Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 656 565: What you’ve been scheming might just be something I’ve grown tired of.

Joseph was somewhat surprised and asked, "It seems you need to draw a large amount of funds. Can you tell me more about it?"

"Oh, of course, your Highness," Mirabeau hurried, "Actually, the Industrial Development Fund has witnessed a rare period of rapid growth in the past few months.

"Surely this must be thanks to the favorable tax collection and market environment your reforms have brought, as the factory revenues in Lyon, Nancy, Saint-Etienne, and even the Southern Netherlands have all increased substantially. Did you know, the volume of orders doubled consecutively in March and April, and factories everywhere are massively hiring more workers.

"Consequently, the factories are experiencing a tightness in production funds. After all, just purchasing raw materials requires a large amount of money.

"Recently, the headquarters of the Industrial Development Fund have been livelier than a ballroom, filled every day with managers from factories all across the region, all seeking additional investments from the fund."

He spoke with an expression of helplessness: "But currently, the fund's accounts only have a little over 4.2 million francs remaining, which is prepared for the payment of the next dividend..."

Joseph looked at him and said, "So, you want to use this money for investments, including the funding for the second phase of the Great Scholar Palace's construction?"

"I am indeed considering this," Mirabeau nodded repeatedly, "Investing in factories now can provide a very high return. And the Industrial Development Fund can promise subscribers significantly higher dividends for the next period, postponing this period. I believe many will be happy to accept.

"As for the Great Scholar Palace, the completed part is only being utilized at 12%, and this is after you granted special approval for a number of Academy of Sciences scholars to reside there.

"I have had evaluations done; as long as the follow-up projects can be completed by April of next year, it shouldn't affect the talent introduction plan. If the construction is delayed, we can reallocate nearly 1.7 million francs.

"With the funds the Industrial Development Fund raised from the public, a total of 10 million francs, immediately invested in factories across the country for expansion, the effect produced should at the very least enable our nation's industrial scale to increase by 20% this year!"

Joseph observed his excited demeanor and remained comparatively calm himself. With deep reforms in the market and taxation, plus the new technologies he brought in, it wasn't surprising that France's industry began to boom.

He nodded and said, "Please prepare a planning document on this matter and submit it to me as soon as possible."

"Yes, your Highness."

The plans had already been prepared, so the next morning, the document regarding the additional fund-raising for the Industrial Development Fund was delivered to the Tuileries Palace.

Joseph perused Mirabeau's plans and also displayed a smile.

Visit frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓ for the b𝘦st novel reading experience.

The factories in Lyon alone had added over 3 million francs' worth of orders in April, Nancy's steam engines were exported on a large scale for the first time, and there had been explosive growth in iron products, paper, alcoholic beverages, furniture, carriages, and even Paris Cola.

He turned to the trend chart of the orders and saw that from mid-March, there was almost a vertical line shooting upwards.

At this point, however, he was taken aback and quickly found the page listing the sources of the orders.

On the pie chart of order composition, Germany and Italy were like two large folding fans, squeezing the domestic French orders into a small slice.

He immediately thought of something and turned to Mirabeau, "Do you know the growth of domestic sales in the German region, oh, like Austria and Bavaria over the past six months?"

After pondering for a moment, Mirabeau answered, "If I remember correctly, it should be 2% and 1.6%, your Highness."

"And Sardinia and Tuscany?"

"3.5%, 3%, your Highness."

Joseph immediately frowned, "Their own sales growth is so little, but they've placed a large number of orders. To whom do they plan to sell?"

Mirabeau hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, there are many possibilities. For example, our intelligence agencies' statistics might have large discrepancies."

In this era, there was no convention of government agencies publishing real-time national data, and even the data might be classified as secret.

Hence, intelligence agencies from various countries had to conduct their own investigations and the targeted countries also had intelligence personnel who may deliberately mislead. This may cause the data obtained to be far from the actual situation.

Mirabeau continued, "Furthermore, it may also be that our nation's goods have eaten into the market share that originally belonged to other countries. For instance, with iron products, formerly the German region mainly relied on goods from Austria and Bavaria. Now our country has gradually taken over more than a third."

Joseph continued to review the planning document without showing his concerns, and soon noticed that in the past two months, the bulk of the new orders were given to the larger companies in France, with little benefit to the smaller factories.

An odd feeling grew stronger in his heart. Could it be that even the Italians' purchasing power had become so strong that they no longer sought cheaper goods?

He closed the planning document and looked at Mirabeau, speaking seriously, "Do not invest large sums in the factories for the time being. No, not only should you not invest, but it would be better for them to slow down production. I have a feeling something isn't quite right here.

"I will have someone conduct a detailed investigation, and then make a further decision."

At the moment, what came to Joseph's mind was a common tactic used by a financial empire in later times —

First, release a massive amount of funds, specifically stimulating the economy of a country, causing it to overheat economically in a short time, and then suddenly raise interest rates to tighten liquidity, causing the target country's bubbling economy to experience a shortage of funds, thus triggering an economic crisis.

When the target country is devastated by the economic crisis and many businesses collapse, that financial empire would come back, acquiring these businesses at very low prices.

The current situation in France prompted him to sense a similar scent.

With the situation on the European Continent heading towards a great power struggle, he had to be even more cautious. Should the national economy be severely damaged, there would be no point in military engagement.

But Mirabeau's concerns were also correct; if his worries were unfounded, it might cause France to miss a great opportunity to soar and even severely dampen the enthusiasm of domestic factories.

Joseph signaled to Etienne, who was standing at the door, "Please ask Mr. Fouche to come here."

"Yes, your Highness."

Two hours later, after listening to Mirabeau's full situation, Joseph ordered, "Mr. Fouche, I need you to confirm with the utmost speed if there is an issue with these transactions."

"It is my duty, your Highness," Fouche immediately bowed and took the order, then quickly added, "Just as Count Mirabeau has said, if the investigation takes too long, it could severely impact a large number of factories."

Joseph nodded slightly, "So, what is your suggestion?"