Make France Great Again

After the staff examination, the staff officers of each theater returned to their respective stations one after another. It was not until this moment that the general staff system was truly implemented.

From now on, no one can stop the General Staff. The General Staff that has overcome the initial difficulties will inevitably move forward.

Entering mid-August, the weather in Paris is getting hotter and hotter. The earth under the scorching heat "spits out" the water vapor it contains. Silks of white mist rise from the gaps in the ground and disappear without a trace in the blink of an eye. . The air was stuffy and hot, as if a match could light it. The road paved with gravel also became extremely hot, and stepping on it with bare feet was like torture.

In such hot weather, even the Champs Elysees has few pedestrians. The bourgeoisie living in Paris even left Paris during this period to go to Lyon, Bordeaux and other places to escape the heat.

The little Bourgeois removed the ice cubes prepared in the cellar the previous year and placed them in the room, using the ice mist scattered by the ice cubes to resist the scorching heat in the air. Or they can open all the doors and windows, shake a round fan with one hand, and hold a summer drink prepared by the landlord with the other hand, and sit in groups on rocking chairs to drink.

I forgot to mention that most of the young bourgeoisie working in Paris do not have their own residence. They often live in private apartments.

After paying a certain rent and moving in, the landlady becomes the highest servant and housekeeper of the mansion.

(Generally speaking, in rental apartments with better conditions, the landlady will hire two or three servants and cooks who are actually used for cleaning and cooking to satisfy the countless people in the apartment. The higher the rent, the more The more you have, the more you will be given. This was mentioned in France in the 19th century.)

The proletarians, who accounted for a relatively large number of people in Paris, lived underground in a dark, humid and full of various plagues. Suffering from pain and disease, they still repeated the same work day after day.

For them, nothing in Paris seems to have changed.

Be it Louis Philippe or Jérôme Bonaparte! All are the same!

The living environment and economic strength of Paris as a whole present a pyramid structure, and changes in the upper levels do not seem to benefit the middle and lower levels.

Of course, it would be unfair to say that there has been no change at all.

Several new welfare hospitals were built in the Saint-Germain district to help people with financial difficulties receive treatment.

The treatment is mostly for minor illnesses, and welfare hospitals for serious illnesses are also unable to do anything.

It is in this environment and temperature that an even more irritating thing is happening in the Tuileries Palace.

Jérôme Bonaparte, who was taking a lunch break in the bedroom where ice cubes were placed, heard a knock on the door in a hazy state. He opened his eyes in a daze, and then turned over on the bed. Looking up at the roof, it wasn't until the knock on the door came from the room again that Jérôme Bonaparte realized that someone was knocking on the door.

Jerome Bonaparte, whose consciousness returned to his body, turned his head to the side of the window. The dazzling sun outside the window made Jerome Bonaparte squint his eyes. After a while, Jérôme Bonaparte opened his eyes again and stretched his hand under the pillow again. After some groping, he finally found the pocket watch.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, less than an hour had passed since Jerome Bonaparte's lunch break.

"Ah!" Jérôme Bonaparte couldn't help but yawned, and he turned his head to the side of the door.

Don't know who is outside the door? It doesn't look like it's a big deal!

Jerome Bonaparte once told him that if there was an emergency, Jerome Bonaparte should be called up no matter what he was doing.

Jérôme Bonaparte got up slowly, grabbed a handful of ice cubes from the bucket and put them in his hands. Under the stimulation of ice cubes, he finally woke up completely.

Jérôme Bonaparte, who had changed his clothes again, opened the door. He saw Finance Minister Magnet and Minister of State Fuld outside the door.

It was indeed beyond his expectation that Magne and Fuld could come to the Tuileries Palace together. Judging from their solemn expressions, there really is something fatal going on in France.

Jerome Bonaparte couldn't help but trembled. He still pretended to be calm and looked at Magnet and Fuld with a smile and said hello: "Minister Magnet, Minister Fuld, good afternoon!"

"Your Majesty, can I spare some of your time! We have something to tell you!" Magne asked to go to the study to talk.

"Okay!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and replied.

Magnet, Fuld and Jerome Bonaparte went to the study together. On the way to the study, Jerome Bonaparte suddenly discovered that Magnet was holding a black suitcase in his hand. If he guessed correctly, it was probably Magne who reported the contents of the suitcase to him.

After the three people entered the study, Magnet, Fuld, Jerome and Bonaparte sat on three sides of the sofa respectively. The black suitcase in Magnet's hand was also placed on the table by Magnet.

