In this era, the model of industrialized large-scale farms is the only way to quickly advance agricultural production techniques.
For farrs, while they may take great care of their land, they lack the funds and technology to make significant agricultural improvents. Moreover, small-scale farrs tend to be very conservative. Joseph recalled that even in the 19th century, French farrs were still using ancient farming practices, preferring the simplest and cheapest tools. They were also strongly opposed to planting cash crops, as they felt that a full granary was the only way to secure their family's future.
On the other hand, large farms backed by capital weren't just focused on survival—they were driven by the pursuit of higher profits! Under the pressure to generate profit, they were forced to continually upgrade to new farming machinery, develop more advanced planting techniques, experint with more expensive but better fertilizers, and plant crops with higher economic value.
This approach would greatly benefit both France's agricultural and industrial developnt. Yes, farming is also the foundation of industrial growth.
A simple example is the British textile industry, which dominated the world thanks to its vast supply of hogrown wool and South Asian cotton. If France wanted to challenge Britain in the textile industry, it would first need a sufficient supply of cotton. If all the farrs focused solely on growing food, relying solely on imported cotton would make it nearly impossible to compete with Britain on cost.
Additionally, France's traditional strength in textiles—silk production—also required large-scale planting of mulberry trees. These were exactly the kinds of projects where large-scale industrial farms could excel.
Mirabeau and his group, known for their sharp business acun, quickly recognized the lucrative potential of these new types of estates after just a little guidance from the Prince. Coupled with the favorable land purchase regulations, they imdiately decided to invest heavily in the industrialized farm market.
Of course, Joseph's push to develop agricultural services and consulting companies was aid at using a unified managent model to bring together the scattered small farrs, enabling them to compete with the large farms to so extent.
As Viscount Deco enthusiastically discussed the bright future of these new estates, Mirabeau rely smiled politely, though his thoughts were elsewhere. He was contemplating what the Prince had told him a few days earlier.
The Prince had ntioned that once industrialized large farms were up and running, land that previously required three to four hundred people to farm could be managed by fewer than a hundred workers with the help of livestock, machinery, and new farming tools under strict, standardized managent.
Mirabeau quickly realized what would happen to the remaining two to three hundred people. The answer was simple: they would have to move to the cities to make a living. Moreover, with the help of agricultural service companies, ordinary farming families would no longer need all their mbers working the land to ensure good yields. Given that it would be difficult for them to acquire more than 30 acres per person, the family mbers who were no longer needed on the farm would also head to the cities to find work.
Once these people flooded into the cities, the supply of labor for factories would beco extrely abundant, removing one of the biggest obstacles to factory expansion. And these new city dwellers, who would need to purchase all their necessities, would create a huge consur market.
After realizing this, Mirabeau recalculated and concluded that investing in large farms was less profitable than getting in early on industries like textiles and steel, which required large workforces.
As a result, he only purchased so land suitable for investnt, intending to sell it as soon as its value increased. He placed most of his capital into an automatic loom factory in Lyon, with a smaller portion invested in coal mines in the Southern Netherlands. The latter investnt was based on the Prince's suggestion. Although the area was currently embroiled in conflict, Mirabeau trusted the Prince's judgnt.
However, Mirabeau had overlooked one crucial detail. Joseph had anticipated the possibility of land speculation—after all, he had lived through the early 21st century real estate boom and was well aware of the tactics used by major companies to manipulate land prices. So, he had cleverly hidden a trap within the "Grain Production Act."
According to this act, once a buyer obtained ownership of land designated by the governnt as arable, they were imdiately obligated to et a certain minimum yield. If the land failed to produce the required yield during the harvest season, every landholder would be held jointly responsible, even if the land had been sold. Of course, exceptions were made for cases of natural disasters.
Thus, Mr. Mirabeau would soon discover that upon purchasing land, he would need to plant crops imdiately; otherwise, he would face fines and possibly even have the land forcibly auctioned off by the High Court!
While the capitalist nobles were busy figuring out how to maximize their profits, nearly half of the petitioners in front of the Petit Trianon remained tense, with so even crumpling up their "Royal Fund Application Forms" and throwing them to the ground.
These nobles belonged to the "land-poor" class. So had too little land to collect significant rents, while others lived so extravagantly that their expenses exceeded their inco. They had no spare cash to invest in the Royal Fund. Many of them even survived on loans, using borrowed money to maintain their wardrobes, support their illegitimate children, and participate in salons, hunts, and gambling—all essential elents of life for the Versailles nobility.
They had no money to invest in the Royal Fund, which ant that eight years from now, when their inco from land rents ceased, they would face starvation.
Soon, a tall nobleman with poorly maintained curly hair pushed his way forward against the tide of people lining up to invest in the fund. He stepped up to the Prince and shouted, "Your Highness, the land rents are the traditional rights of the nobility, honors granted to our ancestors by the old king. You cannot just abolish them so easily!"
Voices of support imdiately rose from the crowd around him:
"Yes, we want our traditional rights, not so fund!"
"Those land rents were my inheritance from my father—they deserve respect!"
Joseph looked at them calmly, having anticipated this situation and prepared accordingly. These nobles, who refused to invest in the Royal Fund, were the poorest and thus the least influential, but their potential to cause disruption if left without a livelihood could not be ignored.
Joseph cleared his throat and fixed his sharp gaze on the tall nobleman who had first spoken up, his voice cold as he asked, "Perhaps you rember how your ancestors earned their fiefs?"
The nobleman was caught off guard by the sudden question and stamred, "They… they…"
Joseph pointed at him with authority, his voice commanding: "They earned their glory by following the king's army into battle, demonstrating extraordinary courage and fearlessness!"
(End of Chapter)
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