While Louis XVI was sent to the guillotine for refusing reform, his refusal was entirely due to France's internal problems.
To analyze France's issues, the best method is to use the Dragon-Slaying Secret Art from the first volume of Grandpa Taizu's Selected Works to dissect the surface and reveal the essence:
Firstly, according to the French, French society was divided into three estates, excluding the king who belonged to no class. These were the first estate, the high clergy; the second estate, the nobility; and the third estate, comprising the bourgeoisie, peasants, and the proletariat, along with other commoners.
However, this division was extremely unreasonable.
Strictly speaking, the king indeed belonged to no class, but he should have presented himself as the core of the second estate and the savior of the third. Louis XVI failed to recognize this, leading to a severe confrontation between the third estate and the first and second estates.
Secondly, there were France's economic problems. The excessive participation in wars during Louis XV's reign, coupled with a lack of victory, led to an empty treasury. The financial pressure from participating in the American Revolutionary War further exacerbated the situation.
Additionally, the lavish lifestyles of the nobility, especially Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, the "Madame Déficit," who resided in Versailles, placed a heavy economic burden on the common people. The old and inefficient financial system could not support government debt, and the unreasonable tax system made everything worse.
The third reason was the drought of 1785, the spring drought of 1788, the hailstorm in July 1788, and the severe cold in the winter of the same year.
In fact, when the drought of 1788 occurred, France had not yet recovered from the drought of 1785. The 1785 drought led to the mass slaughter of livestock due to insufficient fodder, causing large tracts of French farmland, which relied primarily on animal manure for fertilizer, to lie fallow due to lack of fertility.
As for the so-called Enlightenment movement, it was utter nonsense. Treat it as a joke and don't take it seriously—capitalists always package what they want ordinary people to know in grand terms, but they never tell the truth.
The most brutal fact is that the Song Dynasty saw the germination of capitalism, and it collapsed. The Ming Dynasty also saw the germination of capitalism, and it also collapsed. France saw the rise of capitalism, and therefore, Louis XVI went to the guillotine.
The core of capital is greed. For profit, they dare to transfer trillions of dollars in risk onto the state. They dare to create situations like the millions of canal workers, and things like 996 are considered good, merely a slight violation of labor laws.
Based on all the above reasons, we can draw a clear conclusion: Louis XVI did not refuse reform; rather, he accepted that the reforms desired by the third estate would shake the very foundations of royal power. Therefore, he needed to maintain the preparations of the first and second estates to suppress the third estate.
If the reforms could strengthen royal power, would Louis XVI have refused?
Pierre was well aware of Louis XVI's intentions. Especially after Zeng Cheng's "analysis," Pierre saw the current situation in France more clearly.
After a long silence, Pierre finally spoke, "His Majesty the King will certainly agree to reform."
After exchanging another glance with Scholar Diderot, Scholar d'Holbach said, "If reforms are to be initiated, the best approach is not to learn everything from the Ming country, but to start by learning from the Tatars."
"Do not doubt me, Pierre. I know the Tatars were defeated by the Ming, and I know that everything about the Ming is the best. I even wish I could transplant all the systems and knowledge of the Ming country back to France."
"But you know, this is not realistic—the Ming emperor accumulated capital from nothing, bit by bit. However, our French treasury has a deficit of two billion francs. Recklessly imitating everything from the Ming country might shake the foundations of France."
"If you don't trust me, you can consult the Ming Prime Minister and hear his opinion."
Pierre suddenly recalled what Zeng Cheng had said.
"Reduce taxes on commoners, increase the collection of commercial taxes from merchants, and crack down on those nobles who hold fiefs but are of no use to the court."
Yes, it was reduction, not complete exemption like in the Ming Dynasty, because France's finances temporarily could not do without this portion of revenue.
Thinking of this, Pierre nodded and asked, "Then, what do you mean by learning from the Tatars? Is it 'never increasing taxes'?"
Scholar d'Holbach nodded and said, "Precisely, it is 'never increasing taxes.' This requires His Majesty the King to issue an order to reduce some of the taxes on commoners and set a fixed tax collection amount thereafter, without any further increases."
"At the same time, His Majesty the King needs to promulgate some policies that are friendly to small property owners, and then strengthen the taxation of large property owners."
"Let the King and Queen reduce their expenditures as much as possible, because once these policies are implemented, the interests of the nobles will inevitably be affected. This requires reducing the expenditures of the King and Queen to prevent those nobles from siding with the big bourgeoisie."
"Of course, if the King possessed an army as powerful as that of the Ming country, then I would have said nothing. He could implement any policy he wished without worrying about the nobles."
Scholar Diderot glanced at Scholar d'Holbach and thought, why all this trouble? If France simply became a vassal state of the Great Ming, the Ming Emperor would be obligated to be responsible for France, and the problems would be solved—if the nobles dared to cause trouble, could they contend with the Ming army?
Of course, Diderot also knew this was utterly impossible. After all, France had always considered itself an ally of the Ming country. If it suddenly became a son of the Ming, no one would likely accept it.
