiju Furniture Store" logo branded on the conference table in front of him.

He was somewhat surprised. "Yiju Furniture Store" refers to the most popular "Synthetic Board" furniture in Paris recently, which is very expensive. Such a large conference table in front of him would probably cost nearly a thousand Franc.

Yes, currently, due to the limited production of Casein Glue, composite Synthetic Board Furniture is significantly more expensive than solid wood furniture. However, thanks to gimmicks such as "insect-proof" and "non-deformable," coupled with Joseph's personal promotion, Synthetic Board Furniture has become a trend in high-end furniture.

Gordmide lowered his head and sniffed the peculiar smell emanating from the table, and couldn't help but sigh to himself: What an enchanting smell! This must be what they call the "smell of industry"!

If Joseph could hear his inner thoughts, he would surely tell him, somewhat embarrassed, that it was actually the smell of formaldehyde, and that inhaling too much of it was bad for his health.

[Note 1] The "ordinary school" in 18th-century Europe was roughly equivalent to a secondary school today.