Chapter 163 France’s Biggest Corruption Criminal

Lavoisier suddenly became even more excited - the Crown Prince wanted to integrate the entire French academic community.

No, if this standard unit system is established, it can even integrate European academic circles!

Joseph still seems not satisfied: “After the unification of measurement units, the Standards Committee still has a lot to do.

“For example, we can formulate national-level industrial standards—the hardness and strength of steel, the purity of liquids, the interface specifications of bolts, the wheelbase of carriages, etc., so that all aspects of industrial production can be followed.

"Standards can even be issued for the tools used by craftsmen in various industries. Craftsmen can quickly obtain suitable tools from all over the country..."

As he continued to talk, Lavoisier's eyes grew wider and wider. He could feel that with every word the Crown Prince spoke, France's academic and industrial foundation would become more and more solid!

He suddenly interrupted Joseph: "Your Highness, I think I should call Mr. Lagrange and Mr. Monge to let everyone listen to your grand plan.

"Perhaps, today, right here, we can officially establish the 'French Standards Committee'!"

…

At night, a group of France's top scientists yawned and came out of Lavoisier's house.

At the door, everyone stopped and turned around, saluting the Crown Prince and saying goodbye.

Joseph was also quite tired, but he still greeted everyone warmly: "I invite you all to come to the Palace of Versailles tomorrow, and we will continue to discuss the 'Standards Committee'."

Lagrange, Monge, Condorcet and others hurriedly bowed to agree, and then left each other, but they all sighed in their hearts. In the past, they always felt that the French Academy of Sciences acted too slowly, but now that the Dauphin has pushed forward the matter, he hastened to do so. It's a little too tight...

It would be nice if the two could be averaged.

Joseph also said goodbye to Lavoisier, and was about to get into the carriage when he suddenly remembered something and said to the chemist: "Mr. Lavoisier, I have some suggestions for you.

"Although the business profits of tax farmers are relatively large, there are also many trivial matters, which will take up a lot of your time for research. Moreover, the government may be about to abolish the tax farming system, so you may be able to give up this business in advance."

The reason why he told Lavoisier this was because when the tax system was reformed, it was likely to destroy the interests of the tax collectors. Lavoisier inevitably suffered losses.

"Ah? This..." Lavoisier seemed very embarrassed. Although the crown prince said so, he was still reluctant to part with the annual income of nearly 80,000 livres.

Joseph continued: "You don't have to worry about income. After mercury fulminate is put into production, I will also invest in some chemical industries. At that time, you can invest in shares with technology. I can guarantee that you can get much higher than the tax package." income.”

The refining of coal tar, the production of chemical fertilizers, the synthesis of chemical dyes, etc., are all chemical industries that have a great impact on the industrial revolution and can bring huge profits. Now that Joseph has the cards of Lavoisier and his wife, he will naturally not miss these properties.

Lavoisier's eyes lit up. To be honest, he was more willing to devote himself to chemical projects than to deal with the market all day long as a tax collector.

He immediately bowed sincerely and thanked: "Thank you for your generosity, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. May God bless you!"

…

After Paris Charity Week came to an end, the Paris Fashion Week series of activities, which lasted for more than half of the year, officially came to an end.

The citizens of Paris seemed to have spent a long festival. Although they were busy and nervous, they all gained tangible benefits from this event.

A large number of Parisian families earn more than a typical month's household income simply by renting out their homes to overnight tourists.

What everyone failed to notice is that foreign tourists' praise of Paris and Fashion Week has greatly enhanced their self-confidence and pride.

While the citizens of Paris were busy cleaning the rooms where tourists had stayed, at the port of Marseille, two ordinary merchant ships and one armed merchant ship, escorted by the Royal Navy frigate "HMS Biplane", slowly sailed towards the Mediterranean.

The merchant ship was flying the Russian flag, and the words "Gemini Trading Company" were painted on the ship. However, except for a few Russian advisers on the ship, everyone from the captain to the sailors were French or Italian.

The cabin is mainly filled with wine and brandy, in addition to some mid-range ready-made clothing, cosmetics, paper and other goods.

The destination of the fleet is Crimea on the Black Sea. By the time they got there, Count Bobulinski's men had large quantities of flax and iron ready for shipment.

Although the size of this caravan was not large, it was a voyage full of symbolic significance - a new chapter in Russian-French trade began.

…

Mara, who was wearing a gray short coat and an old felt hat, looked up at the house number, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

The door opened a crack, and a pair of brown eyes peeked out, and then its owner sneered: "Ha, who do I think I am? Isn't this a government lackey? You are not welcome here!"

Mara blocked the door and said solemnly: "No matter what you think, I swear that I will always be a friend of the people."

The owner's tone was full of sarcasm: "Oh, yes, after all, the secret police can barely be regarded as the people. You can use your government salary to declare your noble friendship."

"I've said it many times," Marla said sullenly, "The place where I work is called the Impartial Investigation Department, not the secret police! I am doing investigation work, but I investigate corrupt officials. I have never done anything against the people. Harmful things!”

The person at the door seemed to be a little more relaxed: "Okay, fair sir, in short, you'd better leave."

However, Marat opened the door forcefully without any explanation, stepped in, and said to the stunned middle-aged man in the room: "Do you know? If you drive me away now, you will really harm the interests of countless people in Paris. .”

"Oh? Don't slander anyone. I've never done anything like that."

Mara closed the door with his backhand and pulled the man into the house with a familiarity: "You think I want to work for the government? Of course not!"

"But if I can use the power of the government to help more ordinary people, then I must do it. Moreover, the crown prince is completely different from the nobles who only suck blood..."

He waved his hand: "Forget it, let's get down to business. Do you know? How much money has this guy I'm investigating now embezzled?"

The brown-eyed middle-aged man spread his hands: "500,000 livres? Or 800,000?"

Seeing Mara shaking his head, he snorted and said, "Is there still 1 million?"

"No, you guessed wrong." Marat said slowly, "The number of his embezzlement may exceed 10 million livres..."