Re: The Kingdom of France

[Galveston Bay]

A decree is issued in the Winter of 1716 that a special celebration in honor of the Navy will be held on October 20th this year.

[Galveston Bay]

1717 Budget
income 55.85 points
Military Maintenance: 16.4 points
available 39.45

remaining outstanding debt as of 1717 38.5 points
Interest 7%
1 x 3.point loans Ireland (interest .21)
1 x 4.5 point loan Netherlands (.32 interest)
1 x 4. point loan Netherlands (.28 interest)
3 x 9 point loans internal  (.63 x 3 = 1.89 interest)
total interest: 2.79
principal payments: .25 points 1714 Dutch loan + .25 points 1713 Dutch loan  (.5)
payments of .25 each for 1 Irish, 3 internal loans (1 point)
additional payments 2.75 for 1 Irish loan (paying it off)
total principal paid: 4.25 points
total debt service: 7.04 points
available 32.41  

Naval expansion (10 points)
4 points repairs Marseille Naval Yard (year 3 of 3, 12 of 12 points)
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Bretagne, Gascogne) (year 3 of 6, 2 points  6 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval consruction 2 x BB2 (Normandie, Provence) (year 2 of 6, 2 points, 4 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Puma, Carcajou, Loutre, Orque) (1.5 points, 3 of 6 points, year 2 of 4) at Charleston Naval Yard
naval construction 1 PatRon at Port of Marsaille (.5 points)

Army expansion (11 points)
complete fortress New Orleans (2 points, 4 points of 4, year 2 of 2)
complete fortress Marseille (2 points, 4 points of 4, year 2 of 2)
add 5 light infantry regiments (1 each depot Versailles, Chartres, Compiegne, Amiens, Dieppe)(5 points)
add 1 depot (Cahookia) 2 points

repayment of 8 points (4 each) to Brunswick and Brandenburg for them to replace their infantry brigades damaged during the war
establishment trading post Port Bourbon (formerly Lourenco Marques (modern day Maputo) after careful review determines the Dutch refused to take Portuguese East Africa at the end of the peace discussions.   3 points

gifts to Native American groups .50 points
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion / Natal (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 800 convicts (all Catholic men) to Louisiana plantations (480 survive the year)
ship 200 convicts (all Catholic women or men able to bribe their way to this but not out of jail) to Canada (180 will survive)(as no plantation economy exists, the women end up as household servants, the men often too although some are put to work as farm hands)
total deportation costs .35 points

[Galveston Bay]

Fall 1716
The Royal Defense Council begins discussing the idea of recruiting Black African troops for colonial service. The amazing endurance and ability to run long distances is a notable feature of the Bantu of Natal, while the ferocity and relative immunity to Yellow Fever and Malaria of the African warriors of Senegal draw favorable comment as well.

The French African Company and East Indian Company are directed to begin talking to the chiefs of both regions about such a thing, while the Army is canvassed for officers who might be willing to have such troops under their command.

The successful use by the various European East Indian Companies of Indian soldiers, and the long history of success the Portuguese have had, even with African soldiers, is also noted.

[Galveston Bay]

December 1716
The Crown takes a hard look at numbers and need for settlers in French North America and French South Africa.   Roughly 4% of the Metropol population is charged with crimes worthy of imprisonment or execution annually.  Most of those crimes that previously warranted execution (such as theft, arson, 2nd degree murder, witchcraft, blasphemy) now subject to exile for life.  

This works out to nearly 800,000 people a year charged, although only roughly half that number are convicted.  
(drawn from this)
https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/viewFile/38611/35025

Roughly half of those people are sentenced to short prison sentences or public corporal punishment.  Another large number are allowed to join the military in lieu of punishment, and a portion are given clemency also.  Another significant portion face execution for heinous crimes (1st degree murder, poisoning, treason etc) and are not appropriate for transportation.  

Roughly 85,000 people are available each year for transportation and exile to the colonies.  However the means to transport more than a small portion of this number does not exist.  

However, the Crown sees this as a potential means to increase the number of French in the colonies, reduce the number of criminals at home and provide a labor pool that can be rented out to planters.    Of course the death rate (over 50% in Florida, the Caribbean and Louisiana) for Europeans for adults is staggering, and of course even in the other colonies is still between 10-25% including those who die aboard ship in transit.   The advantage of African slaves is that they are more likely to survive the plantation conditions.  The difficulty is that they require harsh measures and oversight to remain productive and there have been small scale revolts from the very beginning, sometimes with savage results.

As the year ends the Crown continues to ponder this and asks for recommendations from advisors on a policy.    Should additional funds be allocated to increase the number of French convicts exiled to the colonies?

[Galveston Bay]

Winter 1717
Concerns about increasing rhetoric in England regarding the Irish, a renewed outbreak in Portugal's war against encroachment by the Dutch and Poles, rumors of developments likely to worsen the situation further plus the new Jesuit Pope and efforts by the Holy Roman Emperor to create a Pan German army all lead to a orders for the Mobile Fleet to move to Brest to refit.

[Galveston Bay]

April 1717
Although the war between the Irish and English is not a surprise, the King is still disappointed. The Ambassadors in London and Dublin are instructed to inform both nations that France is neutral in this latest round of the British Civil War

France will only intervene if its territory or shipping are attacked by either party or if circumstances warrant it

[Galveston Bay]

Spring 1717
The French Navy completes plans and places orders for the new Tribal Class Frigate, with construction to begin in 1718

[Galveston Bay]

Summer 1717
The Defense Council is summoned, and leaders from the trading companies as well as representatives from the Parliaments (two from each) are summoned to Orleans to meet with the King to discuss the Anglo-Irish War, as well as other matters of foreign policy.

