"Do us a big favor?"

Mr. Cogiero looked at Lawrence's gold coins, and he didn't see what these coins, which were about to be swept into the dustbin of history, could do anything other than add a lot of work to the Treasury.

Lawrence didn't explain first, but continued to ask while playing with the gold coins in his hand:

"Let's not talk about that, how are the tax reforms and the census going?"

When asked about this issue that Lawrence was most concerned about, Mr. Cogello's expression was also much more solemn, and he immediately skillfully pulled out a stack of reports from the paperwork and handed them to Lawrence, while excitedly explaining:

"The Ministry of Finance's work on the outskirts of Ajaccio is going well, even more so than the previous process of collecting the poll tax. After all, the land can't be run, and the tax collectors just need to confirm the owner of the land. The amount of tax collected is about twice as much as it was in the same period of the previous period, and if it can be extended to the whole of Corsica, there is a good chance that our revenues will turn into a profit..."

Lawrence casually flipped through the report handed in by Mr. Coggiero, and in the summary of the report he had outlined the results of this experimental reform, which, as Mr. Coggero said, was indeed a fairly smooth attempt.

Not only was the amount of tax levied significantly higher than before, but the excess tax came from the land of the church and the landlords, and did not harm the interests of the yeoman farmers and tenants.

Mr. Cojero also listed in the report the problems identified by the Ministry of Finance in the pilot reform and the future plans, including the introduction of a progressive tax system into the land tax system and the inclusion of land quality in the tax base.

Lawrence was also relieved to leave these more practical matters to Mr. Cogello and his Ministry of Finance.

"Overall, Lord Governor, this is going to be a great reform."

Mr. Cojero said with a fluttering eyebrow:

"As long as we have a land tax system in place throughout Corsica, it will be very easy to collect and regulate taxes. The wealth that was previously hidden by the landlords will also be obediently spit out and transferred to the treasury by us. ”

As someone who has worked in the Corsican Ministry of Finance for most of his life, Mr. Cogello knew that as long as this reform was carried out, his name would be remembered by Corsicans close after Lawrence.

In the face of the excited Mr. Cojero, Lawrence didn't seem so excited, just nodded expressionlessly, and continued to look at the report in his hand.

As the ruler of all Corsica, Lawrence naturally thinks a lot more than Mr. Cogiro.

Lawrence knew in his heart that taxes were essentially the transfer of wealth, and if the Corsican government collected more, there would inevitably be certain groups that paid more.

A large part of the reason why the Treasury was able to succeed in the pilot reform in the suburbs of Ajaccio was that the suburbs of Ajaccio were mainly the land of the Church and yeoman farmers, and the church had already submitted to Lawrence, so that it was not so resistant to the reform.

And if Lawrence were to extend the land tax system to all of Corsica, the landlords, who had a vested interest, would not sit idly by.

The landlords have made a lot of money by hiding tenants and annexing land in the past ten years, and now Lawrence wants to reach out and grab their cake, and this core conflict of interest is absolutely unacceptable to the landlords.

Whether it is the establishment of a land tax system or the nationalization of Corsican land, there is absolutely a series of intrigues and even blood spills in the process.

And the use of the military has never been left out by Lawrence.

"Hmm... You have done a good job, Mr. Cojero. ”

After five or six minutes, Lawrence, who had simply flipped through the Treasury report, put it aside and asked:

"And how's the census going?"

"Census—" Mr. Cogiro sighed and shook his head helplessly.

Before leaving, Lawrence assigned the Treasury Department a feasibility study for a large-scale census, but judging by Mr. Cogello's face, the results were probably not very promising.

"Your Excellency, the Treasury has finally come to the conclusion that the census cannot be carried out in Corsica unless we want to get a data full of errors and omissions."

