From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

April 20, 1770, the fifth day of the Duke of Choiseul's visit.

With the arrival of the Duke of Choiseul and the French garrison, the situation in Corsica has become much more stable both internally and externally.

Lawrence received a report from the Northern Army yesterday that the Genoese were already beginning to retreat and seemed to be preparing to completely abandon Corsica. This was probably the result of the pressure exerted by the French Army on Genoa itself.

In addition, since the mainland of Genoa is almost included in the territory of the Kingdom of Sardinia, this deterrent action by the French army undoubtedly affected the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The Sardinian army that Lawrence defeated at Bonifacio had stayed in southern Corsica waiting for opportunities after regrouping, and now they withdrew from Corsica very simply.

As for the British, although the Corsican garrison led by Major Serrurier only had more than 2,000 people, it also formed a considerable deterrent, so that the British did not directly come to Corsica to cause trouble for Lawrence during this period. It seems that they are preparing to resolve the issue at the negotiation table in the future.

Although such a stable environment comes from the protection of the French, Lawrence also knows that such a state of relying on French protection cannot last long, and Corsica must take advantage of the current stable environment to improve its own national strength as soon as possible.

As for the negotiations between Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, on April 15, the day the Duke of Choiseul arrived, he reached an agreement with Lawrence on the National Silver Company. For him, this was undoubtedly the most important moment. The best thing about coming to Corsica.

In the view of Duke Choiseul, as long as Lawrence's financing on the Paris Stock Exchange proceeds smoothly, the Ajaccio silver mine will soon be on the right track, and the benefits to France will be better than the meager taxes he originally expected. On many.

After both parties reached an agreement on this important matter, what they discussed in the next few days was the very routine and trivial process of establishing the Kingdom of Corsica.

On these matters, Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul had already reached an agreement on many fundamental issues in Toulon. Most of what they are currently discussing and negotiating are ceremonial and legal matters.

For example, where should the ceremony for Louis XV's coronation as King of Corsica be held? Is it necessary to set up a symbolic Corsican palace? In what capacity should Lawrence attend the coronation ceremony?

For issues that really involve national affairs, since the Duke of Choiseul has promised to grant autonomy to the Corsicans, these issues will not be dictated by the French.

"Governor Bonaparte, I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement on the location of the coronation, which should be held at Versailles or possibly the Tuileries Palace."

In the auditorium of the Governor's Palace, Duke Choiseul made a few strokes on the agenda, indicating that this agenda item had been resolved, and then said:

"Then the next thing to discuss is the candidate to crown King Louis."

Lawrence nodded. Although France is often called the filial son of the Catholic Church, in a highly ceremonial matter such as the coronation of a crown, a representative of the church still needs to be crowned.

"So who is your candidate?" Lawrence asked directly.

"Although given King Louis' status, he should be crowned by a cardinal."

Duke Choiseul looked at the documents in his hand and said:

"But since the crowning is a Corsican crown, I think it still needs to be carried out by the Archbishop of Corsica."

"Bishop of Corsica"

Lawrence's mind immediately emerged with the figure of Bishop Aiko Baier. He is still under house arrest in the Governor's Palace by Lawrence like other MPs.

Lawrence was not prepared to lift the house arrest of the MPs and Bishop Acolbert until the Kingdom of Corsica was officially established.

"The Bishop of Corsica is in the Governor's Palace. Do you need to see him?"

Laurence asked the Duke of Choiseul.

Duke Choiseul looked at the time on the big pendulum clock, frowned and waved his hand and said:

"Forget it, just inform him for me. Except for the Pope, no clergy will refuse to crown the King of France. This is a great good thing for them."

What Duke Choiseul said is indeed correct. The priests of this era are not those who are stoic and devote themselves to the saints. The priest class gradually lost its theocratic status after the Thirty Years' War, but its secular status is gradually improving. .

They were also very willing and actively involved in the country's economy and politics. For example, Bishop Acolbert served as the speaker of the Corsican Parliament. Even when Louis XV was young, Cardinal Fleury of France He once controlled French politics in the form of a regency for nearly twenty years.

For Bishop Acolbert, the coronation of Louis XV was an excellent opportunity to expose himself to the upper class of France. If he wanted to escape from Corsica, a backward and poor place, he must seize this opportunity. of.

After hearing this, Lawrence couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly. Since Duke Choiseul was not going to communicate directly with Bishop Ecobel, he had a lot of room for maneuver.

"Of course, I will make it clear to him."

Lawrence smiled and nodded in response.

After the negotiation with Duke Choiseul ended, Anna leaned into Lawrence's ear and whispered:

"Sir, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Kojero, has asked to see you."

"Cojero? Let him meet me in the study."

When Lawrence heard that Coggello wanted to see him, he probably guessed that the tax reform draft compiled by him at the Ministry of Finance was completed, so he greeted Duke Choiseul and left first.

A few minutes later, Lawrence saw Mr. Coggello in the study, who was listless and with yellow skin. It seemed that he had not slept well in the past few days in order to compile the draft.

"Good afternoon, Governor Bonaparte."

Coggero said with a grin, and handed a heavy document to Lawrence. The document also came with a one-page summary for Lawrence to read quickly.

Lawrence couldn't help but nodded approvingly. Being able to submit the draft to him in just five days showed that Mr. Cogelo was quite capable.

Then Lawrence directly picked up the abstract and read it. Although the document was very thick and heavy, most of it contained complex legal clauses.

Lawrence's instructions to Cogelo were actually very simple, which was to abolish the poll tax and replace it with a land tax, which was very similar to the well-known practice in Eastern history of apportioning land to land.

"Yes, Not Bad."

Lawrence looked at the summary page, which was full of new tax rates and tax bases calculated by Cogelo based on Corsica's national conditions, and couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction.

Seeing the satisfied look on Lawrence's face, Coggero breathed a sigh of relief and asked tentatively:

"So are you going to submit this draft to parliament for discussion?"

"That's not necessary."

Lawrence shook his head and said:

"I need it to be implemented on an experimental basis in a certain area immediately, and the draft will be further revised during the trial process. When the draft is fully mature, it will be rolled out to all Corsica. In addition, I also need you. Organize manpower to conduct land survey and population accounting throughout Corsica to prepare for future reforms.”

Mr. Coggello looked at Lawrence in surprise, thinking that Governor Bonaparte turned out to be very rational. He had rashly implemented this draft in the whole of Corsica without coming forward. This set of consecutive measures was already very serious. Meticulous.

"So where are you going to do it?"

But Coggero still asked hesitantly. In his opinion, no matter where it is implemented, there will undoubtedly be strong opposition from the landowners in that area.

As for this question, Lawrence already had an answer and said directly:

"The eastern area on the outskirts of Ajaccio."

"The eastern part of the suburbs?" Cojero was stunned, and then quickly said:

"But most of it is monastery land, and the priests don't have to pay taxes."

"From now on, they need to pay taxes." Lawrence said firmly as if telling an established fact.

"but"

Cojero was still very worried and continued to dissuade:

"They are the church, and the church has the right not to pay taxes."

"But I said they don't have that power now."

Lawrence glanced at Cogelo and said:

"Please remember, Mr. Coggero, we are the public authority and they are the religious authority. In Corsica, the public authority overrides the religious authority."