A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 230 Opposition! Opposition!

On the stage, Duplessi sat upright, Necker stood holding the charter, and the tallest and most prestigious chair was empty.

The attendees whispered amongst themselves, speculating about the reasons why His Majesty the King could not attend. Some even booed Necker because of the gold mine.

Duplessi and Necker knew that His Majesty the King had once again accompanied the Queen to see the rare beasts that Istani had given them.

The Cardinal also speculated that Charles XVI might just be looking for an excuse not to go up to the stage. He would go to a side room, hide somewhere to observe the situation at the meeting of dignitaries, and then appear at what the King perceived as a crucial moment.

"The reason for convening this meeting today is that the kingdom has long suffered from deep-seated problems that are difficult to cure. Fortunately, His Majesty the King is enlightened and supported by the people, and fortunately, all of you are loyal to His Majesty and to the kingdom promised by God. May we all work together to fulfill the duties entrusted to us by God and His Majesty, so that the kingdom may prosper forever."

The opening remarks were similar to those from a hundred years ago. Although few of these people had heard of them, they still couldn't help but yawn.

Necker finally got to the point: "The kingdom's crisis is nothing more than its finances. The more the kingdom's authorities spend, the less revenue they receive. Since I took office, the prime minister and I have been working hard to maintain this."

"But the only way to completely resolve this crisis is to gather all of you together, pool your wisdom and efforts, and dedicate yourselves to the country. Now, the Prime Minister and I are jointly proposing this, and I ask you all to vote on whether to agree to each point."

Duplessi stood up, and his first proposal was simple and straightforward: abolish all tax-free privileges within the kingdom!

The meeting erupted in uproar. This point hadn't even been discussed rationally; it was simply rejected by everyone amidst the jeers.

Duplesci calmly accepted the outcome and presented his real proposal: the kingdom should abolish the salt tax and the gate tax, levy a unified transaction tax and stamp tax, reinstate the service tax levied on nobles, priests and mages, and introduce a new war tax.

The nobles remained dissatisfied: "The continent is at peace now, why are we levying a war tax!"

Duplessi explained: "Whether or not a war tax is levied is not determined by whether or not there is peace; on the contrary, whether or not peace can be maintained depends on whether the kingdom can maintain a standing army."

"Aren't there paladins? If they can't protect the kingdom, what's the point of the church collecting tithes from the farmers!"

The bishop below could no longer bear it. Seeing that the questioner was a nobleman wielding a sword, he said, "Paladins have their own duties. Of course, we will stand up for the kingdom in times of crisis and defend the land blessed by God, but we cannot be relied upon entirely. The number of paladins is ultimately limited, and the kingdom is vast; how can we rely solely on the power of the church? Have you forgotten the glory of your ancestors on the battlefield? Is your sword merely an ornament?"

The secret ballot began, with priestly representatives and the priest's assistants jointly tallying the votes under the supervision of court representatives and the Grand Chancellor. With the aid of supernatural forces, the tallying was completed quickly. The votes for and against were tied!

The astonishing coincidence intensified the discussion.

Duplessi understood that equal taxation couldn't be achieved overnight, and the current disagreement at least meant that some people still supported him. He suggested that his proposal be temporarily shelved for a final vote. The attendees readily agreed, not so much because they genuinely wanted to vote, but because the longer the process took, the more time they would have to network and coordinate.

Finance Minister Necker, having "messed up" the paper money, should have shown weakness but instead of emphasizing Duplessie's new tax plan, demanded the abolition of various rights of the nobles present. These included the abolition of their privilege of owning forests, the return of one-third of the arable land in the countryside that had been seized by lords, and the permanent ownership of serf land.

The perpetual property rights of serfs refer to the feudal lord's right to dispose of the serfs' property, especially the right to deprive the serfs' children of their inheritance rights and transfer the property to himself.

An angry nobleman stood up and said, "Why don't you just abolish serfdom altogether!" Strangely enough, the one who said this was not a sword-wielding nobleman with vast lands, but a newly promoted robe-wearing nobleman.

These people, who had finally obtained noble status, were furious when they discovered that the royal family wanted to revoke their privileges.

"Yes, that is exactly what we are going to do. A hundred years ago, the covenant between our ancestors and His Majesty the King's ancestors stated that all people in the Holy Kingdom are God's children, governed by the King on their behalf, and that each person enjoys equal rights and responsibilities in birth, death, and taxation."

"In that case, if you want all your subjects to bear the tax burden equally, you must first grant them equal rights, rather than depriving them of their dignity and freedom and forcing them to produce for you as slaves without paying taxes."

Duplessie smiled and added, "But I must correct you, many of you here have not fulfilled your tax obligations."

A monk representative stood up and spoke: "Your Excellency, you must remember that the Church and the nobility have already spent a huge sum of money to redeem our current and future land taxes and 20% of the tax. Furthermore, the Church has agreed with His Majesty to repay one-twentieth of the royal debt every year."

This statement was met with approval from the attendees, who felt as if they were criticizing the prime minister for accepting money and then refusing to acknowledge it.

Necker was pleased that Duplessi was opposed. In his observation, the nobles were against the prime minister, the bishops were evenly divided, and the archbishop's supporters should be the clergy representatives.

As for the two monks with voting rights, they both remained expressionless and did not express their opinions. However, since the vote was a tie, it means that these monks all support the tax increase!

"Please allow me to propose the next motion." Necker was eager to use the meeting to resolve the current financial collapse and had no time to speculate on the mages' intentions: "Unfortunately, due to the mining company scandal, I see that our currency has also been affected. Here, I will propose a new solution."

The new plan is similar to that of the Deplesie in terms of taxation, both aiming to increase transaction tax and stamp duty to expand income. However, the focus is on reorganizing the tax bureau, establishing a collection agency directly under the King, and having this agency issue new banknotes based on the tax base.

The new gold coin will be exchanged for the old currency at a ratio of two to three, allowing for a reassessment of the royal debts. This move will wipe out two-thirds of the royal family's liabilities.

In addition to the current devaluation, Necker can only rely on the gold he has acquired to prepay the royal debts and shift the credit guarantee of the currency from gold to taxes.

"I disagree!" Among the nobles in robes were tax farmers, and this was an act of cutting off their source of income, but it became acceptable in the eyes of others. The fact was that due to the market collapse, paper money was depreciating all the way, and at least Necker had come up with a way to stabilize the currency and stop the losses without making his own class bear all the royal debt.

However, everyone sitting in the hall had their own plans regarding how much tax to add, how to add it, and how to establish the "directly affiliated tax agency".

An unexpected voice rang out; it was Archmage Cano speaking, his voice magically enhanced and easily drowning out all the other noise: "What if today's situation were to repeat itself, with the new currency guaranteed and issued by the Royal Tax Bureau?"

"Master, today's situation is entirely due to an unexpected scandal that destroyed market confidence, not the fault of the currency issuer. As long as we take reasonable measures to end the panic, everything will be fine."

Carnot ignored the Finance Minister's sophistry: "To avoid the threat to private property posed by excessive money printing, I propose that the monetary issuing agency be separated and, going a step further than the Supreme Court of Arbitration, subject to broad oversight from all sectors!"

He brought up the terrible idea Rorschach had suggested.

The plan from the mage of the Tower of Stars caught everyone's attention. Everyone was fed up with the royal family's extravagant spending, so they gave the archmage a warm round of applause and began a lively discussion.

Only Necker's face grew darker and darker.

(End of this chapter)