Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 175 032 Solovyov has always been a werewolf

Speransky wanted to do it in one go and directly use the British tax law, but given Russia's current situation, this was obviously not feasible.

Alexander himself was very interested, and when he held a meeting to discuss the issue, he also made some fantastic statements.

The second plenary meeting of the "Secret Committee" was held in this way. Solovyov was very glad that he was not on duty that day. After all, Alexander's performance was just like Count Pavel's return to his home on Nevsky Avenue, and the content of his speech was very abstract.

Solovyov came to the house this time at the invitation of the Countess to attend a cultural salon. After all, he was a translator of some fame.

However, the major himself also noticed that he was the youngest in this occasion. In addition to the ladies, there were also some noble lords with higher cultural level. In terms of identity, status and age, he had to be the last one to sit at the table.

"I can't just sit like Cassandra, can I?"

"What kind of story is this? It must not have come from Khitan."

"Well, prepare a short sofa for the major to lean on. He believes that he is like a Titan, so he still needs to keep his feet on the ground."

"Madam, I am not going to compete with Hercules. And what I just told you is not a fairy tale. It is about a successor."

However, considering that the name of the Tsar of the time was Alexander, it is somewhat inappropriate to discuss Alexander III (the Great) of Macedonia and his successors. In other words, there was no literary inquisition in Russia.

"But Cassandra was a vicious man. He killed the emperor's mother, wife, and son, and forcibly married Thessalonica. It is really hard to imagine that a loyal old minister like Regent Antipater could give birth to such a vicious snake."

"But there are very few historical records from the period of the Diadochi. What I remember most vividly is that Cassandras was unable to complete his coming-of-age ceremony, so he sat for a long time when attending events."

Solovyov could still show off his knowledge, but he had no interest in going to university, and Alexander's ambitious plans included schooling.

When all the guests went to eat, only Count Pavel and his wife were there. They did not take their seats and wanted to be intimate with each other for a while.
"Misha, you should go eat too. I'm thinking about this kind of thing."

"Yes, this reception is for our guests, and you, the little major, should also go."

Solovyov stayed not to be a third wheel, but because he was worried about other things.

"Okay, that should be enough time for us to eat."

"You, a young eagle, also know this? I thought you didn't like girls, but you treated yourself as their sister!"

"Okay, I'm going to eat too. I won't bother you. It's just that I've been thinking about some tax issues."

Judging from the known information, this couple's love is stronger than gold, and nothing can shake their relationship. Count Pavel already has three lovely children, and there will be more in the future.

Solovyov would play with the children, and he didn't want to go to the banquet hall. The guests today were all Count Pavel's friends, including his brother-in-law, Cavalry General Apraksin, the chief inspector of cavalry in Moscow and the son of the Field Marshal. Their family was also very lively. It was said that Alexander intended to appoint this general as the military governor of Smolensk.

The girls we brought with us were not enough to be nannies. The children came from Moscow and it was still new to them to come to St. Petersburg.

Especially the large number of toys and books that Pavel prepared for his son Alexander. Although they were also available in Moscow, the ones that could be seen in St. Petersburg were the latest and most fashionable things.

"Mr. Major, our masters and young masters have told me that you are an expert in this area. The young masters and young ladies all have many questions, and we can't answer them at the moment."

"What to do?"

"You will find out when you go there, Major."

The Stroganov family's housekeeper was also somewhat educated. This family had always been very wealthy and attached great importance to cultural education. Even the servants summoned from the countryside were required to be literate and to teach the children to recognize grains and animals that could be seen in the Russian countryside. However, they did not recognize so many seafood that came from the North Atlantic.

Solovyov ate a little in a hurry and then ran to the children's room to play with the group of children.

Come to think of it, he is not even 20 years old yet, and Pavel's son calls him "Big Brother", which is not that big of a difference.

"Boss, you're here again!"

Children are very curious about black and white animals, but it does require professionals to talk about the habits of these animals.

"Sashka, what trouble have you got into again?"

"Boss, you said that great auks and penguins look alike, but..."

"Ah, so that's it. You want me to explain why they are not relatives?"

"Well, Natasha and Valodia asked. I just know they are different, but they are both black and white."

"what"

Solovyov also couldn't say that the great auk doesn't charge Q coins, but penguins do. This kind of joke would be more appropriate to tell 200 years later.

Moreover, on the little desk of Count Alexander the Great, there was a great auk piggy bank, into which he himself put some coins.
"Then you have to see the difference between Mr. Thin and Mr. Fat. You can see it more clearly in the aquarium. Moscow is not by the sea, so there is no aquarium there."

Then he had to take the trouble to explain to General Apraksin's children how there could be two animals that looked similar and where they came from.

"Because of their similar environments, they have similar appearances. They are good at diving, but they can't fly, and they all walk in a clumsy way."

He is quite good at entertaining children, and has previously served as a guest teacher to Alexander's daughter and younger brothers and sisters.

Imitating the way a penguin walks can also make children laugh.

"Okay, that's it, you should all listen to the nanny, take a shower first, and then go to bed."

Finally, these little guys were coaxed into submission and taken to take a bath. Next.
When he saw Count and Countess Stroganov, they had changed their clothes and came out. "Well, can I tell you now?"

"Of course"

Count Pavel looked refreshed and quite proud of himself at the moment.