"What happened?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked Magnet and Fuld seriously.

After Magne and Fuld looked at each other, Secretary of State Fuld said: "Your Majesty, we want you to take a look at the government's expenditures in the first half of the year!"

After speaking, Fuld opened the suitcase and respectfully handed the documents in the suitcase into the hands of Jérôme Bonaparte, while saying: "Your Majesty, this is the total expenditure of our government in the first half of the year! Please Take a look!"

Jérôme Bonaparte took the expense bill from Fuld's hand and read the contents of the bill page by page.

Gradually, Jérôme Bonaparte's expression became serious. When he was halfway through the financial expenditure statistics, he shook his head and muttered in a low voice: "Impossible! How could the government..."

After Jérôme Bonaparte read all the fiscal expenditure budget for the first half of the year, Jérôme Bonaparte's expression became as melancholy as Magnet and Fuld. He opened the drawer again and removed the contents of the drawer. Two of the three remaining cigars were thrown to Magnet and Fuld, and the remaining cigar was held in his mouth.

Fuld, who took the cigar, thoughtfully lit a cigar for Jérôme Bonaparte, also lit a cigar for Magnet, and finally lit a cigar for himself.

The entire Tuileries study was once again enveloped in cigar smoke.

After Jérôme Bonaparte smoked a cigar, his frown still showed no sign of relaxing.

From the information that Magnet gave him about France's financial expenditure, Jérôme Bonaparte saw the big French pill.

After deducting various shipping capacities from the fiscal revenue of the entire France in the first half of the year, the balance was 1 billion francs. (This refers to the central government’s fiscal revenue. The fiscal revenue of each locality is one more than that of the central government, but these fiscal revenues are used for infrastructure design and construction in each locality.)

However, France's various financial expenditures are approximately 1.2 billion francs.

This means that France had a fiscal deficit of nearly 200 million francs in the first half of the year alone.

These deficits were mainly concentrated on the expansion of Paris, agricultural reform, and general staff reform.

If you include the railway's financial and debt problems, France's fiscal deficit is likely to reach about 400 million francs.

400 million francs is equivalent to a quarter of France's annual finance. Such a huge fiscal deficit obviously cannot be paid off overnight.

This is why Jerome Bonaparte frowned.

Jérôme Bonaparte, Magnet and Fuld looked at each other in silence. It seemed that no one of the three of them dared to say the first word.

"Your Majesty, I think it is necessary for France to plan its expenditure! If this continues, the government will go bankrupt!" Seeing the atmosphere gradually becoming tense and dull, Finance Minister Magne said first.

"Your Majesty, France really cannot afford the huge expenditure!" Fuld also stood on Magne's side.

To be honest, Fuld was also shocked after seeing the fiscal deficit generated in the first half of the year submitted by Magne. He even once doubted whether the data that Magne handed over to him was forged by himself.

So Fuld went to the finance department and found Finance Minister Magne and asked Magne face to face whether there was any problem with the statistics of the finance department.

Magne immediately responded to Fuld with a wry smile. There was no problem with the finances in the first half of the year, and France did owe a high fiscal deficit.

In France, every September or November is the day when the legislative group inquires about the financial situation.

Fuld knew that if he took this financial report to the legislative group, he would definitely be questioned by the legislative group.

Although the legislative group has lost its core legislative and veto powers, they still have not lost their right to conduct financial inquiries.

In fact, it is not the legislative group that is at risk; the people of Paris are the most important group.

If they were told that the government's fiscal deficit for half a year would reach 200 million francs, the people of Paris would explode.

The top priority was how to prevent the fiscal deficit from further expanding. After some deliberation, Magnet and Fuld decided to go to the Tuileries Palace to hand the Ministry of Finance report to Jérôme Bonaparte.

Just as they thought, Jérôme Bonaparte showed a frown on his face.

After a while, Jerome Bonaparte emphasized: "The reform cannot be stopped. Once we stop, we will face the risk of being shattered to pieces!"

"But, Your Majesty! If the reforms continue, the fiscal deficit will further expand! By then, the situation will become even more out of control!" Magne reminded Jérôme Bonaparte.

"Then raise taxes!" Jérôme Bonaparte said decisively.

"Which tax should we increase?" Magnet asked Jerome Bonaparte again. He was a little afraid that Jerome Bonaparte would propose the income tax that everyone feared.

"Under the premise that the original taxes remain unchanged, 10%-25% surcharges will be levied on tobacco, alcohol, coffee, and wine respectively!"

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