 Obtaining money from the clergy was to prove more difficult.The comte d'Arnouville estimated the taxable income of the clergy at the time at 114 million livres, and the average annual contribution made by the clergy to the government over the past fifty years was 3.65 million livres, falling somewhat short of the 5.7 million the "vingtième" would raise.At the Assembly of the Clergy in 1750, he requested a payment of 7.5 million livres over five years, to contribute to his sinking fund.