Cutting 1719

Chapter 674 The Real France

When Ningyu was speeding up the integration of the Huaxia Nine Servers, the time soon came to May of the 17th year of innovation, which is 1740 AD. After nearly ten months of sailing, the emperor's eldest son Ning Chengze as The representative mission finally arrived in France and took a carriage to Paris, the center of Europe in this era.

When capitalism developed to 1740, France was a well-deserved power in the world, and its influence in Europe was even higher than in Europe. Among them, the strength of France's national strength at that time can be seen in terms of population factors alone—— At this time, the population of France was about 800 million, while that of the United Kingdom was only 600 million, and that of Prussia was only 800 million.

Because of this, the Sun King Louis XIV, who was so successful back then, was able to successfully avenge in the crucial French-Dutch battle, and became the veritable overlord of Europe, and participated in the Grand Alliance War and the Spanish Throne War successively. The constant wars made France finally the winner of the Spanish succession, and since then it has eliminated the worries of being attacked by the Habsburg Dynasty on both sides, and gained a Spanish ally.

Of course, this has also led to a phenomenon that the real popular language in Europe is not English, but French. The upper class people in Western Europe are ashamed of not being able to speak French. If someone speaks English in France, they will be punished by the local not welcome.

"Your Highness, for today's French, they win over the Spaniards, are hostile to the Prussians, guard against the British, hate the Jews, are full of political fanaticism and fantasies about the future, just like King Louis XV of France today."

Ernst had a smile on his face, but his words were full of disdain for the French, "Nowadays, French elites are keen on salon gatherings, and they like to discuss religion, politics, and art in Parisian cafes. And the women who run the salons, oh, they're charming!"

Ning Chengze, who was sitting on the carriage, was not in a hurry to discuss French art or women. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose. He really did not expect that the center of Europe at this time would be It was such a dirty and filthy place—since he had entered Paris, he had smelled an unspeakable stench.

At this time, there was an inexplicable smell in the air of Paris, which seemed to be mixed with various strange smells such as rancidity, feces and urine, and corpses. This smell was stronger than the stench he smelled in front of the port. The nausea was more pervasive, making Ning Chengze feel his stomach churning.

"Paris. Has Paris always tasted like this?"

"Yes, this is the taste of Paris."

Ernst not only did not cover his nose, but took a deep breath of air, and said in a somewhat intoxicated tone: "In the eyes of the French, taking a bath is an act that will damage your health, and they think that hot water will lead to fullness. Impurity air adheres to the skin and can damage the body's functions, so they don't know how to take a bath, even the emperor of France!"

Ning Chengze, who has lived in Nanjing for 16 years, naturally has to take a bath every day. He really can't understand this way of life, and even has a trace of contempt for Europeans in his heart—such a dirty country , can also be called the pearl of European civilization?

Ernst quickly saw the flash of disdain on Ning Chengze's face, and he said with a smile: "No matter what the French people's living habits are, in the future, we need to unite with them to achieve some purpose."

Ning Chengze sighed softly, put down the handkerchief in his hand, and forcibly endured the stench that hit his nose, he said in a low voice: "I understand Mr. En's meaning very well, please continue to introduce some information about France to me, Mr. En." .”

"Yes, my lord. It will be my pleasure to serve you."

Under Ernst's introduction, France is not as simple as Ning Chengze thought. In fact, France at this time can be said to have entered a period of rapid development, whether it is economic or military.

With the support of the capitalist economy, today's French trade network has covered the whole of Europe, and its tentacles have begun to spread to the whole world. The French are engaged in fur trade and African slave trade in North America, and established trading posts on the coast of Senegal in West Africa. , and also established trade and business trips in the East, such as Kindernagar in Bangladesh and Pondicherry in India. The total amount of exported commodities alone increased to 2 million livres. achieved substantial growth.

In addition to the vast colonial empire, France's current handicraft industry is also developing very rapidly, especially the mining and metallurgical industries are second to none in Europe. For example, the famous Anzain coal mine in the area is huge in scale and advanced in equipment, with 12 steam engines. It employs 4000 workers, and the Krezzo Metallurgical Company is the first large enterprise to use coal instead of charcoal as fuel for production. It has two iron smelting workshops, four blast furnaces, and advanced equipment such as steam engines and steam hammers.

