Victor Pierre, the mayor of the small town of Vichy, came to visit Viscount Sean Connery today.
Sean has settled here for more than half a month, and Mayor Pierre has just visited him for the first time, which is very meaningful.
Pierre bought the position of mayor with money.
This is by no means a private transaction, but an open sale, with clearly marked prices and no deception.
In order to solve the financial difficulties, the imperial court continued the practices of the previous dynasty. At first, it was just a temporary measure, but in this dynasty, it became more serious, and then it became part of the system.
Many upper-class people have titles such as mayor's secretary, municipal counselor, governor's secretary, or even secretary of state, which is more common in the south where the tax burden is higher.
Most of these official positions are just empty titles, artificially creating a privileged class, which does nothing but cause bloated bureaucracy and low efficiency.
Obtaining this position is sometimes forced, especially for the rich people in the countryside. The only way to become a superior person in their eyes and to distinguish themselves from the inferior people who bear military service tax is to donate a large sum of money.
Money gets you various positions.
Although military service tax and poll tax are nothing to these rich people.
This resulted in civilians becoming the only taxpayers paying increasingly high military service taxes and other exorbitant taxes. For the imperial court, civilians were the only loyal and reliable taxpayers.
Therefore, levying a 1/20 tax on annual income was once considered by the Finance Minister to be the fairest tax in history. However, the privileged people naturally believed that it was exactly the opposite. As a result, this tax was stillborn and the proposed tax was levied.
people were sent to the frontier.
Compared with various empty titles, the position of the mayor still has some real power, at least until the arrival of the new viscount, such as maintaining local security, resolving civil lawsuits, and deciding which residents should bear certain labor-at this time he
authority will be amplified.
Mayor Pierre is an outsider. He is a fruit merchant. Before he became the mayor, he purchased fruits from fruit farmers in this area. His business is doing well. To some extent, he can control the wallets of Vichy residents.
It has a certain authority because of its thickness, and therefore has some prestige.
But things are different now. A young viscount, even though nobles generally do not interfere in local affairs now, and even disdain to assume the duties of a clerk, still has a say in the local area, and even has the sole veto power, especially in the rural town of Vichy.
in this way.
After careful observation for more than half a month, Mayor Pierre decided to formally pay a formal visit to the only local noble.
Sean did not formally meet him. When Pierre arrived, he was working out.
It's early winter in the north, where the sun is abundant and the climate is warm. At this time, Sean was wearing shorts, with his upper body and long legs bare, and he was doing push-ups with one hand.
Sean didn't mind Pierre's weird look. The muscles on his body were obviously bulging, which showed that the training effect in the past six months was very good.
After completing a set of exercises, Sean wiped his sweat, took a thin shirt from the butler Cleveland and put it on.
Then sitting under the banyan tree, Sean invited Mayor Pierre, who had been waiting for a long time, to sit down.
A nobleman has the right to be so arrogant.
Cleveland made a pot of tea, which was just hot enough. He took a nice sip, and Sean felt refreshed, and the fatigue after a large amount of exercise was gone.
Cleveland still remembered the way Sean burst into tears when he drank this drink for the first time. He only thought that this drink was extremely precious, but he didn't know that these leaves had placed so many emotions on Sean.
After getting along with Sean for more than half a month, Cleveland was a little timid at first, fearing to offend the young viscount, but now he has returned to the state of being a calm and thoughtful butler.
The young Viscount, except for being particularly picky about food, doesn't care about anything else. It seems that he is really not what a noble should be like. For example, he often goes into the kitchen to discuss recipes with Emma, and even directly
To begin with, he would be receiving visitors in disheveled clothes like this.
But considering his origins and origins, this is not too surprising. Cleveland believed that the viscount lacked a complete aristocratic education.
Sean easily regained half of the Rocky Mountain forests, which made Cleveland extremely excited and happy, thinking that this was a good omen for the prosperity of the family. However, Sean destroyed most of the family orchard, which made Cleveland hesitate.
But one thing Cleveland knew was that this young master had a good heart and was very independent. Although he respected his butler's opinions, he would not change things easily once he decided.
After taking a sip of the strange drink, Pierre felt that it tasted much better than he imagined. Sean asked at this time:
"Mayor Pierre, you came to me this time. Do you have any advice?"
"I dare not. I have long heard that the heir to the Connelly family is coming. Unfortunately, I have been away on business, so I have never come to visit." Pierre said slightly nervously.
Sean inquired about this man through Cleveland. Although this man was greedy for money, he treated the residents of this town fairly well, especially compared to other villages and towns.
"Mr. Mayor, you're welcome." Sean smiled slightly, "I heard that you managed Vichy Town very well, and I saw that the residents here live and work in peace and contentment."
These words made Pierre a little excited: "This is what I, a small official, should do. In fact, the residents of this town are law-abiding people, and the local land is quite rich. In addition, we are a seaside town. As long as we are diligent,
, even if there is no land on the land, you can still fish in the sea. It’s just..."
"Just what?" Sean asked.
"If the tax can be reduced or reduced, I think the lives of the townspeople will be better. You may not know that this year's autumn tax has increased by 10% compared to previous years. It can be expected that there will be more refugees in the city."
Pierre complained, "If the Viscount could come forward and negotiate with the tax collector, the situation might be different."
"Will the tax collector listen to me?" Sean asked.
Pierre secretly laughed at Sean's ignorance in this regard. He was worthy of being a picked noble, but he did not dare to show it at all:
"Lord Viscount, please allow me to introduce to you the current tax system."
"I'm all ears." Sean said.
“Our province of Rebiya implements a one-time payment tax system, which means paying a certain amount of tax to the court in one lump sum and then apportioning it internally.
As a province among provinces, Genoa is one of the few provinces in the empire where the Estates-General is still functioning. This assembly is composed of three classes: nobles, clergy and wealthy citizens of the city. They decide who to tax and how much to tax.
.
According to the apportionment, we in Vichy town will have to pay a military service tax of 2,000 gold louis in the second half of this year. It may not seem like much, but if you add in the military service tax that has been paid in the first half of this year, which has increased by 10%, the head tax, and
It’s a lot of labor. Half of the harvest of each of us residents has to be used to pay taxes. After deducting family needs, there is nothing left. What’s even more frightening is that if we don’t resist, we will be apportioned even more next year.
many."
"That's indeed a bit much." Sean nodded, "Do you think it's because the town of Vichy has no representatives in the Estates-General?"
"Indeed, the old Viscount didn't care about these things before. The townspeople hope that the new Viscount can help us." Pierre said.
Pierre's words were somewhat threatening, and Sean pretended not to hear it: "If there is a chance, of course I will intervene, but I can't guarantee that it will happen."
"Thank you so much, sir!" Pierre thought he had achieved his goal, chatted a few more words and stood up to leave.
Looking at the background of Mayor Pierre leaving, Sean asked Cleveland: "Denzel, what do you think?"
"At the beginning, all the townspeople's land belonged to the Connelly family, and they were all our tenants. At that time, the Connelly family also bore almost all of the townspeople's taxes, except for some necessary public labor. Last Kangxi
Lord Viscount Nally is a benevolent lord." Cleveland said, of course he was not talking about the gambler Viscount, "but the common people are always forgetful. While they cheer for the carving up of the Connery family's land, they should also bear their own responsibilities.
That part of.”
It can be seen that the housekeeper still feels resentful towards the selfish townspeople.
"I heard that in those countries in the Western Ocean Alliance, nobles also have to pay poll tax and military service tax. Our tax system in Europe is really bad, so the court only treats farmers as money chests and can withdraw money at any time." Sean smiled, "
If the townspeople are willing to hand over their land to me for management, I would be willing to bear the taxes for them."
"My lord, this is impossible." Cleveland said, "Farmers have a crazy love for the land, and they just want to take advantage of you."
"So, the mayor is here to blackmail me. If I am unwilling to come forward, he will erode my natural influence as a noble, and if I do what he wants, he will claim credit in front of the townspeople."
"Sir, your guess is correct. Mayor Pierre is a businessman and he is good at calculating." Cleveland said.
"Actually, I used to be very calculating."
"Sir, as an aristocratic steward, I have a few words of advice." Cleveland said.
"I'm listening."
"Some people say that nobility comes from the nobility of blood, and the ancient nobility comes from fighting. They are brave, determined, tenacious, and full of sacrifice. The longer the family, the more respected it is by the world. But today, nobility is not only because of blood.
To be naturally noble, you must abide by a set of civilized etiquette norms. Clothes, manners, art and even dance postures must comply with the norms. Forgive me for being rude, sir, you really don't look like an aristocrat. That would make common people feel that they can offend your authority.
"
"Haha, what kind of aristocrat am I?" Sean laughed, "Denzel, thank you for your advice. I dare say there is a group of people in Poitou who are waiting to see my joke. If they want to hold a dance, no.
An invitation must belong to me. They are just a group of scavenging vultures, who knew the storm was coming."