Chapter 287 The True Core of the French Cabinet

Chapter 288 The Real Core of the French Cabinet

The East Hall of the Palace of Versailles, the conference hall.

Queen Marie, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, was obviously in a good mood. On the one hand, the song and dance competitions in the past few days made her very relaxed, but the most important reason was that the Foreign Minister sent back a report yesterday that the British government had agreed to arrest Jeanne and send her back to France.

Finally, I won’t hear that liar write any disgusting news about the French royal family in the future.

Before the cabinet meeting officially started, she looked at the crown prince and said, "Joseph, have you heard about Spain?"

Joseph hurriedly changed his sad expression: "May His Majesty the old king rest in peace in heaven."

Yes, King Carlos III of Spain passed away not long ago.

Queen Marie made a cross on her chest and sighed, "May God have mercy on him.

"By the way, you should go to Madrid recently and congratulate His Majesty Carlos IV on his coronation on behalf of me and your father. ”

Carlos IV is the crown prince who was framed by his wife. Joseph had helped him deal with the adulterer, so they have a long history. Moreover, the Spanish royal family and the French royal family belong to the Bourbon lineage, so it is reasonable for them to formally congratulate the new king on his accession to the throne.

Joseph nodded: "Okay, mother. I will leave tomorrow."

In fact, he was planning to go to Spain someday. Not only Spain, but also major European countries.

With the rapid development of French industry, he needs to plan ahead and sign trade agreements with various countries to pave the way for the sale of French industrial products.

Then, Queen Marie signaled to Archbishop Brian: "Please start."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The latter bowed and saluted, and then looked at the cabinet ministers at the conference table, "As Her Majesty the Queen just said, His Majesty Carlos IV was crowned, and we have to prepare a diplomatic mission to accompany His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to visit Spain.

"At the same time, some policies with Spain also need to be adjusted in advance..."

The French and Spanish royal families are close relatives, and the interests of the two countries are relatively consistent. They are almost in a semi-alliance state. Most of the policies will continue to follow those of Carlos III, so this topic was quickly concluded.

Then, Archbishop Brian said: "Next, we have to discuss the situation about the Ottomans.

"I believe everyone already knows that Hamid I died earlier this month. He had previously designated his nephew Selim III as the new Ottoman Sultan.

"During the reign of Selim III, the Ottomans should experience a period of fluctuations in the situation."

The Minister of War, Duke Broy, immediately said: "We can take this opportunity to find the descendants of Ali I of Tripoli and send troops to support him in retaking Tripoli."

Ali I was the Pasha of the Karamanli Dynasty who was overthrown by the coup launched by the Ottoman officer Benjiul not long ago.

Several cabinet ministers nodded in agreement when they heard this.

Tunisia was taken from the Ottomans, and now Tripoli is under the control of the Ottomans, which is always a serious threat to Tunisia.

For this reason, France has to keep a large number of troops in Tunisia. Instead of wasting time like this, it is better to take advantage of the internal instability of the Ottomans and solve this problem directly.

Joseph immediately expressed his objection: "But I'm afraid it's not the best strategy."

Queen Mary was about to ask her son the reason, but found that the ministers who had just enthusiastically supported the dispatch of troops had all quieted down, as if they had never mentioned it at all.

She looked at Joseph in surprise: "Well, can you tell me the reason?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Joseph said, "There are British shadows behind Tripoli, and they must be very eager for us to get involved in the melee there. And if the Ottomans can use the British navy to increase their troops, it will be difficult for us to stop them. This will easily become a protracted war.

"The most important thing is that even if we drive away the Ottomans, we cannot occupy Tripoli. You know, all European countries will be wary of our presence in the Mediterranean. "

"Please rest assured, I have made arrangements for this. The Ottomans are even farther from Tripoli than we are. Without the support of the British, they will soon withdraw from there."

Joseph looked at the Duke of Broy: "It is much cheaper to maintain the legion in Tunisia for a short period of time than to start a war."

"Yes, that's right, Your Highness."

Queen Mary was still a little hesitant: "What deployment are you talking about?"

Joseph smiled slightly: "I will submit a report to you later. "

The Ottoman issue was put aside for the time being, and Archbishop Brian then took out the proposal put forward by Minister of Industry Mirabeau to abolish tariffs between different parts of France and to reform the tax farmer system.

Of course, both of these things were done by Joseph at Mirabeau's behest.

Now that the French Reserve has tens of millions of livres from the Duke of Orleans, it has the confidence to reform these things.

And the capital aristocrats represented by Mirabeau naturally welcome this very much.

The abolition of tariffs between different places can make the circulation of goods smoother, which is equivalent to expanding the market.

Among the three major elements of industrial development: capital, technology and market, the market is the most important. It can even be said that the market can give birth to the other two.

As for the tax farmer system, it is a stubborn problem in French finances, swallowing up a large amount of tax revenue every year.

However, when Brian put forward these two reform proposals, except for Mirabeau and Bailly, other ministers opposed more than supported it.

Joseph was not surprised by this, after all, this was a reform involving a wide range of aspects.

Local taxes not only involve the finances of provincial governments, but also the development of handicrafts in various places. In the past, if your handicrafts were weak, you could rely on tariffs for protection. After the abolition of tariffs, you will have to face competition from all over France. Most of the workshops with low productivity will go bankrupt, which will lead to a wave of unemployment.

The problem with tax farmers is even bigger. The government's tax department has poor capabilities and serious corruption. If the tax work is directly handed over to them, the French government will go bankrupt next year, because the taxes collected may even be cut in half.

So Joseph asked Mirabeau to bring up these things, just to warm up, let all sectors of society know about this, and make some preparations in advance.

As expected, after more than an hour of debate, Queen Marie reluctantly announced that the two bills would be temporarily shelved.

Archbishop Brian also breathed a sigh of relief, and then proceeded to the last item: "Recently, there has been a serious rebellion in the Southern Netherlands. The mob surrounded the Governor's Palace and drove the Austrian officials out of Brabant.

"Vienna has not responded yet, but we should make some arrangements in advance. "

The reason why he put this matter at the end is because he thinks it is insignificant - riots are common in Europe today, and France just had one not long ago.

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