"I'm honored. I hope that I, a person with little experience in leading troops, will not embarrass this group."
Sean made up his mind instantly.
"Very good! The Honorary Officers Corps welcomes you to join. I think this is a wise choice!" Frank nodded with satisfaction. He looked at the already dark sky and said, "It's not peaceful in the city recently. You are the best at night.
It’s better not to wander outside.”
Frank lowered the curtains and left in the carriage.
"According to the rules, shouldn't I find a suitable opportunity, such as an officer's wedding banquet, to introduce me to a group of professional officers?"
Sean thought this in his mind. Maybe the secret police chief is too busy right now and has no time to pay attention to this matter, or maybe Sean is overthinking it.
The meeting of dignitaries has made some progress, at least on issues concerning the church, but it looks like it will still be held for a few more days.
In general, tax increases are inevitable. Whether it is the emperor, administrative officials, or dignitaries, when people think of financial difficulties, their instinctive reaction is to increase taxes.
The focus of the dispute is who should be levied, what taxes should be levied, and how much. The complex tax system of the empire has intensified the dispute. For example, the same salt tax is a light tax in one province, but it may be a heavy tax in another province.
, so you can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach, as representatives from different provinces or representing different groups have different interests.
The differences between the capital and other provinces, the differences between border areas and inland provinces, the differences between the north and the south, etc., also include the differences between traditional nobility and financial capital.
The representatives formed cliques, put forward their own ideas, and competed for the opportunity to speak and vote. Duke Hermann faced a flock of crows every day.
After leaving the venue, these representatives would not be idle and used various gatherings to express their views. All kinds of complaining letters flew to the court of Carlos II like snowflakes.
The emperor and the nobles should be one. When the country is in difficulty, the nobles should first stand up and contribute to the country. But the reality is that the nobles always hinder the emperor's plans.
Relatively speaking, the bourgeoisie are much more pleasing to the eye.
As someone who has made some academic research and contributions to economics and finance, Sean has also received many invitations.
In addition to groups like the Genoese Association, when Sean took time to visit Mr. Palmer, the president of the Holy City University, he also received invitations to salons organized by some scholars who studied economics and administration.
He has enough power and is rational enough to offer advice and suggestions to the empire.
Sean keenly discovered that these university-educated scholars were seriously out of touch with reality. They thought that relying solely on the power of reason could effortlessly bring about a thorough and rapid innovation in the complex real society. This was clearly a big crisis.
A harbinger of the coming. In fact, they were unprepared.
These scholars who conduct theoretical research are naturally rational, while others who work in the humanities field show enthusiasm.
Under this circumstance, Sean was invited to a well-known club in the Holy City, the Tulip Club, to give a speech on his self-written topic "Our Future".
His audience includes novelists, dramatists, painters and musicians, as well as journalists and political news commentators. Compared with the scholars in the university who share the same ideals with them, they are more free and active in thought, even extreme.
, you can call it enthusiasm.
Of course, some nobles and administrative officials also came here. They have a common characteristic with Sean: they are young, active and willing to talk to liberals.
As an earl, Sean must of course speak from the standpoint of a nobleman, because this is politically correct.
On this fundamental principle, he elaborated his proposition, or rather to please everyone present:
"Whether you like it or not, the hierarchy is the cornerstone of the country. If this cornerstone is loosened, then the country we love will cease to exist..."
"I think the three-level conference is a more appropriate form of political participation and discussion. Currently, only a few provinces implement this system. These provinces are generally relatively stable and harmonious. Expand the source composition of political participants, for example, in addition to the three levels
Scholars, lawyers, writers and other freelancers, as for farmers, workers, etc., their education level is not enough for them to bear major responsibilities..."
"Uniform laws across the country, unified governance principles, as well as unified market rules and relevant tax orders are the only way to revitalize the economy and ensure long-term stability of the country. My consistent position is that all conditions must be fully mobilized to revitalize the economy.
Make the bread of wealth bigger, so that the individual wealth gap between those who divide the bread may be widening, but everyone can get a little more than before..."
"The current financial difficulty is that on the one hand, we have not made the bread bigger, and we have also tried every means to prevent it from making it bigger..."
