Quesnay naively believed that free trade in grain would inspire farmers to grow more food, that rising grain prices would make farmers prosperous, and that France's economy would then flourish.
But in regions cut off from information and transportation, farmers simply had no idea how high grain prices had risen in the cities. Most preferred trading at nearby markets. After earning a little money, they would buy some wine to reward themselves, pick up things their families needed, and then go home. Those with dreams and the courage to leave their hometowns to seek their fortunes in the big cities were still a minority.
When Georgiana had been at the convent in the countryside, she heard village women say that city wages were only two francs a month. Perhaps they had misheard, or perhaps that was simply the limit of their understanding. The quiet countryside revolved around the church. Even though that convent had not been touched by the French Revolution at all, and the bell still hung in the bell tower, no one rang it.
Before Turgot's reforms, bread was monopolized by the nobility and guilds. No matter how much bread prices rose, that money would never reach the farmers.
New Orleans was the domain of the Duke of Orleans. He had once planned to build a large grain market near Bondy, hoping to use noble privilege to collect market taxes there. Turgot abolished the market tax, leaving the Duke of Orleans with a losing venture.
In 1775, France had a poor wheat harvest. Many merchants hoarded wheat while waiting for prices to rise. In April, bread in Paris rose to thirteen sous, and bread riots broke out in may. Turgot, who believed the poor ought to be "respected," ordered the riots suppressed. Anyone caught looting grain was to