Chapter 513 Chen Xia

  French playwright Sebastian Messier once said in 1770: Food can feed people and kill people.

  19 years after he expressed this feeling, the people of Paris captured the Bastille and the French Revolution broke out.

  If it hadn’t been for Zhang Tao’s report, Pomona would never associate the volcanic eruption with the French Revolution.

Volcanic eruptions occur every day on the earth. Not all volcanic eruptions will affect human history. In July 1783, Iceland’s Laki volcano erupted and ash spread throughout the northern hemisphere. This period of history is called "Dust Summer" in British history. .

Due to historical reasons, the Roman Catholic Church was the largest landlord in France. During the reign of Louis XV, the weather conditions were good. However, from 1739 to 1742, the weather suddenly became cold and the food began to be intermittently under-harvested. It was four years before Louis XVI came to the throne.

  The weather changes have weakened the stability of the market, and the price of agricultural products fluctuates frequently, which has led to the increase in land rents and the decline in agricultural profits.

  France is a Catholic country, while Britain and the United States are Protestant. Before the Revolution, French aristocrats gathered in the Palace of Versailles, racing to indulge in the luxurious and chaotic life.

Every aristocratic young woman in the Rococo era longed for a salon. Women all over Europe were "French style". Almost all European courts read the same books, ate in the same way, wore the same clothes, and talked about it. The same French. At that time, France not only transmitted fashion to Europe, but also transmitted a French "lifestyle".

  Brisk, deliberate, gorgeous, relaxed, and attention to detail. Both men and women wear wigs, which look delicate and slender.

  They traveled leisurely, and smart men and women gathered in the salon to talk about politics, rational thoughts and current affairs. The women in the salon are gorgeous and exquisite in dress, elegant manners, and sweet smiles at the corners of their mouths.

  Women are the core of the salon culture. Pomona can't imagine what Severus would look like in a colorful silk dress and a wig on his head. It is probably more of a nightmare than his dark appearance.

In order to maintain the luxurious life in Paris, the nobles had to **** their own land and lost the direct property rights of their territories. This is undoubtedly a suicidal behavior. However, the law stipulates that after the loss of ownership, the nobles can still collect taxes from future land transactions. In other words, from the middle and late stages of Bourbon, the aristocratic class in Paris has been separated from the territory as a whole and has become a de facto parasitic class.

They can neither bring much benefit to the country, their poetry and painting can not improve the lives of the poor, nor have enough strength to protect their vested interests. During the "Seven Years War" France lost many overseas colonies. When the poor cannot afford bread Instead, Mary asked, "Why don't they eat cake?" These French aristocrats are similar to those of the Southern Dynasty.

The land pawned by the nobles was taken away by the bourgeoisie. In addition to the privilege of collecting taxes on land sales, the nobles also enjoyed the lord’s hunting privileges, tax-free privileges and immunities. The most important thing was the privilege of participating in politics. The wealthy bourgeoisie was regarded as despised. Third-class people can participate in politics only through the sale of official positions.

  The war and the luxurious life of the royal family led to inflation, and the land owed to the landlord further increased rents and increased the burden on the peasants. In the 6th century AD, the church began to impose this tax on Christians by using the statement in the Bible that 1/10 of agricultural and animal husbandry products belonged to God. After the overthrow of the Merovingian family, the Frankish king stipulated in the code: tithing is paid for every Frank Obligations of the military and civilians.

  This tax collection method often exceeds 1/10 of the taxpayer’s income, and the burden mainly falls on the farmers.

For those who are hungry every day, whoever has the money to pay taxes, on July 13, 1788, hail hit the farmland continuously, causing a large amount of land to be harvested. In the winter of the same year, France was in a severe cold state, and sickness and mortality rose. A large-scale famine broke out, and the government lacked sufficient capacity to transport food to the disaster area.

