Chapter 523: Feeling Safe
“Thank you for the news.” Joseph nodded to the British banker, “You bought me at least half a month of preparation time.”
Goldmead immediately smiled: "Ah, it is my honor to serve you."
He was very happy with his original decision. By working as an "infernal agent" in the Taxpayers Association, he successfully avoided a significant reduction in his income due to the French tax reform, and he also established a relationship with the crown prince. He will definitely get a lot of opportunities in France in the future.
If done well, it might even be possible to take control of France's finances, as the Wallenbergs did in Sweden. By then, Goldmead will also become the top surname in Europe.
He was about to use his merits to ask the crown prince for some benefits when he heard Joseph say: "Oh, you must have heard that the tax bureau is verifying the accounts of the tax collectors, right?"
Goldmid nodded and responded: "Yes, Your Highness, all of France has been paying attention to this matter recently."
"Then after you go back, refund the taxes that were improperly collected as soon as possible, and compensate those who deserve compensation." Joseph said, "I can just pretend that these things didn't happen.
"Oh, if the tax bureau receives a complaint against you, I will also give them a temporary reprieve. You must hurry up."
Goldmead was stunned when he heard this, and then he remembered that he was also a tax collector, and the amount of tax paid was not low. If the account is found on oneself, it is no joke. After all, no one who works as a tax collector is clean.
He hurriedly stood up and saluted, and said with lingering fear: "Yes, Your Highness, I will definitely handle it seriously. Thank you for your tolerance..."
Joseph nodded and said in a gentle tone: "I know that some of your friends want a government position. Although the financial department is definitely not suitable, I can let them serve as diplomatic officers."
Goldmead suddenly turned from sadness to joy. Although the diplomatic system was far away from finance, he finally had his confidant in the bureaucracy, and it could be seen from this that the Crown Prince valued him.
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty the Great Crown Prince."
Joseph naturally would not let this cunning and ambitious plutocrat control senior officials, but the position of French Ambassador to Britain could be given to him.
After all, the intelligence work there is basically handed over to the Intelligence Bureau. With the current relationship between Britain and France, the ambassador to the UK usually has nothing else to do except say harsh words.
And in the near future, he may have to take some blame. Serious diplomats must be protected.
Joseph encouraged Goldmid again and sent him back.
When Eman returned from seeing off his guests, Joseph immediately ordered him: "Please ask Count Mirabeau, Baron Bailly, Viscount Besançon, Mr. Dupont, and Mr. Castella to come see me immediately."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Two hours later, a group of political and business leaders gathered in Joseph's office. However, Castela, the general manager of Gemini Trading Company, went to Marseille to deal with matters and has not returned yet. Volante, the assistant manager of the company, came on his behalf.
Mirabeau and others sat down, and Joseph immediately said seriously: "France will face a disaster soon, and I need you to deal with it together with me."
Several people immediately stood up again, stroking their chests and saying in unison: "Please give me your instructions, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Joseph motioned for them to sit down and continued: "I have received reliable information that the tax collectors are preparing to make some big moves to prevent the tax bureau from checking their accounts."
Joseph then told the situation that Goldmid had reported before, and Mirabeau immediately said: "Your Highness, since we already know those people's plans, we can issue a ban in advance to prevent it."
"You can even assign liaison officers to larger caravans," Bai added.
The liaison officer he mentioned is actually responsible for supervising the caravan, and has the power to seize goods or freeze transactions. Each person will be equipped with several or even a dozen armed attendants. Joseph shook his head: "If they really want to block trade, they can find many ways, such as transferring all the funds to other uses. Even if there is a ban, it is not illegal for caravans to buy goods without money."
He immediately smiled again: "Besides, I also hope that they can implement the plan smoothly.
"The more the tax collectors make trouble, the more thorough the tax reform will be."
Everyone in the room looked at each other in shock when they heard this.
Bai Yi immediately nervously stepped forward to dissuade: "Your Highness, if they are allowed to disrupt commercial trade, I am afraid it will have a very serious impact on the country."
This is also the reason why tax collectors are always confident. They just bet that the French government would back down.
Once the trade line stagnates, the factory's products will be squeezed, and the weaker ones will soon have their capital chain broken and go bankrupt. It only takes two months for the caravans to go on strike to collapse France's finances, and even one month can cause irreversible damage to the country.
With the scale of France's current fiscal deficit, it simply doesn't dare to compete head-on with them.
At the same time, factory bankruptcy will cause a large number of workers to lose their jobs. People on the other side can’t buy goods. It won't be long before the country is in turmoil.
Joseph nodded: "You are right. Therefore, we must try to stabilize domestic trade."
Bai Yi worriedly said: "Your Highness, according to my estimation, the tax collectors will always affect at least one-third of the country's caravans. With such a large scale, we simply cannot fill it in a short time."
One-third may not seem like much, but it means that one-third of the country's goods will be untradeable, which is enough to destroy a country's economy.
Joseph looked at the president of the French Chamber of Commerce: "Mr. Dupont, how many caravans are you sure you can mobilize?"
The latter thought for a while, then looked embarrassed: "Your Highness, my own caravan, including the Chamber of Commerce and the tax collectors who have nothing to do with it, is estimated to be only about twenty."
The tax collector group has extremely strong funds, so it is also very influential in the chamber of commerce. Even as the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Dupont cannot guarantee that people in the Chamber of Commerce will listen to him at critical moments.
Joseph turned to Mirabeau and Bayi and signaled. The two said they could find some caravans of trustworthy friends, but the number would not be too many.
Joseph nodded again and said loudly: "Then we will form the French Trade Alliance with these caravans and twin trading companies as the core.
"The Trade Alliance will come forward to take over all transactions with caravan vacancies within half a month."
Dupont and Bayi immediately shook their heads: "Your Highness, with all due respect, with this number of caravans, half a month is not enough to expand to the scale you need."
"Yes, Your Highness, if you have half a year, maybe you can give it a try."
Although Gemini Trading Company is strong, the scale of its permanent caravan is not large. After all, the company's main business is trading in the Mediterranean and quietly transporting some things from the Pacific.
Including the caravan that can be mobilized by the few people in the room, the total size is only about one-tenth of the national caravan.
(End of chapter)