Without Zhu Jinsong's presence, Louis XVI had originally planned to use Vietnam as a stepping stone to find an opportunity to strike at the Qianlong Emperor—in the original history, Louis XVI did not get this opportunity, but France inherited Louis XVI's will, not only giving my Tatar Qing a solid blow but also burning down the Old Summer Palace.
Now that Zhu Jinsong had struck the Qianlong Emperor first, coupled with France's domestic situation being precarious, Louis XVI naturally abandoned the idea of using Vietnam as a stepping stone. For Louis XVI, rather than trying to acquire a foothold and port through Vietnam, it was better to first solve domestic problems and simultaneously send more students to study more advanced knowledge and technology in the Great Ming.
After all, even the dim-witted Pierre became so intelligent and loyal after visiting the Great Ming. How much more formidable would the already intelligent students of France become after studying abroad in the Great Ming?
As for the expenses required for students and the military funds needed to purchase arms from the Great Ming?
How much money could that be? It could be saved by having the Queen build fewer gardens.
After Pierre left, Louis XVI sent for the Comte d'Artois and summoned him to the Palace of Versailles.
As soon as the Comte d'Artois arrived at the Palace of Versailles, Louis XVI went straight to the point and asked, "Comte d'Artois, do you still remember how Voltaire evaluated Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty?"
Louis XVI's question somewhat bewildered the Comte d'Artois.
It is well known that Voltaire, that old scoundrel, always treated Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty as the child of someone else's family, using him as a positive example to admonish His Majesty Louis XV, a negative example for France.
As the grandson of His Majesty Louis XV, Louis XVI had always had a poor impression of Voltaire, and he hated Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, that child of someone else's family, to the point that he even forbade others from mentioning Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty at the Palace of Versailles.
Therefore, why would His Majesty Louis XVI suddenly recall Voltaire and Emperor Yongzheng, names that, when combined, were almost taboo?
Louis XVI did not wait for the Comte d'Artois to answer and continued, "Voltaire described him as the wisest and most benevolent of all emperors throughout history."
"And a large part of Voltaire's reason for reaching this conclusion was a letter from missionary Jean-Baptiste de Régis, written in Guangzhou to Father Étienne Souciet."
"I have not summoned you here today to reminisce about these unpleasant matters, but rather I suddenly thought of the gazettes mentioned in the letter."
"The gazettes of China are very useful for governing a country. In our France, or rather in all of Europe, some places are filled with baseless rumors, malicious gossip, and slanderous accusations in such reports. The gazettes of the Qing Dynasty have a strong spirit of journalistic supervision. Jean-Baptiste de Régis even believed that European newspapers should learn from the Qing Dynasty in this regard to make progress."
"For instance, in the gazettes, one can find the list of dismissed officials and the reasons for their dismissal: someone neglected their duties in collecting imperial taxes, or squandered imperial taxes, someone was too lenient or too harsh in punishing criminals; someone was corrupt, someone lacked talent and was incompetent in governance."
"The gazettes also list the names of officials who replaced the dismissed ones, the dismissed officials' names, their native places, and their crimes, as well as the emperor's replies; a province suffered a disaster, and the local officials' relief efforts, or relief efforts according to the emperor's decree; disbursement of military salaries, or expenditures for public needs, public utility costs; accounts of rewards granted to princes, and memorials submitted by ministers and various departments regarding the emperor's words, actions, and decisions. The gazettes record the days when the emperor personally tilled the land to remind the common people to love labor and value farming. On that day, he summoned all court ministers and heads of departments in Beijing to give a speech, all of which were topics from classic books."
The Comte d'Artois continued to look bewildered.
The Comte d'Artois had indeed read the letter written by Jean-Baptiste de Régis to Father Étienne Souciet, and had even yearned for the Qing Dynasty at one point.
When France organized more than two hundred people to travel to the Qing Dynasty to see the emperor, the Comte d'Artois was one of them. Therefore, the Comte d'Artois knew very well how great the gap was between the actual Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty described in the letter.
After thinking for a moment, the Comte d'Artois simply said directly, "My esteemed King, I believe you must know that when Father Jean-Baptiste de Régis wrote this letter, he may have been threatened by the Qing people."
However, Louis XVI shook his head and picked up a French-translated copy of the "Great Ming Daily" from the table, handing it to the Comte d'Artois, "Take a look at this newspaper first."
The Comte d'Artois took the newspaper from Louis XVI and began to read. After only a few glances, the Comte d'Artois looked up in surprise and exclaimed, "This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Their emperor has permanently abolished the poll tax, and yet the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue last year still reached sixty million francs under the condition of abolishing the poll tax?"
"Good heavens, this is simply insane!"
Louis XVI nodded and said, "At first, I also thought this was already insane, but please continue reading, Comte d'Artois. The crazier part is yet to come."
Upon hearing Louis XVI's words, the Comte d'Artois immediately looked ahead. However, as he read more and more, the shock on the Comte d'Artois's face grew.
"Out of the empire's revenue, fifteen million francs were used for various projects? Only six million francs were allocated to the imperial family? And the imperial family then invested five million francs into the Ming Research Institute?"
