Control public opinion and put it to my use!

Robert continued, "Your Highness, if the Newspaper Office is forcibly shut down without the support of the court, public opinion will be very unfavorable to the Royal House..."

"As you know, a few years ago they caused trouble over something called 'freedom of the press.' 69ᏕᏂᏬጀ.ፈᎧᎷ The Royal Police arrested some people, which resulted in a flood of articles criticizing the Royal House. In the end, His Majesty released them."

France was in such a strange situation at that time.

Guided by the power of the Nobility, novelists and tabloid reporters would fabricate "little stories" about the Royal House family whenever they had free time. As long as these people didn't get caught red-handed, they wouldn't face any trouble. Reading various gossip and anecdotes about the Royal House had become a daily pastime for the general public.

Conversely, if the Royal House expresses even the slightest dissatisfaction, it will be seized upon and blown out of proportion, leading to various criticisms.

Ultimately, it's the consequence of the Royal House completely losing its voice in public opinion.

Seeing that Therese remained silent, Robert cautiously added:

"Furthermore, Your Highness, shutting down a few Newspaper Office won't do much good. Shutting down one will only create two more to continue spreading rumors. Even if all unofficial Newspaper Office were shut down, just as His Majesty the old King did, they would still continue with their Pamphlets..."

"In fact, Her Majesty the Queen's intention just now was, first and foremost, to control the situation as much as possible. Of course, if there is solid evidence, those who spread rumors will certainly be severely punished."

"You see, like that editor of the ' Happy Man ' newspaper, I found a fabricated manuscript with Her Majesty the Queen's name on it in his office and arrested him immediately. But we don't have evidence against other Newspaper Office yet."

Therese stared at him, indignantly saying, "The newspapers may not have evidence of insulting the Royal House, but surely the Pamphlets do?"

"I heard from Dati that the entire document was filled with insults against me and my mother, without any attempt to hide it! Why don't you arrest them?"

Robert said with a pained expression, "Your Highness, those Pamphlets are compiled by one or two people in a dark basement, and then secretly printed. It's very difficult to find them..."

Therese fell silent.

From as far back as she could remember, she had heard all sorts of rumors smearing the King and Queen, and they had almost never stopped. In fact, she also knew that if the Secret Police could catch those people, they would have taken action long ago.

Joseph, standing to the side, also frowned deeply. His purpose in coming here was to use the Secret Police to deal with the Newspaper Office that were attacking the Tax Law.

But Robert's reminder made him realize that things were far more complicated than he thought.

Right now, the Nobility forces are likely waiting for the Royal House to use violence, so they can immediately use this opportunity to incite public opinion and steer the narrative toward the Tax Law, linking it to accusations of "Royal House abuse of power." This would put the Tax Law in an even more passive position.

With the Judiciary and public opinion supporting each other, the powerful Nobility held a tight grip on this aspect. No wonder that when Louis XVI was executed, he didn't even have a chance to defend himself.

Therese's eyes suddenly reddened, and she curtsied slightly to Robert, saying, "Count Robert, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. It wasn't your fault."

Robert quickly said, "I understand your anger, Your Highness, you don't need to apologize."

With tears welling up in her eyes, Therese picked up her round, Blue-Gray Chartreux Cat from the maid's arms and turned to walk outside.

Joseph wanted to go up and say a few words of comfort to her, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He really wanted to lead his men to raid those unscrupulous Newspaper Office, but reason told him that doing so would fall into the trap of the Noble Group.

As Robert said, once you take down one Newspaper Office, there are countless others, and then there are Pamphlets.

Even during the reign of Louis XV, when media control was at its strictest, journalists imprisoned secretly started their own "Newspaper Office" within the prison walls. It was also during this time that liberal thinkers such as Rousseau and Montesquieu emerged like mushrooms after rain.

By this time, France had undergone the influence of the Enlightenment thought, and freedom of speech was deeply ingrained in people's hearts, making it impossible to control the situation with force as before...

Joseph suddenly froze at this thought.

No, it seems I've been led astray by anger.

Why use force to control public opinion?

Shouldn't what you want be to control public opinion and make it work for you? Not to eliminate it!

The thought flashed through Joseph's mind, and his vision cleared up.

Just then, Therese's maid passed by him. He reached out and pulled her aside, whispering, "Please tell my sister that I will make all the rumors disappear and make the person who spread them apologize to her."

A look of surprise flashed in Dati's eyes. Although she felt that the Crown Prince was probably just trying to comfort the Princess, she still nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Your Highness. I will certainly convey your message to the Princess!"

Joseph took his leave of Robert and headed towards his Bedchamber, pondering how to control public opinion.

As a modern person who has witnessed the fierce competition among Internet platforms, he understands very well that the power of discourse ultimately comes down to the size of the audience.

If your voice can be heard by 90% of people, and others can only influence 10%, then what you say is the truth!

In this era, the main media outlets were newspapers, books, and Pamphlets. So how could we utilize these materials to quickly increase our audience?

He immediately thought of the case of Master Jin using "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" to propel the fledgling Ming Pao into the ranks of best-selling newspapers in a short period of time.

People in the 18th century had few forms of entertainment, but they possessed a wealth of "weapons" no less powerful than those in "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer."

In terms of content, even if all the Newspaper Office and publishing houses in Europe were tied together, they would still be no match for it.

Therefore, the first step is to have your own publication, and then use content that surpasses all competitors in quality to quickly spread among readers.

Thinking of this, he immediately said to Eman, "Please help me compile information on all the Newspaper Office and Printing Workshop in Paris, the sooner the better."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Eman turned and left, while Joseph remained lost in thought: After the content was finalized, the next steps were pricing and distribution channels...

Various plans gradually took shape in Joseph's mind, and his brows gradually relaxed. So what if it's a war of public opinion? Then let's bring it on.

The Royal House has lost the public opinion front for so many years; it's time to take it back!

Before three o'clock in the afternoon, Eman returned, looking travel-worn, and respectfully placed a large stack of documents in front of Joseph.

This is detailed information on all the Newspaper Office in Paris. Newspaper Office are required to Registration with the court, and the Registration information is not confidential, so it is easy to obtain.

Joseph carefully reviewed the information of all 57 Newspaper Office and several Printing Workshop in Paris, and finally his eyes fell on the Paris Business Daily.

This was a small Newspaper Office with a circulation of less than 800 copies, but it perfectly met his requirements.

Many thanks to the generous donations from "Beaver Crete", "OxeVK", "Book Friend 20180510092102466", and "Yun Shang Yu Chu" for this book! Your support is my motivation to write! I am deeply grateful!

(End of this chapter)