November 1, 1833.

Once again, the Assyrians waged war against the Europa Empire, and the Bilisians invaded Europa from the northwest.

The forces of the Europa Empire in the north lost 200,000 troops in seven days, but this time they were unable to allow the enemy to break through the line easily. It's just that this situation makes people of insight very uneasy.

And on the vast oceans, the Imperial Navy is just beginning to fight back.

This time, everyone really saw the apocalyptic weather, prices skyrocketed, the country was poor, the people were poor, and many northern provinces had begun to force conscription.

In view of the dire situation, Prime Minister Caron presented a report during his audience with Carlos II, which was not known to the outside world:

"The pattern of war and the deterioration of the financial situation obliged us to adopt a more uniform, more equal and just tax policy, and only under this circumstance could His Majesty ease the burden on the people with an increase in revenue...... It is a principle of wartime policy that taxes should be apportioned equally and proportionately and not avoided by any privileges or immunities......"

"In order to save the country, partial measures are no longer possible, and in order to prevent the edifice from collapsing, it is necessary to straighten out its foundations...... We can no longer continue with catastrophic loans, and the only thing that can be done now is to re-establish fiscal order, which is not overly ...... when the situation is so difficult."

"It is necessary to bypass the privileged nobles of the court and convene a council of dignitaries - to expand the list of councils as much as possible in order to seek the greatest consensus!"

The prime minister used the extremely sensitive phrase "the building is about to fall".

It was against this backdrop that Carlos II, after several hesitations, announced that a council of dignitaries would be convened in February 1834 to replace the original Council of Nobles.

Even His Majesty the Honorable Emperor realized that the Council of Nobles was not representative of all subjects, and that it was likely to mess everything up if it was desperate to expand taxes.

"In the name of the state!"

This was the propaganda of some newspapers in the Holy City, supported by the emperor and the cabinet, who tried to set the tone for the future dignitaries:

Those who opposed the emperor and the cabinet were traitors.

While the list of meetings was still being drawn up, the Genoese welcomed a distinguished guest, Michael Torres, Count of the Court.

The time was the end of December 1833.

Torres travelled south by land, boarding a train from Fort Partenham to Poitou, a line that had just opened and was still in trial operation.

Anyone traveling by train for the first time will be excited and curious, and Torres is no exception.

Although he had read about it in the newspapers, the earl was shocked when he saw such a behemoth as a train.

Along the way, the Count observes the state of the Genoese and finds that the people here do not seem to feel the coming of war, and their busy figures can be seen everywhere, even beggars are rare.

In the bustling Holy City, many homeless people freeze to death every winter.

He even took advantage of the interval between the stops of the train to add coal and water to let his servants get off the train to visit, and the conclusion he came to was consistent with his own judgment.

The tax burden here is generally not lighter than in the north, because the rich have to bear more taxes than their northern counterparts because of the 1/20 tax. But the peasants, craftsmen and workers here have relatively little burden, and because there are jobs everywhere, the common people can always earn an income as long as they are not lazy.

What was seen in Genoa seems to indicate that this was the original intention of the emperor and the prime minister to convene a meeting of dignitaries.

The count saw only the increase in taxes and the generosity of the wealthy, but did not realize the important role played by the Genoese local government and the large-scale investment of the private sector. The cake is so big that everyone can get more than they used to be, even according to the traditional way of distribution.

The train brought Torres and his entourage, who were in mixed moods, safely, smoothly and quickly to Poitou.

On the platform of the railway station, Governor Byrne and others had been waiting there for a long time.

In fact, Torres was just one of the many messengers who represented the emperor in the south, and the emperor needed to use these people to find out the powerful people in various places, and to test the style.

This earl title of Torres was not hereditary, it was a reward for him as a man close to the emperor.

However, few of those with such titles were of commoner origin, and many nobles were keen to send their sons to the court as vains to the emperor and the royal family as a means of advancement.

Torres was also of aristocratic origin, and contrary to what he might think, he was a short, very stylish northerner, with five large suitcases of clothes and seventeen clerks and servants.

Carlos II sent this close minister to Genoa as a sign of his affection for Genoa, which had apparently impressed the emperor in recent years with rapidly growing tax revenues.

In 1833, the taxes of a southern province were almost the same as those of the wealthy Gyeonggi Province, because of the unconventional income from the auction of mining rights, because of the 1/20 tax levied in Genoa, and because the economic development led to an increase in other industrial and commercial taxes.

It is expected that the tea tax will be introduced next year, which will be a huge number. This is particularly evident in the context of the country's increasingly difficult finances.