  Louis XVI has repeatedly tried to reform, taxing the rich class represented by the nobility and clergy to make up for the fiscal deficit left by Louis XV.

Louis XV was the most unpopular emperor of France. When he and his mistresses were happy, because of the defeat of the Seven Years’ War, France signed the Treaty of Paris and gave up the colonies of India, Canada and the West Bank of the Mississippi. Women are really too spending money. Clothes made of silk, shoes made of silk, and various magnificent mansions, servants, and portraits painted with expensive materials all swallowed the treasury like a bottomless pit.

Louis XVI was very weak, but he did not have mistresses like other French kings. He had a good character, a simple life, and was able to appreciate public sentiments and satisfy people when they asked for some necessary reforms, but he had to face the aristocracy, and Years after years of natural disasters, and a queen who doesn’t understand anything and can spend money, he is a good man with a soft heart. Even though he knows the indulgence of chess pieces and the poverty of the treasury, he still allows her to do whatever she wants. Spend money.

  If some kings were destroyed by refusing to reform, then Louis XVI was destroyed by trying to reform.

  The road to **** is paved by kind wishes.

  As King Louis XVI, he lacked the fortitude character, and as a French monarch in an extraordinary period, his character harmed others and himself.

  When Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine, a peasant shouted angrily, “The poor pay taxes, but the aristocrats who are well-fed and rich in food and drink are exempt from taxes. What is the reason?”

This tax system was also the reason for the destruction of the Tang Empire. Princess Taiping had a lot of land, but as a noble class, she did not need to pay "rents and commissions." The empty treasury needed people like Yang Guozhong who were good at searching for people's fats. This is why the Anshi Rebellion The reason why the people did not expect the Tang Dynasty to continue to rule after the outbreak.

  The suppression of the poor class formed a hotbed of violence. From July 1783 to the volcanic eruption in February 1784, summer temperatures in Western Europe were very low, hay was extremely short, and cattle and sheep were slaughtered cheaply.

  At first, there was no meat to eat, and then there was no food. The long-term food shortage made the French society disorder. At this time, the American War of Independence began, and Spain and France joined the war one after another.

  The rice in the colony is one of the sources of food in France. After the United States became independent, it would no longer be able to buy rice at a low price.

The number of soldiers is generally about one-tenth to one-fifteenth of the people. Once the people rise up, suppression is completely impossible. The peasant uprisings in the end of the Sui Dynasty, the peasant uprisings in the late Tang Dynasty, the Li Zicheng uprising, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement are all peasant uprisings.

  Ordinary civilians have limited organizational capabilities, but they are different when they encounter a bourgeoisie with knowledge, wealth, and political talent. The French Revolution was a revolution led by the bourgeoisie. It was like life itself. It was a complex mixture. It was both inspiring and difficult to accept. Hope was intertwined with terror, and violence and fraternity were mixed.

  This is the result of a rising cycle of terror, and the radicals are getting more and more influential under the urging of internal and external factors.

  The Queen Mary is very educated and cute, but she is too ignorant of the suffering of the people.

  The aristocracy excessively pursues the quality of life, leading the middle class and ordinary people to follow suit. This typical consumerism can bring prosperity for a while, but it will eventually perish.

  Drought in China during the Yang Xuangan uprising in the late Sui Dynasty. In the reign of Emperor Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, a charity tax was introduced, which meant harvesting harvests in good years and releasing them for disaster relief in disaster years.

  However, his son wanted to expedition to Goguryeo. The road from the Central Plains to the northeast was far away. If it was transported by land, it would cause a lot of consumption, so Yang Guang dug the Grand Canal.

  After completing the construction of the Grand Canal, Luoyang's geographical location was superior to Daxing City, so Yang Guang built the eastern capital Luoyang.

After repairing Luoyang, he invited other business travelers to visit to show the purchasing power of the heavenly kingdoms. He hoped that all merchants would come to China to do business, but at that time ordinary civilians no longer have the ability to buy luxury goods shipped from the Silk Road, which are expensive. The spices are mainly used by the aristocracy.