"There are also ten million francs for military expenditures, but a full fifteen million francs are allocated for universal education? And it is for the children of all commoners in the Ming Dynasty?"
"They are mad!"
"Forgive me for saying so, my esteemed King, but no normal country would make such decisions—spending more on education than on the military is simply foolish!"
Louis XVI nodded and said, "I also thought they were mad, but Pierre told me that all of this is true."
"I can tell you responsibly, Comte d'Artois, that Father Jean-Baptiste de Régis may have been threatened when he wrote that letter, but Pierre was not threatened in any way; he saw all of this with his own eyes."
The Comte d'Artois was so overwhelmed that he doubted his own existence, his face filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
The key point was that the Comte d'Artois could not understand why His Majesty Louis XVI had suddenly brought up Father Jean-Baptiste de Régis's letter, Voltaire's evaluation of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, and this "Great Ming Daily" that seemed like a fairy tale.
Louis XVI directly resolved the Comte d'Artois's confusion: "Comte d'Artois, don't you think that France should also have such a 'French Daily'?"
"Every decision made by the king and ministers should be published in the 'French Daily,' so that all commoners and nobles in France are aware of every development in France."
"Go, my most trusted Comte d'Artois, I need you to help me create such a newspaper."
"Remember, do not pay attention to those sensational tabloids and magazines that say anything for the sake of sales. The 'French Daily' must be fair, open, and factual."
"Trust me, a major piece of news will soon come to confirm the authority of the 'French Daily.'"
The major piece of news that Louis XVI spoke of was, naturally, the complete annihilation of the Rohan family.
In France, although the Rohan family was not as influential as top families like the Duke of Orléans, the de Noailles family, or the de Lafayette family, they were still far superior to newly emerging nobles like the de Polignac family, even though the de Polignac family was associated with Queen Marie Antoinette.
The reason why the Rohan family was chosen by Louis XVI as the first target to be eliminated was that the Rohan family was wealthy, and their wealth was ill-gotten. The head of the Rohan family was himself incompetent and held high positions in both France and the Papacy. His reputation and standing among the French nobility were not good, and his connections were not extensive, perfectly fitting the description of a "fat sheep" in "The Prince."
Eliminating such a fat sheep would not pose much pressure on Louis XVI, but it would be a huge boon for the extremely cash-strapped French treasury and the soon-to-be-launched "French Daily."
After confiscating the Rohan family's property, Louis XVI immediately announced his royal decree through the newly launched "French Daily":
First, reduce taxes on commoners, then increase taxes on merchants, and at the same time raise the inheritance tax.
In simple terms, it was to win over the commoners of France while suppressing the capitalists who had just emerged but were always looking to cause trouble for Louis XVI.
The inheritance tax was also the same—for the nobility and the big bourgeoisie, Louis XVI's decisions were the same as French law. How to evade Louis XVI's decisions and French law was another matter entirely.
The most difficult situation was for the emerging small and medium bourgeoisie.
The original Louis XVI and French law treated the small and medium bourgeoisie and the commoners of France equally. Only the French royal family, the nobility, and the big bourgeoisie enjoyed privileges.
Therefore, the small and medium bourgeoisie of France could still rally the commoners of France to jointly express their dissatisfaction with taxation.
However, with Louis XVI significantly reducing the tax rate for commoners and shifting this tax burden to the small and medium bourgeoisie, the commoner class in France instantly stood in opposition to the small and medium bourgeoisie.
A precarious situation?
The precarious situation was for the small and medium bourgeoisie. What did it have to do with the commoner class, who were already so poor that they could barely pay taxes?
On the contrary, the commoner class was now better off, and the budding unrest in Paris was instantly suppressed.
These news made Louis XVI very happy. He even published an article in the recently launched "French Daily" praising the Ming Dynasty allies in the Far East, extolling Zhu Jinsong as the most wise, benevolent, and merciful emperor in the Far East, and stating that he was pen pals with His Majesty Emperor Zhu Jinsong of the Great Ming Empire, and that he, the King of France, was very honored.
As for the original Qianlong Emperor?
A foolish, ignorant, cruel, and autocratic feudal emperor like him, what right did he have to be a pen pal with His Majesty King Louis XVI?
He was merely a nobody.
However, as Louis XVI's complete abandonment of Vietnam became increasingly evident, Father Pierre-Joseph Georges Pigneau de Béhaine (Pierre), entrusted by Nguyễn Phúc Ánh and bringing Nguyễn Phúc Ánh's second son, Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, to France for assistance, became distressed.
If France did not send troops to help Vietnam, what would Vietnam do?
Would they really have to seek help from the Great Ming, their suzerain, as Louis XVI said?
Both Pierre and Nguyễn Phúc Ánh were well aware that seeking help from France would cost little more than losing an island and a port. Seeking help from my Tatar Qing would cost little more than nominally acknowledging their suzerainty and paying tribute, while still being able to rule as an emperor in private.
Only seeking help from the Great Ming…
This was by no means just about islands or ports, nor could it be resolved by simply acknowledging suzerainty and paying tribute.