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Chapter 186: Panic and Solutions
🕑 Added 2025-01-10 22:49:32 +0000 UTCChapter 186: Panic and Solutions
"Dear, have you finished nailing it down?"
Gaizka's wife's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly responded from under the eaves, "Oh, yes, it's done. You can start laying the thatch now."
He glanced at the scar on his wife's temple, a reminder of the day the hailstorm had struck. A piece of broken wood from the roof had caused the injury, but thankfully, it wasn't deep. She and the children had taken shelter under the dining table and escaped serious harm.
Mrs. Gaizka tied up a large bundle of thatch with a rope, handing it to her husband, who carefully pulled it up onto the roof and spread it evenly over the patched areas.
By noon, the roof of the Gaizka household was more or less restored to its original state.
Gaizka wiped the sweat from his brow and entered the house, only to see his wife emerge from the back room with a chipped plate—the most intact one they had left—placing it on the table with a smile. "You must be tired. Eat something."
Gaizka took a few bites of the vegetable soup-soaked bread before pushing the plate away. "Save the rest for dinner. I'll go check the fields again, see if there's anything left to salvage."
Although the wheat harvest was still a couple of weeks away, some of the grains had already formed. Despite being mixed with mud after the hailstorm, he could still collect a few.
He needed to gather every bit of food he could because, after this complete crop failure, the family's stored grain would only last three months, and he still owed rent to Viscount Cobert as a tenant farmer.
Gaizka sighed silently, calculating how much money he would need to borrow to buy seeds for the next planting and sustain his family until the autumn harvest.
He suddenly made the sign of the cross over his chest, silently thanking the merciful Prince and praying for his long life. If it weren't for the Prince paying off his previous debts, this disaster would likely have ruined his family...
As he stepped out of the house, he heard the sound of a child crying from the Geofroy household nearby, faintly catching the word "hungry."
Mrs. Gaizka heard it too and came out, exchanging a glance with her husband. "There's still some of that green wheat porridge we cooked last night. Should we...?"
Gaizka nodded.
Geofroy had fallen ill with pneumonia earlier in the year, leaving his family in extreme poverty. This latest disaster all but ensured their downfall.
Gaizka took the broken bowl his wife handed him, noting the piece of black bread on top of the cooked grains. He said nothing, simply carrying it over to his neighbor's house.
Mrs. Geofroy, with trembling hands, accepted the food, repeatedly thanking Gaizka while her three emaciated children eagerly grabbed the food and began eating.
Gaizka hesitated for a moment before saying, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"N-no... no, you've already done so much," Mrs. Geofroy said, returning the now-empty bowl, her head lowered, struggling to hold back her tears. "This food has been a great help."
She knew her neighbors were not well-off enough to keep providing for them. There was only a small bag of broken wheat left under her table, which, even if rationed carefully, would only last half a month. They had already eaten all their livestock the previous year, so once that food ran out, their only option would be to go begging in the city.
Yes, given her family's situation, they wouldn't even be able to secure a loan.
Gaizka sighed and was about to leave when Father Marmont from the parish entered, looking anxious as he approached Mrs. Geofroy. "God bless you, you can apply for the 'Bread Loan' now!"
The woman was startled, quickly crossing herself before asking, "Reverend, what is the 'Bread Loan'?"
"The King has arranged for the parish bank to offer loans to families like yours," Father Marmont explained. "You should go to the church and fill out an application. Starting next month, you'll receive a loan of 4 livres each month, or an equivalent amount of food. The interest is just six percent.
"Go now; I still need to inform the Jurian family."
He took a few steps before turning back. "Oh, and if you still need seeds for replanting, remember to apply for government aid as well. But they'll only provide potatoes.
"Still, those aren't bad—certainly better than starving, right? And there's no interest; you just need to return what you borrowed by the end of the year."