“The economic base determines the superstructure. The traditional agricultural economic form determines the origin of our current political form and system. When the emerging economy represented by the steam engine flourishes, we must change our superstructure, political system, and class form.
and legal norms, and even our ideology and social philosophy..."
Sean's speech was not shocking, but it was not even-keeled either. Reformers saw reform, revolutionaries or radicals saw revolution, and even conservatives saw caution.
Sean was labeled an "enlightened nobleman" by the guests.
On this night at the Tulip Club, Sean not only met the beautiful Mrs. Bron with a mysterious background, but also met Toby Salaman and Anthony Fox, the two main standard-bearers of the liberal faction.
Sean has been following Salaman for a long time, and Sean has read all of this philosopher's works. He is an energetic and charming man.
Sean's views are very appealing to Salaman, although he also knows that even if Sean agrees with his views, he cannot completely stand with him. He represents the views of the majority of liberals in China and opposes the hierarchy but
And they fantasize about getting rid of it through reform and national education.
Sean was willing to accept the club's invitation just to observe these people up close.
Compared with Salaman, Fuchs is undoubtedly more radical, and his questions are straightforward:
"Count, if a nobleman and a peasant fell into the water at the same time and called for help from you passing by, who would you save first?"
People stared at Sean curiously, wanting to know the answer.
Sean smiled and said: "If there is time, I will save the one I am most likely to save first, usually the one closest to the shore, whether he is a noble or a farmer. This is rational."
Fox shrugged and said: "Obviously the Earl is a person who respects life. If one day, I mean if one day, the people think that the privileges of the nobility should be abolished, how should you, as a member of the nobility, respond?"
Faced with Fox's aggressive eyes, Sean said calmly:
"Then I respect the people's choice, but at the same time I will pray for the people, because I am worried that after they overthrow a class that they think is oppressing them, they will face another new class of oppression. The people always follow blindly. At this time
They may think that the noble master from before is better."
"Your Excellency is a bit hypocritical. While enjoying your privileges, you talk about decentralization and democracy. In the final analysis, you still can't let go of your privilege." Fuchs said unceremoniously.
"Dear Mr. Fox, if I am not a noble, then I am at least a rich man. There is still a huge gap between me and farmers or workers. You have to admit this! And in the world you built
, is there absolute equality? In my opinion, the state is a tool of class rule, no matter who the ruling class is!" Sean raised his voice, "Everyone, in essence, are there any differences between the ruling classes?"
No one at the scene could answer.
Salaman said with a smile: "I think a parliament should be established from the holy city to the localities to represent the broadest strata of society, instead of letting the country be controlled by a few people and letting them do whatever they want."
"When someone objects, move them away like a stumbling block," Fuchs added.
"Maybe after you remove a stumbling block, you will still encounter a big mountain." Sean said.
In fact, in his heart, Sean agreed with most of these people's views, but his identity dictated that he must remain silent. But looking closely, Sean was a little disappointed with these people.
Because they are also well-dressed and do not need to bury their heads in the fields or take care of machines. They want to overturn the inequalities that they need to look up and automatically ignore the inequalities that they need to lower their heads to see.
Less than an hour after Sean left the club, a list was placed on Joseph Frank's desk.
This is the guest list of the Tulip Club tonight, as well as the words and deeds of the main characters. The Tulip Club has long been in the sight of him, the head of the secret police, and under the current situation, he pays more attention to the words and deeds of those key figures.
Although he had always looked down on the so-called liberals and believed that they succeeded more than they failed, the burning of the Holy City Cathedral encouraged these people and also caused Frank's status in the eyes of the emperor to be damaged.
Among the passionate crowds, although there are certainly bloodthirsty people and rebels who are inciting them, these liberals are also secretly inciting them.
He crossed out Sean's name from the list with a red ink pen and handed the list to his lieutenant.
"Arrest people according to the list tonight, don't miss anyone!" Frank ordered.
At this time, his subordinate Captain Smith hurried in without any notification, looking very panicked:
"Colonel, Duke Darnell has been assassinated!"
"What are you talking about?" Frank stood up suddenly, looking very ugly.