There are many artists, novelists and scientists among the nobility.
They have received strict education since childhood, are freed from physical labor and food and clothing needs, live a comfortable life, and have more opportunities and interests to engage in various mental activities than civilians.
But if we equate elegant artistic activities with material pursuits, then in the eyes of some people at the top of the pyramid, this is indeed a bit vulgar.
Obviously Sean is also a very tacky person. He hired a ghostwriter just to bring the goods. In Elizabeth's view, Sean's confession was really hopeless and vulgar.
However, Sean still felt sympathy for the naive princess in his heart, because at the royal banquet just now, he learned that Carlos II was promoting her marriage to the youngest son of Duke Darnell.
This is a marriage of politics and money.
On February 8, 1834, the Fifth Empire of Europe held a meeting of dignitaries at the Holy City Theater.
The 321 representatives who participated in the meeting were the most powerful people in the empire. It was these people who controlled the country through their family members and the people they supported. In essence, they ruled the country together with the royal family.
Carlos II personally attended the event and delivered a speech. He emphasized the legitimacy and authority of his rule, and called on all his subjects to overcome the difficulties together, take decisive measures to defeat the invasion of foreign enemies, restore peace, and live and work in peace and contentment.
He said that in the face of internal and external difficulties, rectifying financial order is necessary and top priority, and believes that this is the only way to restore glory.
Incidentally, he also threatened all the representatives that if the empire collapsed, they would have nothing to gain, because their enemies were foreigners, even fish monsters, bloodthirsty warriors, and barbarians. These opponents would not share power with them.
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After making a fiery declaration, Carlos II left the scene, and the meeting was chaired by Duke Hermann.
The first item of the meeting is for the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Cabinet, to report to the public the actual state of the country's finances for the first time.
In the past, the financial situation was a "state secret". Ministers always said they were short of money, but they never told the public how big the financial hole was, let alone where the money went.
Everyone knew that the national finances had long been bankrupt, but after Prime Minister Cuarón finished his report, the scene was completely silent for a while.
Everyone was stunned.
By the end of 1833, the state owed the church and the banking syndicate a total of 120 million in loans. This was due to the church's donation of 50 million and Genoa's unexpected payment of 10 million more taxes.
Interest is a heavy burden.
In addition, as the war continues, at least 20 million worth of supplies must be provided to the northern front every month. In addition, the navy needs to spend at least 8 million gold louis every month. This is only due to the additional expenses of the war, and daily military expenses are not included.
State borrowing and war spending alone overwhelmed the finances.
All in all, if there is no way to increase taxes, the country will collapse immediately. Carlos II seemed to be desperate, and he simply told his subjects the truth, making everyone feel at risk.
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of Finance were immediately criticized mercilessly by the representatives present at the meeting, especially those from the far north. Their hometowns were facing major tests and might fall into the hands of their enemies at any time. Therefore, they believed that the cabinet was composed of a group of incompetent people.
Seniors are in control, and the cabinet should be held responsible for this mess.
Some people even circulated documents that were very unfavorable to ministers. Almost all of these robed nobles (senior civil servants) became rich because of their positions.
There was condemnation inside the venue, and people who cared about the meeting gathered outside the venue.
At first, reporters from various newspapers in the Holy City and Gyeonggi Province, then scholars who were concerned about current affairs, then business people who also cared about their own interests, and finally ordinary citizens and craftsmen gathered here because they heard rumors that the empire would
Imposing war taxes on people who have little savings will undoubtedly make their already tight lives even worse.
The police tried to disperse the crowd with whips, but the crowd grew larger and larger.
In the thick crowd, several gunshots suddenly rang out at the same time, and someone fell in pain in a pool of blood.
The bloodshed occurred unexpectedly, causing chaos. People thought it was the police shooting, pushing and trampling each other, causing more casualties.
Although Carlos II was not present, he paid close attention to the meeting itself. When he heard an accident occurred outside the venue, he immediately dispatched the Royal Guard to maintain order and ordered the Holy City Police Headquarters to find out the truth.
However, no police officer fired a shot. Public opinion pointed the finger at the police, on the grounds that based on their poor law enforcement record in the past, it must have been the police who fired the shot.
In an effort to quell public anger, the Holy City's police chief was dismissed.
The meeting of dignitaries was still quarreling. They found that simply asking the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance to resign could not solve anything, and turned to a fierce debate on the scope and details of taxation. They were divided, the conflicts between the big nobles and the small nobles, the nobles
Contradictions with financial capital and industrial and commercial capital were exposed one by one.
