The inquiry from Prince Monfort forced Jero Bonaparte, who originally wanted to gloss over the event and then go back to rest, to recount the entire incident to Prince Monfort.
"Originally, this was just a small group event, but who would have thought that because our police hadn’t seen such a scene for several years, they lacked experience in handling it. Moreover, with many respectable people joining midway, the police beca even more hesitant to suppress them!"
At this point, a mocking expression appeared on Jero Bonaparte’s face, and his tone turned sarcastic, "However, those police also knew that if they did nothing, the Empire would inevitably punish them harshly afterward. So, these officers tightly followed behind them, ’escorting’ them all the way to Bastille Square!"
Although this sudden gathering did not cause substantive harm to the imperial regi, Jero Bonaparte was very dissatisfied with the police forces’ response asures when faced with sudden problems.
This also indirectly reflected that during peaceful tis, the business capabilities of the Empire’s police were far inferior to before.
If the current police were replaced with those from eleven years ago (that is, in 1848), the gathering would not have reached this point at all.
Having experienced the "storms" of February and June, the police had already trained themselves to be agile (as a joke, during the February Revolution and June bloodshed, police who weren’t agile were already killed by the workers) and possess keen insight. They could spontaneously control the gathering workers at the first opportunity to prevent further expansion.
As long as the workers present were controlled, identifying the hidden "bad" and "left" elents among them would be easy.
If it weren’t for these "bad" and "left" elents funded by foreign forces, the workers of France would now be happily enjoying the blessings of 696 [1] as designated by Jero Bonaparte in the Yellow Guild.
"What on earth is Pellissier doing! How is his Minister of Internal Affairs performing, and also Police Minister Pierrette!" As a mber of the ruling class, Prince Monfort perfectly fitted his role and couldn’t help but curse the two useless ministers.
Then, Prince Monfort turned his criticism towards the workers, saying with exasperation, "And those workers attending the rally, can’t they understand the Empire’s current situation?
What good would the Empire’s collapse do for them! Won’t they face unemploynt too!"
Prince Monfort paused deliberately and muttered to himself, "No, by then, it won’t just be them. More people will be at risk of unemploynt!
These people are simply a bunch of hopeless bastards, scum of society!"
Jero Bonaparte stared in shock at his hysterical father, baffled by why Prince Monfort was more emotional about the labor movent than he was.
Clearly, he was the one directly involved in the entire incident!
Is this a case of interests governing thoughts?
With this thought, Jero Bonaparte couldn’t help but quip internally, then he responded to Prince Monfort with a serious face, "Actually, you can’t entirely bla those workers. Since 1857, the Empire’s economic growth has begun to decline!"
"The decline in economic growth is not an issue for France alone. Which country in Europe hasn’t faced a downturn!" Prince Monfort said, full of resentnt.
He recalled the scene in 1857 when he secretly invested in Arican railroad bonds behind Jero Bonaparte and Mathilde’s backs. Just a week earlier, Arican railroad bonds were still on an upward trend.
Who would have thought that the second week would bring news of massive bankruptcies in the United States’ railway companies (it usually took over a week to relay ssages between the United States and the European Continent), causing the bonds in Prince Monfort’s hands to imdiately devalue.
If it weren’t for so bankers trying to please the Emperor by relieving Prince Monfort’s worries, the bonds in his hands would have beco cheaper than waste paper.
"Although the declining trend isn’t unique to France, but a widespread issue throughout Europe, Parisian workers couldn’t care less about international circumstances. Their focus is limited to Paris, only concerned about whether today’s wages can support their families!" Jero Bonaparte shrugged and replied to Prince Monfort, "Discussing international situations with them is like talking about whether bread prices in a particular district are rising!
They might even be able to tell you the bread prices in every district of Paris!"
In the 19th century, information transmission wasn’t as rapid as in the 21st century, making the cost of obtaining information especially high. For ordinary people, the information they could access was limited to newspapers.
However, even with such a simple way of obtaining information, one needed to spend a significant sum annually on subscriptions.
Expecting 19th-century workers to pay for information was like a pipe dream.
Not to ntion, so insider information wasn’t even available through newspapers, requiring even higher costs.
Prince Monfort was left speechless, and Jero Bonaparte continued, "Actually, the economic downturn has so connection to us as well!"
"Why do you say that?" Prince Monfort curiously asked Jero Bonaparte.
"The market is like a cake; if you take an extra bite, soone else inevitably gets less!
The economic and revolutionary crisis of 1848, while severely damaging France, also cleared so obstacles for France.
The collapse of small and dium banks in various places paved the way for the Bank of France to expand throughout France.
A portion of Britain’s capital was also cleared by that crisis, allowing dostic capital to flourish under trade protection barriers!" Jero Bonaparte explained leisurely to Prince Monfort. "However, this prosperity is not endless!
When the dostic market approaches saturation, factory owners and bankers wanting to continue expanding production inevitably start looking outward for expansion.
Yet, apart from France and Britain, the consur markets and investnt markets in other European countries are extrely fragile.
Just a slight move from British and French capital reaches the limits of what other countries can bear.
At that ti, a production capacity crisis also erges. Due to market saturation, factory owners cannot convert their products into actual money, and factories lacking financial support are forced to cut staff and reduce production just to maintain basic survival!
Once the factory owners release a large number of flexible employnt people into the market, the entire city of Paris will inevitably face conflict!"
The advent of trains, spinning machines, and paddle stears certainly elevated humanity’s level of productivity to heights never reached in a millennium. Yet, beneath this prosperous productivity lies a crisis unseen in the past thousand years.
If any dynasty does not seriously address this crisis, it will inevitably suffer retaliation from the crisis.
Moreover, Paris itself is an unruly city.
The rulers of this city, if slightly careless, would face the risk of regi change.
"Is there no proper solution to this crisis?"
Unwittingly, Prince Monfort deviated from the initial topic and asked about economic laws.
Jero Bonaparte spread his hands and replied to Prince Monfort, "Economic crisis is an inevitable crisis in the developnt of capitalism. It reflects the developnt laws of all things and does not shift according to the will of the ruling class!
Although I have consulted many economic experts, none of them have a good solution!
We can only grit our teeth and forge ahead through difficulties to overco the current crisis!
The economy has lows and highs; only by enduring the lows can we welco the next wave!
Whoever can better handle the economic downturn will surely establish an absolute dominant position in the next economic wave!
A country that cannot cope with the economic lows can only drift along, praying for the downturn to pass quickly!"
"Then... when will the next wave occur?" Prince Monfort probed further.
"This I do not know!" Jero Bonaparte shook his head and said to Prince Monfort, "It could be in the next mont, next year, or even ten years later!
If soone can open a new path beyond the steam engine, I believe a new era will begin soon!"
"A new path?" Prince Monfort asked, bewildered, not understanding what could be more convenient than the steam engine.
"A whole new system different from the steam engine; its ergence will completely change the world, like trains!"
If the invention of the steam engine was a groundbreaking industrial revolution, I am willing to call it the ’Second Industrial Revolution’!" Jero Bonaparte nodded confidently at Prince Monfort.
After hearing Jero Bonaparte’s words, Prince Monfort asked imdiately, "Judging by your tone, you seem to have already grasped the key to unlocking it!"
Jero Bonaparte stroked his short chin, not directly responding to Prince Monfort.
However, judging by his expression, he indeed has so confidence.
[1] The reason it is a 6-day work week rather than 7 days is not because factory owners are benevolent, but because the Empire and Catholicism have an agreent, reserving one day each week for workers to worship, which aids Catholicism in spreading among the labor force and also benefits the Empire’s rule.
The real loss in the agreent is borne by so small and dium enterprise owners.
Thus, many small and dium enterprise owners can’t help but secretly bless the Emperor’s family with health and prosperity whenever they think of this treaty.
Nonetheless, although France explicitly stipulates a seven-day holiday, so small factories in remote areas do not take the Empire’s laws seriously.
They collude with local priests, exacerbating the exploitation of workers.
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