Herbert Wells, commander of the 101st Garrison Brigade, stood at the commanding heights of the fortress and looked into the distance with a telescope.
In his sight, travelers were pouring out in twos and threes on the mountain roads extending towards the Otter Mountains. They were refugees from the north, and there were also wealthy people among them.
The war has affected the hinterland of the empire. Many people heard about the prosperity and stability in the south, especially Genoa, so they went all the way south, over the Otter Mountains, and came to Putnam Castle. Anyone who could go this far must have some financial resources.
To support their journey, or if they have relatives in Genoa who can join them.
This has brought pressure to Genoa, first of all from the pressure of public security and rising grain prices. Grain management has been monopolized by the state and is sold in rations based on population.
It was already October 1834, and in fact the imperial wartime policy had been promulgated. Carlos II said this in the edict:
The empire implemented semi-nationalization of all military-related arms industries. Any production related to rifles, artillery and ammunition, uniforms, and military boots were supervised by officials sent by the state.
The state monopoly on food is implemented. In addition to sugar and salt, tea, matches, cloth, grease and soap and other important livelihood necessities are also subject to state monopoly to maintain the survival of the country.
Land tax is fully implemented. Regardless of the church, nobles or civilians, the state levies a tax of 1/20 of all land output, and tax collectors sent by the state are responsible for assessing the output and collecting it. Anyone who disobeys this order will be deemed
It is treason. Land owned by the royal family is also included in this list.
All transaction taxes and market taxes are increased by 5% based on the local tax rate, and poll taxes and military service taxes are increased by 10%. No subject may disobey. For the three estates areas where one-time payment is implemented, the total tax is increased on the basis of 1833
20%.
Elimination of immunity from conscription in the Third Estate area, any man over the age of 15 and under 45 without a disability is eligible for conscription.
From a rational point of view, all the above measures are necessary decisions, but the love letter flew to the emperor's court like snowflakes.
Everyone seems to be suffering, and the selfishness of human nature has been clearly revealed in just one month.
For the Genoese, their situation is obviously better than that of their northern neighbors, but everyone has begun to become frugal, and even the most beautiful women have begun to dress simply, because the decline of the country has begun to affect them.
As the commander of the garrison brigade, Wells had already received an order requiring him to expand the strength of a division by March 1835, with only one additional requirement: self-funding of military expenses.
Wells felt a little headache.
The Genoese people are rich, and the financial resources held by the Governor's Palace alone can definitely support a division of troops, but he knows deeply that the patriotic enthusiasm of the Genoese people does not seem to be that high, and their good days have just begun to be affected by the war.
arrive.
A wave of detached thoughts is quietly growing.
As an article in "Le Genoese" complained: When we were poor, we did not enjoy the preferential treatment of the empire. At that time, we were the empire's coffers; when we became rich, we became the objects of plunder again, and the coffers became
's bigger.
The wartime policy of increasing total taxes by 20% was interpreted by Genoese as a country tailor-made for them.
As for the implementation of universal conscription, the Genoese ignored it.
Outside Fort Putnam, groups of soldiers are training.
Since the end of Daguerre's counter-insurgency war in the spring of 1832, the Genoese Civil Defense Force was reorganized into a garrison brigade of 2,500 men, with almost no major changes in officers and soldiers.
Through two years of unremitting training, the personal military skills of the garrison brigade soldiers have been improved, and most of the officers have also received advanced training.
Wells dared to say that his brigade could compete with the Empire's most elite troops of the same strength.
He originally didn't pay much attention to the order to expand the army, but when he saw the northern refugees moving south, he realized that the situation in the north was more dangerous than he imagined.
Brigadier Wells decided to go to Poitou. He needed to hear someone's opinion.
In Poitou, Sean's industry is still thriving.
Because Kang's Shipbuilding and Kang's Power reached an agreement with Xia Guoren, not only did their business not shrink, but they had to expand their manufacturing capabilities again.
The armored cargo ship Rocky Mountain and escorted by three Shark-class battleships that were sold to the Xia people, not long ago were fully loaded with ship equipment and necessary supplies and sailed to the Xia Kingdom.
The large and small caliber artillery equipped on the ship are provided by Bess Machinery. However, the money earned has nothing to do with Bess, because this damn nationalization means he can only get a little hard work. He is planning to convert his two arms factories and an artillery in the north.
The factory was given to the army free of charge in exchange for his interests in Genoa.
Sean was shocked by Bess's decision. He knew that those three factories were Bess's hard work.
"I decided to move my family to Vichy and be your neighbor," Bess said.
