CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 354 ANTI-ADVENTURISM

"On behalf of His Holiness the Pope, I bless these newlyweds to support each other under the watchful eye of the Lord and overcome challenges together! May the Lord bless you, this pair of newlyweds..."

The Archbishop of Paris, with a devout expression, conveyed the Pope’s and God’s blessings to Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta.

Jerome Bonaparte, who felt indifferent to the so-called blessings of God and the Pope, listened expressionlessly to the Archbishop’s lengthy formalities.

If not for the purpose of making his title more sacred, Jerome Bonaparte would not be willing to engage in such meaningless and extremely tedious activities.

To ensure the smooth conduct of this wedding, the Tuileries Palace spent over 5 million francs from start to finish.

Just purchasing flowers and decorations from the Tuileries Palace to Notre-Dame Cathedral cost nearly 500,000 francs.

For the "frugal" Jerome Bonaparte, this was the first time he engaged in such an extravagant and labor-intensive act of spending.

There was no other choice; one must compromise with reality.

Furthermore, a wedding like this happens only once in a lifetime, spending a little money is rightful!

Jerome Bonaparte thus comforted himself.

After a round of prolonged formalities ended, the Archbishop of Paris handed the pure gold crown placed on the table to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Your Majesty, please place it on the Empress," the Archbishop said to Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte raised the crown with both hands and gently placed it atop Augusta’s head.

Augusta’s closed eyes opened when Jerome Bonaparte placed the crown on her head.

Within Notre-Dame Cathedral, nobles, generals, and the new elite bankers immediately stood up, shouting: "Long live His Majesty! Long live the Empress!"

Then, Mokar emerged from the back of Notre-Dame, holding a small box engraved with exquisite patterns in his hands.

Mokar came before Jerome Bonaparte and presented the box. Jerome Bonaparte opened it himself, revealing a ring inside.

The ring, made of pure silver with a red gemstone set in the gem slot, appeared exceptionally luxurious and splendid.

Jerome Bonaparte took out the ring, gently held Augusta’s hand, and slowly placed it onto her middle finger.

When the ring was fully placed on Augusta’s middle finger, Jerome Bonaparte felt a natural surge of pride.

Being a time traveler, he sat in a position historically occupied by his cousin, marrying the orthodox princess that his cousin could never aspire to.

From a certain perspective, Jerome Bonaparte had completely surpassed the historical Napoleon III.

This sense of happiness was something he could never experience in his previous life. Although there was still a considerable gap between Jerome Bonaparte and his uncle.

The wedding continued until the evening and only then came to a conclusion. Amidst cheers, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta left Notre-Dame Cathedral and returned to the Tuileries Palace, as the Bonaparte Clan’s dominion over France gradually stabilized at this moment.

That night, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta spent a wonderful night together.

On the morning of November 1st.

The sky was still dim when Jerome Bonaparte carefully slipped out of bed and, treading lightly, left the bedroom to return to his study.

During the wedding preparations, Jerome Bonaparte had not been working, so many documents that required his review and amendment were piled up by the secretariat.

All the documents were placed on the desk in the study. Staring at the mountainous pile of files, Jerome Bonaparte sighed, then glanced at the clock in the corner of the study with the corner of his eye. It was now 6 a.m., and he estimated it would take until around 9 a.m. to finish all the documents.

No sooner said than done, Jerome Bonaparte sat on a cushioned chair and began to browse the documents’ contents.

These included reports on Bordeaux Province’s grape cultivation, Paris Region cooperatives, and railway transport summaries...

Jerome Bonaparte meticulously examined all the content, occasionally frowning, sometimes breaking into a smile.

Unknowingly, nearly two hours had passed when suddenly the door to the study opened.

Hearing movement at the door, Jerome Bonaparte raised his head to glance in its direction. The Empress of France, Augusta, stood at the entrance, watching Jerome Bonaparte.

"Hmm? You’re awake!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Augusta while continuing to peruse the document contents with his head down.

"Hmm?" Augusta walked slowly to Jerome Bonaparte’s side, surprised to see the documents piled on the desk: "Why are there so many?"

"This is already the content handed to me after being filtered through various departments and the Secretariat layer by layer!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged, saying, "Every aspect of France needs my oversight, so how can the workload not be heavy?"

"But you don’t need to work so fiercely!" Augusta said softly to Jerome Bonaparte, concerned that his health might not withstand the strain.

"There is no way. Every aspect now requires scrutiny, and if we’re not careful, places can easily come up with a lot of big news," Jerome Bonaparte said, pointing to the document in his hand to Augustus. "This is a report on cooperatives from the central province!"

