On December 1, 1667, Colbert had just walked out of Wallevilon Castle.

Vicon Castle is one of the residences of Nicholas Fuke, who was sentenced to prison three years ago. It cost 18 million Livery a fortune. At this time, because the war ended, the reputation of Livery in the Monastery of Tours was restored. The silver content of Livery was about 8 grams, and 18 million Livery was about 4.8-5 million East Coast silver dollars. Of course, when he started to build it, Livery was not so valuable, and the actual cost needed to be discounted, but it was quite a lot - not only in France, but also in Europe, which shows that Fuke himself was rich.

This large castle covers an area of ​​three villages. In 1657, it was designed by the famous architect Leva, painter LeBron and garden architect Lenotel. It is famous for its magnificent buildings, outstanding statues and beautiful gardens. The castle houses paintings, carvings and more than 27,000 books collected by Fukai, including the Bible, the Talmud, the Quran, etc.

I have to say that Fukai's emotional intelligence has some problems, because he has such a huge wealth but is very high-profile: it is said that in some luxurious rooms in the Castle of Wallevilon, "the most senior noble woman came to accompany him secretly at an astonishing price." Then Fukai also invited dramatic people such as Gaunei, Molière, Lafondan and others to visit the castle and perform, which made the momentum very high, so that he ignored the increasingly sinister eyes of King Louis XIV.

The fuse broke out several years ago. When Fukai was desperate to invite the king to visit his castle. At the dinner, 6,000 guests used gold and silver tableware. Molière performed his latest masterpiece "The Unsatisfied Man" in the garden. The atmosphere reached its peak that night, at the cost of 120,000 Liver's huge capital.

Louis XIV was extremely disgusted with all this, not to mention that he saw a painting in Fukai's collection, which was a portrait of Louis' mistress, Madame Louise Lavalier, which directly led to the arrest of Fukai by the captain of the musketeer Charles de Batz. The final trial was delayed for three years, and it was not until Fukai's relatives, friends and members of the country stopped that the court sentenced Fukai to be exiled. However, Louis used the power of the king to change the court's judgment and ordered him to be imprisoned in prison until his death. At the same time, Fukai's property was confiscated, which greatly enriched the treasury of the Kingdom of France, allowing the Kingdom of France to support a huge army and satisfy Louis XIV's ambition to expand territory and expand his reputation.

However, no matter how much money is, it cannot withstand the long-term military military power. Louis had been fighting everywhere and causing trouble. He even sent people to expedition to Austria to help them fight against the Ottomans, and also donated money and supplies to Venice, and sent troops and ships. In order to improve his reputation, the Director of Finance Colbert was extremely anxious. This time, a war against Spain was launched on the grounds of fighting for the inheritance of his father-in-law. The 200,000 army was trapped in the South Netherlands, Francheconte, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and other places. In the south, there were tens of thousands of people dealing with some Spanish troops and fortresses in the Pyrenees. In addition, their seas were also violently bombarded and blocked by pagans on the east coast. The trade losses and money cost were too great. It was so big that Colbert had only been persisting for a year and felt a little unbearable.

In order to supplement the shrinking treasury (the surplus accumulated over the years is decreasing at a visible rate), Colbert had to think of a way, for example, according to Louis's intention, to investigate the "fiscal darkness since 1635", and to this end, a judicial committee was established, called investigating the darkness, which actually raised military expenses to supplement the treasury.

The main subjects of the investigation were tax surveillancers and bankers, whose property was as rich as a country. For example, the banker Samuel Bernard owned 33 million Liver's property. He often lends at 18% interest, and the profitability is no different from grabbing. What's even better is that the nobles also support this, because the living conditions of these bankers are far superior to those of ordinary nobles, which aroused their great jealousy. Moreover, these bankers also tried every means to marry the nobles and buy the titles of the nobles at high prices, which aroused the disgust of some old-fashioned powerful nobles. Therefore, this time Colbert was going to attack these people, and the aristocratic group was generally in favor of them, at least not against them.

Of course, although the investigation mainly targets big bankers and tax collectors, their maids cannot escape. All accountants, tax collectors, and renters have to open their books to explain the legality of their income. If the origin of this money cannot be proved, they will be fined or even confiscated.

The investigators of the Judicial Committee are currently spread throughout France, and they are encouraged to inform. Many monuments have been arrested and imprisoned, and some have been exiled or punished for hard labor. Among the ships captured by the East Coast people on the coast of France in the past year, some coolie oarsmen are former rich men. They were detained by people from the State Intelligence Administration and planned to send them back to the East Coast to see if they could extract some value. At least they still know the situation in France very well. Of course, many rich men were also hanged, and countless white silver flowed into the palace, becoming the nourishment for Louis XIV to raise French military machines.

Colbert's iron-blooded methods shocked the upper class wealthy people, but the lower class people were extremely happy (because Colbert convinced Louis XIV to exempt the unpaid taxes from 1647 to 1658, and also lowered the tax rate in 1661. It was not until this year that the renovation of the Palace of Versailles and other matters returned to the previous tax rate level due to the huge military expenditure). There is an example of this: in Burgundy, some rich people organized rebellions against Colbert, but local people attacked them. The government took a lot of effort to save the lives of the rebellious rich people, which was simply black humor.