Not to mention the representatives of Genoa's industry - trains and ironclads. The former Emperor did not notice, but the latter was something that the Emperor must have seen every day from the naval battle reports, and he was pleased to see that the situation at sea was turning in a good direction.

Or rather, the emperor felt the loyalty of the Genoese to the state and their understanding of the country's financial difficulties. This loyalty must be rewarded.

"This is Viscount Connery!" Governor Byrne introduced Count Torres to Sean. The presence of this important person, Sean and other Poitou upper-class figures were all present.

Torres's eyes lit up, and in fact he had long noticed a group of young people who stood out in the crowd of people who were generally over 40 years old:

"I have known the Viscount for a long time, and I deserve to be the pearl of Genoa. ”

"What's that?" Byrne asked curiously.

"This is what His Royal Highness Philip said to me personally, and he said that Viscount Connelly was a very wise nobleman, and that he wanted me to come to Poitou to hear more about Viscount Connelly's opinion on the current situation. ”

Torres said deliberately loudly to the people around him.

To the Count's surprise, the Poithus did not have any surprise in mind. Look at their expressions as if it's taken for granted.

This reminded him of the advice given to him by Count Koval when he left the Holy City, who reminded him that Sean had great influence in Genoa.

Now it seems that this is true.

"Lord Count, His Royal Highness Philip's compliment has terrified me, and loyalty and love for the royal family is also the position of all of us Genoese. ”

Sean's courteous reply pleased the Earl, and he was in need of such a public statement, even if it was verbal.

As one of his achievements, Byrne warmly led the distinguished guests on a tour of the train station.

The guests also politely praised the railroad as a novelty, and believed that this convenient mode of transportation and transportation would surely become popular throughout the empire.

After a short break, Count Torres offered to visit the construction of the ironclad.

By December 20, 1833, the first 10 Shark-class ironclads had been built, seven of which had been delivered to the Navy, and they were already playing their mark in the war against the Fish Demons.

"Viscount, frankly, the construction of ironclads is too slow. At the same time, your northern counterparts are still building wooden galleons, but they have armored them, and even giant logs are hard to come by. "There are still a lot of giant trees in the Black Forest, but it is not easy to transport them to the banks of the Ossela River, and besides, the navy cannot afford to wait for the wood," said Count Torres. ”

Before Sean could answer, Johnson, the general manager and chief engineer, said disdainfully:

"I've heard that those shipyards are blatantly infringing on our propeller patents, which is an open robbery. When I used the money I earned from my part-time job to try to build a steamship, they laughed at me in the most vicious language!"

Violations were inevitable, and when the Bass anchored in the Osera River outside the Holy City, many people boarded it in the name of condolences to the officers and men of the navy, including many shipyard owners.

So, soon there were imitations.

Not to mention anything else, arms dealer Bess has fought countless lawsuits over patents related to rifled guns and bullets, and he has spent countless time, energy, and money to fatten a group of lawyers, and just ripping off the skin is a headache, and we can't expect the capitalists to be morally noble.

Now that Bess has almost given up the patent, and has the time to squander it, he might as well urge his subordinates to step up the production of artillery for ironclad ships.

But Sean understood another meaning from Count Torres's words.

The patent and monopoly of the propeller had already attracted the attention of the emperor, and the Imperial Navy needed more ironclad ships, so the Kang's shipbuilding company was not allowed to produce step by step, and the other enjoyed excess profits.

Those northern shipyards are imitations, and they can't find a trick for the time being, and the overall level of imitation ironclad ships is a big difference from Kang's.

Seeing Sean's thoughtful expression, Count Towres knew that Sean had heard what he couldn't say in public.

However, Sean simply said:

"We can't give up the patent, but it is also feasible to provide our northern counterparts with two key components, the marine steam engine and the propeller, which can speed up the construction of ironclad ships. Lord Earl, we are not very familiar with our northern counterparts, so we need a northern general agent, who is responsible for recommending our parts to the northern shipyard, and we will give this general agent a reasonable reserve price. ”

Sean's words gave Torres another way of thinking. As for the general agent, Torres thinks his family seems to be more suitable.

So Torres said:

"Personally, I don't think the title of viscount is a good fit, and given your great contribution to the security of the Empire's seas, you are worthy of the title of a hereditary earl. ”

This is the exchange of interests.

Sean did not lose anything, on the contrary, he gained greatly, and won himself the title of hereditary earl.

Moreover, with Sean's contribution, it is not a great thing for the emperor to canonize him as an earl.

Sean hurriedly made a statement of gratitude: "I'm really scared!"