Not satisfied with superficial moral condemnation, Bishop Claude then pointed the finger directly at the imperial financial capital group, denouncing this class as the main culprit for the unfair distribution of wealth in society, while the merchant class embezzled the wealth of the country with two major weapons, one is the "tax system" and the other is "monopoly privilege".

The "tax package law" means that the state contracts the fiscal tax to the wealthy merchants with a certain specified amount, and after the wealthy merchants pay this amount, the remaining taxes are all owned by the wealthy merchants. Bishop Claude mercilessly denounced the Fogel family as a negative example of benefiting from the "tax system", and recounted the history of the family and pointed out its misdeeds for the purpose of looting wealth.

Jacob Fogel was also present at the meeting, and was so overturned by Bishop Claude that he pointed his nose at his ancestors for eight generations, and of course could not bear it, and stood up to refute the criticism of the other party, affirming that the tax collectors were nothing more than workers employed by the royal family and the government, who had devoted countless energy and effort to the collection of taxes by the state, and that instead of being understood by the public, he was subjected to abuse, which made him feel very aggrieved.

Bishop Claude shrugged off old Fogel's complaint and retorted in a clever way:

"Mr. Fogel, may I ask whether the overall wealth of our country has increased or decreased year by year since the introduction of the tax package system?"

"Well...... The total wealth of society is increasing. Old man Fogel replied truthfully with a bitter face, feeling that he was being pushed into the pit step by step by Claude.

"Since the total wealth of society is growing, but according to my observation, the people at the bottom, who make up the vast majority of the total population, are becoming poorer day by day than in the past, and on the other hand, the government's fiscal revenue has not increased significantly, but has incurred more and more debts, so who is benefiting from the growth of social wealth? Who is getting richer and richer at the same time as the government and the people are getting worse and worse, Mr. Fogel, can you tell me? ”

Roland witnessed Bishop Claude's style of putting his opponent to death in a lively manner of talking and laughing, and finally resisted the urge to applaud the bishop. Regardless of whether Claude's criticism is suspected of being guilty, nor should he be held accountable for the lack of rigor in his arguments, as a public figure, this simple and crude method of interrogation is undoubtedly inflammatory, and people cannot help but share his hatred.

"Bishop Claude is not yet fifty years old, he is in the prime of life, energetic, ambitious and talented, and will in the future become a great figure in the religious and even political arena of the empire."

Roland took notes in his mind, but at the same time couldn't help but think about the images of historical figures on Earth, such as Richelieu and Mazarin, jumped into his mind one after another, as if they were about to coincide with Claude. If Count Müller could not keep his position, and the situation would put a clergyman in the political arena, Bishop Claude would not necessarily have no chance of becoming the "red prime minister" of the Assanian Empire.

"It's not like that, Lord Claude, I don't deny that financial practitioners earn wealth in the process of contracting taxes, but what's wrong with making money?" Jacob Fogel raised his hands excitedly, trying to show his innocence, "We don't steal or rob, we operate legally, we earn wealth with our sweat and wisdom, we shouldn't be the scapegoat for other people's poverty!" ”

The fat old man's plea was met with sparse applause from his peers, and most of the attendees gave him either indifferent or hateful glances. When everyone else is poor, only you become rich, look at your corrupt belly, pear-shaped body, and then think about your billions of family wealth, who will sympathize with you?

"Hatred of the rich" is the common nature of human beings, and it is more about emotions than rationality, but who can blame the common emotions of human beings? Bishop Claude simply disdained to incite the "hatred of the rich" in the attendees, perhaps too lowly for him, and gently spared old Fogel and continued to expose the deep factors of the gap between the rich and the poor.

"Mr. Fogel, I have no personal grudge against you, and am glad to believe that you have become rich by honesty, industriousness, and wisdom, but I still have to ask why you and your peers are the only ones in this world who have succeeded in getting rich, while others who are equally honest, industrious, and intelligent are becoming impoverished? I don't mean to point fingers at you, but I just want to invite you to discuss what the problem is. ”

Jacob Fogel was tempted to say, "Because those people weren't smart enough," but he knew it wasn't an answer for the public, so he swallowed it and said, "I think...... Every industry has different rules, and you can't expect a hard-working farmer to earn the same amount of money as an equally hard-working university professor, the difference is determined by the social system and the laws of economics...... Of course, there's also the elusive element of luck. ”

"You mentioned the system, which coincides with me." Bishop Claude looked serious, and borrowed Fogel's words to deduce, "In my opinion, all the difficulties of the empire today stem from the injustice of the system, and if the current bad system is not changed, the gap between the rich and the poor will only widen, and the discontent of the people at the bottom will accumulate more and more, and sooner or later there will be a great upheaval!" ”

Jacob Fogel was dumbfounded. Roland couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. There was an uproar in the venue, and there was a lot of discussion.

Bishop Claude was not surprised by the reaction, and raised his hand to signal silence.

"What I just said seems to have caused some controversy, and some people may wonder why I, a conservative, have suddenly started to make reformist arguments."

Claude's question was met with laughter, and people were indeed wondering.

"I'm sorry to disappoint the gentlemen on the other side, I have not betrayed the trust of the Gregorian Throne, nor do I intend to join the camp of the reformers, the 'bad system' I am criticizing is not the old system you think, let alone traditional morality and religious beliefs, I am not hiding it, what I am targeting today is precisely the basic doctrine that the reformers believe in - mercantilism!"

"It's getting more and more interesting." Roland's eyes lit up, where did Bishop Claude plan to start criticizing "mercantilism"? He was looking forward to it.

"Mr. Jacob Fogel just claimed that the tax contractors got rich by hard work and wisdom, and then when I asked him, he had to admit that he took advantage of the system. It is not convenient for him to say it himself, so I will reveal the mystery for him. ”

"Please note that when a government contracts the privilege of collecting taxes from a certain place to a merchant or a tax-chartering company for the purpose of reducing the cost of taxation or for other purposes, there is always a key clause attached to it—along with the 'right to levy taxes', there is also a monopoly privilege!"

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