Chapter 513: Chen Xia

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

Nineteen years after he made this sentiment, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, and the French Revolution broke out.

If she hadn't read Zhang Tao's report, Pomona would never have connected the volcanic eruption with the French Revolution.

There are volcanic eruptions every day on the earth. Not all volcanic eruptions will affect human history. In July 1783, the Laki volcano in Iceland erupted, and the volcanic ash spread throughout the northern hemisphere. This period of history was called "dust summer" in British history. .

Due to historical reasons, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest landowner in France. During the reign of Louis XV, the climate was good. However, from 1739 to 1742, the climate suddenly became colder and the grain began to fail intermittently. Just four years before the accession of Louis XVI, the weather became more and more severe, and poor harvests frequently occurred.

Changes in weather have weakened the stability of the market, and agricultural prices have fluctuated frequently, which has led to higher land rents and lower agricultural profits.

France is a Catholic country, while Britain and the United States are Protestant. Before the Great Revolution, the French nobles gathered in the Palace of Versailles, competing to indulge in a luxurious and confusing life.

Every aristocratic young woman in the Rococo era longed for a salon, and the "French style" was prevalent among women throughout Europe. People in almost all European courts read the same books, ate in the same way, wore the same clothes, and spoke in the same way. Same French. At that time, France not only transmitted fashion to Europe, but also transmitted a French "lifestyle".

Airy, deliberate, gorgeous, effortless, and detail-oriented, wigs look delicate and slender on both men and women.

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 dressed gorgeously and delicately, with elegant manners and sweet smiles on the corners of their mouths.

Women were at the core of salon culture, and Pomona couldn't imagine what Severus would look like in colorful silks and a wig on his head, which was probably more of a nightmare than his current black appearance.

In order to maintain the luxurious life in Paris, the nobles have to pawn their land and lose the direct property rights of their territories. This is undoubtedly an act of suicide, but the law stipulates that after the loss of ownership, the nobles can still collect taxes from future land transactions That is to say, since the middle and late period 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 could not bring much benefit to the country, their poems and paintings could not improve the lives of the poor, and they did not have enough strength to protect vested interests. During the "Seven Years War", France lost many overseas colonies, when the poor could not afford bread Instead, Mary asked "Why don't they eat cakes", these French aristocrats are similar to the gentry in the Southern Dynasties.

The land pawned by the nobles was taken away by the bourgeoisie. In addition to the privilege of collecting taxes in land sales, the nobles also enjoyed the hunting privileges of the lords, tax-free privileges and immunity, and the most important thing was the privilege of participating in politics. The wealthy bourgeoisie were despised as The third class can participate in politics only by buying and selling official positions.

The war and the extravagant life of the royal family led to inflation, and the land was not harvested. The landlord further increased the rent and increased the burden on the peasants. In the 6th century AD, the church began to collect this tax from Christians by using the statement in the Bible that 1/10 of agricultural and animal husbandry products belonged to God. Duties of the military and civilians.

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

For people who are hungry every day, who has the money to pay taxes, on July 13, 1788, hailstorms hit the farmland continuously, causing a large amount of land to fail. In the same winter, France was in a state of severe cold, and the disease and death rate increased A large-scale famine broke out, and the government lacked sufficient transportation capacity to transport food to the affected areas.

Louis XVI tried many times to reform, taxing the wealthy class represented by nobles and clergy to make up for the fiscal deficit left by Louis XV.

Louis XV was the most unpopular emperor in France. When he and his mistresses were having a good time, because of the failure of the Seven Years War, France signed the Treaty of Paris and gave up India, Canada and the colonies on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Women are really too rich to spend. Clothes made of silk, shoes made of silk, and all kinds of magnificent mansions, servants, and portraits painted with expensive materials, engulfed the treasury like a bottomless pit.

Louis XVI was very weak, but he did not have mistresses like other French kings. He had good conduct, lived a simple life, and could understand the needs of the people when people asked for some necessary reforms, but he had to face the aristocracy, and People who have suffered from natural disasters for years, and a queen who knows nothing and is good at spending money, he is a good man with a soft heart, even though he knows the indulgence of chess pieces and the poverty of the national treasury, he still lets her do whatever she wants spend money.

If any kings were ruined by refusing to reform, Louis XVI was ruined by trying to reform.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

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

When Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine, a farmer shouted angrily, "The poor pay taxes, while the aristocrats who are well-fed and spend a lot of time are exempt from taxes. What is the reason?"

This taxation system is also the reason for the destruction of the Tang Empire. Princess Taiping has a lot of land, but as an aristocrat, she does not need to pay "rents and commissions." After the outbreak, the people did not expect the Tang Dynasty to continue to be in power.

