Bury the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 149 Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize

It is quite appropriate to use abalone to describe the French nobles-living in the abalone for a long time without smelling the smell, it means that staying with the French nobles for a long time will cause the nose to fail and you will not be able to smell the smell.

For example, Zeng Cheng, after staying with Pierre for a long time, Zeng Cheng felt that his nose was almost unable to distinguish the smell.

Just for the sake of all the people in Europa, Zeng Cheng decided to hold his nose and bear it.

After all, I am still young, as long as I can get rid of Europa within my term of office, I don’t even need to get rid of all of them, I just need to get rid of some of them, and I am eligible to go down in history, not to mention the Temple of Confucianism, at least this statue is also worthy of the imperial mausoleum.

In order to be famous in history, coupled with Pierre's respectful and student-like attitude, Zeng Cheng finally decided to ignore the strange smell of Pierre's body mixed with perfume and body odor.

Zeng Cheng smiled and said, "Has the tightness of the French treasury ever been alleviated?"

Pierre replied respectfully: "Thanks to the Prime Minister's guidance, Pierre suddenly realized that the tension in the French treasury has been greatly relieved. His Majesty the King of France also asked me to express his respects to you."

Zeng Cheng smiled and waved his hands, and said: "It's just some simple methods. Even if I don't say it, the king of your country will be able to think of it sooner or later. It's nothing."

Zeng Cheng's attitude made Pierre trust and admire him even more.

Look, look, this should be the style of a gentleman mentioned in the books of the Ming Dynasty, right?

If it were the ignorant savages in Europa, they would not know what kind of rewards they would want in the face of such great achievements, but you see, the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty clearly proposed such a good Suggestions, but people don't say that they have any credit.

One is greedy and shameless, and the other is high-spirited and upright. The two are compared and judged.

Just when Pierre secretly complained about those "ignorant savages" in Europa, while secretly making up his mind to learn from Zeng Cheng this kind of gentlemanly style, Zeng Cheng smiled and said: "However, check Corrupt officials and some aristocrats with evil intentions are only a temporary measure after all, which may be able to alleviate the tightness of the national treasury, but it cannot completely solve the problem."

Pierre's heart moved, Dang Shi imitated the etiquette among the people of Ming Dynasty, bowed his hands to Zeng Cheng, and asked, "I don't know if the Prime Minister has any good ideas?"

Zeng Cheng smiled slightly, and did not answer Pierre's question directly. Instead, he looked at Pierre and asked, "What is the status of France in the land of Europa?"

Speaking of France's status in Europa, Pierre couldn't help feeling a little bit pained.

Back then, the ancestors of France were also rich.

However, with the death of the Habsburg king of Spain in 1700, he became extinct and the throne was vacant. The French Bourbon dynasty and the Austrian Habsburg dynasty fought for the Spanish throne and triggered a 13-year Spanish succession war.

On September 1701, 9, Britain, the Netherlands and Austria formed an alliance, and most of the German princes also stood on the side of the alliance and declared war on France. It finally ended in April 7. Britain and France signed a peace treaty in Utrecht, the Netherlands, announcing that Kazakhstan The power of the Boothsburg royal family was restored, Austria continued to maintain its status as a great power, Philip V retained the Spanish throne, but gave up the succession to the French throne, France and Spain would never merge, and at the same time, Britain obtained the strategically important Gibraltar from Spain , obtained the right to monopolize black slaves in the Spanish American colonies, and obtained North American territories such as Newfoundland, Arcadia and Hudson Bay from France.

The signing of the Treaty of Utrecht meant that French hegemony ceased to exist. Although the status of a continental power was preserved, its maritime power was greatly weakened.

On August 1756, 8, marked by Prussia's attack on Saxony, the Seven Years' War officially began.

This war is a war between Britain, Prussia and Austria and France. Naturally, Britain has gained an advantage in the contest between Britain and France.

On February 1763 and February 2, 10, Britain, France and Aup signed the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Hubertusberg respectively. France gave up most of its possessions in the Americas and divided Canada and the territory east of the Mississippi River except Orleans. All were ceded to the United Kingdom, thus establishing British maritime hegemony.

Of course, France is vast after all. As the saying goes, a centipede is dead but not stiff. Although France is no longer what it used to be, when it comes to its status in Europe, France can be regarded as one of the top powers .

Thinking of this, Pierre said, "France's status in Europe is not as good as Ming's status in the Far East, but it has many colonies, so it can be considered a big country in Europe."

Hearing Pierre's answer, Zeng Cheng said with a smile: "In this case, it will be much easier to deal with. If I want to completely solve the problem of the emptiness of the French treasury, I have two methods here."

Hearing this, Pierre immediately pricked up his ears.

Look, look, it is the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, even in the face of the problem of 20 billion francs, he can still come up with two ways of writing and military. Compared with the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, those so-called scholars or the ruling Officials and the like are simply useless moths, and they should all be pushed out and shot.

Secretly admiring in his heart, Pierre immediately stood up and bowed to Zeng Cheng with unskilled movements: "Please teach me, Prime Minister?"

Zeng Cheng nodded with a smile, and said, "The so-called Wu method is very simple."

