"Do us a big favor?"
Mr. Coggello looked at the gold coins in Lawrence's hand. He did not see that these coins, which were about to be swept into the garbage dump of history, had no role other than adding a lot of work burden to the Treasury.
Lawrence did not explain first, but continued to ask while playing with the gold coins in his hand:
"Let's put this aside, how are the tax reforms and census going?"
When asked about this issue that was of greatest concern to Lawrence, Mr. Coggello's expression became much more solemn. He immediately pulled out a stack of reports from the paperwork and handed it to Lawrence, and at the same time explained excitedly:
"The Ministry of Finance's work of collecting land tax in the suburbs of Ajaccio went very smoothly, even more smoothly than the previous process of collecting the poll tax. After all, the land cannot be escaped, and the tax collectors only need to confirm the owner of the land. The amount of tax collected is also
It is almost twice that of the same period in the past. If it can be extended to the whole of Corsica, our financial revenue will hopefully turn a profit..."
Lawrence casually flipped through the report handed in by Mr. Coggello. In the summary of the report, he had roughly listed the results of this experimental reform. As Mr. Coggero said, this was indeed a very smooth attempt.
.
Not only did the amount of taxes collected significantly increase compared to the past, but the excess taxes came from the land of the church and landlords, and did not harm the interests of the homesteaders and tenants.
As for the problems discovered by the Ministry of Finance in this trial reform and future ideas, Mr. Coggero also listed them in the report, including the introduction of a progressive tax system in the land tax system and the inclusion of land quality into tax base considerations.
.
For these more practical matters, Lawrence felt comfortable leaving them to Mr. Coggello and his Treasury Department.
"Overall, Mr. Governor, this will be a great reform."
Mr. Coggello said with great joy:
"As long as we establish a land tax system throughout Corsica, the collection and supervision of taxes will become extremely easy. The wealth that was hidden by the landowners in the past will be spit out and transferred to the treasury by us.
"
As a person who has worked in the Corsican Ministry of Finance for most of his life, Mr. Coggero knows that as long as this reform can be implemented smoothly, his name will be remembered by Corsican people closely behind Lawrence.
Facing the extremely excited Mr. Coggero, Lawrence didn't seem so excited. He just nodded expressionlessly and continued to read the report in his hand.
As the most powerful person in Corsica, Lawrence naturally has many more things to consider than Mr. Coggello.
Lawrence knew in his heart that taxation is essentially a transfer of wealth. If the Corsican government charges more, some groups will inevitably pay more.
A large part of the reason why the Ministry of Finance was able to succeed in the trial reform in the suburbs of Ajaccio was that the suburbs of Ajaccio were mainly the land of the church and yeoman farmers, and the church power had already surrendered to Lawrence, so it was not so concerned about this reform.
conflict.
And if Lawrence wanted to extend the land tax system to all of Corsica, the landowners who were vested interests would definitely not sit idly by.
The landlords have made an unknown amount of money by hiding tenants and annexing land in the past ten years. Now Lawrence wants to grab their cake. Such a core conflict of interest is absolutely unacceptable to the landlords.
Whether it is the establishment of the land tax system or the nationalization of Corsica's land, the process will definitely involve a series of intrigues and even the spilling of blood.
And the use of military means was never excluded by Lawrence.
"Well...you're doing a great job, Mr. Coggello."
After five or six minutes, Lawrence, who simply read through the Ministry of Finance report, put the report aside and asked:
"And how's the census going?"
"Census..." Mr. Coggero sighed after hearing this and shook his head helplessly.
Before leaving, Lawrence assigned the Ministry of Finance to conduct a feasibility study on a large-scale census, but judging from Mr. Coggello's expression, the results of the study may not be very optimistic.
"Your Majesty the Governor, the Ministry of Finance has finally concluded that given Corsica's current national conditions, the census work is basically impossible to proceed unless we want to get a data full of errors and omissions."
Mr. Coggello shook his head and explained to Lawrence:
"The largest group of people in Corsica are undoubtedly the tenants and farmers who work in the fields, and these people basically have a personal dependence on the local landowners. Landowners everywhere will not truthfully inform them of the number of tenants they have.
We, as you may know, the last census was almost ten years ago, and Governor Pauly did not make the determination to supervise that census at all, so the final number was lower than normal."
"Are you saying that the conclusion that the total population of Corsica is less than 40,000 was drawn from the last census?" Lawrence asked with a frown.