[TLS]

France and the War of the Isles

1717

The French body politic is heavily divided by the war in the British Isles. The House of Bourbon has been on friendly terms with the House of Stuart for centuries, dating back to the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland. Stuart ascension to the throne of England and Ireland in the previous century ushered in a historic period of peace between the ancient enemies of England and France, and the Civil Wars saw the House of Stuart flee to France. While there, the Stuarts intermarried and intermingled with French high society, openly reverted to the Catholic Church, and, finally, were restored to the throne of Ireland by the force of French guns and men.

The decades since the Stuart restoration to Ireland have seen good, if not perfect, relations with the Emerald Isle. Ireland has served as a bankroller of many of France’s expeditions, worked alongside the French to advance colonial interests, and generally backed the Bourbons in their various adventures. Irish neutrality in the Franco-Dutch and then Lateran Wars was due as much to France’s insistence on English aid as to anything else—the Stuarts would have faced open mutiny had they been co-belligerents on the side of England, and the French embrace of England has done much to weaken ties. The Franco-Hibernian alliance was supposed to be the bedrock of France’s foreign policy—keeping England contained by a naval power just off-shore, allowing France to focus on Continental endeavors and contracting Naval affairs to their thorn in England’s side.

Indeed, the current French king is responsible for much of the deterioration. Even ten years prior it would have been assume as a matter of course that France would instinctively intercede on the side of Ireland in a war against Perfidious Albion. The contagion of anti-monarchism emanating from London is bad enough, but the opportunity to inflict further harm on England would be a matter of national pride. Instead, Philippe has spent much of his reign fawning over England—inviting England to join her wars, helping her to re-establish her presence in India (after working for decades to eject her from the subcontinent), and even inviting English troops onto French soil. The French king’s anti-clericalism—his sympathy for Protestantism an open secret at this point—and his Anglophilia have done much to weaken his standing in the eyes of many of his subjects.

France now stands at a crossroads. Most of the French nobility and military establishment have little desire to plunge themselves into a war against the Irish. Many officers and higher-ranking military officials saw their first wars fighting alongside the Stuarts to liberate Ireland, and while the English and French cooperated in the Lateran War they did not fight alongside one another to the same degree. No Frenchman died alongside an Englishman defending the ramparts of any castle or charging a Spanish position, to the same degree French chevaliers died alongside Stuart footmen.

That is not to say that there are not elements of French society that hope in an English victory. Sympathy for the English is widespread among the Protestant minorities (both Lutheran and Huguenot) because of the strong Catholic bent of the Stuart cause, exacerbated by the religious rebellions in Ireland, England, and Scotland. More distressingly, among the Huguenots the cancer of Republicanism has spread, sped along by anti-clerical tracts and extensive trading ties between England and France established during the friendly period. Some see the cause of England in this war—and its hopeful victory over the Stuarts—as the prelude to England once again turning its attention to the Continent and spreading its ideology with fervor.

Openly pro-English voices are otherwise rare in France, however. Most Frenchmen remain, as they have for centuries, wary of the Englishmen across the narrow channel, though they are, frankly, unsure of the exact differences between and Englishman and an Irishman. France has recovered some from the war against Spain, but few Frenchmen crave the prospect of an extensive war. Spain’s unwillingness to come to Ireland’s open defense is a cause for derision, of course, as the petty Wittelsbachs are unable to shoulder the burden it so claimed as the pre-eminent Catholic power.

The French king’s closest advisors remain an enigma; it is thought that the King may even favor the English cause, seeing as he is intent on destroying the ancient rights and privileges of the French nobility and church. Those thoughts are perhaps uninformed (the French King has no desire to diminish his own power, after all) but there is a streak of realpolitik in his close circles. Rather than letting themselves be swayed by emotion, the court faction seems predominantly interested in ensuring that neither England nor Ireland emerge universally dominant from the war. However, though it is clear from consultations that more Frenchmen would favor aiding Ireland than aiding England, by a considerable margin, it is also evident that Philippe would hardly face a massive loss of prestige by remaining outside the unfolding drama.

[Galveston Bay]

Summer 1717
The Defense Council is summoned, and leaders from the trading companies as well as representatives from the Parliaments (two from each) are summoned to Orleans to meet with the King to discuss the Anglo-Irish War, as well as other matters of foreign policy.  

After weeks of meetings that end in a formal dinner and grand ball, the Crown makes the decision that neutrality regarding the Anglo-Irish War will be the policy. However, with this opportunity as the English speakers are tied up in their own quarrel, the Dutch seem to be having their own internal debate and the Poles have sold off their Indian Ocean holdings, the Crown will focus on paying off all debts. It is announced that 1718 will continue to see wartime taxes mainly due to the risk of the Anglo Irish War spilling over into French waters or territory, but beginning 1719 those taxes will be reduced to normal levels unless the danger of war involving France looks more pronounced than at present.

France hopes to remain at peace for now....

