I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 516 An unexpected gain

Joseph motioned for Goldmid to sit down on a chair and asked hopefully, "Did what I asked you to do pay off?"

He had previously met this British banker, a greedy and cunning speculator, and one of the top leaders of the General Association of Tax Farmers, at the recommendation of Jeansonnet.

So he promised Goldmid huge benefits and asked him to act as an insider to collect evidence of the tax farmers' illegal activities.

At this point, when Goldmid said there was "good news", it was very likely that something had been found.

Goldmid spread his hands:

"Your Highness, you know that those guys are very cunning. I have never been able to find any evidence of their illegal activities."

Joseph frowned immediately and was about to say something when he saw the British man showing a proud look:

"So I had no choice but to try to guide them into committing crimes. And I was lucky, they quickly accepted my advice."

Joseph was a little surprised: "Oh? What did you ask them to do?"

"Well," Goldmid rubbed his hands and smiled, "Your Highness, you see, I have done more than you asked. Perhaps, in addition to the conditions we discussed before, you can meet some of my small requests."

"Please tell me."

"I have several friends who would like to work in the finance department. I hope Your Highness can arrange some positions for them."

Joseph's face immediately turned cold.

As expected, once these chaebols have the opportunity, they will try to extend their tentacles into the country's financial core and gradually control the entire financial system.

However, Joseph was not one of those politicians who were easily fooled. It was not yet the 19th century, and the financial control methods of the consortium were not yet mature. The Rothschild family's brilliant operations would not be displayed until 20 years later, but for him, these were all historical materials that he had read countless times.

So, as soon as Goldmid raised his butt, Joseph knew what kind of shit he was going to take.

"I'm afraid that won't work," he rejected flatly. "French finances must be under the absolute control of the government."

He had made it clear - I know you want to infiltrate the financial system, but don't dream about it.

Joseph continued, "However, I can give you some benefits in other ways. For example, I can allow your bank to develop business in France, or introduce you to some high-quality investment projects. Oh, my friend in the UK recently mentioned a good project."

According to the previous agreement, Goldmid helped collect the tax farmers' dirty tricks in exchange for the Atlantic Insurance Company's fund trusteeship. In other words, when the British bought insurance, they would first pay the money to his bank and then transfer it to France.

Atlantic Insurance can sell more than 50 pounds of insurance every year, which is more than 1 million francs. This money can bring him hundreds of thousands of francs of profit just by passing through Godmid's bank. At the same time, it can also improve the reputation of his bank.

Therefore, Goldmid agreed to cooperate without hesitation.

He also saw that the crown prince was very young and seemed easy to deceive, so he wanted to test him, but was rejected immediately.

He could only smile and nod: "Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness. I hope we can have more cooperation in the future."

Joseph did not comment, and asked, "Now can you tell me what you did at the General Assembly of Tax Farmers?"

"Oh, yes, Your Highness," Goldmid said, "I suggest that they hid the tax documents and handed over false documents to the government tax bureau. "They want to use these documents as a threat to continue to take on some of the more profitable taxes."

Joseph couldn't help but narrow his eyes when he heard this. Without the real tax documents, once the tax bureau started collecting taxes, it would probably soon fall into chaos.

Apart from anything else, the mere lack of records of unpaid taxes and prepaid taxes is enough to cause a fight between taxpayers and tax officials.

In addition, the tax amounts for land, factories, etc. would all have to be reassessed. The market tax, which was collected based on experience, would be a mess - this tax was roughly a fixed amount based on the size of your stall, and the new tax officials would definitely haggle with the vendors.

It must be said that this method is indeed very vicious. If the tax bureau is caught off guard by this, it will definitely be in chaos.

However, Joseph did have a solution. For example, the first thing he thought of was that the file was gone but the person was still there.

Who is most familiar with these tax documents? It must be the "tax collectors" hired by the tax farmers who are actually responsible for collecting taxes.

If the tax bureau finds that the documents it receives have serious problems and is unable to collect taxes normally, it can arrest thousands of taxpayers on the charge of "participating in tax fraud."

These people are living tax data. They are thrown into prison at night, handcuffed during the day, and go with the government tax officials to collect taxes. Every time they solve a problem, their sentence is reduced by 5 days. Within half a month, they can organize the tax work of the whole country in an orderly manner.

Of course, now that Joseph knew that the tax farmers were always replacing the tax documents, the initiative was in his hands.

Now, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to consolidate the evidence and use it to create the best possible situation for tax reform.

Joseph looked at Goldmid again and said, "Do you know where the tax documents are kept?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The latter nodded proudly, "As the proposer of this plan, I am responsible for many of its links. The documents should be in Viscount Ford's villas in Antoine Town."

"Very good," Joseph ordered, "You go back and pretend nothing happened. Once you are sure that all the documents are collected, notify me immediately."

"Yes, Your Highness."

……

Five days later.

A large number of Paris police poured into the town of Antoine and, in front of the astonished eyes of the townspeople, surrounded all the properties owned by Ford and his family.

Then, the intelligence agency began to search the house.

Because the goal was clear, it didn't take much time before a large number of tax documents were turned out, filling more than ten carriages.

After the tax documents were sent to the French Tax Administration, the Paris Supreme Court immediately issued hundreds of arrest documents, which were obviously prepared early and were just waiting to be stamped.

Immediately afterwards, intelligence agency agents from all over the country, with the cooperation of the police, arrested almost all the heads of tax offices on charges of "forgery of tax documents."

The so-called tax agency is a tax agency established by tax farmers, which has similar functions to the government's tax bureau. However, most tax farmers do not serve as the head of the tax agency - they all pay the money and are the chairman of the tax agency, and the specific tax collection work is completed by a large number of "tax collectors" hired by them.

(End of this chapter)