Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1502 France's Strategy

On December 1667, 12, it was sunny, and Colbert had just walked out of the castle of Vaulervikon.

The Castle of Vicam was one of the residences of Nicolas Fouquet, who was tried and imprisoned three years ago. It cost a total of 1800 million livres. At this time, because of the end of the war, the reputation of the livres cast by the Abbey of Tours was somewhat reduced. Recovery, one livre contains about 8 grams of silver, and 1800 million livres equals about 480-500 million East Coast silver dollars. Of course, when he started building, livres were not so valuable, and the actual cost needs to be discounted. But it is quite a lot - not only in France, but also in the whole of Europe, which can be called extravagant, which shows the wealth of Fouquet himself.

This large castle covers an area as wide as three villages. It was jointly designed by the famous architect Leva, the painter Le Blanc, and the garden architect Le Notre in 1657. With magnificent buildings, outstanding statues and beautiful gardens and famous.The castle houses paintings, sculptures and more than 2.7 books collected by Fouquet, including the Bible, Talmud, Koran and more.

It has to be said that Fouquet has some problems with his emotional intelligence, because he has such a huge wealth but is very high-profile: it is said that in some luxurious rooms in the castle of Vollervikon, "the most senior noble women, with amazing Come to keep company with him in secret at the cost of the price", and Fouquet also invites dramatists from time to time, such as Corneille, Molière, La Fontaine, etc., to come to the castle to be guests and perform, and the momentum is so great that it is ignored. The increasingly dark eyes of King Louis XIV.

The fuse broke out a few years ago. At that time, Fouquet invited the king to his castle as a guest. At the dinner, 6000 guests used gold and silver tableware. Molière performed his latest masterpiece "The Unsatisfactory Man" in the garden. ", the atmosphere reached its climax that night, at the cost of a huge sum of 12 livres.

Louis XIV was disgusted by all this, not to mention that he also saw a painting in Fouquet's collection, which was a portrait of Louise's mistress, Madame Louise Lavallier, which directly led to the musketeer later. The arrest of Fouquet by captain Charles de Barthez.The final trial was delayed for three full years, and finally the court sentenced Fouquet to be exiled until all of Fouquet's relatives, friends and accomplices disappeared.However, Louis used the power of the king to change the court's judgment and ordered him to be imprisoned in prison until he died. The army satisfies Louis XIV's ambition to expand his territory and expand his reputation.

However, no amount of money can support long-term militarism.Louis had been fighting and causing troubles everywhere before, and even sent people to Austria to help them fight against Ottoman, and donated money and goods to Venice, sending troops and ships, just to improve his reputation, which made the financial director Colbert very anxious.This time, the war against Spain was launched on the grounds of competing for the inheritance of the father-in-law. 20 troops were trapped in the Southern Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and other places, and tens of thousands of people in the south also dealt with it. Some Spanish troops and fortresses in the Pyrenees, and their sea was also violently bombarded and blocked by the pagans on the east coast. After a year, I feel a little unbearable.

And in order to replenish the shrinking treasury (the surplus accumulated over the years is decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye), Colbert also had to find a way, such as, according to Louis, to check "the dark financial phenomenon since 1635", And for this purpose, a judicial committee was set up, named to investigate dark phenomena, to actually raise military expenditures to supplement the national treasury.

The targets of the investigation are mainly some taxpayers and bankers, whose family property is invincible—for example, the banker Samuel Bernard owns a family property of 3300 million livres—often lending at an interest rate of 18%, making huge profits The degree is almost no different from robbing.What's even better is that the aristocrats also support this, because these bankers' living conditions are far more luxurious than ordinary aristocrats, which arouses their great jealousy; The aristocratic marriage and the acquisition of noble titles at high prices have aroused the disgust of some old-school powerful aristocrats. Therefore, this time Colbert wants to do something to these people, and the aristocratic group as a whole is in favor of it, at least not against it.

Of course, although the main target of the investigation is the big bankers and taxpayers, they can't escape their swindlers. All accountants, tax collectors, and rent collectors have to open their books and explain their income. legitimacy of income.If they cannot prove the innocence of the money, they will be fined and even confiscated.

Investigators of the Judicial Committee are currently all over France, and at the same time they are encouraging informants. Many millionaires have been arrested and imprisoned, and some have been sent to the army or punished to hard labor. The hands are former rich men. They were detained by the State Intelligence Bureau, and they planned to send them back to the east coast to see if they could extract some value. At least they still knew the inside story of France. Of course, many rich men were hanged. The lavish money flowed into the court and became the nourishment for Louis XIV to support the French military machine.

Colbert's iron and blood methods shocked the upper class rich people, but the lower class people were overjoyed (because Colbert persuaded Louis XIV to exempt the unpaid taxes from 1647 to 1658, and also lowered the tax rate in 1661 , until this year because of huge military expenditures, the renovation of the Palace of Versailles, etc., the previous tax rate was restored), there is an example to illustrate all this: in Burgundy, some wealthy people organized a rebellion against Colbert, but the local people rose up In short, the government took a lot of effort to save the lives of the rebellious rich, which is simply black humor.

So far, the Judicial Committee’s investigation has contributed more than 1.5 million livres (more than 4000 million East Coast silver dollars) to the French treasury, which is almost equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of the French government at this time.In addition, the income of real objects, mansions, shops, factories, ships and other property is very difficult to count, and it is not a matter of time to realize it. The castle is in the hand, and it is difficult to realize it - we can only take it slowly, and it will always replenish the national treasury after a long time.