[Galveston Bay]

1718 Budget
income 56.1 points
Military Maintenance: 17.5 points
available 38.6

remaining outstanding debt as of 1718 34.25 points
Interest 7%

1 x 4.25 point loan Netherlands (.3 interest)
1 x 3.75 point loan Netherlands ( .26 interest)
3 x 8.75 point loans internal  (.61 x 3 = 1.83 interest)
total interest: 2.38
principal payments: .25 points 1714 Dutch loan + .25 points 1713 Dutch loan  (.5)
payments of .25 each for   3 internal loans
total principal 1.25
total debt service 3.63

Available 34.97

Naval expansion (6 points)
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Bretagne, Gascogne) (year 4 of 6, 2 points  8 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Normandie, Provence) (year 3 of 6, 2 points, 6 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Lorraine, Canada)(year 1 of 6, 2 points, 2 of 12) 1 each at Marseille and Brest Naval Yards

available 28.97 points

gifts to Native American groups .62 points
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion / Natal (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 800 convicts (all Catholic men) to Louisiana plantations (480 survive the year)
ship 200 convicts (all Catholic women or men able to bribe their way to this but not out of jail) to Canada (180 will survive)(as no plantation economy exists, the women end up as household servants, the men often too although some are put to work as farm hands)
total deportation costs .35 points

available 28 points
pay off 1 internal loan 8.5 points
pay off Dutch debt 7.5 points
Belated wedding gift to Stuart Crown 1 point
Aid to Brandenburg and Brunswick 10 points (repayment of assistance from them during war)

[Galveston Bay]

Late Fall 1717
Concerned about the fact that the Spanish Royal Line essentially died out due to breeding to close, the King proposes to the 2nd Estate that his Princesses and Princes Royal be required to marry within France, and within the Chevaliar class (which would be a huge social promotion for the lucky groom or bride) so as to bring new blood into the Royal Line.  

(Chevalier an otherwise untitled nobleman who belonged to an order of chivalry; earlier, a rank for untitled members of the oldest noble families. Later distinction was that a Knight (Sieur) went through the dubbing ceremony (touched with a sword on the head and shoulders by the King), while the lesser rank of Chevalier or Knight Bachelor received the rank without the ceremony)

It should be noted that Princess Marie, Duchess of Orleans, turns 16 in 1718

[Galveston Bay]

Relieved that war seems to have been averted, the French Crown reduces taxes to peacetime levels

1719 Budget
income 51.1 points (back to peacetime taxes)
Military Maintenance: 17.5 points
available 33.6

remaining outstanding debt as of 1718 16.5 points
Interest 7%

loans 2 x 8.5 point loans internal  (.6 x 2 = 1.8 interest)
total interest: 1.8
principal payments: pay 1 loan in full 8.5 points
principal payment on other loan .25
total debt service 10.55 points

Available 23.05

Naval expansion (10 points)
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Bretagne, Gascogne) (year 5 of 6, 2 points  10 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Normandie, Provence) (year 4 of 6, 2 points, 8 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Lorraine, Canada)(year 2 of 6, 2 points, 4 of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Legere, Infedele, Sincere, Favorite)(year 1 of 4, 3 points of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 1 x BB1 (Ville de Paris)(year 1 of 10, 1 point of 10) Marseille Naval Yard

available 10.05  points

gifts to Native American groups .70
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion / Natal (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 800 convicts (all Catholic men) to Louisiana plantations (480 survive the year)
ship 200 convicts (all Catholic women or men able to bribe their way to this but not out of jail) to Canada (180 will survive)(as no plantation economy exists, the women end up as household servants, the men often too although some are put to work as farm hands)
total deportation costs .35 points

available 9 points
start fortresses Lille, Bayonne (4 points of 8, year 1 of 2)
available 5 points - Naval transport and discritionary repair budget (with peace, this becomes a gift to Irish ship repair budget)

[Galveston Bay]

1720 Budget
income 50.5 points (peace time taxes)
Military Maintenance: 17.5 points
available 34

remaining outstanding debt as of 1719 (includes debt assumed from Ireland) 17.75 points
Interest 7%

loans 8.25 point loans internal (.58)
loan 9.5 point (assumed from Ireland) (.67)
total interest: 1.25
principal payments: .75
pay in full remainder 17
total debt service 19 points

Available 15

Naval expansion (10 points)(REVISED TO 9 points)
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Bretagne, Gascogne) (year 6 of 6, 2 points  12 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Normandie, Provence) (year 5 of 6, 2 points, 10 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Lorraine, Canada)(year 3 of 6, 2 points, 6 of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Legere, Infedele, Sincere, Favorite)(year 2 of 4, 6 points of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 1 x BB1 (Ville de Paris)(year 2 of 10, 2 points of 10) Marseille Naval Yard (CANCELLED, BROKEN UP)

available 5 points

gifts to Native American groups .65
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion / Natal (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 800 convicts (all Catholic men) to Louisiana plantations (480 survive the year)
ship 200 convicts (all Catholic women or men able to bribe their way to this but not out of jail) to Canada (180 will survive)(as no plantation economy exists, the women end up as household servants, the men often too although some are put to work as farm hands)
total deportation costs .35 points

available 4 points
complete fortresses Lille, Bayonne (4 points, 8 of 8, year 2 of 2)

Carentan (OTL Halifax), Dinard (OTL Cape Breton Island) and Miami become outposts (giving up trading post status) as those areas are opened up for wider settlement as the native population near them shrinks due to disease.

[Galveston Bay]

Fall 1719
The Armee de Expedition (6 infantry brigades, 3 infantry regiments, 4 cavalry brigades) breaks camp around Brest and all units return to their home depots by winter.

Winter 1720
With peace restored in the waters off Western Europe, the Mobile Fleet (15 BB2, 6 FF1) is ordered sail from Brest after the winter storms are over and make for the Mediterranean to patrol the waters off southern France to remind the various other powers in the Mediterranean that France is a power in that sea.

