Make France Great Again
Chapter 226 Eastern Strategic Layout

Chapter 226: Chapter 226 Eastern Strategic Layout

Promoting cooperation between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises to achieve coordination has always been part of Jerome Bonaparte’s future plan. Only in this way can the entire country manage its economic planning more smoothly.

However, the "throwing itself into the net" of the Saint-Etienne State-Owned Factory allowed Jerome Bonaparte to advance some plans ahead of schedule. Wasn’t the original purpose of Jerome Bonaparte in creating the Paris Northern Industrial Group aimed at making big money?

In 19th-century France, the fast way to make money was to throw oneself into the Paris Stock Exchange.

Only "fools" (Emile Pereire counts as one, Adolphe Schneider counts as another) would invest money into physical industries.

The director of the Saint-Etienne State-Owned Factory, considering the future development of the factory, agreed with Jerome Bonaparte’s opinion.

If the state-owned factory loses its orders from the Ministry of War, the only road left might be that of bankruptcy.

Do not think that just because it is labeled as a state-owned arsenal, it cannot go bankrupt. In 1848, many national factories and state-owned factories in France went bankrupt without hesitation.

Let alone them, even the semi-official institution of the Bank of France nearly fell into the tide of bankruptcy.

The director, having experienced the economic crisis two years ago, would not believe the lie that state-owned arsenals cannot go bankrupt.

The Saint-Etienne State-Owned Arsenal and the Paris Northern Industrial Group, under the witness of President Jerome Bonaparte, signed a "Gentlemen’s Agreement."

The Paris Northern Industry will transfer a portion of the Ministry of War’s orders to the Saint-Etienne Arsenal, and then the Saint-Etienne State-Owned Factory will sell 5% of its shares as compensation. The shares will not be controlled by the Paris Northern Industrial Group; instead, the two parties will establish a joint company using the shares, which will manage them.

Since the Saint Etienne Company itself did not have much start-up capital, Saint Etienne needed to mortgage another 30% of the shares in the joint venture company. All in all, the Saint-Etienne State-Owned Arsenal mortgaged 35% of its shares.

"By the way! Considering the Saint-Etienne Arsenal has different production methods than the Paris Northern Group, I suggest you can come to learn from us! Of course, if needed, we can send someone to your factory for guidance!" Basilio said to the director.

With semi-flow and specialized processes, although the Northern Industrial Group is not a technical match for the veteran craftsmen of the Saint-Etienne State-Owned Arsenal, it far surpasses the state-owned arsenal in speed.

In mass production, speed is often more important than quality.

"No need! I believe in our factory’s speed!" The director proudly told Basilio.

He had enough confidence in the Saint-Etienne State-Owned Arsenal.

"I believe more in scientific management!" Basilio retorted without hesitation, "Sir, if we cannot reach a consensus in this area, I’m afraid our upcoming cooperation will be difficult to carry on!"

The director once again turned his gaze to Jerome Bonaparte, but this time Jerome Bonaparte also did not choose to help the director. He too suggested that the director conduct a field study.

The director, unable to defy under the circumstances, had to agree to Basilio’s "suggestion." He would visit the Paris Northern Industrial Group accompanied by Basilio.

However, in his heart, he still did not believe that a newly established group could achieve much success.

"Alright! Gentlemen, your disagreement is over!" Jerome Bonaparte said with a smile to the director and Basilio: "Would you accompany me for a meal?"

"It would be an honor!" The director and Basilio responded.

Under the guidance of Valerovsky, Jerome Bonaparte and the two proceeded to a small dining room on the lower level of the Elysee Palace, and after a sumptuous meal, Basilio and the director left together.

Watching the departing backs of Basilio and the director, Jerome Bonaparte spoke: "I think it’s necessary to enhance the communication between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, prompting them to jointly serve France. What do you think?"

"Mr. President, in what manner should we promote this?" Valerovsky inquired: "By fully government-led, or by private self-operation?"

"If it’s completely government-led, it will certainly cause resistance among those factory owners in France; if it’s operated by the private sector, it would deviate from our route. I plan to establish a semi-autonomous institution, which will be spearheaded by the Ministry of War, serving as a semi-official organization. The Ministry of War members can dispatch officials to coordinate within the system," Jerome Bonaparte provided a middle-ground option.

The factory owners in France both want the state’s trade protection and for the state to allow them freedom from interference.

This semi-official institution can basically meet the greatest common denominator of their desires.

In the following days, Jerome Bonaparte, along with all secretariat members and some top-tier mathematicians from the French Academy of Sciences (from Jerome Bonaparte’s perspective), jointly drafted a concept for the Military Industrial Committee and proposals for the standardization of the French military industry.

When the Military Industrial Committee and the standardized management process were delivered to the Ministry of War, they received unanimous consent, led by Minister Reniao in the War Department.

