Versailles is worse than being queen

◎You are not a king◎

Beginning in the spring of 1774, France suffered an unprecedented drought.

"During the entire spring and summer, there was almost no rain in the northwestern part of France... The river dried up, and the green and dense forests were withered and dying. The wildfires swept in, destroyed several forests, and continued to go south... Large tracts of farmland are dry and cracked, and the cracks are so sharp that it hurts to look at them. Before the harvest arrives in late summer and early autumn, it is conceivable that farmers will lose everything this year."

The Rheinische Zeitung reported the horrors of the agricultural districts.For the residents of Paris, wildfires and droughts do not seem to be so concrete, but they can at least understand one thing - the price of bread may skyrocket this year.

Correspondingly, the price of flour in major cities has started to rise in fear in advance.

Antanya looked at the report of the Minister of Agriculture and the news from the correspondent in the Northwest Region with a calm expression.

finally come.

Memories of the past were mottled and illusory, and it was not until the drought matched many fragments of her memory that she was finally able to confirm many conjectures.

This year is an extremely critical year in the history of France and her life.

All choices made at this moment in history will give an answer in the future.

"Louis," she finally put the prince who ran to the welding workshop all day into the study, "I have applied for the gradual opening of the granary to ensure the food supply of urban residents."

In the past few years, the harvest has not fluctuated much. Every year, the granary management officer generally buys a larger amount of wheat than sells to ensure that the storage in the granary gradually increases and the grain is kept fresh.Now, it's time for the granary to come in handy.

Louis suddenly realized: "So that's why you donated to build the granary at that time!"

Antanya stopped Louis's admiring eyes, "but the more serious problem lies in the fiscal and taxation system-Louis, you have to take this matter seriously, it's really serious."

According to a consistent tradition, priests and nobles enjoy tax exemption, and the permanent national tax exemption is generally considered to be because of the "nobility" of these two professions, and it is also used to exchange their loyalty to the king.

Almost all tax revenues go to farmers and ordinary citizens.But there are exceptions - like during wars.

Nothing burns more money than war.During the war, there are exceptions to the normal immunity, and nobles and priests also need to pay taxes in stages.During the Seven Years' War with England, the staggering costs also led Louis XV to repeatedly order new direct taxes to be introduced or extended.

According to political practice, the collection of these taxes needs to be registered by the high courts before it can take effect-and the judges themselves are nobles who usually have immunity from taxation.

In this way, it is not difficult to understand why they of course disagreed with the tax order.The money has to come from their own pockets!

Of course, they have grandiose rhetoric-the royal family's financial management is chaotic, the court is seriously wasteful, the ministers and tax collectors are using their power for personal gain, and the people are overwhelmed!

Listen, how can you make them pay for the heinous crime?

Louis XV suffered several big losses because of this.When the judges rejected his tax decree, and also proposed that the power of granting taxes should belong to the whole "nation" rather than the king, public opinion supported their "patriotic" move.

As a result, it is obvious that France suffered a lot during the Seven Years' War, and Britain began to become an empire "the sun never sets".

Louis, who had been educated as an heir, certainly knew about it.

He found these things really tiresome.

"But the system is just like this. What should we do? The nobles are no longer as loyal to the king as they were in ancient times. In fact, they just don't want to lose any money, but they speak as if they can represent the entire 'nation'."

He muttered, "Louis XIV himself represents the whole of France."

"But the reality we are facing is like this, and we can't imagine going back to the past." Antanya said, "But what they said is not completely unreasonable, but there are too many places for improvement."

Once France could almost be said to have collapsed on a financial crisis.In the past few years, she has studied financial and economic research intensively, and coupled with the experience accumulated from later generations, she deeply feels that the current financial system in France is simply more chaotic than a pot of stewed plums. In the situation in the previous life It is a miracle that the bottom can persist for more than ten years before it breaks.

As the nominally most powerful and influential country on the European continent, France has no budget and no unified financial management.From the Palace of Versailles to the bureaucracy, all kinds of self-supporting coffers, large and small, exist everywhere. Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer has no idea of ​​the state of the country's finances.

It's like a big ship with holes everywhere. Everyone is just staring at the pool of sea water seeping in under their feet, thinking about how to use it to water the flowers they planted. No one is watching where the ship is going. .

Improving the financial system is one aspect, which is still a technical category.

Another aspect is equally important, as in the previous life, the nobles and priests must not allow the king to be portrayed as the antithesis of the people-of course, they do not realize that those songs about the scandal of the king and queen will eventually portray themselves Send to the guillotine.

In the eyes of the public who actually took up arms, they were no different from the king.

As we all know, the essence of social politics lies in packaging.

Whoever better packages himself as a side with the people will be able to win the support of the people—of course, in the eyes of many people, only those with mouths are considered "the people", and the silent majority cannot become No one will pay attention to actual political capital.

The essence of France's final collapse was the loss of control of various political forces by the unified monarchy.