The other 9 frigates in the Mobile Fleet are ordered to sail to Natal to show the flag and to be a permanent South Ocean Fleet based out of Reunion

[Galveston Bay]

Late Fall 1717
Concerned about the fact that the Spanish Royal Line essentially died out due to breeding to close, the King proposes to the 2nd Estate that his Princesses and Princes Royal be required to marry within France, and within the Chevaliar class (which would be a huge social promotion for the lucky groom or bride) so as to bring new blood into the Royal Line.  

(Chevalier an otherwise untitled nobleman who belonged to an order of chivalry; earlier, a rank for untitled members of the oldest noble families. Later distinction was that a Knight (Sieur) went through the dubbing ceremony (touched with a sword on the head and shoulders by the King), while the lesser rank of Chevalier or Knight Bachelor received the rank without the ceremony)

It should be noted that Princess Marie, Duchess of Orleans, turns 16 in 1718

In 1720, Princess Marie, Duchess of Orleans, marries Jacques-Ignace de La Touche https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-Ignace_de_La_Touche, who becomes Duke of Orleans (she retains the title of Princess however, he does not gain the title of Prince)

Soon after the wedding (a spring affair), Charlotte, the Duchess of Anjou, becomes engaged to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Charles_Armand_Fouquet, with a wedding set for 1721

[Galveston Bay]

France in the early 1720s
It has been over a decade (by 1725) since the humiliation of the Lateran War but the King has not forgotten or forgiven. While the loss of southern Italy and Sicily was humbling it pales to the burning humiliation he sees every time he looks at a map of France and is reminded that the County of Perpignan is in the hands of the Spanish crown. To his considerable irritation, King Philip is also frequently reminded by his mother Queen (mother) Elizabeth Charlotte (from Hesse-Kassel) that he also lost half of Navarre in the form of St Sebastian to 'that Bavarian' which she finds particularly annoying.

Philip remains committed to his quest to break the power of the Church in France but the sharp check by the war has forced him to be more cautious. The Church, in his mind, is an institution committed to holding back the natural rise of France as the great power of Europe. It is in league with the Habsburgs and Wittelbachs, and both would prefer a France that solidly behind them in power and prestige. In this feeling he shares a family tradition going back decades, indeed centuries. There is little new there. What is new however is what he has done about it. While the War prevented him from achieving the secularization he hoped for, it did manage to improve the position of his very economically valuable Protestant and Jewish subjects.

Just as importantly, the law of 1706 that required members of the Noblesse d'épée to obtain permission from the Crown before sending their children to the Priesthood or a Nunnery remains. Philip has used that law at every chance, with women being allowed every opportunity to join the Church (where he feels they can do little harm and much good), but men find that only the physically or mentally unfit or infirm are allowed to join the Church and thus remove themselves from service to the Crown. Men of that class who are genuinely interested in scholarship or simply find the life of sitting behind a desk to be preferred to military service or the pressures of the court are offered positions in the civil service of the Crown or sent at Crown expense to university to study (with the condition that they provide service to the Crown afterword for some number of years). Some men are also given land grants in Canada or Arcadia (particularly for the more powerful families) as often they are being sent to the Church as no inheritance is due them. Slowly the influence the Church has begins to dwindle as the blood ties between the 1st and 2nd Estates are weakened over the course of 20 years.

The other issue regarding the Church was the land seized and acceptance of replacement during the Peace of Poiters for land grants in the French Empire to offset that. A total of around 2500 square miles (1.6 million acres) was seized from the Church, which retains roughly 5000 squares miles of holdings in France (originally 3% of land area, now reduced to 2% of land area). Roughly 1200 square miles is give to the Church in South Florida, the rest is given in grants in Arcadia which border the tribal areas of the central portion of that province. In effect the Church is made keepers of the Indian tribes that remain in Arcadia and South Florida, which was their traditional role in any event. A few thousands acres are set aside for the Church to use to plant actual churches and other buildings on in the various settlements of the New World. Philip finds this most satisfactory as he considers Priests who in the New World and not France highly desirable and the choicest bits of the Church land in France were exchanged for a couple million acres of swamp, forest, and Indians.

His occasional chuckle about that is one of the few bits of consolation he takes from the Lateran War.

However, the entire issue of Avignon continues to anger him. An unfriendly power as a base of supply and troops inside his Kingdom, within easy reach of his primary Mediterranean ports and cities, and it also lies on the Rhone, a gateway into the heart of southern and eastern France. With a Jesuit Pope in power, he has no chance of negotiating that thorn into something less annoying. A plan for a siege of Avignon is the military problem given to students at the school of military engineering for 5 years in a row.

Outside of the Royal palaces, France continues to prosper and grow. The government also pours money into the colonies for the first time in a decade, while continuing to spend heavily on border defenses and the navy, which gives craftsmen and laborers alike jobs. The Crown also moves to reduce crime by expanding the number of troops patrolling the roads, and gains a coup when the notorious Cour des Miracles Gang is captured in 1721. http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=4380

They are spared to traditional punishment of being broken on the wheel and other barbarities that the King finds disgusting. Instead they are merely hanged (the worst offenders including Cartoche) or whipped and banished (to Florida for hard labor). Indeed the Reform Acts of 1712 and 1716 ended most of the barbarous punishments of tradition and also reduced the number of capital offenses. It is noted that handful of executions for witchcraft or heresy have been allowed in France since 1716, and each of those cases other capital crimes were associated with those cases. Indeed some accused witches and heretics are given land grants in Louisiana and subsidized transportation for themselves and their families as an act of mercy by the Crown, those funds frequently coming directly from the Kings personal purse.

