In the Governor's Mansion, Director Daley was reporting to Governor Byrne.
"The fire broke out at about two o'clock in the morning. The fire actually started in the warehouse behind the newspaper office, where flammable paper and ink were stored. The wind was strong at that time. By the time the gatekeeper called people to put out the fire, the newspaper office had already been burned down.
Most of it." Dai Li said.
"Who do you suspect did it?" Byrne asked.
The Governor actually had a suspect, but he needed Daley to speak out.
"'Le Genoese' has recently targeted tax-paying companies, which has caused a lot of scoldings. Most of the broad public opinion supports this newspaper. This is obvious." Daley said, "As for whether it is a tax-paying company,
The tax company did it, and frankly, I have no evidence."
"Have you closed the case of Mrs. Koval's assassination?" Byrne suddenly changed the question.
Dai Li smiled bitterly and said, "That's obvious."
Byrne stared at him, and his stern eyes made Daley sigh: "Do you suspect that Viscount Connery found someone to burn down his newspaper office?"
"Of course, I'm just suspicious." Byrne said, "Have you ever looked for that Cohen?"
"I have approached Mr. Cohen, and he is very tough and rude. He completely denies the accusation. Your Excellency, Governor, you know that there is no way I can invite him to tea without any evidence." Daley
He said, "However, I am very happy to see Mr. Cohen's angry look. These guys from the tax-paying company have caused us a lot of trouble."
"Mr. Director, can it be that the burning of the newspaper office should just be ignored?" Byrne felt angry.
As a governor, he seemed to have a distinguished status, but in the local area, many people really didn't take him seriously. He strongly suspected that Sean was imitating the Countess of Koval and secretly manipulating the arson incident to put the tax farming company in a difficult situation.
The central position of public opinion criticism.
The source of the problem is already very clear. It came from the leaked information from the tax-contracting company. They actually wanted to get involved in the tea tax without going through convincing procedures. This simply did not put themselves in the eyes of a dignified governor of a province.
In fact, Byrne also wants to tax the tea plantations. Of course, giving the tax to the Governor's Palace is different from giving it to the tax farming company. This means economic prosperity and huge political achievements for himself. Why should the tax farming company benefit? If they
Being too greedy may even affect the development of this emerging industry.
He and Mayor Stanley had calculated the tea tax more than once, and the results they obtained made them very excited.
Do your part!
Therefore, Byrne suffered a bitter loss from the tax farming company, and he sneered in his heart. Those extremely greedy and arrogant tax farming companies were almost the public enemy of the whole people.
Daley certainly knew what Byrne was thinking:
"Your Excellency, judging from your humble position, the big shots in the Holy City will probably not let go of the tea tax, because it is a stable and generous income."
"It is precisely because of this that they cannot be allowed to succeed." Byrne said, "I will write to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of Finance to express my position. Regarding the issue of tea tax collection, rather than letting the tax collectors benefit, it is better to pay the full amount
To the country. Besides, Genoa belongs to the Estates-General. In terms of taxation, we have the right to protest against the Minister of Finance’s order. What’s more, there was no tea tax before.”
Anyway, this matter had nothing to do with him, and Daly was too lazy to get involved. It was just that the newspaper office was burned down, and he had to give Viscount Connery an answer, which was more difficult to handle.
While he was talking, a waiter came to announce that Lord Connery had arrived.
Daley thought Sean was here to ask questions, but Sean just said lightly: "Mr. Director, regarding the burning incident of the newspaper office, I strongly suspect that someone deliberately set the fire. Please find the suspect as soon as possible and bring him to justice!"
"
"Please rest assured, Viscount, I will definitely strengthen the police force and solve the case as soon as possible." Daly promised.
Sean nodded in greeting: "Thank you, Mr. Director, I'm sorry, I have something to discuss with the Governor, please step aside."
"Haha, there is something going on in the bureau, so I have to take my leave." Dai Li picked up his hat and left.
Byrne ordered someone to bring tea. This was the finest tea given to him by Sean, a luxury item that could not be bought on the market.
"Viscount, regarding the case of the burning of the newspaper office, please forgive me. Maybe nothing will be achieved. I hope Viscount understands." Byrne said bravely.
He didn't expect that Sean didn't care about it: "It's just a trivial matter. The house of the newspaper office happens to be too old. I have already found a place for the newspaper members. They deserve to work in a more decent place.
, at the service of the people of Genoa.”
Byrne suddenly felt a sense of relief in his heart, which further confirmed his suspicion. Well, the young Viscount in front of him had already created a kind of pressure on him.
"I wonder if the Viscount is here in person. What advice do you have?" Byrne asked.
"Your Majesty the Governor, there are rumors that the Holy City wants to levy a tax on the value of tea leaves?" Sean asked.
"Honestly, I only heard about it in the past two days. Maybe it's just a rumor? At least, I haven't received any official documents or laws saying that the tea plantations will be taxed."
Byrne's answer was cautious.
