Blood tax

Chapter 411 State Policy - "Taxing the Citizens"

The six o'clock positioning ended without incident.The chosen ones who participated in the Festival of the Chosen One had a few rounds of confrontation on the first night, and then fell into silence, as if they were waiting for new opportunities.

Griffith returned to Sonia's residence to prepare for today's meeting.Fiona and Lana also came to join them.

"Good morning, Fiona, Lana." Sonia greeted her friends briskly.Anna just put on the special light armor melted into mithril for her, and then put on the coat.

So is Fiona.She even matched the skirt with an elaborate cavalry breastplate, the curves of the chest and waist were quite pleasing to the eye.

"Morning, everyone, what's the situation?" Griffith asked.

"The royal family will attend today's meeting." Lana shook his shoulders, and the heavy sword clanged with him. "The two earls and countesses will not be present. They have prepared a plan for us to vote."

……

The winter meeting will vote on the 1445 budget and national policy, which is a very important agenda.

The Senate and the Arcane Council usually hold meetings separately. Factory owners and wealthy businessmen from other provinces are not even Extraordinary, so they usually don't come to the meeting.However, today's meeting was unusual.In the small town of Bremi, luxuriously decorated cars gathered like a tide.

Representatives of the bourgeoisie, imitating nobles and wizards, hang the country gentry's family crest on the car, indicating that their ancestors once enjoyed the honor of presiding over a party, so that future generations will not forget it.

The parliament temporarily requisitioned a palace and transformed it into a venue that can accommodate hundreds of people.

When they arrived at the venue, both Griffith and Lana were told that they had no seats today and had to make do in the aisle.

"We are not targeting a certain person," the officer in charge has obviously explained to different people many times, and said like an endorsement, "Too many people attended the meeting today, and there are not enough seats in the venue."

Griffith entered the venue and found that it was full of people.Many Sutorals who acted as consultants and secretaries could only squeeze in the aisles on both sides with meeting materials and notebooks.

The position of the chairman is the bitter-faced Senate Speaker Aimé, who doesn't seem to want to do the job at hand at all.Behind him was the king's throne, and the aging King Aurelius looked at the councilors as lovingly as a child.

In the entire conference hall, the elders sat on the left half, and the wizards sat on the right half.With disgust and displeasure on their faces, they kept a distance from the representatives of industry, commerce and citizens from other provinces sitting in the center of the hall.

According to the tradition of Bayerland, the citizens do not have the right to vote.Only the senate composed of nobles with a long history and outstanding reputation can decide on national policy, and the learned wizard class shares part of the ruling power.

A senator was speaking on the stage, describing a dire situation in very polite terms:
"As all wise senators know, the autumn campaign and Verona's military expenditures have overwhelmed the treasury, and despite our new treasury and war special debts, the pressure to repay the maturities of past years remains high. Fiscal It is the opinion of the Ministry that, without active tax reform, you distinguished senators, scholars, and gentlemen who have labored so hard to attend this meeting, we shall be in financial peril in 1445..."

"The so-called risks are national debt default and total financial bankruptcy!" A gentleman present interrupted his speech loudly, "In the past five years, the never-ending war in the East has drained us like newlyweds The financial lord is exhausted, the scale of debt is expanding every year, and the current figure is..."

"Shut up. (You have no right to speak.)" One after another, the scolding sound drowned out the gentleman's speech.

"Quiet, quiet," Lord Mas de Ayme, the chairman of the Senate, slammed the hammer in his hand, "Order! Let the treasurer finish."

The supported finance officer continued his speech.According to his report, more than [-] standing legions need to update their equipment, due bonds need to spend money, and the huge expenditure of the Verona garrison needs to be implemented. It has been planned long ago and should be given to generals and extraordinary in previous wars and events. There is still a large amount of war bonuses that have not been paid to the soldiers, officers and soldiers.

After the elders spoke, a elected representative of the citizen class came to the rostrum cautiously.

It should be the first time for him to face the senate and wizards who rule the world, and he looks a little restrained.

"We understand the difficulties of the Kingdom. His Majesty Aurelius and the wise Senate have provided us with shelter for the past few decades. Every month, a new conqueror at the end of the world whose name has never been heard brings me and My friends rejoice. There is no greater honor or pride in the world than being a citizen of Bayeran."

