Bruno, maybe majorats are indeed what Digby and Susan were thinking about. Actually, I dont think that they have any idea wht they are thinking about, except that "N is bad", and "must have been stealing from Westphalia." and the rest of the Empire.

The requirement to create a majorat was that the endowment had to generate a minimum annual income : 200,000 francs for a duke, 30,000 francs for a count, 15,000 francs for a baron, 3,000 francs for a chevalier. The exception to the Code Napoléon that was granted had not to do with the formation, but with the inheritiance without division in the male ligne. The endowment could be formed of any estates in the Empire free of any liens, government bonds (usually rentes) and shares in the Banque de France. The composition of the endowment had to be approved by the Conseil du Sceau before the lettres patentes could be issued.
In all, about 2200 imperial titles were created:
- princes and dukes (17 with majorats, 23 with equivalent sovereign holdings) :
--- sovereign princes (3)
--- duchies grand fiefs (20)
--- victory princes (4)
--- victory dukedoms (10)
--- other dukedoms (3)
- counts (251, of which 37 majorats)
- barons (1516, of which 131 majorats)
- chevaliers (385, of which about 150 majorats)

The titles were initially life titles. To become an hereditary title, it had to have an endowment, the majorat, attached to it. The endowment could be provided by the Emperor himself out of his personal estate (the domaine extraordinaire) - and in the case of a majorat de propre mouvement or proprio motu, it could be formed by the title holder. About 15% of the titulaires formed majorats, about 330 titles. The vast majority of these were formed with the proceeds of estates where the recipient was domiciled .... in France! The purchase of former biens nationaux was a cost-effective method to form the majorat. And about 1/2 of the majorats were formed by the lowest rank of titulaire, the chevalier.

There were a very few majorats drawn upon esates external to France, perhaps less than 1 in 10. And even for these, there was a process that permitted conversion of the exterior holding into a French holding by essentially trading with the domaine extraordinaire. And please note, the majorat had to acquired (by purchase and payment) by the titulaire except in the rather rarer case of an imperial gift from the domain exttraordinare.

Actually, I know of exactly one majorat in Westphaia : the majorat of général Lagrange, and I think it was exchanged anyway.

Clearly this was no method to "strip Westpahiaa bare" or export significant value from Westphalia.