Monopoly privileges and subsidies were offered for new industries, espeacially those that were difficult and expensive to establish. But the system could be abused, and some monopolies were granted to raise money for the state or to endow favorite countries. Many businesses were declared to be ''royal manufacturers'' thus ensuring sales of their product to the royal court.
Despite his contempt for men of business, Colbert had laws passed that permitted aristocrats to participate in commerce without losing their status and privileges. An edict of 1669 declared, ''We desire that a gentleman shall have the right to participate in a company and take a share in merchant vessels, so long as he does not sell at retail.''