Mr. Cogello shook his head and explained to Lawrence:

"The largest population in Corsica is undoubtedly the tenants and peasants who work in the fields, and these people are basically closely related to the local landlords. Landlords everywhere do not tell us the truth about the number of tenants under their control. As you may know, the most recent census was almost a decade ago, and Governor Paulie was not determined to oversee that census, so the final numbers were unreasonable. ”

"Are you saying that the total population of Corsica is less than 40,000 is based on the last census?" Lawrence asked with a frown.

"That's right, Lord Governor." Mr. Cogiro shrugged his shoulders and sighed again:

"Maybe this number will be doubled to be the real population, of course, I am only an estimate, and no one knows the real situation until we investigate."

"Double," Lawrence knuckles tapped lightly on the table and said in a deep voice:

"That is, half, if not more, of the population of Corsica is attached to the landlord class?"

"I'm afraid so." Mr. Coggero glanced at Lawrence's gloomy face and quickly explained:

"The good news, though, is that the landlords are a rather loose class, and they are unlikely to unite against your rule. Just as you forced the resignation of those four councillors, although this incident has caused an uproar among the landlord community, no one has dared to stand up against you..."

"That's because I haven't shaken their foundations yet." Lawrence covered his chin and said with a gloomy gaze:

"Once I start working on their land, these moths won't sit idly by."

For the huge landlord class, their power comes from the abundant financial and human resources, and as long as these financial resources and manpower remain, they still have good political influence, even if Lawrence has uprooted all the members of the landlord class in the parliament.

And if Lawrence were to attack the landlords' money bags and serfs, he would inevitably usher in their strongest backlash.

If Mr. Coggiero's estimate is accurate, the landlord class and the serfs who depend on them make up almost half of the population of Corsica, which makes Lawrence think a little more highly of his power.

"In fact... Your Excellency the Governor, before you can strike at them, these landlords will not be able to sit still. ”

Mr. Coggero suddenly remembered something, and quickly took out a report from the paperwork and handed it to Lawrence, and said carefully:

"This is a recent letter submitted to the Ministry of Finance by municipalities in the southern region requesting additional funding."

"The Southern Region? Is there something wrong there? Lawrence took the report, and instead of looking through it, he frowned and looked at Mr. Cogiro and asked.

"No, Lord Governor, no."

Mr. Cogiero shook his head again and again, and said hesitantly:

"But the southern part of Corsica is the main agricultural region, with a large fertile alluvial plain, and therefore the most entrenched landlord power..."

In Corsica, the northern part of the country was largely under the control of the government and the army, even after the Genoese withdrew from Corsica.

And in the south, far from the war and suitable for farming, it is, as Mr. Coggero said, the most entrenched area of local power.

As early as the reign of Genoa, the families and local gentry were very prosperous, and Pascuala Pauli rebelled against Genoese rule with their support and support. It is therefore easy to imagine how strong the landlords in this region were in Corsica.

"No disaster? So what do the southern municipalities ask for funding for? Lawrence had already guessed something in his heart, but asked Mr. Cojero in a cold voice.

"Uh... Your Excellency the Governor..."

Mr. Coggero swallowed his spit and said cautiously:

"The Corsicans had learned about the National Silver Company a few weeks ago, and I have to say that it was a great thing. It's just that for these landlords... They also seem to want a piece of the pie. These official documents requesting appropriations were also sent to Ajaccio by local officials forced by local forces, and the names were naturally varied, but the core essence was only one - asking for money. ”

Lawrence nodded quietly and flipped through the report in his hand.

The report included official requests for appropriations from the municipalities of the South, as well as a few municipalities in the North, and indeed varied, as Coggero suggested, from repairing bridges and expanding water conservancy, to building schools and developing commerce, all of which ended up with a large amount of money from Lawrence.

Moreover, these official documents were almost always sent to Ajaccio at the same time, which means that these usually loose local forces are united in the matter of asking for money.

"Hmph, they've already figured out to me."