On a continent full of countries, there are countries all around.When a unified France has [-]% strength, other countries will be afraid; when it becomes dozens of points within it, the pack of wolves will begin to feast.

"Louis, you have grown up." Antanya said seriously, "You have to be ready to be a king."

"Ah?" Louis blinked in horror, "It's not that exaggerated..." It seems that His Majesty the King can live for a long time.

"We need to communicate more with economists. Of course, we can't look at the problem purely from the perspective of economists. After all, governing the country is not just about academics."

"By the way, and..." Antanya paused.

"What else?"

"Nothing." Antanya pursed her lips.

Also, the grievances between North America and the United Kingdom.

After the tea party in Boston Harbor at the end of last year, the British government was furious and had already made a decision in response - they passed the "Boston Port Act", "Massachusetts Government Act", "Judicial Act" and "Barison Regulations" Four mandatory decrees revoked the autonomous status of Massachusetts Bay Province, closed Boston Harbor, the largest port in North America, and stipulated that British troops could forcibly enter colonial houses to search for criminals involved in the Tea Party incident.

This meant that the War of Independence in North America was near.

That war had an almost decisive impact on the United States of later generations and France today.

After the Seven Years' War, Britain took away a large number of colonies from France, and this war was against Britain. Therefore, France sent a large number of troops and navy to participate in the war, which also cost unimaginable money, manpower and material resources.

The financial crisis brought about by this war eventually overturned the whole of France.

Antanya went to Nicolas's Chocolate Room—the parlor, which was packed and often served with various pastries, got its name from the people of Versailles, because everyone loves chocolate.

She hadn't seen Nicola for a while, though.

The last time she was here, she found some signs of danger.She is no longer an innocent little girl who still has illusions about love, so she chooses to avoid him as much as possible.

Nicholas was obviously a little surprised by her presence.

He thought for a moment, then turned around as if nothing had happened, and took out a large shallow porcelain plate from a cabinet, which contained an assortment of chocolates of various colors, dark and light in color, and in different shapes. Chocolate looks much more refined.

“I make chocolates with 10% to 85% cocoa, the lower the cocoa content, the higher the milk and sugar content, the sweeter it is. There are also different flavors, such as vanilla, lemon, but also hazelnut and various nuts. .”

Antanya was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that this scene was a bit ridiculous.

But she didn't laugh, her eyes brushed over his shoulder, and she saw the newspaper spread out on the table next to her: "The British government vows to severely punish the provocateurs in Boston Harbor."

Next to it is a very scribbled sketch, but one can still roughly recognize that it is a route map drawn on a map, and various unknown sketches and symbols are drawn in the blank space of Nikolai's usual style.

This is a map of the North American continent.

Nicholas noticed her gaze and shrugged: "I remember I told you that I have lived in the United States for many years."

Antanya was silent for a moment.

"Then you should also know what France paid for that war." She lowered her eyes lightly, "and understand that I will not let such a thing happen again."

Nicholas said nothing.

"From a personal emotional and moral point of view, I support the North American people's struggle for independence from the British rule." Antanya said calmly, "But kindness has boundaries and needs to be matched with ability. My first consideration can only be It's the people of France. The great debt to support North America will kill Louis and me. Probably as many people died in the chaos of France in those years as there were on that continent."

Nicholas finally nodded: "I understand."

He folded his hands on his chest and leaned against the side of the cabinet: "There's still a 'but', isn't it?"

"..." Antania was a little annoyed, but pretended nothing happened, "If you want to go to that continent to help them because of your past, of course I will not object. In any case, helping North America is to weaken Britain, It’s about helping ourselves.”

Nicholas paused for a few seconds, "Is this what you wish, Antania?"

"I think, you understand what your wish means to me." He looked into her eyes, and the blue silver-gray eyes were so clear that there was only light left.

But Antania seemed to be scalded by the beam of light, and couldn't help avoiding his gaze.

She immediately regretted it.

At this moment, she can no longer make any concessions.

"Nicolas, maybe because of our strange experience, I gave you some illusions in the past," Antanya lowered her eyes, and her gaze found focus on a piece of chocolate with a dove painted on white cream, looking calm and indifferent, "But I know you are smart enough, you should understand that we are not from the same world."

"Not a person from the same world?" Nicholas chuckled, lowered his arms and took a step in her direction, "This world refers to time? Is it space? Is the me in front of you a ghost?"

Antanya stood where she was, not taking a step back—so they were just a stone's throw away.

She felt his hot breath coming from above, and the oppressive feeling from it seemed substantial.If she was really just 18-year-old Antoinette at this moment, she would probably scream; but luckily she is not.

She slowly raised her head and looked directly into his eyes. The blue eyes reflected the sunlight coming in from the window, but they had never been so chilling: "It's life."

"Please remember, I will be queen, but you are not king."

The author says:

For relevant content on taxation, please refer to Huang Yanhong's "Fiscal and Taxation Reform Before the French Revolution", "Chinese Journal of Social Sciences", Issue 2014, August 8, 20.