"There is an old saying in my Ming Dynasty, which is called debt repayment at death - even if there is no creditor, naturally there will be no problem of owed money."

"Of course, this method may cause turmoil in France. It is a bad strategy that should not be used lightly unless it is a last resort. The king of your country would not consider it."

Pierre felt that this matter was not certain. After all, the deficit of the French treasury was 20 billion francs. Louis XVI must have had the idea of ​​killing all creditors, but the consequences of this idea were too terrible, so Louis XVI Liu also had to give up this tempting idea.

After shaking his head, Pierre asked, "Then I don't know what grammar is? Reduce unnecessary expenses and find ways to increase more income."

Pierre didn't think it was such a good idea either.

Speaking of open source, in fact, the French royal family and the French government have been working hard to find a way, and they only need to learn from my Qing Dynasty and engage in those messy exorbitant taxes.

But when it comes to throttling, there is really no way. After all, Louis XVI has a prodigal daughter-in-law, and Mrs. Deficit is obsessed with things like balls, building villas, and gardening all day long, all of which cost money Big family.

And when Pierre secretly felt his pain, Zeng Cheng went on to say: "However, this method is also a solution to the symptoms rather than the root cause. It may be able to alleviate the problem for a while, but it cannot completely eradicate the problem of France's financial deficit."

Hearing what Zeng Cheng said, Pierre couldn't help being a little confused.

The two methods, one civil and one military, were first proposed by your Prime Minister Zeng. However, you said that these two methods can only alleviate the strain on the French treasury, but cannot eradicate it.

So what the hell do you mean?
Zeng Cheng glanced at the bewildered Pierre, and said with a smile, "Why, don't you understand?"

Pierre nodded, and said honestly: "Forgive me for being stupid, I really don't understand it."

Zeng Cheng hummed, picked up his teacup again, took a sip of tea, and said: "The so-called way of governing the country is actually between one piece of paper and one piece of paper, one piece of paper and one weapon. The simple use of force will lead to a situation that will not last long. Blindly use it Wen, there will be a situation where softness cannot be defended."

"If we want to truly solve the problem of financial strain in France, we must not only increase income and reduce expenditure, but also initiate reforms from top to bottom, reducing taxes on civilians, increasing taxation on merchants, and cracking down on those who own fiefdoms but are not interested in the court. Useless nobleman."

Pierre's heart moved, and he asked: "Those nobles are quite powerful. The previous attack on the Rohan family was already causing a lot of controversy in France. If we increase the attack on the nobles, I'm afraid His Majesty the King will also be in trouble? "

Zeng Cheng shook his head, and said with a smile: "What trouble can there be? You directly attack the Luohan family, which will naturally make other nobles think in their hearts. It is also expected that they will resist the orders of your country's lord." .”

"However, the lord of your country can use the name of the French treasury to recruit those families and the knights they support, let them use troops against any country, and at the same time preserve the strength of the army under the lord of your country. , those nobles are naturally nothing to worry about."

In any case, Pierre never expected that Zeng Cheng would solve the seemingly complicated problem that caused headaches for the entire French royal family and government system.

Just as Pierre secretly admired it, Zeng Cheng said meaningfully: "If it is a top-down change, it is better to control it. If it triggers a bottom-up change, I am afraid it will be an earth-shaking one." In the end, you have to be careful."

Pierre was startled, and quickly asked, "Please teach me, the Prime Minister?"

Zeng Cheng nodded and said: "Since Shang Yang's reform, there has been no change without bloodshed. This is the principle that governing a big country is like cooking small fish—small fish are fragile and must be cooked carefully over a slow fire. Only by keeping the small fish intact, if you blindly fry it with a big fire, it will definitely be broken."

"If the lord of your country wants to reform, he must first start with ordinary people to consolidate his foundation. Only when the foundation is stable can he safely attack those wealthy businessmen and nobles. If the foundation is not stable, there will be a chance of overthrow Disaster, this is the principle that the government is like a boat, and the people are like water, and water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it."

Hearing this, Pierre immediately took a deep breath, bowed to Zeng Cheng solemnly, and said, "I would like to be taught."

After bidding farewell to Zeng Cheng, Pierre returned to the post impatiently, and found Holbach and Diderot: "You two bachelors, look at the lives of civilians in the Ming Dynasty, and then look at them." Did the two Grand Masters have any idea about the life of common people in France?"

Grand Maester Holbach and Grand Maester Diderot looked at each other, wondering what this guy Pierre was going crazy--any ideas?What's the use of having an idea?

Pierre saw that the two men didn't answer in a daze, so he said directly: "I went to see the Prime Minister of Ming Dynasty today, and the Prime Minister told me that the royal family and the government are like boats, and the common people are like water. The boat floats steadily on the water, but it can also raise huge waves and sink the boat to the bottom of the water."

"Today's France is like a giant ship floating on the sea. It seems to be stable, but the sea is already undercurrents, and it may erupt at any time."

"That's why I want to ask His Majesty the King to reform France, but I don't know where to start, so I came to ask the two great scholars for advice."

Grand Maester Holbach looked at Grand Priest Diderot again, and said, "What about His Majesty the King? Is he willing to change?"

(End of this chapter)