This meeting of dignitaries was regarded as an enlarged meeting of the Parliament of Nobles. In addition to the great nobles of the Holy City and various provinces, it also included the top bourgeoisie from various places, because the latter were the richest.
The total number of people reached 321.
As far as the province of Genoa is concerned, in addition to Count Covar in the Holy City, Sean and Sieyes are also on the meeting list. Time is tight, Sean and Sieyes must arrive in Saint-Jermain before February 7, 1834.
city.
Time was running out, Sean and Sieyes immediately set off together after receiving the invitation letter stamped with the emperor's seal.
At this time, more and more news came from the Holy City, and the emperor was preparing to implement wartime policies.
This was a special policy that was implemented at the end of the Fourth Empire. This meant that the emperor had absolute power, including the power to raise taxes. It was rumored that the emperor was planning to use the 1/20 tax as a general tax throughout the empire.
Implemented within the scope, all other tax types will increase by 5 tax points.
Sean and Sieyes' journey in Genoa went smoothly. They took a train from Poitou to Patnam Castle. The journey was comfortable, with special boxes, delicious food and a railway company.
Thoughtful service.
But after getting off the bus at Putnamburg, they had to take a carriage to the north, changing the carriage to a ferry, and the ferry to a carriage. This was an extremely boring and arduous journey.
From the moment he stepped into the northern land, Sieyes began to complain about the harsh climate, the bumpy roads, the black sheets in the hotels along the way, and the dead-fish expressions of the waiters.
In short, he did not miss any opportunity to disparage the North and everything.
The desolate scene along the way shocked the two of them. St. Nuve, the former granary, has not yet recovered from the war two years ago. A large amount of land is uncultivated, while large cities such as Minsk are home to a large number of unemployed refugees. They
I would rather try my luck in the city than return to the countryside.
A doomsday scene unfolded in front of the two of them. There is no harm if there is no comparison. Sieyes said with lingering fear:
"Viscount, my friend, all the people of Genoa should be grateful to you. Not only did you protect the Genoese people from the invasion of werewolves and rebels, you also brought employment and food. Many people even became rich because of you."
"Mr. Sieyes, I just fulfilled some insignificant responsibilities." Sean said modestly, "The people's requirements are very simple. They just need a job to support their families. As long as it is not overly oppressive, the rich don't want it either."
Too greedy, but the world is actually not that bad. I regard this as harmony, the harmony of giving and reward, and the harmony of the upper and lower classes."
Some of Sean's views were well known to the upper echelons of the Genoese people, and people-centered thinking was nothing new.
It's just that compared to those scholars, he is a man of practical experience, and the treatment of employees in the industries under his name is generally much better than that in the north.
It is the nature of capital to pursue profits. Sean focuses more on improving efficiency, relying on technological progress and improved production management to improve efficiency and create higher profits.
"Viscount, I wonder what this meeting of dignitaries will bring in the end?" Sieyes was a little worried.
The so-called meeting of dignitaries, just like the parliament of nobles, originally refers to a meeting attended by the great nobles. This is a concentrated expression of the current political system of the country. The nobles have far greater political power than other classes.
Most of them did not hold any official position, but they controlled the country's political power, and the emperor was their only representative.
But this kind of political power does not represent economic strength. The wealth of the emerging bourgeoisie has long surpassed that of the aristocracy.
Therefore, in order to appease the dissatisfaction of the third estate and to collect more taxes from him, Carlos II had to expand the number of participants in the meeting of dignitaries. This is why Sieyes is qualified to represent the Genoese.
Compared with his financial peers in the north, Sieyes's personal wealth is actually not impressive at all. He is worried about the adverse impact of the rumored wartime policies on him, such as the empire's forced apportionment of loans to major banks.
"Mr. Sieyes, don't worry too much. If the sky falls, there will be a tall man holding it up." Sean smiled softly, "I wonder if you noticed that there were no representatives from the church attending this dignitary meeting."
Sieyes' expression changed: "Is Your Majesty going to take action against the church? Is this impossible?"
"Your Majesty has deprived the True God Church of its property rights, so what's the impossibility of taking action against the Catholic Church again?" Sean said, "The news I heard is that Your Majesty just issued a statement that the Catholic Church is colluding with bloodthirsty people.
, there are as many as 300 underage bloodthirsty people hiding in several almshouses in the Holy City. This is a true act of treason. And the evidence of this accusation is so solid that the church cannot even defend it."
"Is this happening? Oh God!" Sieyes exaggeratedly crossed himself on his chest, but Sean knew that he had no fear of God.
"Some people estimate that the Catholic Church controls about 30% of the land in the country, and the cash is incalculable. The church may be bleeding heavily this time." Sean said, "Bishop Xia Keli told me that he estimated that the cash of the national church is as high as about seven percent.
