I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 425 Currency Reform

Western Bavaria.

In the suburbs of Nördlingen, a row of knights holding dolphin and iris flags passed on the muddy road. Behind them was the French crown prince's convoy surrounded by a large number of guards.

In the carriage, Joseph rubbed his sore shoulders and turned his head to look at the old town outside the window. This was the battlefield of the famous Battle of Nördlingen during the Thirty Years' War, but after the erosion of time, it has returned to tranquility and peace.

The blonde girl sitting opposite saw his movements, stood up hurriedly, and whispered:

"Your Highness, let me give you a massage."

Joseph was slightly startled, mainly because he had never had such a thoughtful service in his previous long journeys, but he quickly nodded and smiled:

"Thank you for your hard work."

"It's my honor to serve you." Camelia bent over and turned from the low carriage to his side. Her slender fingers pressed on Joseph's shoulders. The force was neither light nor heavy, and he immediately squinted his eyes in comfort.

After a moment, Joseph's fatigue was swept away.

The girl saw that his coffee cup was empty, and immediately picked up the coffee pot to fill it halfway for him - it is not suitable to fill it up in a bumpy car, as it is easy to spill.

Yes, after leaving Vienna, Camelia almost took on all the work of Joseph's servants, and was more meticulous and thoughtful than the previous three servants. These were all taught to her by Madame Delvaux - to be a wet nurse for an Austrian princess, one must have some skills, and she was even better than her teacher.

Originally, Camelia was very hesitant about Mr. Bazel's suggestion, but after the French Dauphin severely taught the bastard who had threatened and harassed her for more than a year and gave her the compensation of 150,000 florins, she made up her mind completely.

The teacher was right! No, to be more precise, she was deeply attracted by His Highness's temperament, charm, and the sense of security he brought.

Joseph nodded to thank her and took a sip of coffee, which was mellow and pleasant. He could not help but nod again - this girl's coffee-making skills were first-rate - and then he picked up a pen and continued to write the Walloon investment and development plan.

The agreement with Austria stipulates that both parties can invest in the "Walloon Special Trade Zone". Joseph hopes to complete the layout of Walloon as soon as possible while Austria is busy with the Silesian War.

For example: implement preferential immigration policies to allow more French people to invest and live in Walloon.

In addition, there is the construction of the police force. The first batch of Walloon police officers planned to be recruited will have 4,000 people, half of whom will be sent to France for training and then rotated. The senior officials of the police bureau are all French - after a large number of immigrants, soon no one can tell whether they are native Walloonians or immigrants - the two sides are completely seamless from language to living habits.

After French investors hold controlling stakes in almost all coal mines in Walloon, as long as the above two points are achieved, France will actually control this place.

At dusk, the convoy stopped in the east of Stuttgart.

Joseph looked at the investment and development plan in his hand and couldn't help but sigh. After two years of operation, a good situation has been created for France.

In addition to the Southern Netherlands, the situation in Tunisia has also stabilized, and the second wave of immigration has begun.

In terms of domestic industry, coal, iron, textiles, chemicals, etc. have entered the fast lane, waiting for the accumulation of quantitative changes to usher in an explosion.

However, all of this requires money.

Whether it is investment in Wallonia, development of Tunisia, training of the army (police), and promoting the industrial revolution, a large amount of funds are required.

According to Joseph's plan, tax reforms and navy expansion will be carried out in the future. These are all gold-eating monsters.

At present, the French treasury still carries a huge deficit of more than 2 billion livres. In the past six months, many wars have been fought and a lot of military expenses have been spent. At present, it is more difficult to squeeze out some money to complete the above things than to squeeze water from a stone.

Joseph followed Csode into the manor where he stayed, thinking in his heart that he should make up his mind to carry out currency reform by taking advantage of the army's series of victories in the Southern Netherlands and North Africa and the opportunity of the royal prestige.

Throughout France, replacing gold and silver coins with paper money, coupled with the two huge markets of Wallonia and Tunisia, the minting bonus alone can ease the current tight financial situation.

With the current industrial and agricultural development speed of France, it is entirely possible to raise inflation a little bit - this is even beneficial to economic development. Before the country's overall materials continue to increase, printing the currency corresponding to the materials can effectively avoid the situation where trade is affected by insufficient currency. At the same time, the moderate depreciation brought about by inflation can also encourage people to invest more instead of hoarding all their money.

The extra money is controlled by the French Reserve Bank and can be quickly invested in the most needed areas, shortening the waiting time for investment to the shortest.

In addition, as France continues to trade with other countries, French paper money will inevitably flow into other countries.

In this era, countries have a weak sense of protection for monetary sovereignty - this is due to the trading habits brought about by the long-term use of gold and silver coins. Most of the currencies of other countries can be circulated in their own countries - at least in the short term, French paper money can be circulated in small quantities in neighboring countries.

Although each country may not hold much French banknotes, because most merchants tend to exchange them for gold and silver coins, even if the banknotes only stay in their hands for one or two months, all countries will add up to a huge amount of money.

And it is equivalent to France exchanging their goods for paper.

After a simple dinner, when Joseph entered the bedroom tiredly, he smelled a faint scent of incense, and then saw that Camelia had made the bed neatly. Well, she even put the pillow in the most comfortable position.

The girl was startled when she heard the noise. She turned around hurriedly and knelt slightly to the prince. Under the candlelight, her cheeks suddenly flushed.

Joseph noticed that the atmosphere was a little subtle, and looked at her in surprise and said, "You, is there something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing..." Camelia suddenly lowered her head and ran to the bedroom door, "You, please go to bed..."

The two servants at the door were stunned. Why didn't the new lady finish her work? The two of them hurried back into the house and helped His Royal Highness change into his nightgown.

In fact, Joseph really didn't like others helping him change his clothes, but in the Palace of Versailles, it was a necessary etiquette for others to change his nightgown for him - usually it had to be done by nobles of status - so he could only let it go.

Camelia returned to her room, closed the door and covered her cheeks, her heart pounding, and she muttered to herself: "This, this is too difficult... What should, how should I do it..."