However, no matter how much money there is, it is still a little insufficient for the French army with a total of more than 65 and the number of heavy warships under construction with more than [-] ships, because the cost is too huge. Moreover, France does not have any naval foundation, which means that it started to develop from a very low starting point. Naturally, the cost is higher than that of countries such as Britain, Holland and Spain.But what can be done?His Majesty's self-esteem is not so easy to violate. The naval construction plan planned after being stimulated by the size of the British and Dutch fleets originally had a little room for discussion, but it was ravaged by the pagans on the east coast from the south along the country's coast. After being decent, King Louis' determination became unshakable!

Now, France is developing the Continental Army and the Grand Navy at the same time, and no one will believe it if it is not expensive!Therefore, this is also the source of the distress that Colbert, Louis' financial expert, is now. not very healthy state.It can be said that if it were not for the solid foundation in the past and the recent confiscation of a lot of floating wealth, the finances of the Kingdom of France would be even more difficult. It is estimated that the plan for 65 heavy warships in five years will be greatly reduced, and the army may not be able to support them now. Such a large scale - at least not in the long run.

We can only take one step at a time!Colbert sighed worriedly, then boarded a luxuriously decorated oriental-style four-wheeled carriage, and drove out of the manor.His current destination is a grain wholesale market not far away, but he did not directly enter the dirty air trading site full of merchants, brokers and lawbreakers, but directly entered the office of the exchange behind, and There were summoned the two officials in charge of the place.

There is no doubt that Colbert was a mercantilist, but not a physiocrat, because his policies actually benefited French industry by harming the interests of French farmers.For example, he artificially lowered the price of food in order to supply the growing population of towns (residents generally engaged in industry, commerce and fishing) and to reduce military expenditures - Colbert believed that a strong government must have sufficient income (relying on industry and commerce) Provided) and a strong army, the hardships of rural life can make the young people born here more persevering and hardworking, while the development of industry and commerce provides wealth for the country.

Under the leadership of Colbert, France has fully inherited and deepened the consistent policies of the Richelieu and Mazarin eras. Tariffs have firmly given the necessary protection to French local products. , Masters, apprentices, and employees who are required to change industries must form an organization, and the government will regulate their wages and sales.In addition, Colbert has also established standards for every industry, hoping that French products can win the favor of consumers in other countries with their quality, beauty and price-but I don’t know if they have gone astray or the competition is too fierce. The most famous industries in France are still gold jewelry, sculpture, high-end textiles, high-end furniture, leather goods and other industries. This is probably related to their king’s preference for exquisite luxury goods. The French have devoted too much ingenuity to this industry. above.

In the grain exchange, Colbert focused on understanding the price of grain.This year, France's grain harvest is somewhat poor. This is not a serious matter. As long as imports from abroad can stabilize the rise in grain prices.However, when the coastline was severely blocked by the pagan navy on the east coast, many merchants did not dare to go out to sea for trade, and could only wait for merchant ships from other countries to deliver grain. Naturally, this price could only be manipulated by others.Taking into account the consumption of more than 20 troops in foreign wars, it would be difficult not to raise food prices. Of course, the current rate of increase is still within the tolerance of the French.

"Not only has the price of food risen, but the prices of many other commodities have also risen. Moreover, the sales of our wine, ironware, and furs are not ideal. A large number of merchant ships are crowded in the port. Only some brave captains dare to risk being killed. We trade at sea under the risk of being caught by people on the east coast. If this situation continues for a long time, we are bound to lose our bargaining power over many commodities, and we can only sit and watch those cunning Portuguese, Italian and German businessmen lying on us and sucking blood..."

"This is actually not good for our industry. Now there are 4.4 looms in the country, and there are more than 2 textile workers in Tours. Some provinces in the south have planted mulberry trees on a large scale, and the silk weaving industry has developed. For many years, French silk fabrics have been well-known at home and abroad. They were originally an important income for our country, but now because of the war with the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet and the harassment of the pagan navy on the east coast, a large number of silk fabrics are backlogged in ports such as Marseilles and Montpellier. Ship transportation. But again, no one dares to ship it, except some Italian profiteers who bid very low..."

After chatting about grain prices, the two officials from the exchange complained to Colbert about the setbacks in France's foreign trade. He complained so tirelessly in front of Louis XIV before.

What's more, what the two said is true. Although France's finances are not in a difficult situation today, it must be known that the government's revenue has not been able to make ends meet until now, but it has been eating its previous savings.And the savings will run out one day, and even if you're going after bankers, usurers, and taxpayers, it's just delaying the process.What's more, because of the occupation of many Spanish territories this time, a series of neighboring countries have been disturbed, especially the United Provinces, which have always been rich and powerful. They have summoned their ambassadors to The Hague several times and strongly oppose the Kingdom of France's occupation of the Southern Netherlands. The young and energetic King Louis was very angry, but he had to carefully consider the other party's opinion.

It is reported that King Louis, who is now personally leading the army to besiege the Fortress of Dole, has been a little shaken by the opposition of various countries, which can be seen from the content of his letter to Colbert.However, His Majesty the young King also admitted frankly that the countries that are now united to put pressure on France will give them "generous rewards" in the future. The first of them is the United Provinces. Attacking the pagans on the east coast of the French coast, after the French navy develops, it will surely report the shame of today.

As for now, why don't you talk to these countries first, anyway, talk while fighting, test the other side's bottom line, and see how much benefit France can gain from this war.

For the king's understanding, Colbert is deeply convinced, and has already recommended a candidate to the king, let him go to The Hague, discuss and discuss with the representatives of the United Provinces, and feel the way.If possible, meet with the special envoy of the pagans on the east coast. Colbert is also very interested in this slightly mysterious country, especially because they have the steam engine that the French are very coveted.

(End of this chapter)