This does give France a large number of convicts who are neither executed or banished, and for them the punishments include whipping, branding, and labor service building roads, which the Crown has determined is a major goal and as he travels them each year from Orleans to Poiters to Paris, he is well aware of the need for better roads.

(ooc historically about 2 decades later but France spent a lot of money, about 4% of its Royal budget and put a lot of poor people to work building a lot of paved roads)

https://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/ichs/vol-1-791-798-conchon.pdf

One interesting thing is that the crime rate continues to decline, something that continues over the course of the entire century.

The strong feeling by the King that France will no longer be a place where Christians slaughter each other in the name of God remains a central goal of his reign. While the Lateran War saw some excesses, and some hard feelings and distrust remains, the King hopes that his children and grandchildren will rule a France were that kind of thing is forgotten. There must not be another War of Religion in France.

[Galveston Bay]

1721 Budget 53.36 points
Debt: none
Peacetime taxes
military maintenance: 18.5

The Crown pours a huge amount of money into economic development for the first time since 1710, with the purpose of expanding the value of the colonial empire.  Money is spent on merchant shipping, new trading posts (through the French Hudson Bay Company as well as direct investment), while some older trading posts which are losing their value (due to smaller local native populations) become outposts and a new outpost and settlement is established in western Louisiana.   Money continues to be spent on the fleet, as many of the warships of the fleet are approaching or passing 30 years of service and there are still the losses of the Lanteran War to be made up at least in part.   Planning is completed on Army expansion, which is due to begin in earnest in 1722.   The Navy and Crown also agree to sell 5 older BB2 to the Ottoman Empire (including 2 the French Navy had purchased from the years before) as their service life is reaching closer to the end than the beginning and new construction is planned to build them.  This deal, 15 points for 5 ships, will stretch from 1722-1726.  

available 34.5
Naval construction (15.5 points)
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Normandie, Provence) (year 6 of 6, 2 points, 12 of 12) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Lorraine, Canada)(year 4 of 6, 2 points, 8 of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Legere, Infedele, Sincere, Favorite)(year 3 of 4, 3 points, 9 points of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Martinique, Acadia, Louisiana, Natal)(year 1 of 6, 4 points, 4 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 3 x commercial shipping units (1 each Bordeaux, Quebec, Martinique) (4.5 points, year 1 of 2, 4.5 of 9 points)

Economic development 19 points
trading posts at Fort Arviat (Hudson Bay), Fort Rouge (Winnipeg) Fort Saint-Pierre (Vicksburg) Fort La Salle (Peoria), Fort Kissimmee (Orlando)
Fort Frontec (Kingston Ontario) becomes Frontec (outpost)(village 1731, town 1741, city 1751, Great Lakes port 1761)
Fort Miami becomes Maumee (Toledo, Ohio)(outpost)(village 1736, town 1751, city 1766, due to distance, mixed population of pure European French, Metis (mixed race Native American/French) and Native Americans similar to Cahookia).  
Outpost at Natchitoches (Philippia)(village 1731, town 1741, city 1751, inland so not a future port)
(net gain + .75 points)
Resettlement  convict shipment
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 1,000 convicts (all Catholics) to Philippia/Louisiana (600 survive the year)
total cost .3
Gifts to Native American Tribes .7
road improvements in France .36

1722 Budget 53.36 points
plus .75 (from new outposts in 1721)
plus 3 points (ship purchases Ottoman Empire) (sold BB2 Achille, Ajax)
Debt: none
Peacetime taxes
available 57.11 points
military maintenance: 18.5

The Crown continues but eases back its economic development investment and cuts back on naval construction.  However the French expansion up the Mississippi River to link New Orleans with Cahookia continues and the planned expansion of the Metropolitan France border defenses begins in earnest.  

Naval construction (14 points)
naval construction 2 x BB2 (Lorraine, Canada)(year 5 of 6, 2 points, 8 of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Legere, Infedele, Sincere, Favorite)(year 4 of 4, 3 points, 12 points of 12) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Martinique, Acadia, Louisiana, Natal)(year 2 of 6, 4 points, 8 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 3 x commercial shipping units (1 each Bordeaux, Quebec, Martinique) (4.5 points, year 2 of 2, 9 of 9 points)
naval construction 1 PatRon Bordeaux (.5 points, 1 year)

Economic development 4 points
trading post Chicksaw Bluffs (Memphis) 3 points
Resettlement  convict shipment
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 1,000 convicts (all Catholics) to Philippia/Louisiana (600 survive the year)
total cost .3
Gifts to Native American Tribes .7
road improvements in France .61

Army Expansion 22 points
Fortresses Toulon, Narbonne, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Metz, Sedan, Soissons, Reims, Verdun, Nancy, plus Frontec (Kingston Ontario) (22 points of 44, year 1 of 2)

1723 Budget 53.36
plus 3 points (sale of BB2 Orient) plus .75 (3 previous outposts) + .25 (trading post in 1722) plus 1.5 points (new merchant shipping, 3 merchant fleets built 21-22) = 5.5 points
total available 58.36
Debt: none
Peacetime taxes
military maintenance: 18.5 plus add 4 FF2, 1 PatRon, (.9) subtract 1 BB2 (.25) total 19.15

Continued French expansion up the Mississippi to link Cahookia and New Orleans, continued work for the Naval Yards to provide employment and continue the planned replacement of older ships, and completion of the phase 2 of the Army expansion plan, including creation of a permanent force of Marines for colonial duties.