Jerome Bonaparte handed the cooperative report to Augusta.

After reading it from top to bottom, Augusta looked at Jerome Bonaparte in confusion and asked, "This report seems fine! Aren’t many people joining the cooperative?"

"That’s precisely the biggest problem!" Jerome Bonaparte responded helplessly. "According to this report, more than 70% of the farmers in their province have joined! Since when did farmers show such high enthusiasm? If every farmer understood the benefits of cooperatives, why would I have ordered the establishment of Agricultural Colleges in every province back then!"

"What do you mean?" Augusta seemed to understand Jerome Bonaparte’s implication.

"Either the people below are fooling us, or someone is forcibly using administrative orders to achieve their goals for political achievements!" Jerome Bonaparte sneered.

No matter where or when, the bureaucratic class behaves the same. They will go to any length for political achievements.

Such people were called ruthless officials in ancient times.

"And it’s not just the central areas; similar situations have appeared in some southern regions!" Jerome Bonaparte pulled out several documents from the pile on the right and sighed, "Professor Jean Dulles is a competent professor, but his understanding of bureaucracy appears to be still in the ivory tower."

"I don’t think so!" Augusta expressed a different opinion.

"Oh? What do you think?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Augusta.

"The reason these documents are here is probably that your minister noticed something amiss!" Augusta explained to Jerome Bonaparte. "Otherwise, they might never have reached your desk. Didn’t you say all documents are filtered by various departments before reaching you!"

"You have a point!" Jerome Bonaparte gently stroked his jaw.

"So, what do you plan to do?" At this point, Augusta had fully assumed the role of both wife and assistant.

"What else can we do? Of course, conduct a field inspection! Without investigation, there is no right to speak!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged as he spoke to Augusta, then added, "Let’s treat it as a honeymoon for the two of us!"

"Alright!" Augusta had a happy smile on her face.

Jerome Bonaparte continued to flip through the contents below, while Augusta assisted in organizing what he had reviewed.

On November 2nd, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta decided to leave Paris to inspect the provinces, with their first stop being the province that claimed 70% of the farmers eagerly joined the cooperative.

The results of the surprise inspection were just as Jerome Bonaparte had anticipated. The vast majority of farmers in the province were coerced into joining the cooperatives, with many not even knowing what a cooperative was before joining.

After some investigation, Jerome Bonaparte found that most cooperatives were far from fulfilling the obligations they should and were instead a complete mess.

Only a few cooperatives organized by reputable priests or slightly affluent farmers showed positive feedback.

Moreover, the province’s cooperatives did not even reach the proclaimed 70%, barely around 40% at best.

Even so, the entire province was in disarray.

Jerome Bonaparte then inspected the local agricultural schools, only to find issues with staffing, as many agricultural schools couldn’t recruit many students.

Agricultural loans prioritized nobles and large landlords, and the wealthy ’initially rich’ group used loans to begin small-scale land mergers.

The policies initially favorable to farmers became oppressive measures in local areas.

Bureaucratic coercion for efficiency resulted in policies that reminded Jerome Bonaparte of a time over a century later, bringing a sense of melancholy.

He felt a sense of sorrow as any good policy in the hands of irresponsible local officials turns into an act of harm against the people.

Upon experiencing the corruption of the bureaucratic class, Jerome Bonaparte immediately dismissed the governor of that province as well as several city mayors, and appointed a capable official as governor. Though this capable official was a member of the (moderate) Republican Faction, Jerome Bonaparte resolutely chose to appoint him.

In Jerome Bonaparte’s words: "I would rather have a capable official from the Republican Faction than an incompetent fool harming the people."

Upon taking office, the new governor quickly selected a group of mayors familiar with grassroots operations from the city council. Most were members of the Orthodox and Orléans Factions familiar with grassroots operations.

After the new governor and mayors took office, they immediately issued an order allowing farmers to dissolve cooperatives if they were unwilling to establish them.

Nearly 60% of the cooperatives were directly dissolved, and most farmers returned to working individually.

Seeing the joy on the faces of the farmers in front of them, Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and sighed again, "The road ahead is long and arduous!"

With the first province receiving a thunderous blow, Jean Dulles, understanding Jerome Bonaparte’s stance, also immediately took action, and the agricultural inspection team began checking provinces that exceeded cooperative establishment targets.

As expected, provinces that overachieved targets failed completely.

Subsequently, Jean Dulles also issued an order to dissolve unqualified cooperatives.

Jerome Bonaparte also severely criticized the provinces that used administrative orders to complete tasks, dismissing another batch of incompetent governors, while promoting a group of capable officials.