While surveying the ancient canal at Suez, a merchant ship arrived. For a moment, Suez seemed to have turned into India, with Indian goods everywhere.
Caravans often meant supplies. To travelers passing through now and then, Brittany's untouched scenery was beautiful, but to those who lived here, it meant a shortage of necessities.
She had bought many cushions, originally intending to use them herself. Now that the ministers had used them once, she figured they would not be needed on the road ahead and wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of them.
There were also those "bedsheets," which had originally been white cotton cloth. She had planned to send them back for the shelter to use. Few men in the army were as fond of cleanliness as Napoleon; with this fabric, they could make themselves new clothes.
France's centralized system could requisition civilian goods at will. This was a rule left over from the French Revolution: peasants had to hand over grain, fodder, wool, flax, and even livestock; artisans had to sell their products; National Guard uniforms, boots, and sometimes even bedding could be commandeered for military use. The saltpeter soil in the corners of walls and the ashes from kitchen stoves were also requisitioned to make the potassium salts and other materials needed for gunpowder.
Once the army requisitioned supplies, local resources were practically swept clean. When people needed to replenish them, speculators and war profiteers appeared. They did not rush to sell their hoarded goods, instead waiting for prices to rise before selling. For this reason, the Committee of Public Safety issued a maximum price decree. Anyone charging above that price could be arrested if reported, but there was still profit to be made even under the maximum price decree.
The Girondins wanted to use the