"Is this decision a bit hasty?" Sean asked.
"No, my Earl, those factories still belong to me in name. However, I am just a human-shaped seal and cannot get involved at all." Bes said through gritted teeth, "Destroying people's wealth is like killing their parents. Rather than doing this, I might as well
Come on, the army representatives think I'm in the way anyway."
"What are you going to do?"
Sean heard that this old friend was ready to surrender to him.
"The Poitou Chemical Company is a company with great potential, with the best chemists and engineers, but it should not only produce gunpowder. I know you have a rather mysterious laboratory there, and I would like to use my two
At the cost of a rifle manufacturing factory and an artillery factory, the Poitou company is exempted from nationalization." Bes said, "I only need 30% of the shares."
Poitou Chemistry is a joint venture between Sean, the University of Poitou and Bess. He holds 70%, the University of Poitou holds 20%, and Bess owns the remaining 10%.
"Are you sure about the operations involved? Including increasing the business scope of the chemical company." Sean asked curiously.
Arms dealers always have a huge network of connections, but he doesn't quite believe that Bess is capable of doing this.
"As long as you nod, I will do the rest. This share..."
"The shares of the University of Poitou will not change. I can give you the 20% from my shares." Sean said, "As the president of the University of Poitou, I must consider the interests of the university.
This is the price to pay for avoiding nationalization."
"Count, I have long said that you have the talent for business. I assure you that you will not regret today's decision. You are not short of funds, and you have a group of talented scholars, but you lack a competent person."
General Manager." Bess said arrogantly, "No one is more suitable to run an arms company than me."
"I believe this too, then it's up to you." Sean nodded in approval.
The reason why he agreed to Bess's request was that he was also very optimistic about Poitou Chemical Company, because there were many of his secrets there.
He invested a lot in this. Compared with the fixed assets, he was more reluctant to part with the laboratories and talents. He needed a person like Bess to take care of it for him.
Bass's decision was exactly in Sean's interest, but it was still very surprising to him, which made his evaluation of Bass a little higher.
After settling this important matter, Bess obviously relaxed a lot. He slumped down on the sofa chair and said in the most comfortable posture and frivolous tone:
"This country is hopeless!"
"It's not that far yet, right?" Sean said in surprise.
"My Lord Count, you are a Genoese. You are far away from the war. Your career is booming. You can judge the current situation in such a tone that it has nothing to do with you. But we northerners, especially those in the Holy City and Gyeonggi, seem to
Overnight, no one felt safe anymore.
In the past, we thought that we were 'superior people' and you were just 'provincials', even if you were a count!" Bess said, "It is the instinct of the rich to transfer assets to a safe place. Don't you think so?
Have you noticed that there are suddenly more wealthy people outside Poitou?"
"Of course we do." Sean said, "We Genoese have a positive policy. We welcome anyone to settle and invest in Poitou, including you 'Yanks'. In the beginning, you must abide by our norms and local laws.
.These people have already pushed up the price of local real estate. I hope they will invest their funds in industry. The development of production is always the first priority, whether it is to enhance national strength or ensure employment."
"But the migration of the rich to the south means that they do not trust the imperial army and the cabinet." Bess pointed at the sky with his index finger, "That man is already in a coma, and many people are full of complaints about him. This is very harmful to the country."
Said it was a bad omen."
This is what Sean expected.
The "that person" mentioned by Bess of course refers to Carlos II. This emperor was once considered a wise and decisive emperor. As he grew older, he became more and more arbitrary. Now he has violated the interests of many people.
Even the military was filled with complaints because the crown prince was nominally responsible for the war in the north, but he was actually just a logistics manager and had no direct command over the many troops on the front line and could only command his own guards.
At the critical moment of the fall of the country in August, Carlos II was under pressure not to grant actual command to the crown prince who was stranded in the occupied areas.
The poor crown prince was struggling to gather a small army willing to obey his command to resist the Assyrian siege.
The newspaper said that General Schmidt, whom the crown prince trusted most, won several victories in succession and formed a base centered on the provincial capital of Pasela Prairie, temporarily halting the decline.
Carlos believed that as the crown prince, Jean Sauron should take the lead in setting an example for his subjects and never allow any Assyrian to get close to the Osela River.
Some people think that this decision is very risky - maybe one day people will see the crown prince's servant notice in the newspaper.
Obviously Sean is unwilling to discuss this sensitive topic in depth, just as everyone in Genoa wants to know Sean's true views on the current situation.
Someone wanted to encourage Sean to take the lead in opposing wartime policies.