Nicolas Desmarets

He was exiled in December 1683 shortly after Colbert's death, however, after being accused of taking bribes and kickbacks in a government contract to mint money.

After returning to Paris in 1686, Desmaretz wrote a series of memoranda for his family members who were still in the government recommending new tax policies in the face of the deplorable economic situation of France.

[5] Desmaretz undertook several policies aimed at restoring France's financial status while in office, including postponing repayment of loans, securing lower interest rates on certain loans, creating a royal lottery, devaluing metal currency, and instituting a ten percent tax on the income produced by property ownership in 1710.

Desmaretz was working on a method for repaying France's debts when Louis XIV died on 1 September 1715.

His son Jean-Baptiste Francois Desmaretz, Marquis de Maillebois became a Marshal of France in 1741.