Lawrence snorted coldly, threw the report aside, and said coldly with his fingers:

"To build a school, you have to ask for 200,000 livres? Is this taking the Ministry of Finance for a fool or for the Corsican government for a fool?! ”

If Lawrence really agrees to such an appropriation, I am afraid that 199,900 livres of the 200,000 livres will go into the pockets of officials at all levels and local families, and then they will use another 100 livres to build two thatched huts, find two homeless people to stuff in them, and indicate that the new school has been completed.

"These people probably have no fear, they are determined to take a sum of money from you."

Mr. Coggeiro whispered:

"All the grant requests add up to nearly six million livres, which is exactly one-third of the eighteen million livres you have. If you refuse... It's going to be a bit embarrassing politically, so I think you'll need to set aside some of the money to appease them..."

Lawrence stared straight at Mr. Cogiro and said with a frosty face:

"You're saying we're going to take the initiative to feed money into the mouths of the moths in these countries?"

"I—" Mr. Cogiro bowed his head and said resignedly:

"This is just my suggestion, Your Excellency. I'm afraid those people won't give up if they don't get the money. ”

"I appreciate your suggestion, Mr. Cogello, but please forgive me for not being able to use it."

Lawrence picked up the report and threw it directly back in front of Cogiro, and said in a deep voice:

"In accordance with my order, the Ministry of Finance has rejected all of these grants. In addition, the names of all the magistrates who requested appropriations were sent to the Governor's Palace. ”

Mr. Cojero was stunned for a moment, then quickly sat up and reminded:

"Wait, Lord Governor, you will not be happy to deal so hard with their landlords, don't you still have to solve the land problem from them? If they don't cooperate, there will be no way to solve the land problem. ”

Before Lawrence left Corsica, he had revealed to Mr. Coggie that he would settle the land problem left by Corsica once and for all, and Mr. Coggiero always thought that Lawrence was going to use the huge amount of money in his hand to buy land from the landlords, and solve the land problem in this gentle way.

In fact, Lawrence did think of using the money to redeem a portion of the land, so as to achieve the effect of grace and power.

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However, the greed and arrogance of the landlord class exceeded Lawrence's expectations, and he even set his sights on this crucial fund for Corsica's development before he arrived in Corsica.

Thinking about it this way, if Lawrence chooses to bow to local forces this time, then the landlord class will become a hurdle that Lawrence cannot bypass in the subsequent reform and development.

So there is only one option left for Lawrence, and that is to completely eradicate these insects that hinder the progress of Corsica, and completely bring the southern region under the control of the government.

"Mr. Coggiero, there are many ways to solve the land problem." Lawrence said in a deep voice:

"There are those who do not use force, and there are those who use force; There are those who are soft, and there are those who are tough. ”

With that, Lawrence took out the gold coin he had just held in his hand, put it in front of Mr. Cogiero, and continued:

"Don't those people want money, so we give them money, give them more money than they can count."

Mr. Cogiro stared at the gold coins on the table, not understanding what Lawrence meant, and asked puzzledly:

"What do you mean...?"

"Corsican coins haven't been issued yet, have they?" Lawrence asked suddenly.

"Not at the moment." Mr. Cojero shook his head blankly and said:

"The only currency in circulation in Corsica is gold and silver."

Lawrence nodded, pointed to Mr. Cogiero's memo and said:

"Writing down my orders, I ask the Treasury to prepare at once to issue a batch of banknotes, each of which is set to ... 10,000 gold. These banknotes are officially recognized by Corsica, but are not exchangeable for gold and silver coins. ”

"Ten thousand gold each? Still not redeemable? This... Governor Bonaparte..."

After listening to Lawrence's instructions, Mr. Cogerlo's pen couldn't help but pause, and exclaimed:

"Although you said that this is officially recognized as Corsican currency, these banknotes will soon become a pile of waste paper when they are issued, and no one will really use them as if they were ten thousand gold coins."

"You're right, this is a pile of waste paper, and no one really treats a piece of waste paper as 10,000 gold... Except for the Corsican government. ”