100 million, Church Bank’s profit per profit alone is much greater than your First Bank’s book assets.”
"I'm afraid the church will not give in so easily." Sieyes doubted, "Although the people's religious concepts are now very weak compared to before, Your Majesty will not take the risk of offending millions of subjects."
"So, when a meeting of dignitaries is held, the church without representatives may become an obvious stepping stone for the other two classes." Sean said, "If they don't want to pay, then let the people who didn't come pay. Anyway,
People who didn’t show up couldn’t be there to defend themselves.”
"This is to unite two parties to force the other party." Sieyes narrowed his eyes and said, "Divide and disintegrate. Your Majesty's good idea."
"To overcome the difficulties together, logically speaking, no one objects. For example, in the war on the northern border, a large number of soldiers are killed every day. If the imperial army cannot obtain the necessary war resources in time, the consequences will be disastrous.
Theoretically speaking, everyone should be treated rationally, and those who have money should contribute money and those who have the strength to contribute, but individually, everyone instinctively thinks of their own interests. I really can’t imagine what will happen if the Red Moon collapse happens again.
Performed…”
"Viscount, I didn't expect you to be more pessimistic than me." Sieyes said, "Fortunately we are both from the south!"
Sieyes is quite a bit gloating about misfortune. Although he also knows that there is no way to complete the eggs in a crowd, if it can cause the northerners to suffer greater losses, it is also something he likes to see.
In fact, Sieyes's views are very representative of the thoughts of southerners. The European Empire has only been unified in form and geography since the First Empire, and southerners and northerners have never been truly unified psychologically.
Sean and Sieyes arrived in the Holy City on February 1, 1834.
At this time, the Holy City gathered a large number of dignitaries, such as the Queen's father, the famous Duke Hermann, the representatives of the long-standing military family, the Duke of Frank, the Duke of Darnell, and the representative of the Torres family who often held important palace positions - Torres.
A large number of nobles including the Marquis arrived one after another.
Only in remote provinces in the south such as Genoa can small nobles like Sean appear.
The arrival of a large number of dignitaries from other places, as well as their large lineup of servants, even caused the price of goods in the Holy City to rise.
The newspapers in the Holy City are keen to report on the ostentation of those prominent nobles, and even report in detail what they eat for the first time after arriving in the Holy City.
Sean and Sieyes checked into the Golden Oak Hotel, which is owned by the Johnson family, Sean's subordinate and business partner.
Out of respect, Mr. Johnson graciously arranged for the two of them to stay in a luxurious suite with new decorations, new carpets, soft and clean beds, and attentive room service.
This is the suite reserved by Johnson Sr. for the two of them.
Because of the meeting of dignitaries, those big nobles have properties in the Holy City, and others can only stay in hotels. Obviously, these nobles must also stay in hotels and rooms that match their status, otherwise they may become the object of ridicule by others.
This has made rooms in high-end hotels in the Holy City a hot commodity.
There was even a situation where two provincial nobles fought over a room, which became news that the people in the Holy City loved to hear. They envied the generosity of the provincial nobles, but also used a magnifying glass to look for the shortcomings of these provincial nobles.
As a fellow countryman, Count Koval had sent a servant to guard the entrance hall of the Golden Oak Hotel a few days ago. As soon as Sean and Sieyes checked in, he personally came to the hotel and hosted a banquet for them.
Regardless of whether Sean and Sieyes agree or not, as the only three representatives of Genoa attending the meeting of dignitaries, Count Koval must unite his thoughts and advance together with these two people.
At this time, the conflict between the Koval family and Sean not long ago is no longer important.
Count Scott Koval is 58 years old. He is a short man with a neat short beard.
After several years of living in the Holy City, he frequently interacted with the upper class. Apart from his height, it was difficult to see the obvious characteristics of a southerner in Count Koval.
Although it was their first meeting, Count Koval congratulated him very enthusiastically: "Congratulations, Sean, the future Earl of Rocky Mountain!"
Sieyes said: "Are the rumors true?"
Count Koval said: "It's absolutely true! With Sean's past contributions, whether it is scientific, outstanding performance in the counter-insurgency war, or the outstanding performance of the current new ironclad ship in the battle against the fish demon, a hereditary title of an earl
Totally qualified.”
"Thank you very much, Earl, for telling me this good news." Sean said cautiously, "This is His Majesty's love and my honor."
Count Koval said with envy: "Sean, as your fellow countryman, your name has risen in the upper social circle of the Holy City, and many people want to know you."
Sean shrugged: "I'm looking forward to it too!"
As if echoing Count Koval's assertion, Sean received an edict personally from Count Torre that night, and the emperor would personally hold a canonization ceremony for him in the palace.