After the citizen representative finished his compliments, he paused briefly:
"However, there are too many wars. There is no end to confiscation. The properties we bought and the workshops we invested in have not earned a dime, so we have to squeeze out the principal to support the country. To say that this is used to fight those Savage orcs and monsters, we have no complaints.

"However, the cost is endless. Fifteen years ago, we supported the Aldur-Antalya defense line to protect civilization and freedom. Ten years ago, we regained Konya , the citizens of the other provinces are all rejoicing!

"We emptied our pockets and sent our sons and daughters to fight. The kingdom conquered Karaman and the southern provinces, and pushed the front to Mersin.

"Seniors and wizards, we can't hold on any longer. Our tenant farmers and hired labor eat black bread harder than sawdust, and our son died under the orc's axe. My God, I haven't complained for decades.

"Finally, the great victory of Atana, we thought we could take a breather. Who would have thought that Verona rebelled, and living corpses appeared in Revan, Odessa, the seven gods bless me, I dare not say that Odessa what happened.

"Today, the Kingdom needs more of our loyalty and purses. This is our duty and honor. However, we were not present when the Senate and the Arcane Council were leading this great country. Who knows, this tragic When does the day end?"

"Boom boom boom boom!" The dense crowd of citizen representatives knocked on the table and applauded the representative who just spoke.

Then, several elders and wizards were ready to speak.They brought the details of the proposal, claiming to establish a unified and efficient tax collection system.

These motions were interrupted after a few words, and a large group of people flooded the entire conference hall with sad and anxious discussions.Some people even shouted the words "no taxation without representation" and "civil war" vaguely.

"Silence!" His Excellency Mas de Ayme hastily struck hard with his hammer, and then shouted order to drown out the ominous words.

According to the agenda, this special session needs to pass new tax proposals, raising taxes on business and trade.The meeting went without progress until noon.Griffith was drowsy, and the senators, wizards, and town representatives were still debating with enthusiasm.

"Can they really discuss a result?" Kulala whispered, "I've been standing all morning, just watching these people quarrel. Two-thirds of the votes are too many, can't more than half agree?"

Everyone stood in the corridor all morning, and the venue was noisy and noisy, which really made people physically and mentally exhausted.

"Major resolutions must be passed by a majority of two-thirds," Ophelia said. It is also a crushing victory. Unless a minority sends out a military genius, but even if the probability of a genius appears, the supporters have twice the advantage of the opponents. In a successful meeting, each faction accurately evaluates its own strength. I will choose to meet in arms."

"The problem now is that, not to mention the two-thirds majority rule, even the distribution method of the votes has not been negotiated," Lana commented, "This is just a temporary meeting, and the Senate and the Arcane Council request to keep their respective Citizen representatives from each region are counted as one, and the final vote is not based on the number of representatives here, but by three separate meetings, each with one vote to finalize the tax increase proposal.”

Griffith was silent.

This scene is clearly the same as what he encountered last night.

Although much manpower and supplies were received from the new provinces in the east and south, the kingdom's finances were not strengthened.Trade was booming like never before, taxes were low, and the treasury did not increase much.

There is a subtle but not negligible sign——

Aristocrats who have achieved military merits are generally rewarded by the state with annuities instead of land. The tradition of "false title" has been carried out for hundreds of years. The new nobles who get cash can enjoy a comfortable life in the capital of the world without the trouble of managing territories. They are not so much nobles as decent mercenaries with titles The kingdom does not have to worry about the nobles' territories and private soldiers forming independent small kingdoms.

However, the reward Griffith received in the war with the orcs was the territory of the Ravenel family, and the Odessa incident immediately followed with more land.When the kingdom gave him rewards, it didn't even mention rewards such as annuity, hard currency, equipment, etc., but directly threw a large piece of land to him like a hot potato.

It was only a matter of surprise to him.However, seeing the scene in front of him, Griffith already knew very well that the kingdom's finances were extremely tight, and the independence of the military nobles was no longer taken into account, and even the transfer of part of the power to the burghers, which could shake the country's foundations, was not an option. It's the imminent moment.

One crisis after another, the kingdom ran out of money, so why not throw someone into the stove to keep warm?Is this kind of thing that can be discussed in the parliamentary debate?
Roland knew, and the mysterious painter knew.Even Earl La Moore and Earl Chalon knew that they had sent their precious daughters as agents, and where would they themselves be?

Most of them were in the legion camps stationed at Verona.

(End of this chapter)