Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 654 563: Supreme Louis Award
For the two Nordic countries—Sweden and Denmark, they are both barely alive and, being far from the core of the European Continent, they do not require much attention.
However, the small states of Germany must be protected for their independence as much as possible.
Although these small countries generally follow Austria or Prussia, they each have their own schemes and, with the right incentives, they could potentially embrace France—at least covertly support France.
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Historically, Napoleon's approach of extinguishing all these small states was an absolute mistake. Even more bewildering was that Napoleon expended energy to unify the small German states into the Rhenish Confederation!
It was practically handing the German states a "limited experience card" to unify the German Empire...
Initially, a large number of local feudal lords were integrated into this system, Church powers became unified, and even the same laws had to be implemented.
Later, when Germany unified, many administrative and judicial systems did not need to be independently developed but could be directly copied from the Rhenish Federation.
And for the people in the German regions, they only saw Napoleon as an invader, believing they had lost their freedom and equality. Thus, they began to unite and resist France, which, in the process, fostered German nationalism.
Joseph glanced at the map and saw that the most important country left was the Ottoman Empire.
Honestly, trade volume between France and the Ottoman Empire was quite substantial, but befriending the Ottoman Empire would inevitably offend Russia and Austria—both of whom were eyeing the vast territories of the Ottomans.
Moreover, because of issues in North Africa, the Ottoman Empire was not favorably disposed towards France, but they also dared not be too aggressive. Especially now that the North African ports were controlled by France, the Ottomans couldn't maintain Mediterranean trade without France's involvement.
Therefore, it was still possible to strengthen trade ties with the Ottoman Empire.
Once war began, with the seas blockaded by British forces, Mediterranean trade would be the lifeblood of France's economy. Although weak, the Ottoman Empire was still a very wealthy nation with huge market potential, which, if well-developed, could provide substantial trade income for France.
As for how to find a balance between politics and economics, that needed careful planning…
While Joseph was pondering, he heard Eman gently knock on the door and say, "Your Highness, according to the schedule, you need to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Great Scholar Palace at two o'clock in the afternoon."
Joseph looked up at the clock; there were 40 minutes left, so he had to set down his pen and stood up, signaling Eman to fetch his coat.
The Great Scholar Palace was a very important part of his talent acquisition plan.
Indeed, the French talent acquisition plan had been in the works for a year and was finally officially launched. The inauguration of the Great Scholar Palace was the symbol of this.
In addition to the Great Scholar Palace, other important components of the talent acquisition plan included:
Reorganization of the French Academy of Sciences; the formal awarding of the Supreme Louis Award; the launch of the Natural Science Journal.
Although dark clouds were beginning to form over the European Continent, Joseph was acutely aware that talent was always the most precious resource.
Even during wartime, it was quite possible for a genius's sudden insight to bring about a new invention capable of altering the course of the war.
Thus, no matter how busy he was, he had to make time to pay attention to talent acquisition.
As Joseph left the building, he saw Chief Minister Brian, Trade Minister Bailly, and the President of the French Academy of Sciences, Jean Baptiste Le Roy, among others, waiting in the hall ready to accompany him to the Great Scholar Palace.
Soon, a few carriages left the Tuileries Palace, heading towards the Saint-Germain District.
In the carriage, Le Roy, the president who rarely saw the Crown Prince, appeared somewhat nervous. Wiping the sweat from his palms on his trousers, he pulled out a document and handed it to Joseph with both hands: "Your Highness, this is the final list of winners for the Supreme Louis Award..."
The so-called "Supreme Louis Award" was an award set up by Joseph as a counterpart to the later Nobel Prize.
To expand the impact of the award, the Supreme Louis Award Committee spent nearly 400,000 francs on promotion across Europe alone. For six months, newspapers in various countries were filled with news about the award.
The committee consisted of 5 permanent members and 25 jurors. More than half of the members were from foreign countries, to emphasize fairness and impartiality.
Of course, the jurors were paid by the French Academy of Sciences, and their office was in Paris. If Joseph really wanted to manipulate things behind the scenes, it wouldn't be difficult, but at least for now, there was no need for that.
Joseph unfurled the list and saw:
Physics Award: Henry Cavendish (England). Award-winning achievement—determining the gravitational constant.
Chemistry Award: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (France). Award-winning achievement—elucidating the nature of combustion.
Mathematics Award: Joseph Louis Lagrange (France). Award-winning achievement—developing the theory of first-order partial differential equations.
Biomedical Award: John Hunter (England). Award-winning achievement—making substantial contributions to advancing pathological anatomy.
Literature Award: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Hesse). Award-winning work—The Sorrows of Young Werther.
Joseph nodded slightly; the selection results were very fair, with nothing to criticize. He had rectified the historical oversight of the Nobel Prize—its lack of a Mathematics Award—and correspondingly, had canceled the Peace Prize.
At the end of the 18th century, discussing world peace? That was laughable; no one cared about it.
The yearning for peace only emerged after Napoleon and the European nations had fought for decades, leaving scorched earth, and it wasn't until after World War I ended that world peace was recognized by all.
Le Roy, watching the Crown Prince, cautiously said, "Your Highness, actually, the committee always believed you should have won the Chemistry and Biomedical Awards... Your 'new chemical reaction equations' have had a huge impact on chemical research. And 'Prince's Blessing,' which you developed, has saved countless lives, from French nobles to Russian serfs,"
He spread his hands: "But you insisted on giving up the awards."
Joseph nodded slightly, embarrassed: "As a member of the Royal Family and being comparatively young, receiving an award in the first year could easily lead to foreign scholars questioning the fairness of the Supreme Louis Award."
In fact, he always felt that most of what he came up with was copied from the great minds of later times, and while using them to develop the country was one thing, using them to win awards felt somewhat inappropriate.
Moreover, as he mentioned, the first Supreme Louis Award allowed more foreigners to win, which would make the public see the committee as fair.
Actually, as for the Biomedical Award, Lamark was definitely qualified, but for the sake of publicity, it was given to John Hunter. Lamark would have to wait for the next round.
