From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

April 15, 1770, a week after Lawrence defeated the invasion of the Northern Army.

As Pauly said, after removing General Nathan, the last unstable factor on Corsica, Lawrence has undoubtedly become the leader of all Corsica.

As for General Nathan, who fell in a pool of blood that day, people already regarded him as a despicable attempt to usurp power. The Corsicans and even the soldiers of the Northern Army applauded the news of his death.

After the death of General Nathan, the Northern Army, which was the main force of the Corsican Defense Force, was successfully brought under the command of Lawrence. Of course, this process was indispensable with the assistance of Pauli's prestige.

This also made Lawrence lament that the decision to place Paulie under house arrest and use him as a puppet was indeed the right choice.

Now that the situation in Corsica has finally calmed down after more than a month of turbulence, there are still two urgent matters before Lawrence:

The first is the domestic construction of Corsica. This small island country in the Mediterranean is still in a state of exhaustion.

The people's living standards are low, the country is weak, and various systems have great shortcomings waiting for reform. If Lawrence wants to carry out drastic reforms, it is undoubtedly the best to do it now when all classes are obedient and surrendered to Lawrence. choose.

The second is the matter of Corsica abolishing its republic and changing it to a monarchy.

The Duke of Choiseul is expected to arrive in Corsica with the French garrison in Corsica in the near future, which will require a series of lengthy negotiations and countless red tape.

After the negotiations, Lawrence had to go to Versailles with the Duke of Choiseul to participate in the coronation ceremony of Louis XV as King of Corsica as an important role.

However, for Lawrence, what worries him most is not the negotiation with the Duke of Choiseul. After all, both parties have a highly consistent willingness to negotiate. What Lawrence attaches most importance to is the issue of improving Corsica's national strength.

At this moment, sitting in front of Lawrence in the Governor's Palace of Ajaccio was the Minister of Finance of Corsica, Mr. Coggello.

He was an official who was a tax collector, not very capable but reasonable, and it was difficult to find real economists in a country with backward education like Corsica, so Pauli always put him in the position of finance minister.

Lawrence currently does not have a suitable candidate to replace him. In addition, this position does require considerable knowledge and experience, so he has no choice but to let Coggello continue to serve as Finance Minister.

"So, Mr. Coggello, you are saying that the current financial situation in Corsica is dire?"

Lawrence frowned, poured a cup of hot tea for Cogelo, and asked after handing the cup to him.

After knowing that Lawrence was going to summon him, Mr. Coggero burst into tears as soon as he entered the door. Before he could even sit down, he began to complain to Lawrence about Corsica's financial predicament.

"Yes, Governor Bonaparte, I must say, very bad."

Coggello nervously took the teacup and said to Lawrence:

"Our deficit is quite serious. Annual fiscal expenditure is about 1.3 times fiscal revenue, which is a deficit rate of 30%."

Lawrence frowned even more after hearing this. He also knew something about economics and knew that fiscal deficits are normal, but it is abnormal for the government to have fiscal surpluses, because it means that there are idle funds that have not been used.

But the Corsican government's deficit rate of nearly 30% is undoubtedly too high.

"What caused this? Didn't your Ministry of Finance notice it?"

Lawrence picked up the teacup and took a sip, then asked slightly displeasedly.

Seeing that Lawrence's expression was a little colder, Mr. Coggero quickly leaned forward and explained quickly:

"You know, the reason for the deficit is nothing more than too little revenue and too much spending. Your predecessor, Governor Pauli, introduced many policies when he was in office. Of course, these policies were good, such as establishing schools and building housing. It's just that These policies put a lot of pressure on finances, and of course there are military expenditures.”

Lawrence listened silently, nodding in approval from time to time.

The military expenditure mentioned by Coggero is a large part of the financial expenditure. You must know that the number of Corsican regular soldiers has reached almost one-tenth of the total population. This is a quite exaggerated proportion.

Coupled with the endless wars with the Genoese, it is no wonder that Corsica's finances are under such great pressure.

"Okay, Mr. Coggello, I understand."

Seeing that Cogelo was still chattering, Lawrence waved his hand to interrupt him and said:

"But I have to say, these are necessary expenditures. It's impossible to kick children out of school just because the government doesn't have money, right?"

"Of course, of course, I understand what you mean, including the military. They want to protect their homeland and their country."

Coggello nodded in agreement with Lawrence's words with a bit of flattery, thinking that Lawrence had accepted the current difficult financial situation.

“Now that spending is hard to cut, what’s going on with the government’s revenue?”

However, Lawrence was obviously not ready to give up. As the saying goes, the economic base determines the superstructure. If Lawrence wanted to make a difference, he would definitely need a wealthy Corsica to back him up, so he continued to ask questions.

When Mr. Coggero heard this question, a few drops of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he said with a sorry smile:

"Government revenue basically comes from taxes, the most important of which are poll tax and agricultural tax. After all, you know, Corsica is essentially a big village."

Lawrence nodded. Except for Ajaccio, which is a more prosperous town, the entire Corsica is basically villages and towns engaged in agricultural production. Therefore, Corsica's economic environment is essentially a small-scale peasant economy.

In this case, the poll tax levied directly on each farmer was the main source of government tax revenue. Of course, various other forms of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were not excluded.

"With Corsica's tax base, it shouldn't be such a serious fiscal deficit, right?"

Lawrence stared into Cogelo's eyes and asked directly.

Cogelo's eyes wandered around, seeming to avoid Lawrence's gaze. Finally, after hesitating for a while, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Governor Bonaparte, what I said will probably offend many people, including several members of your parliament."

"Tell me, now that you are mine, they still dare to do something to you."

Lawrence glanced at Cogelo and waved for him to continue.

"That's hard to say, after all, it's in the face of financial interests."

Cojero smiled bitterly and shook his head, but still mustered up the courage to say:

"As you know, the poll tax is collected directly from each farmer. And for many large landowners in the countryside, they will hide the peasants as tenants under their own hands. In this way, the poll tax cannot collect these black people. On the account. And this part of the tax that should be collected by the government is also converted into additional land rent and goes into the pockets of the landlords.”

Lawrence looked at Coggello expressionlessly, he already understood what Coggero meant.

Almost all the output of a farmer's hard work must be turned over, part of it as the church's tithe, part of it as government tax, and part of it as land rent for the landlord.

As for the landlord, as long as he hides the farmer, then part of the tax that should be paid to the church and the government will go into his own pocket in the form of land rent.

As the landowners become richer and richer, they will acquire more land, hire and harbor more tenants, further reducing the government's tax revenue, and this vicious cycle will continue.

Finally, when the land annexation is basically completed, the land rent paid by the poor farmers will reach an astonishing price, which will lead to the emergence of a large number of landless refugees.

If the country develops industrialization, these refugees can be absorbed into the city and become a labor force for industrial production, just like Britain during the Industrial Revolution.

But if this country is originally a small-scale peasant economy, then the emergence of a large number of refugees will undoubtedly mean the beginning of a dynasty change.

The reason why Cogelo just said that he would offend many people is also very clear. If he wants to take action against this situation, he will almost touch the cake of the entire landlord class. In the face of such financial interests, even father and son brothers will Turn against each other and become enemies.

"Governor Bonaparte, you understand, it's not that the Ministry of Finance is inactive, it's actually..."

Cojero shook his head with a bitter look on his face and sighed repeatedly.

"Mr. Coggello."

Lawrence ignored Cogelo's complaints, but stared into his eyes and said coldly:

"But I need a Treasury that makes a difference."

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