[This is chapter 510]

After signing the Treaty of Orleans, Chu Bai returned to Paris by train, and the bus of the Tang Embassy was waiting for him at the train station. As a heavyweight diplomat of the most important country with which France has diplomatic relations, the security force given to Chu Bai by the French side is also extremely strong, in addition to Chu Bai's own Mercedes-Benz sedan, there are also a total of six bodyguards in front and behind to form a convoy to provide protection for Chu Bai.

The staff of the embassy saluted Chu Bai, and then said, "Ambassador Chu, thank you for your hard work. ”

Chu Bai smiled and said, "Finally, we have finished the war with the Spaniards, and when we return to the embassy, we will immediately inform the country of the details, and arrange for the original peace treaty to be sent back to China." ”

The staff hurriedly said, "Yes, Ambassador Chu." ”

Chu Bai nodded: "Okay, then let's go." ”

At this time, the staff said: "Ambassador Chu, due to some unexpected circumstances, we may have to take a detour back to the embassy. ”

The look on Chu Bai's face was not too shocked, and he said, "Are there any more demonstrations?" ”

The staff replied: "Yes, the citizens of Paris are gathering on the streets here to protest against the royal government, the French officials are also a little anxious, and the security in Paris has not been very good recently, because some of the protesters also have opinions about us Tang people, so safety is the first thing, we need to avoid the streets where the march is carried out, and take a long detour to return." ”

Chu Bai hummed and said, "Just follow your arrangement." ”

Sitting in the car, Chu Bai sighed. "This revolutionary storm is finally coming." ”

In another plane, the year 1789 speaks. There is only one major event that will keep coming up, and that is the French Revolution. It can be said that the outbreak of the French Revolution was the result of a combination of factors. On the economic side, as a result of the Seven Years' War and the North American War of Independence, France spent a lot of money fighting its long-cherished enemy, Great Britain. At that time, the total number of French national debts amounted to 2 billion riyals. The social burden of war debts was weighed down by the lack of social services for retired veterans in the military under the monarchy. At the same time the aristocratic class. Especially Louis XVI and Marie, who lived in Versailles? The lavish life of Empress Antoinette greatly increased the financial burden on the common people. The old and inefficient fiscal system is unable to handle government debt. This is compounded by an irrational tax system. Cerker, the Swiss-born finance director, tried fiscal reform to salvage the situation, but France's fiscal problems were further exacerbated by the political struggle and its retreat.

Drought in France in the spring of 1788. At that time, France had not yet recovered from the drought of three years ago, and the last drought caused a shortage of fodder, and there was a large-scale slaughter of livestock, resulting in a lack of fertility and a large number of idle farmlands in France, which used livestock waste as the main fertilizer. On July 13, 1788, hailstones as big as eggs destroyed farmland in succession, causing a large number of harvest failures. The extreme cold in France in the winter of the same year led to a significant increase in the price of bread on the eve of the French Revolution. , the number of cases and mortality increases. Mass famine and widespread malnutrition. The famine even spread to many parts of Europe, and the government did not have sufficient transport capacity to prevent food from reaching the affected areas.

Landlords have further weakened peasant incomes by raising rents due to poor harvests. The Roman Catholic Church, the largest landowner in the country, tithes the grain. Tithes, while ostensibly relieving the pressure of the king's taxes on the populace, were in fact a mountain for the poor who hungered every day. Domestic checkpoints restrict domestic economic activity. and as a transport barrier in the event of intermittent crop failure. According to the data, half of the income of poor households was spent on bread in 1788, and in 1789 it was 80%. The goods are unsalable. The influx of peasants into the cities caused high unemployment and social unrest.

This is something that happened in another plane, where the butterfly effect caused by the appearance of the Tang Dynasty made the actual economic crisis in France not so bad. First of all, France's participation in the North American Revolutionary War was very low, and the Tang people went into battle shirtless throughout the whole process, although France provided some support to the United States, but it was relatively limited. Later, France and Spain went to war with the British. It also consumed a lot of money, but to a lesser extent than the North American Revolutionary War, and obtained some substantial benefits.

In the face of natural disasters, due to the introduction of some more advanced agricultural technologies from Datang, it is more typical that the French began to purchase chemical fertilizers for farming, so that the damage of drought to France was reduced. In addition, as a large grain exporter, Datang exported a lot of grain to France during the drought, and the new railways and roads built in France made it possible to transport grain and other materials effectively, which reduced the role of disasters.

Coupled with the introduction of Datang's technology and economic ideas, there was also a small wave of industrial investment in France, and during this decade, large and small factories were opened in France, and many people made a fortune because of investing in factories.

These countervailing effects do not mean that the motives of the French Revolution have disappeared, in fact, the changes made by the Tang Dynasty to France have also promoted the occurrence of the French Revolution from another perspective. France was a more entrenched agrarian country than England, and its landlord class and aristocracy were quite powerful. The old French economic system was biased in favor of the church, the aristocracy, and the landlord class, and a large number of laborers were bound to French soil. After being influenced by the Tang Dynasty, the bourgeoisie born in France had to face a situation of labor shortage, and it was difficult for them to recruit workers, coupled with the exclusion and attack of the factory owners by the landlords, in fact, the new industrial and commercial bourgeoisie was very dissatisfied with the original aristocratic landlord class, and the contradictions were also intensifying and deepening day by day.

Due to the technological progress of the Tang Dynasty, agriculture further restricted the flow of labor in France, and the industrial and commercial capitalist class could not obtain its own labor power, and at the same time faced strong competition from the Tang Dynasty's commercial goods, coupled with religious and political problems, which made the increasingly powerful industrial and commercial capitalist class increasingly dissatisfied.

In addition, the introduction of new ideas from Britain and the Netherlands, and even the Tang Dynasty, made the Cantonese people, including the aristocracy, want to further limit the royal power and carry out constitutional reforms. Louis XVI was pressured to agree to convene the Estates-General in May 1789 on the condition that any tax increase must be passed by the Estates-General and that the king could not arbitrarily arrest or detain the people......