As a member of the decadent class, Sean decided to go with the flow.
For example, he asked Mafrabo to repaint his carriage to make his family's emblem more eye-catching. It was a mountain-shaped emblem, plus a pair of long swords. Viscount Connery could be called Viscount Rocky Mountain.
Another example is that two maids and two male servants were added to the rose garden to maintain the necessary dignity. If Sean hadn't stopped them, Cleveland would have hired a few more.
For example, there are barbers and tailors dedicated to serving Sean alone, and even musicians and dancers are hired to improve Sean's artistic accomplishment.
Cleveland also hired a team of ten security guards at a high salary, led by Clark Nelson, a muscular former sailor.
Nelson was a distant relative of Cleveland. He was trustworthy, upright, resolute, and not very talkative. He had received formal training in the navy and had experienced many small-scale wars to exterminate pirates. Because of his upright character, he could not be promoted to an officer.
Choose to retire. He has good marksmanship and stronger fighting ability. He is a good choice for the Connery family's security director.
Sean was very satisfied with Nelson, especially after he tested his marksmanship against his own.
As a result, the Rose Garden became more popular. Although Sean didn't like so many people hanging around in front of him and asking for help, this was the so-called aristocratic life.
Sean didn't wait for an invitation to the dance, but what he did wait for was another formal appearance in public.
The Genoese police patrol captured a group of rebels who were said to have incited farmers to resist taxes and hatched a plot to kill tax collectors. The patrol found muskets, gunpowder and daggers at the secret place where they met.
These people were sentenced to hanging by the local court, and today is the day of public hanging. The location is in the square in front of the Government House, and Sean is invited to watch the entire process on the terrace of the Government House building.
Sean's arrival attracted everyone's attention.
The Governor has not yet arrived, but Victor Stanley, the mayor of Poitou, has arrived. Sean met him once when he was handling the succession of the title. This is a guy who looks energetic and likes to socialize:
"Viscount Connelly, please allow me to introduce you to the distinguished guests here today."
"Thank you." Sean nodded.
No matter what, people always have a circle, not in this circle, but in that circle, no matter whether you are resisting or accepting in your heart.
All the nobles and upper-class people in Poitou gathered here, and Sean only knew the priest Shakri from the Soya Church, who nodded in greeting to Sean.
Among them, Viscount Lincoln, Sean looked at him in particular. The old Viscount had mortgaged the rose garden to Viscount Lincoln. When Sean inherited the title and proposed to redeem the rose garden, Viscount Lincoln readily agreed.
Contrary to Sean's imagination, Viscount Lincoln is very young, about twenty-four or five years old, handsome and personable, especially his eyes that give people a warm and frank feeling.
"Thank you for your love, so that I will not be homeless." Sean said.
"No, no, when I read your name in the newspaper, I knew that the Connelly family has changed. Standing in front of me is not only a viscount, but also a member of the Royal Scientific Society.
An imperial hero." Lincoln said enthusiastically, "My name is Bieber Lincoln, you can call me Bieber."
"Okay, Bieber, you can also call me Sean." Sean replied.
Sean stretched out his right hand, and Lincoln was slightly startled. He stretched out his right hand awkwardly and held it with Sean. These were a pair of artist's hands, white and slender.
This etiquette, which is not common in Europe, aroused the attention of others, and one of them behaved the most unrestrainedly.
This is the representative of the Robinson family, Percy Robinson, who is the cousin of the late Earl Robinson. Because the countess is a woman, it is not convenient to attend today's occasion, so Percy Robinson is the representative.
"Europeans should abide by European etiquette, especially for nobles. How can those narrow-eyed Xia people's etiquette appear here openly?"
"Excuse me, who are you?" Sean asked knowingly.
"Percy Robinson!"
"Noble? Official? Judge?" Sean asked three questions, "What qualifications do you have to appear here? And ask questions to a noble?"
Nobles practice primogeniture, and the second and youngest sons in the family are usually commoners, but they are much taller than ordinary commoners and have more opportunities.
This Percy Robinson is only the cousin of the late Earl Robinson. If the Earl has a son, he cannot inherit the title.
Sean's words made full use of his natural advantageous position, leaving the Robinson family member speechless and looking ugly.
"His Excellency the Governor has arrived!"
With a shout, the Governor of the Province of Genoa, Alexei Byrne, came to the terrace. He was a middle-aged man with a serious but elegant face, with a mustache that was trimmed meticulously.
Governors can be described as feudal officials, sent by the imperial court, but they are generally from civilian backgrounds, and are promoted from young people who were once considered talented and motivated or ambitious.
Within a province, city and town officials are generally directly appointed by the governor. At the same time, as the top leader of the province, the governor also controls a security force of no more than one regiment - the patrol regiment. Therefore, the governor has considerable power.