In addition, the colored and printed fabrics of Alsace, the silk fabrics of Lyon, and the cosmetics, clothing, furniture, and handicrafts of Paris are all very famous in Europe today. Starting from the special ports of Bordeaux and Taiwan, they transport guns, wine, and industrial products to the coast of Guinea for sale, "buy" blacks at low prices, transport them to the West Indies and sell them at high prices to local planters, and then buy a large amount of coffee sugar , indigo and other items will be sold in the domestic and European markets.

At present, the French industrial revolution is just in its infancy, and it is not even a "revolution", because at this time, the development of industry and commerce in France is in a state of dispersion, and there are very few relatively advanced large-scale handicraft factories. More factories are still in the original form of handicraft workshops, and the strength of business owners is far from being comparable to that of Dachu.

But there is one difference. Since France began to establish a national debt system in the sixteenth century, the banking industry, which takes the purchase of public bonds as an important business item, has developed rapidly. It is like the vast majority of European banks are concentrated in Paris, and except Switzerland Except for the establishment of bankers from countries such as China, the Netherlands, and Belgium, most of the rest of the banks were founded by the French.

Therefore, the development of the financial industry in France is much deeper than that of Dachu, and this is reflected in a more realistic level, that is, a large number of liberal aristocrats have also become the financial bourgeoisie. In a sense, France is more capitalist. country's potential.

The more obvious point is that the current feudal land ownership system in France has begun to fall into a state of disintegration. On the contrary, the peasant land ownership system has been developed. It has evolved into Yongdian, that is, farmers can operate freely, pass it on from generation to generation, and even monopolize it, but they need to collect money when monopolizing, and the lord cannot take back Yongdian.

"Of course, the current French farmers still need to pay a symbolic tribute, but this amount of money is not too much, it only accounts for one-twentieth of a French farmer's income, and the church's tithe is about the same amount. But in addition to this, farmers also need to pay taxes to the court."

Ernst pulled down the curtains on the carriage to block the dazzling sunlight outside, and then said in a low voice: "However, such a heavy burden is not the most miserable existence in the entire European country. There are many After mastering part of the means of production, many French farmers expanded their operations by renting or buying land, and hired day laborers and short-term laborers to carry out some commercial production, such as wine making.”

Ning Chengze listened very carefully, he would not interrupt Ernst at will during this process, but only after Ernst stopped talking, he said softly: "Father once said that the understanding of a country , not only from their upper class, but also need to go deep into the lives of their lower class people, especially their peasant living conditions, which will be the most intuitive information that reflects the background of this country."

Ernst smiled and said: "That's right, in Dachu, His Majesty paid a huge price to stabilize the peasants who accounted for the vast majority of the population. Compared with socialist farms, France pays more attention to small-scale capitalism, which is the rich peasant economy in the eyes of Chinese people.”

Ning Chengze nodded thoughtfully, and said, "Then, can this rich peasant economic model be practiced in Dachu?"

"I'm afraid not for the time being."

Ernst shook his head slightly, and said: "Even in France, such rich peasants are a minority among all the self-cultivating peasants. Only those whose land exceeds the level of food and clothing for a family can become rich peasants. Compared with France, the big Chu Peasants can actually obtain less land, so even though farmers in Dachu have a lighter burden, they still cannot become rich peasants on a large scale."

To put it bluntly, even though Huaxia is stronger now, due to the large population, it will lag behind Western countries in terms of per capita, and the more direct feedback is that the current agricultural economy in the West is more extensive, while Huaxia agriculture requires as much as possible. Only by increasing the output per unit of cultivated land can we feed more people.

But Ernst laughed again: "However, with the development of Dachu in the surrounding area, a lot of cultivated land has been obtained, especially the development of the South Sea Islands and the Americas, so that the population pressure of Dachu will be relieved. A rich peasant economy may not be possible.”

Ning Chengze pondered for a while. After all, he was only a 17-year-old boy, and he still couldn't see through many things. This trip to Europe itself was also a study trip, so he wouldn't be in a hurry, but something happened in his heart. A new idea, one that is still only in the haze.

(End of this chapter)