After some thought, Diderot also expressed his support: "Pierre, your earlier statement that the royal family and the government are like a boat, and the common people are like water, is very philosophical."
"Although this saying was told to you by the Ming Prime Minister, whether in France or in Europe, no one has ever proposed such a reasonable statement. From this, one can see how backward Europe is compared to the ancient Eastern countries."
"Of course, I also know that this is unavoidable. After all, the history of the ancient Eastern countries is truly too long, and their scholars are as brilliant as the stars in the sky. Compared to the East, Europe is undoubtedly like a pitiful desert."
"Therefore, I support your idea. Let His Majesty the King begin the reform. We must strengthen our learning from the Ming country, in every aspect."
"As long as France learns from the Ming country earlier and faster than other European countries, then France will be the most powerful country in Europe."
Pierre thought to himself, isn't this stating the obvious? If it weren't for the desire to learn from the Ming country earlier and faster, would I, Pierre, have brought back two hundred students?
After thinking for a moment, Pierre asked directly, "How much longer will it take for you to finish reading the books opened to you in the Ming library? If it's possible, I think we should return to France as soon as possible to assist His Majesty the King in initiating reforms in France."
Scholar d'Holbach, however, shook his head and said, "Pierre, have you been to the Great Ming Library? If you had, you would know that the portion that is only open to us is far more extensive than the entire collection of the 'French Royal Library.'"
"Therefore, we cannot finish reading it in our lifetime, not even the small portion that is open to us."
Diderot nodded in agreement, then couldn't help but purse his lips and say, "Do you know, Pierre, the written language of the Ming country is too advanced? They can arrange text horizontally from left to right, or vertically from right to left."
"However, both the French language and the languages of those rose-beef eaters must follow a horizontal arrangement from left to right, otherwise it greatly affects reading."
"Damn it, why don't we have a written language as advanced as the Ming country?"
Pierre nodded and said, "I noticed that long ago. However, this is precisely what we need to learn from the Ming country—although we don't have it, once we learn it, we will possess it."
...
Just as Pierre was discussing with d'Holbach and Diderot how to promote reforms in France, Zhu Jinsong, the Great Ming Emperor, was also contemplating how the Great Ming should reform.
Yes, in the eyes of Pierre and others, the Great Ming was almost perfect, but in Zhu Jinsong's view, it had many flaws.
This was primarily due to Zhu Jinsong's actions.
In some aspects, Zhu Jinsong relentlessly followed the examples of the Rabbit and the Silly Eagle, regardless of whether they would be stripped bare or if anyone would come to collect copyright fees.
For instance, the "Big Bomber" attribute, army organization and discipline, the principle of long-arm jurisdiction, the multi-layered oversight principles of the Censorate, the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the abolition of slavery, etc.
On the other hand, Zhu Jinsong directly copied the Ming Dynasty's systems.
For example, collective punishment, being flayed alive and forced to eat grass for embezzling sixty taels of silver, prohibitions against intermarriage among various ethnic groups, etc.
It must be admitted that these are two completely different systems, and there are bound to be many conflicting points. This requires Zhu Jinsong, the Great Ming Emperor, and the many high officials in the Ming court to find a balance point. Whether leaning to the left or to the right can easily lead to problems.
To give a simple example—the system of collective punishment is in opposition to the basic human rights of the people, but who can say that the system of collective punishment is unreasonable?
Without the system of collective punishment, one might have someone like Qu spending money embezzled by her mother abroad, singing a song of filial piety while profiting from her family's reputation.
Or like Princess Xu, relying on her parents' money and connections, and on the platform and resources of Xuzhou.
After all, the internet has no memory.
Frankly speaking, the concept of human rights itself is a pseudo-concept, created by wealthy, powerful, and influential nobles to protect themselves. Even if something goes wrong, as long as one unlucky person is sacrificed, the family can continue to enjoy privileges without bearing any current responsibilities. Isn't this human rights?
The common people who have no money, no power, no influence, and even no way to voice their opinions, get a little bit of benefit, and then feel that human rights are a good thing?
However, the despairing thing is that human rights are indeed a good thing, because even if ordinary people get even a tiny bit of benefit, they can live more like humans, rather than livestock.
For example, collective punishment of nine generations.
If one person rebels, their entire nine generations are punished. Many members of these nine generations, who are completely unaware and have no intention of rebelling, are inexplicably killed. Is this not an undeserved disaster?
Often, similar conflicts have always existed. However, because the Zhu Jinsong version of the Ming court has been continuously expanding outwards and welfare within the country has also been continuously increasing, these problems have not yet erupted.
For this situation, Zhu Jinsong, the Great Ming Emperor, naturally cannot turn a blind eye.
Previously, he ignored these issues because he only occupied a few provinces, and the Tartar Qing still existed, so he temporarily couldn't attend to these matters.
As the sixteen provinces of Han were all brought back under the Great Ming, these problems gradually surfaced.
If he continues to ignore them, then he is truly blind.