The Judicial Committee's inventory operation has contributed more than 150 million liffor (more than 40 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 physical objects, houses, shops, workshops, ships, etc. is difficult to count, and it is not a short time to cash out - for example, this Wolvecon Castle built by Lifford was smashed in your hands and it is difficult to cash out - you can only take it slowly, and over time, it can always add to the national treasury.

However, no matter how much money is, it is still a little insufficient for the French army, which is more than 200,000, and the heavy warships under construction, because the cost is too huge, and France has no naval foundation, which means it is starting to develop at a very low starting point, which is naturally greater than that of Britain, Jose and other countries. But what can I do? His Majesty's self-esteem is not so easy to disobey. The naval construction plan planned after being stimulated by the scale of the fleets between the British and the Netherlands originally had a little room for discussion, but after the coast of the country was ravaged by pagans from the south, King Louis's determination became unshakable!

Now, France is developing the continental army and the navy at the same time. This is not much cost. No one believes it! Therefore, this is also the source of trouble for Louis' financial expert. The army and navy are like a huge sponge, sucking up most of the funds, so that the national finances have begun to make ends meet and entered a state of unhealthy. It can be said that if it weren't for the strong foundation in the past and the recent search for 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 would be greatly reduced. The army would probably not be able to afford such a large scale now - at least in the long run.

He could only take one step at a time! Colber sighed worriedly, then boarded a luxuriously decorated Eastern four-wheeled carriage and drove out of the manor. His current destination was a grain wholesale market not far away, but he did not go directly to the trading site filled with merchants, brokers and criminals, but went directly to the office of the exchange behind, where two officials in charge of the place were summoned.

There is no doubt that Colbert is a mercantilist, but not a farmerist, because his policies actually help French industry to harm the interests of French farmers. For example, in order to supply the growing population of towns (inhabitants generally engage in industry, commerce and fishery) and reduce military spending, he artificially lowered the price of food. Colbert believes that a strong government must have sufficient income (provided by industry and commerce) and a strong army. The hardship of rural life can make young people born here more persevere and hard-working, while the development of industry and commerce provides wealth to the country.

Under the leadership of Colbert, France fully inherited the consistent policies of Richelieu and Mazaran's era and deepened them. Tariffs firmly gave necessary protection to French local goods. He approved the guilds and finances of each industry, requiring the change of industry masters, apprentices and employees to form an organization, and the government stipulates their wage levels and sales. In addition, Colbert also established standards for each industry, hoping that French goods can win the love of consumers in other countries with quality, beauty and price - but I don't know if it was a detour or the competition was too fierce. At present, France's most famous industries 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 invested too much intelligence into this.

In the grain exchange, Colbert focused on understanding the price of food. This year, France's grain harvest was a bit bad, which was not a serious matter. It was only possible to stabilize the rise in food prices by importing from abroad. However, at the moment when the coastline was severely blocked by the pagan navy of the East Coast, many merchants dared not go to sea to trade and could only wait for other countries' merchant ships to transport grain for delivery. Naturally, this price could only be squeezed by others. Including the consumption of more than 200,000 troops fighting abroad, it was difficult for the price of food to rise. Of course, the current increase was still within the scope of the French.

"Not only the prices of food have risen, but the prices of many other commodities have also risen. Moreover, the sales of our wine, iron and furs are also not ideal. Merchant ships are crowded in the port, and only some brave captains dare to go to sea to trade at the risk of being captured by the people of the East Coast. If this situation continues for a long time, we will inevitably lose the right to bargain for many commodities, and can only sit and watch the treacherous Portuguese, Italian and German merchants lie on us to suck blood..."

"This is actually very unfavorable to our industry. There are 44,000 looms in the country, and there are more than 20,000 textile workers in Tours. Some southern provinces and regions have planted mulberry trees on a large scale. The silk weaving industry has developed for many years. French silk cloth is famous at home and abroad. It was originally an important income for our country, but now due to the battle with the Spanish Mediterranean fleet and the harassment of the pagan navy on the east coast, a large number of silk fabrics are piled up in ports such as Marseille and Montpellier waiting for ship transportation. But equally, no one dares to transport it, except for some Italian profiteers who have very low bids..."

After talking about the food prices, the two officials of the exchange complained about France's setbacks in front of Colbert, which made Colbert a little impatient, but he did not intend to chatter with both of them, because he had complained so tirelessly in front of Louis XIV before.

What's more, what the two said is true. Although the finances of France are not yet difficult, you should know that until now, the government's income is actually not enough to make ends meet, but it has been eating the previous savings. And the savings will always be used up for a day. Even if you are taking advantage of bankers, loan sharks, and tax-bearing people, it has only delayed the process. What's more, this time, the invasion of many Spanish territories has caused a series of uneasiness in neighboring countries, especially the United Provinces, which have always been rich and wealthy. They have summoned ambassadors to The Hague several times and strongly opposed the occupation of the South Netherlands, which made the young and energetic King Louis extremely angry, but he had to carefully consider the other party's opinions.

It is reported that King Louis, who is now personally leading his army to besiege the Fortress of Dole, has been shaken a little under 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 that the countries that have joined forces to put pressure on France will give them "rich returns" in the future. The first thing to do is the United Provinces. Of course, they cannot forget their friends, helping Spain attack the pagans on the east coast of France, and when the French navy develops, they will definitely report their ugly things today.

As for now, it’s better to talk to these countries first. Anyway, it’s better to fight and test the other party’s bottom line and see how much benefits France can get in this war.
Chapter completed!