Naval construction (8 points)
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Martinique, Acadia, Louisiana, Natal)(year 3 of 6, 12 points, 8 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Polaris, Sirius, Aldeberan, Procyon)(year 1 of 4, 3 points, 3 of 12 points) at Marseille Naval Yard
naval construction 2 x PatRon (1 each Marseille, Brest Naval yards) 1 point (1 year build time)
 
Economic development 4.35 points
trading post Arkansas Post 3 points
Resettlement  convict shipment
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 1,000 convicts (all Catholics) to Philippia/Louisiana (600 survive the year)
total cost .3
Gifts to Native American Tribes .7
Gifts to Bantu Trides .35
road improvements in France .86

Army Expansion 22 points
Fortresses Toulon, Narbonne, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Metz, Sedan, Soissons, Reims, Verdun, Nancy, plus Frontec (Kingston Ontario) (22 points, 44 of 44, year 2 of 2)
raise 4 infantry regiments 4 points (Regiments Troupes de Marine) (2 each Brest, Marseille)

1724 Budget 58.36 (see above)
add .25 (trading post 1723) plus 3 points (sale of BB2 Tonnant)
available 61.51
Debt: none
Peacetime taxes
military maintenance: 19.15 (minus 1 BB2 .25) plus (22 fortresses, 2 PatRon, 4 Inf Regs) 6.1 = 25 points

Naval construction (8 points)
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Martinique, Acadia, Louisiana, Natal)(year 4 of 6, 4 points, 16 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Polaris, Sirius, Aldeberan, Procyon)(year 2 of 4, 3 points, 6 of 12 points) at Marseille Naval Yard
 
Economic development (4.51 points)
trading post Arkansas Post 3 points
Resettlement  convict shipment
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 1,000 convicts (all Catholics) to Philippia/Louisiana (600 survive the year)
total cost .3
Gifts to Native American Tribes .7
Road improvements in France .51

Army Expansion (available 24 points)(Phase 3 begins with the expansion of mobile forces now that the border defenses are completed)
raise 6 infantry brigades, 1 each Strasbourg, Narbonne, Metz, Sedan, Toulouse, Bayonne)

amended:
1 extra point a year 1721-1724 for Senegal slave trade bonus, used to build 2 frigates (Mercure, Hermes) and 1 PatRon (4 points total), all of which are completed for 1725 start
1.25 points a year (not previously counted) for Senegal used to build 1 fortress Mobile, 1 PatRon

[Galveston Bay]

Kingdom of France 1721
Metropol
Population: 21.824 million (peacetime taxes 5.36 points, wartime taxes 10.72 points)
Ports: Marseilles, Bordeaux, Brest, Lille (4 points)
Financial Center: 1 Bordeaux (represents French East India Company)(1 point)
Craft Centers: Paris 1, Lille 1, Metz 1, Marseilles 1, Bordeaux 1 Lyon 1 (6 points)
Resources: 8 Resources (Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Lyon, Strasbourg, Nantes, Vichy) (8 points)
Metropol income: 24.36 (29.72 points wartime)

Commercial Shipping
18 merchant flotillas (based out of Marseille, Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, New Orleans and Quebec)
total: 9 points

total metropol income 33.36 points plus 28 colonial income (room for 3 more shipping units also, slave income to be clarified)
total income: 61.36
Credit B (no debt)
Prestige B





Colonial Empire
https://commonwealthe20.rpg-board.net/t61-french-colonial-developments
colonial income 19.7 points

metropol 33.36 plus 19.7 = 53.06 points as of 1721

France 1725
Metropol
Population: 21.824 million (peacetime taxes 5.36 points, wartime taxes 10.72 points)
Ports: Marseilles, Bordeaux, Brest, Lille (4 points)
Financial Center: 1 Bordeaux (represents French East India Company)(1 point)
Craft Centers: Paris 1, Lille 1, Metz 1, Marseilles 1, Bordeaux 1 Lyon 1 (6 points)
Resources: 8 Resources (Paris, Lille, Bordeaux, Marseilles, Lyon, Strasbourg, Nantes, Vichy) (8 points)
Metropol income: 24.36 (29.72 points wartime)

Commercial Shipping
21 merchant flotillas (based out of Marseille, Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, New Orleans, Quebec and Martinique)
total: 10.5 points

total metropol income 34.86 points

[Galveston Bay]

French Military Forces 1721 / 1725

French Navy
1721 Fleet
BB2
(built 1690-1710) Tonnant, Formidable, Intrepide, Terrible, Orient, Ocean, Triomphe, Sceptre, Juste, Neptune, Superbe, Robuste, Diligent, Achille, Ajax
(built 1720-24) Bretagne, Gascogne (1721), Normandie, Provence (1722), Lorraine, Canada (1724)
FF1
(built 1690-1700) Sirene, Tigre, Galant, Assure, Constant, Trident, Indien, Africain, Dryade, Griffon, Gloire, Amazone, Cavalier
(built 1705) Jean Bart, Tourville,
(built 1723) Legere, Infedele, Sincere, Favorite

4 BB2, 4 FF1 under construction (see above), 15 BB2, 15 FF2 in service
11 PatRon (55 brigs)
2 naval yards (Brest, Marseille)
manpower: 50,500 men (including marines and shore staff) with another 5,200 joining the navy in the next 4 years