"I think there are many things that should be considered when it comes to local taxation. Your Majesty is taking it for granted."

"I know this. His Majesty is always like this. His ideas are good, but he doesn't consider the reality very much. We have too many problems to solve."

"Local statistics should also be introduced into taxation to determine how much tax can be set in a year, and then see how much is collected in the end of the year. The problem of tax farmers is probably not a small one."

"I seldom go to the countryside, Misha. You have lived in the countryside since you were a child, and you manage the village yourself. I would like to hear what you have to say."

"Our taxes are divided into direct taxes and indirect taxes. Among our direct taxes, the largest one is the poll tax. This tax is too heavy a burden for the people. No wonder the late emperor issued edicts many times to exempt the poll tax. The burden here is too heavy."

"Yes, so the emperor is considering reforming the tax system and increasing the types of indirect taxes, however."

"These taxes will still be levied on ordinary people and should have no impact on the nobles."

“How come you see?”

"I asked about the tax situation in the villages granted by Your Majesty, as well as the villages that Your Majesty passed through when he was on tour from Gatchina. The people in their families, the livestock they owned, and the land they cultivated were all taxed. These are considered direct taxes that can be seen. In the past, during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, direct taxes were the main type of taxes. Until now, indirect taxes still have to be imposed on ordinary people, and not that much can be collected from the nobles."

"I know, but few people are willing to pay more taxes, especially those nobles who value their property more. Not everyone is like that."

In terms of tax types, Count Pavel and his father were actually very clear that there were tens of thousands of serfs in their family. If the head tax and serf tax were to be settled according to the serfs, it would be a considerable tax amount.

Although this is just a small amount of money for the earls and they pay taxes voluntarily, other nobles may not want to do so.

"If everyone was a good man like Alexander Sergeyevich, the emperor wouldn't have to worry about the state's expenses all day long."

"Do you know what the country's tax revenue was like the year you were born?"

"I'm not sure about that. After all, I'm not a tax collector."

"I got it from Speransky. He now has a suggestion, which is to readjust the tax system and tax farmers."

But the key point is a tax return from 1781. St. Petersburg alone could pay 3704667 rubles as a province. Most provinces could collect hundreds of thousands of rubles in taxes, while some places, such as the southern provinces, could only pay five-digit taxes. The burden on these places was very heavy.

"It seems that many places are still dishonest. Kiev can only collect this little money, how many towns and villages are there around it?"

This has to be taken into account that Ukraine's taxation has been preferential for a period of time, and the benefits they have received are still greater than those of Russia.

Seeing these places, everyone knows that changes need to be made, but there is also a lot of resistance. However, there are still ways to deal with business taxes and other aspects.

However, Solovyov thought that if he only relied on the will, the emperor would still need to reply to the edict, so there were other ways to solve the problem.

"You want to deal in insurance and trust?"

"Yes."

"So how do you plan to arrange this trust?"

"The state will set up a trust company and charge management fees to the trustee. It will also hire professional managers to assess the property of these nobles. Although the state's credit to the outside world may be lost due to defaulting on its debts, it can still maintain its credit within the country."

The main reason for his strange words is that although Russia's political credit is higher than that of European countries, its economic credit is extremely poor, and debt default is a common occurrence. However, for the domestic situation, as long as the company is established with the approval of the emperor himself and the property is managed, there are always some ways to collect the money.

"The most typical example is Alexey Orlov. He is so rich, but he has only one daughter, Anna. Although she is very rich, how should the property be arranged?"

"There is indeed a problem in this regard. Sometimes you really have some strange ideas."

"No matter how this property is managed, on the one hand, the interests of the client must be guaranteed, and on the other hand, the money cannot be left there, and it cannot be used to make money."

During Solovyov's explanation, Count Stroganov recalled one thing. When he was studying Roman law in the past, there were many legal provisions regarding wills and property distribution.

If Paul were still alive at this time, he might have asked the Tsar, who was an expert on legal texts.

"Wait a minute, I'll go to the bookshelf and get the Roman Law. If we can find this kind of article, we'll know what we should do."

There are some benefits to being with people who are well-educated. Companies established by the state as trustees can still play a role when the property reaches a certain scale. The only difference is that the property appraisal involved here can only be used to accurately estimate the value of those properties, including deposits, bonds, securities, precious metals and real estate. It is more difficult to value jewelry and artworks, but they can also be preserved.

"In addition, we need to strengthen supervision and regulate domestic banks and non-bank financial companies. There are many things involved, and they must be directly responsible to the cabinet and the emperor himself."

"You have a good idea. This is to establish supervision from the institutional level, and gradually collect some management fees from the nobles, while also ensuring that their property will not be transferred abroad. Misha, there is something I shouldn't say. Where did you get this trick? Isn't it based on your family's past experience?"

"That's true. Among my grandfather's four brothers, Fyodor was the only one who was not knighted. He was Prince Menshikov's steward. The property transferred abroad was quite large, and he was in charge. As for the details, I don't know much, I just heard my father talk about it a few times."

Count Pavel had not expected that there would be an unexpected gain here. If he could seize the property of some great nobles in the country to prevent the transfer of assets, he could also tie them down, which would be killing two birds with one stone.

Even after counting the entrusted assets of these people, if they dare to make any mistakes, it will be easier to confiscate their property.

(End of this chapter)