After Father Marmont and Gaizka left, Mrs. Geofroy felt her eyes welling up with tears. She knew that 4 livres a month wasn't much, but it was enough to keep her family alive!
She took a deep breath, gathered her three children, and instructed them to kneel with her as she prayed, her voice trembling, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness! Thank you, God! We are saved..."
With her children watching her with confused eyes, she quickly stood up, wiped away her tears, and hurried to the parish church.
Families like the Geofroys were not alone in their plight. All across France, rural households faced similar struggles.
Thanks to Joseph's foresight and preparations, even though the terrifying natural disaster struck as expected, France avoided the hellish conditions it had experienced in history.
If families like the Geofroys went bankrupt, they would flood into the cities to beg, where many would later form the backbone of a massive uprising. There were millions of such families across France!
Moreover, millions more mouths to feed in the cities would quickly drive up bread prices, making it unaffordable for urban residents as well. Historically, after the hailstorm, the price of bread in Paris doubled, directly triggering a large-scale revolution.
But this time, steam engines had been brought to the countryside, helping farmers salvage some crops that otherwise would have been lost entirely to drought. Though the harvest was only about 30% of what it should have been, and much of it was green wheat, it was better than nothing.
Additionally, the provinces that had switched to planting potatoes were far less affected by the hailstorm. In the south, the potatoes were nearly mature by the time the storm hit, and farmers only needed to dig them out of the ground to secure their food supply for the rest of the year.
Furthermore, the "parish micro-banks" Joseph had established earlier to help farmers purchase steam engines played an unexpected role this time.
Now that he had the powerful tool of the National Reserve Bank, after the disaster, Joseph consulted with the cabinet and decided that the bank would directly provide loans to the parish banks, which would then distribute them to the poorest farmers, ensuring they wouldn't starve.
This kind of large-scale government-funded disaster relief was unheard of in the 18th century. In reality, this approach didn't cost that much—about 400,000 livres per month, totaling 1.2 to 1.4 million by the autumn harvest, in exchange for maintaining stability across the French countryside.
For a country, chaos is always a severe drain—not just financially but also in terms of national strength and future development. It erodes public confidence in the government, and that trust is something money can't easily restore.
Historically, after the chaos of the French Revolution, it took the country more than a decade to get back on track and start developing again. And that was only thanks to a remarkable leader like Napoleon; otherwise, it might have taken another ten years.
Joseph also had a specific plan for the 1.2 million used in disaster relief: it would help accelerate the circulation of paper currency.
Starting next month, the National Reserve Bank would officially issue banknotes, and the loans provided to the parish banks would be disbursed entirely in paper currency.
Of course, to maintain stability in the countryside, for the first two months, the National Reserve Bank would transport an equivalent amount of silver to each parish, allowing farmers to exchange paper currency for silver at any time.
Once people grew accustomed to using paper currency and gained confidence in it, the bank would gradually reduce the amount of silver distributed.
Joseph's initial plan was to issue 50 million livres in banknotes, with a 5% overissue rate. This meant the bank was actually prepared to back the currency with 47.5 million livres in silver.
This small overissue wouldn't have any negative impact on the national economy. In fact, a little inflation is beneficial for economic growth.
So, the 1.2 million used for disaster relief could essentially be covered by the overissued portion.
But Joseph was well aware of the importance of maintaining a stable currency, especially in the early stages of introducing paper money. Recklessly overissuing could backfire. The reason the British pound had remained strong and gradually accepted by other European nations was due to its stable value.
In this transitional period from gold and silver coins to paper money, a gold standard was the most suitable monetary policy, which meant that massive overissuance of paper money was not an option.
...
In major cities like Paris, people were largely insulated from the despair felt by the farmers. The drought and hailstorms only affected them in terms of repairing damaged buildings and public infrastructure, but the impact was most keenly felt in the price of bread.
As news of crop failures across the country began trickling into Paris, even though there was no actual shortage of grain, bread prices started to rise due to widespread panic.