17 BB2, 15 FF1, 11 PatRon, 2 naval yard: 9.35 points

1725 Fleet
4 BB2 (Achille, Ajax, Orient, Tonnant) sold to the Ottoman Empire, with another (Ocean) sold in 1725 (the Intrepede is slated for sale in 1726)
6 BB2 (Bretagne, Gascogne, Normandie, Provence, Lorraine, Canada) added to the fleet
6 FF (Legere, Infedele, Sincere, Favorite, Mercure, Hermes) added to the fleet
4 PatRons added to the fleet

Fleet
19 BB2, 21 FF, 15 PatRons, 2 naval yards, 11.35 points, manpower 60,200
4 BB2, 4 FF under construction, 1 BB2 slated for sale

Deployment:
Mediterranean Fleet: 8 BB2, 6 FF1, 2 PatRon (based out of Marseille)(patrols the Gulf of Lyon)
South Seas Fleet :   9 FF1, 4 PatRon (based out of Reunion) (ships rotate from Mediterranean Fleet)(patrols Indian Ocean and West Africa coast)
Caribbean Patrol: 4 PatRon (based out of Martinique, Mobile, Key West and New Orleans) (patrols Caribbean and French Gulf of Mexico coast)
North Atlantic Patrol: 1 PatRon (based out of Carentan)(patrols Grand Banks and approaches to St Lawrence River)
Biscay Patrol: 11 BB2, 6 FF, 4 PatRon (based out of Brest)(patrols the Bay of Biscay with runs up the Channel and back)

1721 Home Army
Fortresses (5): Lille, Brest, Belfort, Bayonne, Marseille (1.25 points)(5,000 men)
Depots (21) : Rennes, Nantes, Poitiers, Vichy, Bergerac, Turenne, St Denis, Paris (engineer school), Versailles, Chartres, Orleans (artillery school), Compiegne, Amiens, Dieppe, Le Mans, Bourges, Valence, Montpelier, Samaur (cavalry school), Fontainebleau (officer school), (4200 men)
8 infantry brigades, 5 cavalry brigades, 3 infantry regiments (4.8 points) (35,500 men)
total maintenance 6.05 points  (44,700 men)

1721 Colonial Army (32,500 men including militia of which 17,500 are from Metropol, rest are locals)
8 Fortresses: Carentan (OTL Halifax), Quebec (city), Louisbourg, Caronville (OTL Durban), Reunion, Key West,  Fort of France Martinque, New Orleans (2 points)
1 depot: Cahookia
3 garrison brigades, 5 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 2 militia brigades (1.1 point)
total maintenance 3.1 points

1725 Home Army
Fortresses: (15)  Lille, Sedan, Soisson, Reims, Verdun, Strasbourg, Metz, Nancy, Belfort, Brest,  Bayonne, Narbonne, Toulouse, Marseille, Toulon,  (15,000 men, 3.75 points)
Depots (21)  Rennes, Nantes, Poitiers, Vichy, Bergerac, Turenne, St Denis, Paris (engineer school), Versailles, Chartres, Orleans (artillery school), Compiegne, Amiens, Dieppe, Le Mans, Bourges, Valence, Montpelier, Samaur (cavalry school), Fontainebleau (officer school), (4200 men)
14 infantry brigades, 5 cavalry brigades, 2 light infantry brigades, 1 infantry regiment (6.5 points, 53,500 men)
total Home Army 72,700 men, 10.25 points

1725 Colonial Army
Fortresses (10) Carentan (OTL Halifax), Quebec (city), Frontec (OTL Kingston), Louisbourg, Caronville (OTL Durban), Reunion, Key West, Fort of France Martinique, New Orleans, Mobile (10,000 Metropol troops, 2.5 points)
depot (1): Cahookia
3 garrison brigades, 5 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 2 militia brigades (militia and infantry regiments are local colonial troops, remainder are metropol troops) 18,500 (10,500 local, 8,000 metropol) 1.25 points
total Colonial Army 20,500 (including 10,500 locals) 3.75 points

TOTAL ARMY 91,200 men, 14 points

Home Army Deployment
Lille, Sedan, Soisson, Reims, Verdun, Strasbourg, Metz, Nancy, Belfort, Bayonne, Narbonne, Toulouse, Toulon -  1 fortress, 1 infantry brigade each
Marseille,  Brest- 1 fortress, 1 light infantry brigade each
Orleans (artillery school) - 1 infantry brigade, 1 infantry regiment (regiment travels with King)
Versailles- 1 infantry brigade
Samuar (cavalry school), Fontainebleau (officer school) , Poiters, Paris (engineer school), St Denis – 1 cavalry brigade each
Rennes, Nantes, Vichy, Bergerac, Turenne, St Denis, Chartres,  Compiegne, Amiens, Dieppe, Le Mans, Bourges, Valence, Montpelier – depots only

Colonial Army Deployment
Martinique- 1 fortress
Key West- 1 fortress
New Orleans- 1 fortress, 1 garrison brigade
Mobile – 1 fortress
Natchitoches - 1 garrison brigade
Cahookia- 1 depot, 1 garrison brigade
Baton Rouge- 1 infantry regiment
Carentan (Halifax) – 1 fortress
Louisbourg- 1 fortress
Quebec (city)- 1 fortress, 1 militia brigade
Montreal – 1 militia brigade
Frontec – 1 fortress, 1 infantry regiment
St John- 1 infantry regiment
Detroit- 1 infantry regiment
Caronville (Durban)- 1 fortress,
Peterville (Pietermaritzburg) - 1 cavalry regiment
Reunion- 1 fortress, 1 infantry regiment

Total Military
Navy 11.35 plus Army 14 = 25.35
manpower 151,400 men

[Galveston Bay]

1725 budget

The Crown decides that the time has come to create a force to patrol the roads inside France.  A loan is taken out to create a Gendarmee of 14 cavalry regiments.   The Army expansion and Naval expansion will continue as well.  However to fund this sudden expansion a loan of 20 points is taken out.   Meanwhile expansion continues into Arkansas.  

