A benefit to Limoges before the Revolution was the appointment of Anne Robert Jacques Turgot as Intendant of the "genéralité" of Limoges (1761–1774). He managed to get a major reduction in the tax burden of the province, had a new survey completed which made possible a more just imposition of taxes, and replaced the "corvée" (compulsory labor) with a tax which was used to hire professional road builders, thereby greatly improving communications in the area. In the famine of 1770–1771, he required land owners to relieve the want of the poor. On 10 February 1770, he issued the "Lettre-circulaire aux curés", in which he advised the clergy on the steps which had to be taken to form local charity bureaus. He placed the Bishop of Limoges, Louis-Charles du Plessis d'Argentré, at the head of the bureau of charity in his episcopal city. The bishop and Turgot had been fellow students at the Sorbonne and were friends. Turgot also promoted the growing of the potato, the use of the spinning wheel, and the manufacture of porcelain.