of tax farmers were allowed to bid on grosses fermes, they conspired to keep the bid prices down. When examining the import tariffs it can be seen that they were few and far between and that they appear to be devices to force merchants to buy import licenses rather than part of projects to build up the French industry. Industry reforms He spent a lot of energy trying to reorganize industry and commerce. He believed that in order to increase French power it would be essential to grow France’s share of international trade and reduce the commercial hegemony of the Dutch. He stressed the production of high-quality goods that could compete with foreign products abroad but also the building up of a merchant fleet to carry them. He tried to encourage foreign workers to bring their trade skills to France. To guarantee the standard of workmanship, he made regulations for every sort of manufacture and imposed fines and pillory for counterfeiting and shortcomings He encouraged the formation of companies dedicated to building ships and attempted to obtain monopolies for French commerce abroad through the formation of trading companies. His system of control was resented by traders and contractors, who wanted to preserve their freedom of action and to be responsible to themselves alone. Thrifty people preferred land, annuities and money lending instead of investing in industry. In May 1665, the king established monopoly privileges for a group of French lace manufacturers. The point of this was to prohibit anyone other than the privileged licensees from making lace. Protective tariffs were levied on imported lace, so it could only be made in France. And then in 1667 they prohibited all foreign lace. They next enforced quality standards on production and trade, which meant that the French economy was frozen at the level of the early or mid-17th century. This act prevented or slowed down innovation in new products, new technologies, and new methods of handling production and exchange. He granted monopolies, subsidized luxury and the privilege of cartels, and built up a system of central bureaucracy. He created a formidable system of inspection, marks and measurements to be able to identify all those who were straying from the detailed list of state regulations. He created a system of spies to make sure nobody was differing from the system, with punishments rating from heavy fines, public mockery or the inability to keep