Business can increase taxes. After the military expenses, he conscripted one million soldiers to fight Goguryeo, but he lost the war. The head of the 100,000 Sui army was made "Jingguan" by the Goguryeo people. He sent troops to conquer Goguryeo three times before and after. In the end, the food in the free warehouses that were originally used for disaster relief was used as military rations. When the people asked to open the warehouses to release the food, the officials did not open the warehouses. In the granary, a large amount of food is wasted without any control because the food is too heavy.

  The food left in the Sui Dynasty was enough for the Tang Empire to eat for 50 years, and Yang Guang was overthrown when the grain was full.

The constant flat warehouse system was set up by the ancient Chinese government in order to adjust grain prices to meet the needs of officials and people. The fluctuations in food prices before the French Revolution were completely entrusted to the law of value. The Americans borrowed from China’s constant flat warehouse system during the Great Depression. Ensure the stability of food prices.

  Before World War I, farmers invested heavily in agriculture, and the output of agricultural products increased. After the war, they lost overseas markets, and there was a surplus of agricultural products.

  The weak foundation of agriculture in the economic structure of the United States has caused a long-term agricultural depression. At that time, agricultural output was closely related to the weather.

  Improve the soil and improve the living conditions of farmers. The United States has become the world's largest food exporter with less than 3 million agricultural population.

  China has a population of 1.2 billion. Once it loses US food exports, it is still unknown whether they can feed so many people in the world.

The land issue has always been a stubborn disease in China. After the French Revolution, private ownership of land was recognized. However, farmers’ land was not allowed to be bought and sold at will, and a special company must be used. This is the experience of the collapse of the Tang Dynasty’s equalization system. As long as there is a gap, the landlord will Do everything possible to annex the land.

  What the peasants want is only land and property rights. After the land reform, the peasants have changed from a revolutionary force to a conservative force.

   is French style. There is a big gap between the dress of Paris and country women. Country women do not pursue fashion. They are simple and natural. Just like the imperial high-waisted skirts of Napoleon period, they are not gorgeous in Rococo style. They are just white skirts like maternity clothes.

  The peasants didn’t want much, but the bourgeoisie wanted to break their traditional way of life and ask them to buy their own goods. Therefore, when Napoleon restored the monarchy, they chose to support Napoleon and overthrew the Revolutionaries.

  The feudal land ownership system was changed to the small peasant land ownership system. Although the feudal aristocracy was rooted out, this land measure directly caused France's first and second industrial revolutions to lag behind other countries.

After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, the French restored the Bourbon dynasty in July 1830.

  In the beginning during the French Revolution, the civilians did not intend to kill Louis XVI, but to establish a constitutional monarchy like Britain.

  However, France is not an island country like the United Kingdom and the United States. It must guard against foreign invasions at any time, and it is impossible to carry out reforms gracefully.

  As the largest landlord, the church is the object of “care” by the Revolutionary Party. The practice of de-Christianization throughout France is similar to the iconoclast movement of Leo III.

  It’s just that the revolution’s persecution of the church did not completely allow Catholicism to leave France. Although a considerable part of the population has stopped daily religious activities, there are still people who are baptizing in secret.

  The strong spiritual power of the church has formed a strong cohesion, and even nationalism has not completely replaced it.

   "He is right." Pomona put down the book in her hand "Volcanoes can really change human history."

  "Be careful of the Chinese." Severus said while reading the document, "He won't show you the research materials for no reason."

   "He knows that these materials cannot be published in any magazine, so I hope I can spread it." She smiled and shook her head. "Does he think I'm the kind of gossip woman?"

   "Aren't you?" He asked without looking up.

   "No, of course I am not." She laughed exaggeratedly, then got up and left his desk, humming and preparing to make tea.

  (End of this chapter)