"Well, whether as a noble or as a citizen, I have my due obligations to His Majesty and the country, including paying taxes." Sean first expressed his position, "I heard that some people are instigating tax farming companies to implement tax farming on tea gardens.
This is unacceptable to me and also unacceptable to the Europa Tea Promotion Council."
"Council?" Byrne was a little confused.
"I forgot to tell you." Sean took out a document. "A group has just been established in Genoa. The main purpose is to promote tea. This is an application letter. Please see it for your Excellency, the Governor."
Byrne pretended to take out his reading glasses. The love letter clearly listed the names of nearly a hundred people. Many of the names were familiar to Byrne. Some were nobles, some were landowners, and some were wealthy businessmen and factory owners.
These people formed a group with Sean as the leader, and they accounted for at least one-half of the seats in the Third Estate of Genoa.
This had to shock and attach importance to Byrne. Sean was actually willing to give up his exclusive tea planting interests based on interests. This allowed him to quickly unite many people, and it seemed that he had a power in Genoa that he could not take lightly.
This is quite astonishing when you consider the wealth of Vichy's new industrial power, its church friendships, and Sean's influence among academics and freelancers.
At the same time, forming a group is a clever move. At least Sean represents the interests of many people and is even qualified to make petitions or protests to the Holy City in the name of the group.
Byrne calmly took the love letter and said:
"Nowadays, our tea cultivation in Genoa is in the ascendant. This promising new industry will bring prosperity and employment to Genoa. I support this group in principle. However, please allow me to consider it carefully for a while."
Byrne was a little annoyed with Joe, but Sean automatically ignored this:
"The tax farming system is a system with countless negative reviews. Your Majesty the Governor, our group agrees to pay taxes on tea cultivation, but we prefer that the Governor's Office collect taxes on behalf of the country. At the same time, we propose to issue a statement on this at the future three-level meeting.
Statement, we propose that half of the tax be included in local finance so that the government can build roads and bridges and help the poor."
Byrne was elated and would certainly not object, but this involved negotiations with the Holy City, so his position as the governor was quite important.
"Thank you to the viscount and all the industrial owners for their generosity and loyalty to the empire. I will definitely try my best to strive for a better tax rate." Byrne immediately expressed his position, "As for the tax collection actions of tax-contracting companies, I firmly oppose it."
After taking care of the Governor, Sean walked out of the Governor's Mansion with brisk steps.
It was really not him who sent someone to do the "Le Genovese" newspaper. What a coincidence, the gatekeeper accidentally knocked over the candle in the early morning of that day, causing an accidental fire.
Sean used his tricks to successfully arouse people's criticism of tax-paying companies. In fact, none of the poor people criticizing tax-paying companies were all rich people, and rich people were the enemies of tax-paying companies.
The countess seems to have sensed Sean's tactics, and her activities have recently died down, and she no longer even has the interest to debate with the church.
Cohen sat in the carriage and watched Sean leave the Governor's Mansion. He had met Sean several times, but they had no friendship.
This time he kicked the iron plate, which made Cohen realize that he was a little reckless. This nobleman was different. He was rich and powerful, and was supported by an army. Although this nobleman did not have a military position, he was still stationed in Vichy Town.
With a regiment of troops, this is not something that our own tax police who deal with smugglers can contend with.
But in the face of huge benefits, it is difficult for Cohen to give up. He believes that the big shots in the Holy City will not give up this piece of fat. The increasingly difficult financial situation of the empire makes those big shots want to look for tax sources everywhere - this is people like Cohen.
One of the sources of wealth.
As a tax collector, Cohen was not stupid. Especially when he heard that Sean had started a group called the Tea Promotion Council, he knew that he might offend a group.
In fact, Cohen has been in a bit of trouble recently. Many employees of tax-collecting companies have been verbally abused by civilians. Some people have rotten eggs thrown at them when they walk on the street, and tax collection offices located everywhere have been attacked.
There is an armed smuggling gang active at the junction of Javia and Genoa. It has been relatively active recently and has frequently attacked its own tax police. In the past half month, it has caused more than ten deaths and injuries. In this regard, Cohen urgently needs Genoa defense.
With the cooperation of the army, the garrison was all Sean's subordinates.
Thinking of this, Cohen decided to visit the rose garden in person.
Before visiting the Rose Garden, Cohen also learned some inside information from the Governor's Mansion. Sean threw a tempting bait to the Governor, which made Cohen unable to sit still.
However, his tea tax commissioner, Gregory Baker, brought a tripartite agreement verbally proposed by Sean:
The tea tax package company and the province will be divided on a 30-70 basis. The specific share will be negotiated between the tax package company and the Governor-General, but the tax rate must be acceptable to the tea groups.
This proposal took Cohen by surprise.
"What a wonderful man!"
This verbal proposal was something that Cohen couldn't refuse. It seemed like a win-win situation for all three parties.
But he knew that no matter what the outcome of his negotiation with the Governor's Mansion was, whether it was 30-70 or 70-70, Sean and his group would definitely get a relatively low tax rate and take the biggest advantage, because the Governor's Mansion was also eyeing it.