At this time, the church emerged.
Pope Rodriguez of the Catholic Church personally brought nearly a thousand priests to perform religious ceremonies outside the Holy City Theater because he learned that the nobles and the big bourgeoisie actually wanted to follow the old example of the True God Church and in the name of the country
Confiscation of Catholic property—even if not all confiscation, heavy taxation will be imposed.
It doesn't matter if you have leprosy on your head, as long as it grows on other people's heads. This is what a considerable number of representatives think.
At this time, a series of scandals within the church seemed to have been scheduled, filling the most important pages of newspapers supported by the royal family and the cabinet.
What is particularly noteworthy is that for the first time, a large number of unexplained disappearances of children in the holy city and Gyeonggi Province in the past five years have been made public.
This news was only circulated in a small area before, but now the truth has been made public, and the public is extremely shocked and frightened.
The terror and evil of bloodthirsty people have been exaggerated by religions and officials for thousands of years, and have become the source of people's greatest fear.
It has become an instinctive contradiction deep in the people's civilization and soul.
However, the role played by the Catholic Church in the missing children incident has greatly reduced the sacred status of the Catholic Church in the hearts of the people.
Rodriguez was humiliated because he had already paid a huge price for this in the second half of last year in exchange for the emperor and the secret police keeping this secret.
It was obviously the emperor's instigation that caused this secret to be widely publicized, and the Catholic Church was simply regarded as a money box. This time, I am afraid that the church's money box has been targeted again.
At this time, Carlos II publicly met with His Majesty the Pope of the True God Religion, His Majesty Yusuf Lombardi, at the White House, and praised Lombardi as a man of profound knowledge and noble sentiments. He praised the True God Religion priests from all over the world.
For the sake of our family, we practice the noble act of spreading the gospel, and call on people of all religions to learn from the True God Religion.
Carlos II's tactics were so clever that he forced Pope Rodriguez to bow his head. The pope sent his aide to visit Duke Hermann, who was presiding over the meeting of dignitaries, to find some kind of compromise.
The church's compromise or temporary bowing was not enough to allow the meeting to proceed smoothly.
The Church is the primary political power in society, and to some the most disgusting one. The Church relies on tradition, that is, on hierarchy, while liberals despise this tradition and want to break up this hierarchy.
The Church has never been politically neutral as it professes to be. On the contrary, the Church has become involved in political power. This participation itself is far from the mission and nature of the Church; the Church condemns sin and in turn makes political power
He sanctifies the sins in him and uses his holy cloak to cover them.
Since the religious wars, non-religious trends have gradually become the mainstream, although religion still has a group of fanatics in some places.
When Carlos II secretly led the people to hate the church, people's passion was ignited, especially when some dangerous elements were mixed in. The three hundred-year-old Holy City Cathedral was set on fire by the angry people.
Standing on the golden dome of the Royal Palace, Carlos II could see the ruins of the church. It is said that the gold used for decoration in the Holy City Cathedral alone weighed one ton when it was melted by the fire.
He realized that he seemed to have done something wrong.
The people can only be enslaved, not incited. This incited power made him feel an inexplicable fear.
Colonel Joseph Frank accompanied him. Obviously, including the shooting outside the venue on the first day of the meeting of dignitaries, there must be rebels secretly colluding.
As the head of the secret police, Colonel Frank was trained by the emperor for a full hour. He had to promise that the rebels would be pulled out of their hiding places and hanged in public.
When leaving the palace, Colonel Frank realized that his back was soaked, and he couldn't help but shiver when the cold wind blew.
"Stop!" Frank ordered the charioteer. He saw Sean walking along the street with a few people.
"Sean!" Frank shouted.
Sean was stunned when he heard the voice, and had to walk to Frank's carriage: "Hello, Colonel!"
"Congratulations, Earl." Frank said with a smile, trying to appear more cordial.
"No, no, you can just call me Sean." Sean didn't dare to show off in front of the colonel.
"What do you think of my proposal last time?" Frank asked.
"Well..." Sean was obviously a little stunned.
Of course he remembered that when he was at Fort Putnam, Colonel Frank invited him face to face to join the "Honorary Officers Corps". Out of caution, Sean did not answer directly at the time. When they met again by chance, Frank brought up the old story again, and his attitude was obviously the same as last time.
Something is different.
It even made Sean feel that if his answer didn't satisfy him, he might have fallen into his little black book.