text: Louis began his personal reign with administrative and fiscal reforms. In 1661, the treasury verged on 
  bankruptcy. To rectify the situation, Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert as Controller-General of Finances in 
  1665. However, Louis first had to neutralize Nicolas Fouquet, the powerful Superintendent of Finances. 
  Although Fouquet's financial indiscretions were not very different from Mazarin's before him or Colbert's 
  after him, his ambition worried Louis. He lavishly entertained the king at the opulent château of Vaux-le- 
  Vicomte, flaunting a wealth which could hardly have accumulated except through embezzlement of government funds. 
  
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  Fouquet appeared eager to succeed Mazarin and Richelieu in power, and he indiscreetly purchased and privately fortified the 
  remote island of Belle Île. These acts sealed his doom. Fouquet was charged with embezzlement; the*Parlement*found him guilty 
  and sentenced him to exile; and finally Louis altered the sentence to life imprisonment. 