"That's right, Mr. Governor." Mr. Coggello shrugged and sighed again:
"This number may have to be doubled to be the real population. Of course, I am only making an estimate. No one knows the real situation until we investigate."
"Doubled..." Lawrence tapped his knuckles on the table and read in a deep voice:
"In other words, half or even more of the population in Corsica is dependent on the landlord class?"
"I'm afraid so." Mr. Coggello glanced at Lawrence's gloomy face and hurriedly explained:
"But the good news is that the landlords are a fairly loose class, and they are unlikely to unite to resist your rule. Just like when you forced the four congressmen to resign before, although this incident caused an uproar within the landlord group,
No one has dared to stand up and disobey you..."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "That's because I haven't shaken their foundation yet." Lawrence covered his chin and said with a cold look:
"Once I start attacking their land, these borers are not going to sit back and watch."
For the huge landlord class, their power basically comes from their strong financial and human resources. As long as these financial and human resources are still there, they will still have considerable political influence, even if Lawrence has removed all the landlord class members from the parliament.
If Lawrence wanted to attack the money bags and serfs of the landowners, he would surely face the strongest backlash from them.
If Mr. Coggello's estimate is accurate, the landlord class and the serfs who depend on them account for almost half of the population of Corsica, which also makes Lawrence have a higher opinion of its power.
"In fact... Mr. Governor, these landowners are already unable to sit still before you take action against them."
Mr. Coggello suddenly remembered something, and quickly took out a report from the paperwork and handed it to Lawrence, and said carefully:
"This is a recent official document submitted by municipalities in the southern region to the Ministry of Finance requesting additional funding."
"Southern region? Is there any disaster there?" Lawrence took the report and asked Mr. Cogelo with a frown without reading it.
"No, Lord Governor, not really."
Mr. Coggero shook his head repeatedly and said hesitantly:
"But the southern region is the main agricultural area of ​​Corsica, where there is a large fertile alluvial plain, so it is also the area where the power of landlords is most entrenched..."
In Corsica, the northern region has been in constant war with the Genoese, so it is basically still under the control of the government and the army, even after the Genoese withdrew from Corsica.
In the south, which is far away from the war and suitable for farming, as Mr. Coggero said, it is the area where local forces are most deeply rooted.
As early as the period of Genoa's rule, the families here were powerful and the local gentry was very prosperous. Pascua La Paoli's rebellion against Genoa's rule was indispensable for their funding and support. Therefore, the power of the landowners in this area is very strong in Corsica.
One can imagine how powerful it is.
"There is no disaster? So what are the towns in the south asking for funding for?" Lawrence had already guessed something, but he still asked Mr. Coggello coldly.
"Uh...Mr. Governor..."
Mr. Coggello swallowed and said cautiously:
"The Corsicans learned about the National Silver Company in the past few weeks, and I have to say that this is really a great thing. But for these landowners... they seem to want a piece of it.
These official documents requesting funding were all sent to Ajaccio by local forces who forced local officials. The names were naturally varied, but the core point was only one - asking for money."
Lawrence nodded calmly and opened the report in his hand.
The report includes official documents requesting funding from towns in the south and a few towns in the north. The projects are indeed as diverse as Coggero said, ranging from repairing bridges and expanding water conservancy to building schools and developing commerce and trade.
, in the end it was all about taking a large sum of money from Lawrence.
Moreover, these official documents were all delivered to Ajaccio at almost the same time, which meant that these usually loose local forces were united in asking for money.
"Humph, they have already figured out their plans for me."
Lawrence snorted coldly, threw the report aside, twirled his fingers and said in a cold voice:
"You have to ask for two hundred thousand livres to build a school? Are you treating the Ministry of Finance as a fool or the Corsican government as a fool?!"
If Lawrence really agreed to such an allocation, I am afraid that 199,990 livres out of the 200,000 livres would go into the pockets of officials at all levels and local families, and then they would take another hundred livres.
I built two thatched houses and found two homeless people to put them in, which means that a brand new school has been completed.
"These people are probably very confident. They are determined to take a sum of money from you."
Mr. Coggello whispered:
"All the appropriation requests add up to nearly six million livres, which is exactly one-third of the eighteen million livres you have. If you refuse...it may not be politically correct."
Embarrassing, so I think you still need to allocate a sum of money to appease them..."
Lawrence stared directly at Mr. Coggello and said with a frosty face:
"You mean, we have to take the initiative to put money into the mouths of these countries?"
To be continued...