I Am the Crown Prince in France

The current situation in France is that as long as we can repay the interest, we have to thank God for His blessing. As for repaying the principal? Haha, I don’t even dare to think about it in my dreams.

Joseph shook his head with a grimace, thinking it would be great if all the banks that provided loans to the government suddenly went bankrupt...

In addition to debt interest, France's other major "bleeding point" is taxation.

The French government currently leaves most of its tax collection work to "tax collectors." Tax collectors pay a sum of money to the government every year, and then they can collect taxes.

Later generations estimated that the actual amount of taxes collected by tax collectors every year was more than one-eighth more than the fees paid to the government.

Based on last year’s French tax revenue of 500 million livres, one-eighth is 40 million. All this money fell into the pockets of the tax collectors.

In fact, the profits of the tax collectors should be more than this. Statistics also show that nearly 20% of the tax revenue has been taken by the tax collectors.

In other words, if the tax collector system is abolished, the French government can increase its revenue by at least 40 million livres every year!

Of course, tax reform is also very difficult.

One of the very important reasons is that the tax collectors are also creditors of the French government. At the beginning of each year, they will pay the tax fees for this year to the government in one lump sum, and then collect taxes.

If the tax collector system is suddenly abolished, it will mean that the French government will have no tax revenue for a year!

Joseph suddenly discovered that it was not that easy to increase revenue or reduce expenditure right now...

While he was thinking about it, the Palace of Versailles Square appeared in his sight.

Joseph got off the carriage, and the palace official who was summoning Louis XVI came quickly from the car in front, smiling and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty said that he is waiting for you at the Royal Workshop."

Joseph nodded to the latter and walked towards the king's lockmaking workshop.

As soon as he walked around the pillar in front of the stairs, he saw a sad-looking man coming towards him, it was Nicoé, the Minister of Household Registration.

Nicoé looked up and saw that it was the Crown Prince, and he hurriedly bowed and saluted: "I haven't seen you for a long time, Your Highness the Crown Prince. May the Lord bless you."

Joseph smiled at him and was about to ask about signing the "Treaty of Eden", but Nicoet said goodbye listlessly.

Joseph looked at Emang with some surprise: "He seems to have something on his mind?"

Emman caught up with Nicoet's entourage, asked a few questions in a low voice, and returned to Joseph: "Your Highness, it seems that Count Nicoet was not in a good state when negotiating with the British. Archbishop Brian was therefore I scolded him, so he was a little down.”

Joseph nodded. It seemed that Nicoé did not have any diplomatic talent. Fortunately, the content of the Anglo-French trade negotiations had been agreed upon by himself and British Ambassador Hartley, and it would not affect the signing of the treaty.

When Joseph arrived at the door of the royal workshop, the door opened from the inside, and a middle-aged man with a big face and thick lips wearing a priest's uniform sighed and hobbled out.

When the priest saw Joseph, he was slightly startled. He immediately put on a bright smile and greeted the crown prince warmly.

Seeing the confusion on the crown prince's face, Emman hurriedly whispered to the side: "Your Highness, this is Abbot Talleyrand of the Saint-Denis Abbey."

Talleyrand? Joseph blinked. That political tumbler who has been prospering through the major eras of Louis XVI, the National Assembly, the Emperor, and Louis XVIII?

Talleyrand served as Archbishop of Autun, and later served as the Emperor's Foreign Minister and Louis XVIII's Prime Minister.

It's hard to say anything else, but in terms of diplomacy, he is definitely a first-rate master.

Joseph smiled and nodded to Talleyrand. Before he could say a few words to him, he heard the voice of Louis XVI coming from the workshop: "Joseph, is it you? Oh, my dear, I have been waiting for you for a long time. Come on in."

Talleyrand bowed wisely and excused himself. Joseph stepped into the workshop and saluted Louis XVI with his hands on his chest.

Before he could finish his ceremonial words, the king came over excitedly and grabbed him, almost dragging him to the workbench, pointing to something covered with blue cloth on it, and said mysteriously : "Guess, what is this?"

Joseph guessed that the flash cap gun might have been completed, but he still cooperated and said in an exaggerated tone: "Is it...a pile of jewelry?"

Sixteen shook his head proudly: "No, this is something more precious than jewelry."

As he spoke, he pulled open the blue cloth: "It was developed by my favorite son and I. It is the best musket in the world!"

Immediately, two finely polished flash cap guns that were as beautiful as handicrafts appeared in front of Joseph.

"Aren't you going to give it a try?" Sixteen motioned to the gun.

Joseph nodded, reached out and grabbed one of them, looking at it carefully.

The positions of the barrel, trigger and butt are basically the same as those of the Charleville 1776 flintlock gun, and they should be made of mature parts.

The biggest changes are the gun and fuse chamber.

The bolt action was changed from the beak shape of a flintlock gun to the hammer shape. The ignition powder chamber was completely eliminated and turned into a cylindrical protrusion the size of a date pit.

Joseph pulled the trigger hard. Louis XVI immediately took out a brass "mung bean" from the wooden box on the side and stuffed it into his hand.

Joseph looked at the flash cap in his hand, then looked at the wooden box, where dozens of flash caps were randomly placed, and thought to himself: The safety awareness is too poor. Fortunately, there was no fire, otherwise the fun would have been great...

He thrust the flash cap onto the fire door. Louis XVI hurriedly pointed to an open space in the corner. Looks like he's tried there many times.

Joseph pointed the muzzle of the gun into the air, pulled the trigger, and there was a "pop" sound. There was no gunpowder in the gun, and only a little smoke from the burning mercury came out of the muzzle.

Joseph could clearly feel from the strength and stability of the gun that there was absolutely nothing wrong with this gun.

The best craftsmen in France will indeed not disappoint, and he will have another killer weapon in his hands in the future!

"Artisan Sixteen" seemed not to be satisfied with his performance, muttering: "I thought it could be done a month ago, but I didn't expect the air tightness problem to be very complicated."

He gestured toward the Versailles waterwheel system outside the window: "If it hadn't been for the British boring machine you recommended, oh, and the 'spiral micrometer' you invented, which was a big help, maybe this gun would still be leaking a little now. "

"You are the best master in the world!" Joseph raised the gun in his hand and praised, "If it weren't for you, this gun might not have appeared until decades later."

Louis XVI narrowed his eyes with pleasure, and then whispered: "Let's go to the woods east of the square to test shooting. I often go there to test guns."

Joseph smiled and shook his head: "It's so boring to test guns in the woods. Let's go to the shooting range and shoot a few shots!"

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