Facts have proved that women all need to be coaxed, no matter what their status is.
In the next two weeks, Sean often visited Rowan Castle. Audrey avoided seeing Sean, or only saw Sean when servants and housekeepers were present. Sometimes she even went out in advance or looked at the account books to handle housework, etc.
wait.
It is not uncommon for women with high status to remarry. Some wealthy women even have multiple lovers - the noble ladies in the Holy City are particularly good at this. From this perspective, men and women in Europa are equal.
.
But for Audrey, she couldn't accept Sean's passionate emotions for a while. After all, she still couldn't accept the betrayal of her late husband.
Sean didn't force him. He played with Karl every time he came. He knew that Audrey didn't declare himself persona non grata, which was his victory.
As for the gossip, no, it was envy and jealousy. If it weren't for Sean's appearance, Rowan Castle would have been visited by men from all walks of life under various excuses. This was evident from the fact that Sean was visited by Butler Miller every time he visited Rowan Castle.
It can be seen from the attentive and meticulous reception that he is extremely popular in the eyes of Rowan Castle's vassals.
Carl Robinson, the future earl, welcomed Sean's arrival very much, because when Sean came, he would be temporarily freed from being surrounded by tutors.
Audrey hired six tutors for him, teaching him grammar, mathematics, history, painting, music, and a foreign language. She even asked a guard from the family to act as his swordsmanship coach - this seemed to Sean
It is the most useless skill in the past. It is better to learn fighting from yourself when you are a little older.
This is a bitter child who has to lose too much joy due to the heavy responsibility of the family.
Sean did not object to Audrey's education of Carl. In fact, the teaching level of Vichy Town Primary School was good, but after all, it was not as high as the one-on-one level in such a noble family.
It's just that as the future earl, Carl Robinson's childhood will inevitably lack a lot of joy - at least he won't be able to run freely in the wild like a farmer's child.
Therefore, Sean's arrival was Carl's happiest time, because Sean liked to take him riding horses, boating and hunting.
But Sean has less and less free time recently, because the new three-level meeting in Genoa is about to be held. If anyone pays attention to the political situation in Genoa, they will definitely find that Sean has become somewhat active now.
This summer, a dock workers' riot broke out in the Holy City. The cause of the riot was that the workers demanded higher wages and opposed the oppression and exploitation of the guilds.
The riot started out as a peaceful protest, but as small traders and other groups joined in, the purpose and nature of the protest changed, and it eventually evolved into an action against tax increases.
Coupled with the instigation of newspapers and public opinion, the protest turned into a riot. Although the riot only lasted three hours and was suppressed, more than 200 people died, including seven tax collectors and ten tax policemen.
Those who support workers in public opinion are called liberals, among whom lawyer Toby Salaman is the most active. Salaman, a famous lawyer, is surrounded by a group of scholars, writers, lawyers and journalists from the petty bourgeoisie.
They use various methods to form a huge public opinion, as they themselves claim:
The public has taken a keen interest in those things to which they had been most indifferent in the past, and Europa has established a tribunal, a tribunal independent of all authority and to which all authority must be respected...
This liberal thought, called Salamanism, aims to limit or even eliminate the privileges of the privileged. This trend of thought also affected Genoa.
Of course, the first and most affected are the journalists in the field of public opinion, among whom Carmen Gable of "Le Genoese" is the most active. He claims that everyone is equal before the tax order, and believes that the key is not what tax to levy, but
It's all about equality - he's a little lost now.
This public opinion reached its peak when rumors reached Poitou that the cabinet intended to turn the 1/20 tax into a general tax.
This tax was originally based on land, but now it has been expanded to levy a property tax of 1/20 on all income of all subjects.
The most important thing is that it is no longer a temporary tax levied due to wars and debt repayments, but it is rumored that it will become a general tax, levied on everyone.
This rumor was not a deliberate test by the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, because tax collectors everywhere had received orders to count the properties of the rich. This order was naturally resisted by the rich.
Under such circumstances, Sean received an invitation letter from Audrey for the first time, inviting him to visit the Robinson family's Qingliang Villa.
Needless to say, the Robinson family was very wealthy. After the property was divided, Audrey still retained ten estates for her son, one of which was located in the valley and hilly area surrounded by two mountains in the Rocky Mountains.
Since the end of the theocratic era, the nobility has become the class with the most extensive land, the most power and the most wealth. As lords, the manors at that time were mostly castle-like buildings with defensive functions.
In the novelist's description, these buildings are mostly characterized by high spires, thick stone walls and narrow windows, dark interiors, gloomy tunnels, and even charnel houses.
In the eyes of liberal scholars and artists, this represents backwardness, darkness, curse and conspiracy.
Nowadays, this kind of manor is increasingly being replaced by new-style manors. Castle-style buildings are abandoned and replaced by new-style villa-style buildings. The owner spends a lot of time on nurseries, gardens, and ponds.
In particular, the emerging urban bourgeoisie are most willing to build villas in the countryside, which are getting bigger and more luxurious. They regard this as one of the symbols of being on par with the nobility.
Qingliang Villa is a new-style manor that Earl Robinson spent a lot of effort to build after inheriting the title. It has become a good place for the Robinson family to spend their summer vacation. It is a manor built entirely for pleasure.
Its main body is a red brick building shaded by giant trees. It uses lime to outline straight brick joints, has huge floor-to-ceiling windows and bright transparent glass. The nearby hills have even been deliberately transformed into a grassland, with a group of white sheep.
The decoration is very beautiful and comfortable.
Audrey is of course a rich woman, and even Percy doesn't know how much money she controls, because she has a quite substantial dowry.
It is said that her father, Mr. Cummings Sr., is very talented in investing. It is said that he got a lot of inside information on bond transactions and made a lot of money.
