No one knew anything about the secret meeting between President Mounier and the Governor except Mayor Stanley as a witness.
But in the short time before lunch and the formal meeting at 2 p.m., Sean saw the principal jumping up and down, chatting with people everywhere, and his mixed expression.
It seems that Mr. Principal has not gained much, but he is not pessimistic.
The General Assembly Hall is in the shape of a circular staircase, surrounding the central presiding platform and speaking platform.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, representatives came back here one after another, and everyone sat around.
Among them, the priests are located in the first circle, closest to the podium. The priests always occupy an important position in the political life of the country. As early as the decree issued by Carlos I, it clearly expressed respect for the provisions of historical traditions:
"I want archbishops, bishops and other clergy to be the first rank in my empire. They should be at the top of the list for all important occasions, ceremonies and meetings."
Religion and imperial power are always interdependent. Religion needs imperial power to maintain its authority and divinity, and imperial power needs the endorsement of religion to prove its legitimacy. An emperor who has not been blessed by the Catholic Pope cannot be recognized.
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Another example is that the church's donation to the emperor this time was only a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth owned by the church, but the emperor did not dare to push too hard.
It is difficult for the nobles who have been castrated from local governance to rebel, and the church is even less likely to do so. Those priests who have given up marrying and having children only have such a special hobby as amassing wealth.
The nobles lined up behind the high priests, and the third estate behind them. All three parties sat in stepped circles in order.
The meeting was chaired by Poitou banker Dalson Sieyes, who is the largest shareholder of the First Bank of Poitou, chairman of the Genoa Banking Industry Committee, and a permanent member of the Estates-General.
Governor Byrne, Mayor of Poitou Stanley, Assistant to the Governor and Director of the Taxation Bureau William Doyle, Assistant to the Governor and Director of Finance Alexis Tocqueville, and several senior officials from the city of Poitou
The officials sat behind Sieyes in turn, waiting for questions.
As soon as Sieyes rang his handbell, before he could say anything, a guy with a loud voice stood up:
"Your Excellency, Director, if the main purpose of this three-level meeting is to establish a new name to collect taxes, please forgive me. Perhaps Mr. Sieyes can personally consider borrowing money from the province. Anyway, your banking industry has a lot of money and specializes in lending.
I like words written in black and white, and claim to be fair-minded, and those of us who are poor farmers will never object."
"You..." Sieyes' face turned pale with anger. After all, he was also the number one person, but he was openly laughed at. He didn't even say anything to prepare the ground for announcing the agenda of the meeting.
What's the agenda of the meeting? It's nothing more than a security tax. This is something that everyone knows very well. In the past, we have also collected security taxes and maintained a patrol team of a thousand people.
Just a clever name!
For people in the third level, there are people from behind who are banging the table deliberately and rhythmically, and there are people who are making weird noises from their throats, making it noisy.
Some people even sang a song:
"In that distant place, there is a bright pearl, and her name is Genoa."
"On that golden seaside, there is a beauty, her name is Poitou."
"The land there is rich and productive, the people there are hardworking and kind, and the girls there are beautiful and affectionate."
"Ah, ah... magnificent Genoa, my lovely hometown, how can I stop dedicating myself to you?"
"Ah, ah... beautiful Poitou, my beautiful lover, how can I stop missing you?"
The song is getting louder and louder, and more and more people are singing along. It is catchy and has a soothing melody, which contains the wanderer's longing for Genoa and Poitou and his endless love.
This is a folk song that is most familiar to Genoese people, especially Poitou people. People will sing it quietly when gathering, worshiping, or taking a break from work.
Sean has heard it countless times.
However, the governor's face was very dark, because he was not a Poitou, not even a Genoese, but a "Yankee".
The host of the meeting, Sieyes, who is also from Poitou, was on pins and needles, very embarrassed, and not a human being inside and out.
The representatives were not only angry about the damage to their direct interests, but also worried about the increasingly heavy economic burden. The industrial and commercial economy of southern cities has reached a bottleneck period.
The entire province of Genoa paid a total of about 10 million gold louis in taxes in 1830, which is certainly incomparable with wealthy places in the north, especially the Gyeonggi Province, but compared with the total taxes paid by Genoa in 1820, it was almost
Twice that of 1820.
On a per capita basis, farmers in Genoa have a burden that is more than 20% higher than farmers in Gyeonggi.
You know, this was created after part of the unpaid taxes were frozen due to the disaster at the end of last year.
The most pitiable ones are these farmers. More than half of the output from their land has to be used to pay various taxes. After deducting the costs and retaining enough for the investment in the land in the coming year and the living needs of the family members, there is nothing left.
The vast majority of farmers need to find other ways to earn money to supplement their family income. If there is a slight disturbance, they will have to borrow loan sharks at high interest rates.
The singing stopped, and people sat there silently, protesting silently.
Although the people singing are not farmers, on the contrary, they are the richest people in Genoa. Normally, they would not even look directly at the poor people.