The Ministry of War invited the Paris Northern Industrial Group, Saint-André State-Owned Arsenal, Chatelet State-Owned Arsenal, and Tira Arsenal to jointly participate.

[During this period, the French arsenal owners were unwilling to be constrained by others; most of them did not want to join in. Years later, these military enterprise owners began to regret not joining, and they desperately tried to join. However, by then they would need to pay a regular membership fee.]

As the leader, Bashirio served as the deputy chairman of the Military Industrial Committee, while the honorary chairman title was given to a retired Bonaparte faction general from the Ministry of War. The directors of the major state-owned arsenals served as standing committee members.

An organization similar to the military-industrial complex was being created in the hands of Jerome Bonaparte.

After resolving a series of events caused by new orders, the War Department’s Military Affairs Bureau report was again placed on Jerome Bonaparte’s desk.

The report’s content was: regarding the types and quantities of rifles manufactured and stored by the French Army.

"Truly a major land army!" Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but sarcastically remark upon seeing the data.

The report stated that the entire French Army had roughly 1 million MLE1842 smoothbore guns (homeland + colonies), while the entire French Army assembled was just over 420,000 people, making the number of rifles more than twice that of the entire army.

Even if each person was equipped with a gun, there would still be hundreds of thousands of extra guns for the entire army.

In just eight years, the army manufactured a large amount of "industrial waste," leaving Jerome Bonaparte with a serious headache on how to handle the disposal.

Jerome Bonaparte first ruled out the plan to sell weapons to Europe. The MLE1842 smoothbore gun was not an advanced weapon; even the Tsar Nicholas I had alternatives available, allowing them to entirely bypass purchasing Jerome Bonaparte’s second-hand defective goods. The Indian region was also not a part of Jerome Bonaparte’s broader considerations; the currently peaceful India did not yet require these rifles, and the country couldn’t successfully absorb 500,000 guns.

Countries not in a state of war also could not digest such extensive inventory, and Mexico and the Deswal Republic naturally also appeared on Jerome Bonaparte’s exclusion list.

Thus, the only options left in front of Jerome Bonaparte were the Ottoman Empire, Haiti, and China, all countries about to embark on large-scale unrest.

Especially the war in China from 1851 to 1864, nearly 13 years of warfare nearly drained this decaying empire’s blood, yet disappointingly, despite such loss, they had not carved out a new realm.

If Jerome Bonaparte remembered correctly, Hong Xiuquan would revolt on January 11, 1851. Deploying nearly half a million firearms to the battlefield in batches would undoubtedly bring significant changes to the Eastern Empire.

Despite Jerome Bonaparte’s personal distaste for those revolutionaries donning the cloak of religion, he couldn’t deny that putting aside a certain God’s unfortunate second son, the core team was still somewhat admirable.

Particularly the King Yi, Shi Dakai, who was praised by a certain Great Man.

In summary, they were much stronger than certain masters of consolidation, practitioners of the Malthusian theory, and Confucian Wahhabi saints like Zeng Guofan.

At the very least, they didn’t utter: "For twenty to thirty years, the undeserving to be killed have filled the valleys, leading to today’s bandit scourge!"

In a previous life, Jerome Bonaparte had often cursed this nauseating Confucian "Grandmaster."

In the present, for him to support this Confucian "Grandmaster" and his "followers," Jerome Bonaparte would rather consider intervening directly with the French Army.

Undoubtedly, the addition of 500,000 MLE1842s would further fracture the fragile system in China, especially with Jerome Bonaparte being the kind of person who "hates" China.

The Great Cyan Fruit would inevitably crumble in this war, and if God’s second son and God’s father didn’t demonstrate exceptional leadership, then the entire Divine Land would certainly see a situation reminiscent of the Late Yuan.

The Han Warlords everywhere would fight each other; only in such a struggle could the deeply rooted landlord class be shattered. A warlord knowledgeable in modern military and science would emerge from the melee, even a person like God’s father would be stronger than the existing ruling class.

By then, Jerome Bonaparte’s dear "brother," Tsar Alexander II, would have to consider his own precarious position. In balancing these considerations, how could they dare to wage war against France?

Subsequent series of tragedies similar to those during the First Sino-Japanese War would also not occur again.

With determination, Jerome Bonaparte set down the report and summoned Marcel Yale.

"Your Majesty!" Since becoming the acting director of the National Intelligence Bureau, Marcel Yale’s demeanor grew more malevolent, like a viper ready to strike.

"What do you think of China?" Jerome Bonaparte straightforwardly inquired about Marcel Yale’s opinion.

Marcel Yale showed a hint of surprise and sincerely responded, "Your Majesty, I am not very familiar with that country!"

"Well, from now on, you need to maintain an interest!" Jerome Bonaparte tapped on the War Department’s firearms list: "I’ll give you a few days; you must understand this country as quickly as possible!"

"Yes!" Marcel Yale swiftly replied.