Life of Being a Crown Prince in France - Chapter 1483 - 1389: Industrialized Nation

Chapter 1483: Chapter 1389: Industrialized Nation

Joseph flipped through the financial report in front of him, his eyes falling on the pie chart showing the breakdown of revenue sources.

The largest segment remains land taxes and indirect taxes on agricultural product consumption, which contribute 36% to France’s fiscal revenue.

Income related to industry, including industrial consumption taxes and technology licensing fees, has jumped to second place, accounting for 30% of fiscal revenue.

The remaining portion is composed of taxes on services, tariffs, stamp taxes, postal revenue, government investment income, and foreign indemnities, accounting for 34%.

Joseph couldn’t help but nod. Honestly, this revenue proportion chart makes him happier than the increase in fiscal revenue.

It’s worth noting that two years ago, agricultural income still accounted for 39% of France’s revenue, while industrial income was only 26%.

It likely owes to the large-scale railway construction, which has rapidly increased France’s industrial output. And this is while most railroads are still under construction and haven’t yet spurred industrial development along the routes.

Once the railroads actually start operating, France’s industrial production and trade will undoubtedly undergo a major leap.

Even at the current rate of development, it’s estimated that next year France’s industrial output will surpass agriculture, making it Europe’s first truly industrialized nation!

Godan finished last year’s financial report and then spoke casually in a mocking tone: “The island across the channel finally reached a fiscal revenue of 40 million British Pounds last year. Oh, an increase of 1.6% from the previous year.”

The people in the conference room all broke into smiles.

million British Pounds is equivalent to 1 billion francs.

Although England’s total fiscal revenue has always been lower than France’s, since England’s population is much smaller, it remains close to France, with not much difference.

However, according to last year’s data, England’s fiscal revenue is showing a trend of being outpaced by France.

In fact, the fact that England can maintain revenue growth amidst Joseph’s various planned financial attacks is proof that William Pitt Junior’s governance abilities far exceed the ordinary.

But Godan didn’t mention England’s expenditure—48 million British Pounds.

In other words, England’s fiscal deficit is as high as 2 billion francs.

And note, England isn’t building any railroads.

Except for building battleships, most of the money went into consumption in the Gibraltar struggle, foreign aid, and subsidies for sugar and grain.

Thus, in terms of economic health, England is outpaced by France yet again.

As for other countries’ fiscal situations, the French officials present hardly cared—

Russia 380 million francs; Austria 260 million francs; Prussia 205 million francs; Spain 320 million francs; Milan 40 million francs; Parma 19 million francs; Modena 22 million francs; Florence 34 million francs; Genoa 9 million francs…

After the Crown Prince praised the achievements of the Ministry of Finance, Archbishop Brienne looked towards the Minister of Transportation.

Theresa immediately stood, gave a simple opening speech, and then spoke loudly:

“By the end of April, our country’s operational railroad length has reached 860 kilometers!”

Joseph didn’t need to look at the documents to know the specifics of the railway—385 kilometers from Paris to Strasbourg, nearly 100 kilometers from Verdun through Luxembourg to Trier, 250 kilometers from Paris to Namur, and over 110 kilometers, half-built, from Paris to Lyon.

Actually, due to statistics difficulties, this doesn’t even count the large amount of unfinished railroads owned by private railway companies, which probably amounts to at least 300 kilometers.

For instance, the Paris to Lille railroad is built by a private railway company. Other lines in medium and small cities are dominated by private companies.

Theresa continued: “Moreover, the planned railway lines exceed 900 kilometers.

“These lines will start construction no later than the end of this year and most will be completed within four years!”

The so-called “planned” means exploration has been done along the railway and it’s confirmed that sufficient construction funds can be raised, or private companies have pledged to undertake the work.

After introducing the railway situation in France, Theresa started talking about other countries’ railway plans:

“The line from Karlsruhe to Baden-Wimpfen has the highest completion rate, with current progress indicating it will open next August…

“And the lines from Milan via Pavia to Nice, and from Milan via Parma, Modena to Lucca have also started construction, estimated to be completed in two to three years.

“Bavaria, Hesse, Cologne, and Nassau have mostly completed their fund-raising and are nearing construction start…”

Thanks to publicity from the World Cup and Joseph’s second authorization of railway patents, German and Italian states are experiencing a railway construction boom, with capital flooding into railways.

Why is the French cabinet discussing other countries’ railway plans?

Because these railways are practically like building them for France.

All lines will be connected to the French railroad network from places like Nice, Strasbourg, Cologne, and all use French technology and construction standards.

French goods and francs will continuously flow to these countries along these railways.

We can say that the day the railways are completed, France will have completed integration with these regions.

What the Minister of Transportation’s report didn’t mention is that even the British are busy planning railways, although they haven’t managed to develop trains yet—steam engines are stuck at 50 horsepower and won’t go higher.

If England proposed buying trains, Joseph would be happy to sell to them, just with a higher price tag.

After all, if England’s railways completely followed French standards, it would only increase their dependence on France and undermine their development of relevant technologies.

Subsequently, the Minister of Trade, the Minister of Civil Affairs, the Minister of Science and Technology Education, and even the Minister of War made reports regarding their fields.

In terms of trade, France has completed the control of commercial activities along the Mediterranean coast. The market has expanded west of Austria, to all European countries except England.

In civil affairs, the national population has increased to more than 34 million by the end of last year—including non-French-speaking populations in North Africa and the Rhineland.

Of course, the growth rate of France’s local population is also continuously rising. This is mainly due to the completion of a cheap healthcare reform based on quasi-doctors, which covers over 75% of the country, reducing the mortality rate from illness to less than 20% of what it was before.

Especially since mandatory vaccination of all children against cowpox, annual deaths from smallpox have dropped from over 80,000 to less than 12,000—mostly among adults. Adults don’t enjoy free vaccination, and many are unwilling to personally pay 3 francs 4 sous for an injection.

Meanwhile, the orphanage system has been implemented in 70% of cities, but the effectiveness is not very good.

Many pretend their children are orphans and send them to orphanages to “enjoy” free lodging and meals, causing many orphanages to be overcrowded.

Now orphanages have to ask local police to investigate whose children “suddenly disappeared,” and send them back.