I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 491 High Mass

Queen Mary pondered deeply: "The Crown Prince has outstanding abilities and is favored by the Lord. I think he should be given a broader stage."

Brian secretly glanced at the queen's expression and felt that she must be serious, so he said cautiously: "I can understand your majesty's efforts to train the crown prince.

"Perhaps, we can let His Highness try to preside over a few cabinet meetings first, and you can provide guidance on the side, so there shouldn't be any problems."

After hearing this, Queen Mary finally made up her mind: "Since you think so, then the next cabinet meeting should be chaired by the Crown Prince."

After saying this sentence, she suddenly felt relaxed all over, just like the moment of relaxation and comfort when she returned to the bedroom after an all-night dance and threw off the tight waist and stiff leather shoes.

Brian was also relieved and hurriedly bowed again: "As you wish, Your Majesty."

After he left, the golden door of the conference hall closed with a bang. Queen Mary stretched her arms and stretched herself. Cakes, jewelry and beautiful dresses flashed in her mind.

"Please ask Cecilian to help me make a mint cocoa cake." She stood up with a smile, ordered the maid Debeninak, and then whispered to herself, "Joseph can definitely take care of everything."

…

June 3, 1790.

The hall of Notre Dame de Paris was packed with seats, and even thousands of citizens gathered outside the church, devoutly looking at the huge looming Jesus statue in the church.

Right in front of the hall, an aide in white robes turned his back to everyone, bowed and raised the unfolded Bible above his head. In front of him, Archbishop Beaumont recited scriptures with a sacred and solemn expression.

Yes, a big Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi is taking place here.

Joseph sat at the front of all the people attending the mass, but his attention was not at all on the archbishop who was chattering in Latin - he was probably the French crown prince with the worst Latin in the past century, and he still can't understand Latin. writing, let alone listening in real time.

He tilted his head slightly and whispered to Fouche, who was sitting behind him: "Has it been verified?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The director of the Intelligence Bureau leaned forward and also lowered his voice very low: "The news was leaked by Viscount Charles Berny through the bailiff guarding him. He himself and the six people who later spread the news All confessed."

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly.

Berni was obviously unwilling to be exiled, so he deliberately revealed that he had asked him to expose officials, hoping to incite the officials' anger and force the High Court and the royal family to make concessions.

Fortunately, he held police inspections in various places, and the church also helped build momentum, so the officials did not believe his "rumors." If this matter had been discussed a year ago, the bureaucracy would probably have made the whole country uneasy.

Joseph was angry and ordered Fouche: "All officials involved in this corruption case must be investigated strictly.

"As for Berni, let's change the place of exile to New Zealand. Oh, and his friend who is a prison guard should also go with him."

Originally, he had reached an agreement with Berni and others. The latter would expose corrupt officials in court in exchange for being exiled to Lille, a relatively prosperous place, and retaining a small portion of his property. But since this guy wants to cause trouble, let's go to a small island in the Pacific to herd sheep.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Fouche bowed and responded, then said cautiously: "Your Highness, I think Berni's message has spread among the officials. Although they dare not say anything on the surface, they will definitely be dissatisfied in their hearts."

A flash of excitement flashed in his eyes: "Perhaps, we should arrest all those who have spread this rumor to prevent..."

Joseph turned his head and rolled his eyes at him, thinking to himself, you just want to find an opportunity to improve your performance, right? He shook his head and said:

"You will only intensify the situation. I have already made arrangements for the follow-up matters, so you don't need to worry."

After this incident, he has initially reached a plan for administrative reform. Since the bureaucracy has accepted the reality, it should be cautious. "Slap and give candy" is always the best management model.

According to Joseph's plan, it will be announced later that some civilians will be admitted to the administrative university, while official taxes will be significantly reduced and officials' salaries will be increased.

Yes, he wants to increase officials' income. Because currently, the legal income of French civil servants is really very low.

This all stems from the fact that French kings have always treated the bureaucracy as a business.

Since it is a business, it must be profitable.

So the price for selling an official was sky-high. Any position with some power would cost tens of thousands of francs, and the minimum price for a municipal-level official position was 30,000 francs.

As for the salaries of officials, they are very low. The salary of ordinary civil servants starts at 50 francs, and the salary of officials at the deputy mayor level is only more than 90 francs. And you also have to pay "official position tax" every year!

This weird tax is stipulated in the "Edict of Paulet" promulgated in the era of Henry IV - all purchased official positions must pay a tax of one-seventieth of the official price every year in order to continue to perform their duties, otherwise they will be suspended immediately.

For example, the above-mentioned ordinary civil servant, after deducting official tax from his salary, his actual income was less than 40 francs. The actual income of the deputy mayor is 60 francs.

Relying on this model, since Louis XVI came to the throne, he has been able to bring in more than 40 million livres to the treasury every year by selling official positions and collecting official position taxes.

This has led to the fact that the vast majority of French civil servants cannot live on their salaries alone, so they have to find their own way to make ends meet - ranging from taking money and getting paid, to taking corruption and bribery at the worst. This has become the norm in French officialdom.

If you want to keep officials clean, you must at least give them a salary that allows them to live a decent life.

The first half of Joseph's administrative reform was to break the nobility's monopoly on the bureaucracy and select capable people for office. The second half is to improve the treatment of officials, and by the way, to put an end to such bad things as selling officials as soon as possible.

Of course, judging from France's current financial situation, it is not possible to completely ban the sale of official positions for the time being. However, according to his plan, the number of positions for sale will be reduced by at least half by next year.

In front of the temple hall, Archbishop Beaumont finally ended the lengthy chanting ceremony and began to direct the priests to distribute Holy Communion to the believers present.

Archbishop Beaumont glanced at the crown prince who had been "chatting" with the intelligence chief. He did not feel dissatisfied at all. He immediately coughed and took advantage of this gap to speak loudly in French: "The Lord says, 'The love of money is the root of all evil. . Some people, after being greedy for money, are led away from the truth and pierce themselves with many sorrows.'

"Look, those greedy officials, even though they have been punished in the world, will eventually be judged by the Lord..."