Chapter 463: Industrial Development and Statistical Charts
Fouché was taken aback by what he heard, then his eyes lit up with excitement. He clapped his hands and said, "Your Highness, this idea is simply brilliant! I request to incorporate it into the training of our spies."
Joseph smiled and waved his hand. "What I just mentioned is only the basic model of a 'moral attack.' You can expand on it further."
In the future, many celebrities and big business owners would have their reputations ruined by such simple and low-cost tactics. Even if they later proved their innocence, the damage was often done.
"Basic model?" Fouché's eyes widened. "You mean it could be even more ruthless?"
"Of course," Joseph replied casually. "You just need to think more creatively.
"For example, you could have a handsome man disguise himself as a noblewoman to seduce Paoli. Then, get Paoli drunk and proceed as we discussed before. When he starts shouting that he was violated and calls the police and bystanders over, have the 'woman' accidentally reveal his chest hair..."
Fouché was stunned. For the first time, he felt as innocent as a little girl. The cruel and twisted world Joseph described made him shiver.
Seeing Fouché's reaction, Joseph realized these methods might tarnish his image, so he quickly cleared his throat and added, "Ahem, well, I actually got the idea from some stories the Austrian soldiers told. I was just inspired by them."
Before the intelligence chief could respond, Joseph quickly continued, "Also, what I meant to say is that you shouldn't just attack that separatist on a moral level.
"After all, even a morally corrupt leader can still attract followers."
Fouché thought for a moment. "Do you mean to attack his interests?"
Joseph clenched his fist. "Exactly. If everyone believes Paoli is a threat to their interests, combined with his moral failings, he'll be completely 'socially dead!'"
"Socially dead?" Fouché asked, hearing an unfamiliar term.
"Oh, it's short for 'social death,'" Joseph explained. "It means someone who, although still alive, is essentially a non-entity in their social circle."
Fouché nodded thoughtfully. "I should add this to our spy training manual as well."
He then looked at Joseph. "Your Highness, should we then set up some traps around Paoli's relationships with his followers…?"
After hearing Fouché's plan, Joseph combined it with some "tricks" from the future and offered suggestions for improvement.
The two discussed the matter for nearly an hour, eventually finalizing the plan to take down the leader of the Corsican independence movement. As Fouché left to implement the plan, he kept repeating to himself: I must never cross the Crown Prince.
The door to the drawing room opened again, and the Ministers of Industry and Commerce entered.
They bowed to Joseph, and Mirabeau handed over a file with both hands.
Joseph glanced at the title—"Overview of National Industrial Development in 1789"—and smiled. "You managed to compile last year's industrial data in just over three months. That's highly efficient."
In an era without Excel, or even telegraphs, gathering national industrial data was an enormous task.
Considering that industrial data had never been collected before and could only be compared to agricultural data, the 1788 National Agricultural Overview had taken nine months to compile.
Mirabeau, as a new noble familiar with capitalist production methods, was far more efficient than the old noble bureaucrats. Of course, his efficiency was also due to his habit of collecting and organizing files, allowing him to complete the previous year's industrial report so quickly.
"Thank you for your praise, Your Highness. It's my duty."
Seeing the Prince start flipping through the report, Mirabeau began a brief summary: "Under your wise leadership, the country's industrial scale has expanded to over 140% of what it was before.
"Especially in the paper and machinery industries, which have grown by 3.5 times and 2.3 times, respectively."
Joseph nodded.
The paper industry had the benefit of wood pulp technology, so such significant growth was expected. And the fact that the United Steam Engine Company had single-handedly boosted the entire machinery industry by so much was truly impressive.
However, Joseph knew this was the initial explosive growth of new industries. As these industries matured, growth would likely slow down.
Mirabeau glanced at where Joseph had paused in the report and continued: "Ah, the brewing industry. Yes, the brewing industry only grew by 115%, but thanks to your new brewing techniques, profits have increased by 2.3 times."
Joseph was quite pleased with this figure.
After all, brewing was a pillar of the French economy, and its initial scale was already significant. A 15% increase in growth was substantial.
Moreover, with the help of the Pasteurization method, French wine had almost completely dominated the high-end market, dramatically increasing profitability. This alone contributed nearly 10 million francs in taxes to the French treasury annually.
Additionally, as Joseph noted in the report, driven by the success of French wine, French beer was beginning to gain traction. Since the second half of last year, Normandy beer had started to spread in Germany and Italy, markets previously dominated by Dortmund and Bavaria.
As Joseph flipped through the report, Mirabeau continued his commentary: "The textile, steel, and coal industries have also seen good growth. We've made significant investments in these industries this year. Although we face competition from Britain and Austria, I'm optimistic about this year's outlook..."
Joseph finished reading the Overview of Industrial Development and felt a strong sense of accomplishment. Under his continuous efforts, France's industrial growth was vigorous, far surpassing its historical trajectory.
At this rate, in just a few years, France's industrial production could rival that of Britain.
Of course, Britain still held a significant advantage in markets and raw materials, thanks to its vast colonial empire.
Therefore, France's next primary goal was to use the Rhine-Seine Treaty to penetrate the German market as much as possible while quickly developing the North African market.
After all, for industrial growth, the market was even more critical than technology or scale.
Joseph looked at the report's densely packed data, feeling a bit dizzy.
He rubbed his temples and turned to the Minister of Industry. "Count Mirabeau, I have a more effective and straightforward method for presenting this type of data."
"Oh?" Mirabeau leaned forward, intrigued. "I would be honored if Your Highness would teach me."
Joseph took some paper, a pen, and a ruler, and began drawing while explaining: "The vertical axis represents production or amount, and the horizontal axis represents months. Mark each month's output at the corresponding point on the two axes, then connect all the points with a line."
He handed the finished paper production chart to Mirabeau. "This is called a line graph."
He gave Mirabeau a moment to absorb this before drawing a circle on another sheet, labeling it with data: "This is a pie chart."
"This is a bar chart..."
"This is a scatter plot..."
"And this is a spider chart..."
Inwardly, Joseph apologized to Laplace: To improve government efficiency, I have to 'spoil' your statistical chart methods a bit earlier than intended. Since you're French too, I hope you can understand.
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