Bread prices in Paris were always the top concern for the French government, above all else. Every time Parisians had an issue with bread prices, it signaled the potential for a riot!
Versailles.
"So, many nobles are protesting these regulations?" Joseph asked as he flipped through the "Miller's Duties Act," looking up at Briand.
The Finance Minister sighed and nodded, "You know, the mill tax is a significant source of income for them. Although the bill just lays out some hypothetical scenarios, they are still very resistant."
This was a bill Joseph had submitted last month, but it had yet to pass.
The main content of the bill was that millers were required to maintain their mills in working order, and if a mill was out of service for more than two months, the parish would have the right to build a public mill.
In most European countries at the time, the right to grind grain was still controlled by feudal lords. Even if farmers had wheat, they had to pay a tax to use the lord's mill to turn it into flour.
Joseph thought for a moment and then changed a word in the document, renaming it the "Millers' Rights Act."
"Now, let's describe the traditional rights of millers in detail, and just include the duties section on half a page at the end. That should make it more acceptable."
Currently, the rights of millers were based on medieval customs, without any formal legislation. But those customs were so deeply entrenched that they were universally enforced, even by the courts. So Joseph decided to codify them into law. It appeared to support the nobles, but in reality, they gained nothing new, while the added duties were very real.
Briand smiled, "Your Highness, I believe this will make them eager to pass the bill."
As they spoke, a finance official hurried in, bowing quickly before saying urgently, "Your Highness, Archbishop, we've just received news from Paris: the price of bread has risen to 4 pounds, 8 sous, and 7 deniers."
Briand's expression immediately turned serious. "The price has jumped 7 deniers in just two days?"
"It seems so."
"These people!" Briand stood up. "Immediately send inspectors to all the bakeries. Anyone caught hoarding or secretly raising prices should be arrested on the spot!"
The bread price control laws in Paris were stringent: even a single denier increase could land a bakery owner in jail.
Joseph asked, puzzled, "Archbishop Briand, despite the government emphasizing price controls every day and even the police helping to monitor the situation, why are people still daring to raise prices?"
"You may not realize," Briand sighed, "but these bakery owners are cunning. They openly follow the rules but secretly find ways to raise prices.
"For example, they might sell only 40 pounds of bread at the regulated price each day and then claim they're out of stock. If someone wants to buy more, they have to go to the back of the bakery and pay a 'bargaining fee' to get bread.
"Or they'll bundle items—add a dollop of jam to the bread and call it 'jam bread,' charging several deniers more."
Joseph raised an eyebrow. "In that case, sending more inspectors won't help much.
"I think we should use reserve grain to stabilize prices before the situation gets out of hand."
Briand shook his head. "Your Highness, there's still plenty of grain on the market; it's not time for that yet.
"You see, those cunning merchants know about the poor harvests and are hoarding grain like mad, hoping to sell it at a higher price later. So, most of the grain we release now will just be snapped up by them."
Joseph smiled, confident in his plan.
"Archbishop Briand, have you forgotten we now have the 'weapon' of identification cards?"
"Identification cards?"
"Yes. Set up 'ticket distribution points' across Paris where anyone can present their ID card to receive a grain voucher each day.
"The reserve grain will be sold at the regulated price, but to buy it, people must have a grain voucher. Each voucher allows the purchase of two pounds of bread's worth of grain per day, and they expire daily.
"The grain merchants only have one ID card each, so they won't be able to buy up all the reserve grain."
Briand, still getting used to the concept of ID cards, suddenly had an epiphany at Joseph's explanation. "No wonder you insisted on giving each ID card a unique number—now I see how useful that can be!"
He quickly called in several aides, explaining Joseph's plan and ordering them to implement it immediately.
Joseph thought for a moment and added, "The current rise in bread prices is mostly driven by panic. So, we should do our best to divert the public's attention away from the grain issue."
(End of Chapter)
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