Changing Sides

Seeing Mirabeau deep in thought, Joseph knew he had laid the groundwork and began to get down to business. "Let's talk about the Tax Law now. ♘🐺 ඏ🐉"

Mirabeau immediately became alert upon hearing this. "Your Highness, as you know, the Nobility are united in their stance on the bill."

Joseph said seriously, "Actually, in this matter, you have been used by the Old Nobles!"

Mirabeau smiled and waved his hand, "Your Highness, how could that be?"

Joseph casually picked up a small wooden stick from the Pulp beside him and asked, "Excuse me, how much land do you own?"

"Huh?" Mirabeau was somewhat surprised, but still replied, "I have more than ten acres in Paris, and forty acres in Reims."

Joseph nodded. "Then do you know how much property the Duke of Orléans owns?"

"I'm not entirely sure about the exact amount, but it's at least four or five thousand hectares."

"What about the Manor?"

"There are probably a dozen or so?"

"That's it. The core part of the Tax Law is the Land Tax."

Joseph raised the small wooden stick in his hand. "For example, this is the size of the land you own; Land Tax has almost no impact on you."

He then pointed to the pillars of the paper drying rack ahead, which were more than two people tall and as thick as a child's waist. "That's the scale of the estates of Old Nobles like the Duke of Orléans, and they basically pay the Land Tax. That's why they strongly oppose the Tax Law."

"But even Capitalist Aristocrat like you were dragged into this, joining them in opposing the bill and putting in a great deal of effort, only to be protecting their own interests."

Mirabeau paused for a moment, knowing the Crown Prince was right, but immediately retorted, "Stamp Duty! The bill has increased the Stamp Duty; this will have a significant impact on industry and commerce."

Stamp Duty is a tax levied when a contract is signed or a document is applied for.

Joseph chuckled, "As one of the leaders of the Assembly of Notables, you must have seen the text of the bill. The Stamp Duty rate is very low. In fact, the main function of the Stamp Duty is to make the government act as a notary of contracts."

During the last amendment to the law, he lowered the Stamp Duty duty rate in order to win over the Capitalist Aristocrat.

Seeing Mirabeau still hesitating, DuPont couldn't help but say, "Earl Mirabeau, it's obvious that the Tax Law is beneficial to the State Finances, and we have absolutely no need to oppose it."

"Furthermore, His Highness promised that if the bill passes, he will restart negotiations on the Eden Treaty and significantly increase Tariff."

DuPont was strongly opposed to the Eden Treaty. So when Joseph told him that the treaty could be amended, he immediately reached an agreement with the Crown Prince.

Although he had little political power, he could influence Capitalist Aristocrat like Mirabeau, which led to this meeting.

Mirabeau immediately looked at Joseph: "Are you sure the United Kingdom will accept this?"

Joseph nodded. "I've already spoken with the British Ambassador. The Tariff France manufactured goods will be raised to 25%, while the Tariff United Kingdom alcohol will be reduced to below 10%."

Mirabeau's pupils contracted. "This is impossible! How did you convince the United Kingdom?"

"We can discuss this further later, but I can assure you that the new treaty will definitely be signed. Of course, if you're unsure, you can check with the United Kingdom."

As a heavyweight political figure, Mirabeau certainly had his own channels to obtain information from the United Kingdom.

Mirabeau finally began to waver.

He knew very well that, at the current Tariff levels, France industry would collapse completely within two years.

At that time, his own businesses will inevitably suffer the same fate.

If we can really use Tax Law that won't have much impact on us to get the Eden Treaty re-signed, and oh, and the implementation of the Company Law and Patent Law that the Crown Prince mentioned before, then that would be an absolutely worthwhile deal!

He bowed to Joseph and said, "Your Highness, this matter involves many people. I need to go back and discuss it with Viscount Diko and Viscount Pellier."

Those he mentioned were representatives of the Capitalist Aristocrat in the Assembly of Notables. He felt quite confident he could persuade them to change their stance based on the conditions the Crown Prince had just outlined.

"Of course. I look forward to your reply."

Joseph smiled and nodded, then gestured towards the Pulp vat beside him. "Now that we've finished the business, we can finally talk about Papermaking."

Mirabeau seemed a little taken aback. "You mean, Papermaking?"

"Yes," Joseph said, "I mentioned this when you first arrived."

"But..."

Joseph led him to the enormous "Boiling Vat" and asked the worker tending them, "Please tell Earl Mirabeau what is being cooked in these pots?"

The worker immediately bowed his head respectfully and said, "It's Wood, sir."

"Wood?" Mirabeau looked at Joseph in surprise. "Didn't you just say you wanted to Papermaking?"

Joseph nodded. "This is the first step in Papermaking. Once the Wood has been boiled down, we can start Papermaking. Of course, we'll be using my newly invented technology."

Mirabeau exclaimed incredulously, "You can Wood Paper Making?!"

He had some knowledge of Papermaking. Generally speaking, the raw materials used for Papermaking are rags, Flax, and at most some bark fibers.

"Yes, Willow and Pine," Joseph gestured towards the outside of the Workshop, "Just felled this morning."

He turned to the worker next to him and asked, "Excuse me, how long has this pot been boiling?"

The latter glanced at his watch. "Six and a half hours, sir."

"It should be about done..." Joseph wasn't sure either, since he had only seen the Timber Papermaking process in documentaries. So he instructed the workers, "Please pour out the Wood Pulp, filter it, and bleach it. Oh, just use the old method."

"Yes, sir."

Seven or eight workers gathered around, lifted the huge Boiling Vat and placed it on a Wooden Frame, opened the lid, and poured the boiling yellow liquid inside into a square stone trough.

Mirabeau stared in astonishment at the liquid, unable to believe that Wood could be boiled into such a state.

The workers began using various tools to remove the residue from the Wood slurry, while someone carefully brought a small bottle of chlorine Bleach and slowly dripped it into the stone trough, stirring constantly.

Next, the workers added a large amount of water to the Pulp tank, stirred, filtered, and carried out a series of complex processes, which kept them busy for more than half an hour.

Before the Pulp had completely cooled, another group of workers gathered around with square "sieves," carefully soaking the bottom of the sieves with Pulp before gently shaking and lifting them up.

When Mirabeau saw the thin "membrane" at the bottom of the "sieve," his heart skipped a beat—if this method could really produce paper, it would be an absolutely revolutionary technology!

Compared to traditional Papermaking materials like rags and Flax, Wood is practically free, which will significantly reduce the cost of paper.

This also means that this brand-new Papermaking technology will dominate the Europe Paper market!

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(Once the author's health improves in the next few days, there will be occasional extra updates to thank all the readers for their support!)

(End of this chapter)