Metropol income 34.86 plus 25.4 = 60.26
sale of BB2 Ocean to Ottoman Empire 3 points
total income: 63.26 points
military maintenance 25.35
available 37.91
economic expansion (4.91 points)
Resettlement  convict shipment
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 1,000 convicts (all Catholics) to Philippia/Louisiana (600 survive the year)
total cost .3
Gifts to Native American Tribes .7
road improvements in France .91
trading post Little Rock 3 points

Naval construction (19.5 points)
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Martinique, Acadia, Louisiana, Natal)(year 5 of 6, 4 points, 20 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Polaris, Sirius, Aldeberan, Procyon)(year 3 of 4, 3 points, 9 of 12 points) at Marseille Naval Yard
build 3 merchant fleets (year 1 of 2, 4.5 points of 9, construction at Mobile, New Orleans and Bordeaux)
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Hercule, Ajax, Achille, Hector)(year 1 of 6, 4 points, 4 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Roland, Charles Martel, Alexandre, Cesar)(year 1 of 6, 4 points, 4 of 24) at Marseille Naval Yard

Army expansion 13.5 + 20 point loan = 33.5
7 cavalry regiments, 14 infantry regiments (1 of each) at Rennes, Nantes, Vichy, Bergerac, Turenne, St Denis, Chartres,  Compiegne, Amiens, Dieppe, Le Mans, Bourges, Valence, Montpelier (28 points)
1 militia regiment (Mobile) .5
upgrade 2 light infantry brigades, 1 infantry regiment (Brest, Marseille, Orleans) to 3 infantry brigades (5 points)

[Galveston Bay]

Christmas 1724
The engagement of Louise, Duchess of Brittany, and third daughter of the King to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas-Fran%C3%A7ois_Dupr%C3%A9_de_Saint-Maur, the young 29 year old counselor to the Crown regarding economic and financial affairs.  

Meanwhile, Prince Henri, the Daphin (age 17, B 1708), completes his course of instruction at Fontainebleau, while Prince Charles, Duke of Burgundy, enters the school as a cadet (age 10, B 1714). Prince Henri will enter the Sorbonne in the fall of 1725 to study economics and law after completing the a short period of training at the artillery school at Orleans.

[Galveston Bay]

Fall 1725
The Queen Mother, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, widow of Phillip VII of France, mother of Phillip VIII of France, daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel, passes away from a respiratory illness at age 73 at Orleans on October 10, 1725.

The King announces a week of mourning which will include a state funeral in Orleans.

Rumors leak that among her last words was "return Perpignan and Navarre to the family"

[Galveston Bay]

Unconcerned about revolts in eastern Europe by leaders whose names cannot be pronounced, France continues its long range plans of military and economic expansion.  The final part of the sale of ships to the Ottoman Empire is completed.

1726
income 34.86 plus 26.05 = 60.91
sale of BB2 Intrepide to Ottoman Empire 3 points
total income: 63.91 points
military maintenance 27.7
available 37.86
debt 20 (20 years at 7%)
interest 1.4 plus principal 1 = 2.4
available 35.46

economic expansion (2.96 points)
Resettlement  convict shipment
ship 1,000 convicts (Protestants, Jews and some Catholics) to Reunion (700 will be alive at the end of the year) (importation of slaves is ended on Reunion and is not an option in Natal)
ship 1,000 convicts (all Catholics) to Philippia/Louisiana (600 survive the year)
total cost .3
Gifts to Native American Tribes .7
Gifts to Bantu tribes .46
road improvements in France 1
road improvements in Quebec .5

Naval construction (19.5 points)
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Martinique, Acadia, Louisiana, Natal)(year 6 of 6, 4 points, 24 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x FF1 (Polaris, Sirius, Aldeberan, Procyon)(year 4 of 4, 3 points, 12 of 12 points) at Marseille Naval Yard
build 3 merchant fleets (year 2 of 2, 4.5 points, 9 of 9, construction at Mobile, New Orleans and Bordeaux)
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Hercule, Ajax, Achille, Hector)(year 2 of 6, 4 points, 8 of 24) at Brest Naval Yard
naval construction 4 x BB2 (Roland, Charles Martel, Alexandre, Cesar)(year 2 of 6, 4 points, 8 of 24) at Marseille Naval Yard

available 13 plus 20 point loan (33 total available)
upgrade 14 infantry regiments to 14 garrison brigades (14 points), build 7 garrison brigades (14 points) (1 garrison brigade each of the 21 depots in France, forms the Royal Gendarmerie with civil police and military police functions)
build build fortress Point-a-Pitre, Guadalupe Island (French West Indies) 2 points (year 1 of 2)
build 1 light infantry brigade (Marsaille) 3 points (Troops de Marine)

[Galveston Bay]

Winter 1726
With war breaking out in eastern Europe, but still a little concerned about Imperial mobilization, the French Army is ordered to shift some infantry to reinforce critical fortresses on the border when spring comes

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