Fortunately, her affluent life did not make Audrey the kind of arrogant woman. Obviously, she could not have the same mindset as a female textile worker or a tea-picking girl, nor would she have the same mindset as an ordinary municipal official's wife whose income was just enough to maintain a decent level of dignity.
have the same pursuit.
Audrey's elegant conversation, self-cultivation, and even dress are the trendsetter among the upper-class ladies of Poitou.
Only in recent years, she has withdrawn from the social circle, focusing on raising her young son and running the family business, and rarely leaves Rowan Castle.
"Sean, land prices have not increased for a year. Is it because of the 1/20 tax?"
Audrey specially invited Sean to come over this time, obviously because of the recent heated discussion in the newspaper.
Who doesn't care about profits? Audrey is not a woman who is ignorant of the fireworks of the world. After several years of personal control and training, she has a deep understanding of running a family. For example, she never touches securities and seeks stability in everything.
So seeing the heated discussion in the newspaper, she had to consult Sean.
For her, the biggest investment was in several hotels and several large tea plantations in Vichy town. The latter was her proudest investment, although anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that she was imitating her neighbors.
In addition, like a traditional rich person, she paid more attention to the land. After her late husband passed away, the land in her hands actually increased by 10%.
"Some statistics say that since Carlos I, land prices have more than doubled. People regard land as the foundation of a family. This is not an exaggeration. Land is not only the foundation of a family, but also the foundation of a country.
Whenever the rich people in the city have extra money on hand, their first thought is to buy a piece or even multiple pieces of land in the countryside. It is they who speculate the land to a price that cannot be higher," Sean said.
"Yes, they bought so much land and needed manpower to take care of it. This made some farmers think it was profitable. My tenants now dare to talk to me." Audrey complained.
"Audrey, you are a little greedy." Sean called her name directly.
Audrey rolled her eyes at him and said, "I'm worried that there won't be enough manpower to farm the Robinson family's land. But the government has to charge a 1/20 tax, which is not cost-effective."
"How much land do you have now?" Sean asked curiously.
"A lot anyway." Audrey winked playfully, which was something rarely seen in her, "It's just like the rumors."
"Okay. As for bank deposits, I won't ask. I think this is a serious waste." Sean said, "If it were me, I would sell most of the land to my tenants and allow them to pay in installments."
.Because although land can be used as a value-preserving asset for future generations, its value is not as great as we think. I will invest the money in hand in projects that bring high profits."
"Aren't you comparing land to factories? At least in my opinion, land is more insured than factories that use machines." Audrey said, "I heard that you just set up an armored shipyard?"
"Why, are you interested? This is a very far-sighted investment." Sean looked very hopeful, "I invested 100,000 gold louis for this."
"Then I can invest fifty thousand. This money has nothing to do with the Robinson family. It is my own dowry money." Audrey said, "But I have a condition. If I need to pursue additional investment in the future, I must ensure that my investment accounts for shares.
.”
Audrey was actually helping him, because now Sean was short of money, and the wealth given to Xia Keli's illegitimate children accounted for most of his available funds.
To build an ironclad ship that uses steam engines and propellers as he envisioned, the funds required are not a small amount. One hundred thousand is just an initial investment, which does not include a special steel plant that will be built in the south for this purpose in the future.
"Audrey, I guarantee that this investment of yours is extremely wise." Sean sat next to her and tried to grab her hand, but failed.
Audrey moved back. Her aloof attitude made Sean a little disappointed.
"You just advised me to sell most of the land to tenants, are you serious?" Audrey asked.
"Implementing 1/20 tax is the general trend. The third estate can no longer restrain its desire to challenge the nobility. To challenge the status of the nobility, it starts with the land. Because no matter how rich the third estate is, the land they purchase is still far less than
Relatively speaking, the nobles will suffer relatively little loss from imposing a 1/20 tax." Sean said, "And this idea is consistent with the ideas of the cabinet and even the emperor. This is the fastest way to quickly solve the financial crisis.
.”
"And..." Sean paused and asked Audrey, "Audrey..."
"Please call me Madam, Sean." Audrey corrected.
"Okay, Audrey."
"No, call me madam." Audrey insisted.
"Okay, ma'am." Sean shrugged, "According to your observation, are the number of farmers farming now more or less than five years ago?"
"There seems to be a lot less." Audrey didn't quite understand. "Is it because there are more workshops and factories in the city?"
"This is just one of them. Another important reason is that quite a few farmers have lost their land. The heavy tax burden makes them unprofitable. When someone pays a lot of money to buy their land, they have no choice but to sell it.
A small piece of land in hand, and then moved to the city."
Sean's analysis alerted Audrey.
"This situation is unsustainable, because the country's tax revenue mainly falls on farmers. When the number of farmers paying taxes decreases, the country has no choice but to turn its attention to the rich. Just as the bankers, businessmen and factory owners in the city think
"The power of their words should be commensurate with their financial resources," Sean said, "The economic base determines the superstructure, just like the foundation of this villa, politics are undergoing drastic changes."
"It seems that I need to consider the issue of family land." Audrey thought for a while and said, "A few days ago, I did some calculations and found that the income from family land has been declining continuously, especially in the past five years.
The most powerful. This is a bad sign."
In midsummer, this villa is very cool.
Audrey leaned comfortably on the couch and stretched, showing off her beautiful figure.
She was wearing a homely half-sleeved dress today, revealing her smooth and soft neck and shoulders, and her slightly conservative chest, and she was still full of youthfulness.
Causing temptation.
She may not even realize it, but she has become more and more relaxed in front of Xiao Si, and does not need to strictly adhere to the lady's so-called etiquette and norms.
Sean took advantage of him last time, but Audrey didn't give him another chance because the servant was standing at the door - she specially arranged it.