Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Control Public Opinion, Use It for My Benefit!
Robel continued, “Your Highness, if we forcibly shut down the newspaper office without the court’s support, public opinion will be extremely unfavorable to the Royal Family…”
“As you know, a few years ago there was a fuss over something called ‘freedom of the press’. The Royal Police arrested some people, and as a result, a large number of articles criticizing the Royal Family emerged. In the end, His Majesty had to release them.”
This was the peculiar situation in France at the time.
Under the guidance of the nobility, novelists and tabloid journalists frequently fabricated ‘little stories’ about the Royal Family. And as long as these people weren’t caught red-handed, they wouldn’t encounter any trouble. For the common people, reading various scandalous anecdotes about the Royal Family had become a routine pastime.
On the contrary, any sign of dissatisfaction from the Royal Family would be seized upon and blown out of proportion, leading to all sorts of criticism.
In the end, it was the result of the Royal Family completely losing control over the narrative in public discourse.
Seeing that Therese remained silent, Robel carefully added:
“Moreover, Your Highness, shutting down a few newspaper offices won’t have much effect. Close one, and two more will spring up, continuing to fabricate rumors. Even if all the unofficial newspapers were shut down, as the old King Louis XV once did, they would continue with pamphlets…”
“Actually, Her Majesty the Queen’s point just now was to try to control the situation as much as possible. Of course, if there is concrete evidence, we must severely punish the rumor-mongers.
“Look, like the editor of ‘The Joyful One’, I found a manuscript of rumors bearing Her Majesty the Queen’s name in his office and arrested him immediately. But for the other newspapers, we don’t have evidence yet.”
Therese glared at him, indignantly saying, “If the newspapers lack evidence of insulting the Royal Family, those pamphlets must have some, right?
“I heard from Dati that those are full of undisguised insults against my mother and me! Why don’t you arrest them?”
Robel replied with a pained expression, “Your Highness, those pamphlets are typically written by one or two people in dim basements, then secretly taken to print, making them very difficult to find…”
Therese fell silent at once.
As far back as she could remember, she had heard all sorts of rumors defaming the King and Queen, which had never ceased. She also knew that if the Secret Police could catch those people, they would have acted long ago.
Joseph, frowning deeply, had come here with the intention of using the Secret Police to deal with the newspapers attacking the tax bill.
But Robel’s reminder had made him realize that matters were far from simple.
At the moment, the Nobility Group was likely just waiting for the Royal Family to use force, and then they would immediately incite public opinion, connecting the tax bill to issues of the ‘Royal Family’s abuse of power’. This would make the tax bill even more problematic.
The judiciary and public opinion supported each other, and the nobility had a firm grip on this aspect. It was no wonder that when Louis XVI was guillotined back then, he had no chance to defend himself.
Therese’s eyes suddenly reddened, and she curtseyed slightly to Robel, saying, “Earl Robel, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you, it’s not your fault.”
Robel hastily said, “I understand your anger, Your Highness, there is no need for apologies.”
Therese, with tears brimming in her eyes, took her plump blue-gray Chartreux cat from her maid’s hands and turned to walk out of the room.
Joseph wanted to go up and comfort her, but for a moment he didn’t know what to say.
He really wanted to disregard everything and raid those unscrupulous newspapers, but reason told him that he would fall into the trap of the Nobility Group.
Just as Robel had said, shutting down one newspaper would lead to countless others, and behind them, pamphlets.
Even during the most stringent control of public opinion under Louis XV, journalists arrested and put in prison quietly started a ‘newspaper’ behind the high walls. It was also during that time that liberal thinkers like Rousseau and Montesquieu emerged like bamboo shoots after the rain.
By this time, France had already been baptized by Enlightenment thought, and the concept of freedom of the press had deeply rooted in people’s hearts, making it impossible to control with absolute power as had been done in the past…
As he reached this conclusion, Joseph suddenly froze.
No, he realized he might have been led into a fallacy by his anger.
Why control public opinion with absolute power?
The goal should not be to control public opinion but to harness it, to have it work for me rather than attempting to eliminate it!
With this thought flashing through his mind, Joseph felt as if a light shone before him, and his thoughts broadened.
Just then, Therese’s maid passed by him. He reached out and pulled her aside, whispering, “Please tell my sister that I will make all the rumors vanish and ensure that the people who started them will apologize to her.”
Surprise flickered in Dati’s eyes. Although she believed the Crown Prince was merely trying to console the princess, she nodded gratefully, “Thank you, Your Highness. I will be sure to convey your message to the princess!”
Joseph took his leave from Robel and walked towards his own quarters, pondering the ways to control public opinion.
As someone from the modern era who had experienced the fights among various entities on internet platforms, he knew well that ultimately, it’s all about the size of the audience.
If your voice can be heard by 90% of people and others can only influence 10%, then what you say becomes the truth!
The media in this era were essentially newspapers, books, pamphlets, and the like. So, how can these be leveraged to quickly increase one’s audience?
He immediately thought of how Master Jin drove his nascent newspaper, “Ming Pao,” up the bestseller lists in a short period using “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.”
In the 18th century, people had few entertainment options, yet he had many powerful “weapons” at his disposal, each of them not any less mighty than “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.”
In terms of content, even if all the newspapers and publishers in Europe were tethered together, they would be no match for him.
Therefore, he needed his own publication first, and then to overwhelm his rivals with superior content, quickly spreading it among readers.
With this in mind, he immediately said to Eman, “Please help me gather information on all the newspapers and printing workshops in Paris, the sooner the better.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Eman turned and left, while Joseph continued to fall into deep thought: after having the content, the next step would be pricing and distribution channels…
Various plans gradually took shape in Joseph’s mind, and his frown slowly smoothed out. It was just a battle for public opinion, after all. Bring it on.
The Royal Family had abandoned the ground on public opinion for so many years. It was time to take it back!
Before three in the afternoon, Eman came hurrying back, dusty and weary, placing a large stack of documents respectfully in front of Joseph.
These were the detailed files of all the newspapers in Paris. Newspapers were required to be registered with the court, and since registration data were not confidential, they were easy to obtain.
Joseph carefully perused the information of all 57 newspapers in Paris and various printing workshops, eventually setting his eyes on the Paris Commercial News.
It was a small newspaper with a circulation of only about 800 copies, but it met his needs perfectly.