The exploitation of the poor formed a hotbed of violence, and from July 1783 until the eruption of the volcano in February 1784, summer temperatures in Western Europe were cold, hay was in short supply, 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 caused the French society to be out of order. At this time, the American War of Independence began, and Spain and France joined the war one after another.

Colonial rice was one of France's food sources. After the United States became independent, it was no longer possible to buy rice at a low price.

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

Ordinary civilians have limited organizational ability, but it is different when they meet the bourgeoisie with knowledge, wealth and political talent. The French Revolution, a revolution led by the bourgeoisie, was, like life itself, a complex amalgam at once inspiring and inescapable, of hope and terror, violence and fraternity.

This is the result of a rising cycle of terror, driven by internal and external factors, the radicals are gaining power.

Cleopatra Marie is well-bred and lovely, but she is too ignorant of the sufferings of the people.

The aristocracy's excessive pursuit of quality of life has led the middle class and ordinary civilians to follow suit. This typical consumerism can bring prosperity for a while, but it will eventually perish.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, when Yang Xuangan rebelled, China encountered a drought. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, there was a Yicang tax, which meant that harvests in good years were collected and released in disaster years for disaster relief.

However, his son wanted to go on an expedition to Goguryeo. It was a long way from the Central Plains to the Northeast. If it was transported by land, it would cause a lot of consumption, so Yang Guang dug the Grand Canal.

After the construction of the Grand Canal, Luoyang's geographical location is more superior than that of Daxing City, so Yang Guang built Luoyang, the eastern capital.

After finishing repairing Luoyang, he let other business travelers come to visit, to show the purchasing power of the celestial kingdom, hoping that all the merchants would come to China to do business, but by that time, ordinary civilians would no longer be able to buy the luxury goods shipped from the Silk Road, those expensive Spices are mainly used by the aristocracy.

Business can increase tax revenue. After having military expenses, he recruited millions of soldiers to fight Goguryeo, but he lost the war. The heads of 100,000 Sui soldiers were made into "Jingguan" by Goguryeo people. He sent troops to conquer Goguryeo three times. It ended in failure. The food from the warehouses originally used for disaster relief was regarded as military food. When the people asked to open the food warehouses, the officials did not open the warehouses. There are granaries, but a lot of food is wasted without control, because the food is too heavy.

The food left by the Sui Dynasty was enough for the Tang Empire to feed for 50 years. Yang Guang was overthrown when the food warehouse was full.

The ever-changing warehouse system was set up by the ancient Chinese government to adjust grain prices to meet the needs of the government and the people. Before the French Revolution, grain price fluctuations were completely handed over to the law of value. Americans borrowed from China’s ever-changing warehouse system during the Great Depression. Ensured food price stability.

Before the First World War, 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 U.S. economic structure caused a long-term depression in agriculture. At that time, agricultural output had a lot to do with the weather.

By improving the soil and improving the living conditions of farmers, the United States has become the world's largest grain exporter with less than 3 million agricultural population.

China has a population of 1.2 billion. Once it loses the grain exports from the United States, it is not known whether they can feed so many people in the world.

The land problem has always been a chronic problem in China. After the French Revolution, private ownership of land was recognized, but farmers were not allowed to buy and sell their land at will, and had to go through a special company. This is the experience of the disintegration of the land equalization system in Tang Dynasty. Do everything possible to annex the land.

All the peasants want is land and property rights. After the land reform, the peasants changed from a revolutionary radical force to a conservative force.

They are all in French style. There is a big gap between the dresses of Parisian and rural women. Country women do not pursue fashion, they are simple and natural, just like the high-waisted skirts of the empire during Napoleon’s period, without the gorgeousness of Rococo style, just a white skirt like a maternity dress.

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.

Changing the feudal land ownership system to the small peasant land ownership system uprooted the feudal aristocracy, but this land measure directly caused France to lag behind other countries in the first and second industrial revolutions.

After Napoleon's fiasco 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 the United Kingdom.

However, France is not an island country like the United Kingdom and the United States. It must always be on guard against the invasion of foreign enemies, and it is impossible to carry out reforms gracefully and calmly.

As the largest landowner, the church was the focus of "care" by the Revolutionary Party. De-Christianization was implemented throughout France, just like Leo III's iconoclasm movement.

It's just that the persecution of the church by the revolution did not completely remove Catholicism from France. Although a considerable part of the population has stopped daily religious activities, some people are still baptizing in secret.

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

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

"Beware of those Chinese people." Severus said as he read the file, "He won't show you research materials for no reason."

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

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

"No, of course I'm not." She laughed exaggeratedly, and got up and left his desk to make tea while humming.