But on this occasion, a feeling of common hatred and hatred quietly brewed.
The people of Genoa, no, the people of the entire 12 southern provinces, were overwhelmed by heavy taxes.
To the surprise of most people, Principal Mounier, who was sitting at the back, stood up:
"Your Excellency, I would like to speak!"
"Please come down, Mr. Principal." Sieyes said in surprise, breaking the awkward silence.
Under the watch of everyone, Mounier walked down the steps and came to the center of the auditorium.
"Honorable adults and gentlemen, please allow me to speak first. In the past, I was just a silent audience, because no matter how eloquent you are, no matter how quarrelsome and eloquent you are, the academic community I represent will not have any consequences because of this.
Profit and loss. Being in the silent majority has a great advantage, that is, being wise and protecting yourself. But today I have to take over the spotlight."
"As we all know, at the end of last year, the benevolent Emperor and the cabinet ministers exempted us from taxes for two years. Of course, this does not include indirect taxes, which are levied by tax-contracting companies. They are the enemies of most of the people here.
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We in Genoa are a one-time payment area. In order to convey the emperor's kindness, your Excellency the Governor has exempted all such as military service tax, poll tax and discounted road dues, as well as surcharges on the basis of military service tax. The disaster-stricken areas
Farmers have lost their families and families.
This part actually has nothing to do with everyone here, because you have privileges and you have never paid the taxes that only these ‘lower people’ pay.”
"Who are the inferiors? Don't talk about you bourgeois, you are the nobles here today. After all, your ancestors were born with mud legs, weren't they? Are you born noble?"
"If you really pity those farmers, then show your generosity! There are more beggars in the city than ever before. When you drive them away, why don't you just throw a bone to the hunting dogs at home?
The victims outside the city are crying for food. Have you lowered the price of food? Have you hired more helpers? Even our teachers at the University of Poitou have a group of relatives who have defected to live in their homes.
And their own salary is often in arrears!”
"And you, the black-robed priests who are known as the spiritual mentors of the nation, I heard that your residence is very luxurious, with groups of servants, and the land you take care of requires riding horses for several days to complete a circle.
The rats in your granary are so fat that they can hardly run away, and your cash cabinet cannot be locked because it is full of gold coins."
"Stop your cheap tears! You should be ashamed, all of you!"
The principal changed his calm and polite behavior in the past, became impassioned and spitting, and became a big troll that shocked everyone.
He scolded everyone and then walked back to his seat without saying a word.
Many people glared at him. Viscount Brandon almost fainted with anger, while the representatives who graduated from the University of Poitou lowered their heads because they had been taught freedom and fraternity at the university.
This is when Governor Byrne stood up and walked to the speaking stage:
"My lords and gentlemen, just now I received terrible news."
Byrne waved the letter in his hand and said in a very serious tone: "Minsk has been captured by the mob!"
This news was like throwing a cluster grenade on calm water, causing an uproar. If the Genoese went to the Holy City by land and passed through the nearest Kongxing in the Ot Mountains, the first place they would arrive would be the province of San Nuve.
Minsk is the capital of the Senuvi Province.
"Your Excellency, Governor, do you know what you are talking about? Minsk has a tall and strong bastion." Someone stood up in surprise.
"God, it's unbelievable. Has the situation in the north deteriorated to this point?"
Byrne stretched out his arms and pressed down, saying:
"I actually received this news yesterday, and I don't believe it either. I don't believe those farmers have such power, but this terrible news was confirmed this morning, and I received a personal letter from Governor San Nuve.
A group of armed peasants is not scary, but the True God Party members have become their leaders. They chant slogans of killing all the nobles, Catholic priests and all wealthy people, confuse more people, rob and kill innocent believers everywhere
."
At this time, Director Daley of the Secret Police Department personally led the people to bring in a stretcher covered with a piece of black linen.
Sean and Viscount Lincoln looked at each other and smiled. Sure enough, when Daley lifted the piece of linen, someone fainted on the spot. The doctors among the delegates rushed to rescue him, and the scene was in chaos.
Werewolf, scary werewolf.
In the past, people only cared about this kind of monster when they were children. Elders and mothers often used this legendary monster to scare them to make them obedient.
But today, this legend has been confirmed. Although this is just an embalmed corpse, he cannot jump up and eat people.
This male werewolf is about the size of a tall, strong human, with a lot of hair on his body, especially on his face.
The most notable feature, apart from curling up nails, is that the werewolf has a protruding snout, but it is not as exaggerated as that of wolves. The teeth in his mouth are long and sharp.
If this werewolf puts on human clothes and a hat, you won't be able to tell that he is different from humans from behind.
This is similar to the description in the legend. Legend has it that the werewolf was originally a human being who secretly drank the devil's wine out of greed and became evil.
His chest and limbs are well muscled, and his legs are especially strong, clearly showing his powerful running ability.
The priests, led by Shakeli, made the sign of the cross on their chests, and the buzzing synagogue gradually became quiet.