.
Compared with the north, the power of the governors of the southern provinces has been weakened a lot. For example, in Genoa, the three estates composed of nobles, priests and urban bourgeoisie still control a considerable part of the power, such as the most critical power of tax collection.
, they always complained about the greed of the court and bargained with the court over tax collection.
Governor Alexei Byrne had just come to Genoa to serve as Governor. He urgently needed political achievements, but at the same time he had to carefully build good relations with the local gangsters.
For the imperial court, the best political achievement is to pay more taxes. With Genoa suffering from continuous natural disasters, the Governor believes that he must be more careful. So he talked cordially with the upper-class people who showed up today.
Countess Robinson did not come to the scene in person. Another earl is a member of the Noble Council and lives in the Holy City. The three highest-ranking viscounts in the provincial city are Sean, Lincoln and another old nobleman named Brandon.
These three people were the subjects of Governor Byrne's care, which made Percy Robinson look very unhappy.
Mayor Stanley took the initiative to stir up the topic: "I heard that the Finance Minister has been changed. Mr. York Nevar, a scholar, has taken up the post of Finance Minister. Mr. Nevar was once the governor of Gyeonggi Province and made great achievements in finance."
"Yes, he is good at making money." Brandon sneered mercilessly.
"At least he is doing it for the court. During his tenure as governor, he contributed up to 50 million in taxes to the court every year." Stanley said, "It is said that he is a staunch supporter of the 1/20 tax."
"But the affluence of Gyeonggi Province is also well known. Those factories alone are like money-making machines." Viscount Lincoln said, pointing to more and more people focusing on the square outside the building, "Look at these people, they
Which one is not bearing more and more heavy taxes, so they are easily incited. Mr. Mayor, I remind you that the Poitou people have tried their best. For thousands of years, in our south, whether we are civilians or nobles, we
Always a 'foreigner'."
Viscount Lincoln's words are somewhat tough, but the facts also represent the aspirations of the vast majority of people, no matter which class he belongs to.
Under this system, the subjects generally tend to surrender, the civilians are unable to resist, the privileged class will more or less compromise and pay some price, and the court tends to be authoritarian, but when the court encounters resistance, even the weakest criticism will
I felt panicked, almost to the point of panic.
So they prepared to hang a few rebels.
On today's occasion, inviting representatives of the upper class to come and watch may also be a threat. But this threat will never be made public.
Mayor Stanley laughed a few times, as if to resolve the awkward atmosphere, and asked Sean:
"Viscount Connelly, what do you think of the 1/20 tax?"
Sean shrugged: "No opinion, I am very poor, this is known to all. If Mr. Mayor wants to impose a 1/20 tax on me, I am willing to pay you 100 gold louis every year."
Sean's words made others laugh knowingly. Everyone knew that the Connelly family was very poor, and the old Viscount once owed a lot of debt and became a laughing stock in the upper class.
Stanley didn't take Sean's teasing to heart and smiled slightly:
"But I heard that as soon as your Excellency inherited the title, you bought back the property rights of Rocky Mountain from the Robinson family."
"Mr. Mayor, please note that it is half." Percy Robinson finally interrupted.
"Sorry, it's half." Mayor Stanley said quickly, "It seems that the Viscount's financial situation is not that bad. You are still so young, which is really enviable."
"Mr. Mayor, I think issues related to taxation and improving the financial situation are like cutting a cake. If you cut more, others will have less. Instead of doing this, it is better to find ways to make the cake bigger so that everyone can share more.
." Sean said.
The Governor, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke:
"Yes, the Viscount is right. I just wonder what the Viscount can teach me?"
"Haha, well..." Sean said, but at this moment a huge noise in the square interrupted Sean's words. It turned out that five gangsters were escorted by the patrol police.
These five gangsters were dressed in rags, and they were probably tortured a lot in prison. However, they all regarded death as if they were going home. With their heads held high, they stood on the execution platform like giants, overlooking all living beings.
When the presiding officer read out their crimes in public, some people in the crowd cried softly, some moved forward in a commotion, and some hid in the crowd and shouted injustice. The patrol officers who maintained order had to form several human walls, and there were also spies in civilian clothes.
Xun Sheng rushed into the crowd to arrest the speaker, causing great chaos.
The Governor waved his hand expressionlessly, and no one could see the uneasiness in his heart from his calm face.
The celebrities on the terrace also had different expressions, but most of them were as numb and gloating as the onlookers below.
After receiving the governor's order, the executioners carried one of the rebels to the gallows, and then put the noose around the man's neck.
The man suddenly seemed to come to life and shouted loudly: