Chapter 522: Feeling Confident

Chapter 523: Confident

"Thank you for your news." Joseph nodded to the British banker, "You have bought me at least half a month of preparation time."

Goldmid immediately smiled: "Ah, it is my honor to serve you."

He was very grateful for his original decision. By being a "gangster" in the tax farmers' association, he successfully avoided a significant reduction in income due to the French tax reform, and he also established a relationship with the crown prince, and he will definitely get a lot of opportunities in France in the future.

If it is handled well, it is even possible to control the French finances, just like the Wallenberg family did in Sweden. By then, Goldmid will also become the top surname in Europe.

He was just about to "take advantage of his merit" to ask the crown prince for some benefits, when he heard Joseph say: "Oh, you should have heard that the tax bureau is checking the accounts of the tax farmers, right?"

Goldmid nodded and said: "Yes, Your Highness, all of France has been paying attention to this matter recently."

"Then when you go back, return the taxes that were improperly collected before as soon as possible, and compensate those who should be compensated." Joseph said, "I can pretend that these things didn't happen.

"Oh, if the tax bureau receives a complaint against you, I will also let them temporarily delay it. You have to hurry up."

Goldmid paused when he heard this, and then he remembered that he was also a tax farmer, and the amount of tax he paid was not low. If the account was checked on him, it would not be a joke, after all, no one who is a tax farmer is clean.

He hurriedly stood up and saluted, and said with lingering fear: "Yes, Your Highness, I will definitely deal with it seriously. Thank you for your tolerance..."

Joseph nodded and said in a soft tone: "I know some of your friends want a government position. Although the finance department is definitely not an option, I can let them serve as diplomatic officials."

Goldmid suddenly turned from sadness to joy. Although the diplomatic system is far from finance, he finally has his own confidants in the bureaucracy, and it can be seen from this that the crown prince values ​​him.

"Thank you so much, your highness the great crown prince. "

Joseph would naturally not let this cunning and ambitious tycoon control senior officials, but he could give him the position of French ambassador to Britain.

After all, the intelligence work there is basically handed over to the Intelligence Bureau. Given the current relationship between Britain and France, the ambassador to Britain has nothing else to do except talking harshly.

And in the near future, he may have to take some blame. Serious diplomatic talents must be protected.

Joseph encouraged Godmid again and sent him back.

When Emand returned from seeing off the guests, Joseph immediately told him: "Please ask Count Mirabeau, Baron Bailly, Viscount Besançon, Mr. Dupont, and Mr. Castella to see me immediately. "

"Yes, Your Highness. "

Two hours later, a group of political and business leaders had gathered in Joseph's office. However, Castella, the general manager of Gemini Trading Company, had not returned from Marseille to deal with things, so 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 with me."

Several people immediately stood up again, patting their chests and saying in unison: "Please give orders, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Joseph motioned for them to sit down, and continued: "I have reliable information that the guys in the tax farmers' association are preparing to make some big noises in an attempt to prevent the tax bureau from checking their accounts."

Joseph then repeated the situation reported by Godmid before, and Mirabeau immediately said: "Your Highness, since we already know what those people are planning, we can issue a ban in advance to prevent it."

Bai added: "We can even send liaison officers to larger caravans. "

The liaison officers he mentioned are actually responsible for supervising the caravans, with the power to seize goods or freeze transactions, and each person will be equipped with several or even dozens of 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 the caravan to have no money to purchase goods."

He smiled again immediately: "Besides, I also hope that they can implement the plan smoothly.

"The more the tax farmers make trouble, the more thorough the tax reform can be."

Everyone in the room was shocked when they heard this.

Bai immediately stepped forward nervously to dissuade: "Your Highness, if you let them disrupt commercial trade, I am afraid it will have a very serious impact on the country."

This is also the reason why tax farmers are always fearless. They are betting that the French government will retreat.

Once the trade line stagnates, the products of the factory will be squeezed, and the weaker ones will soon break their capital chain and go bankrupt. The caravan only needs to strike for two months to cause the French finances to collapse, and even one month will cause irreversible damage to the country.

With the current scale of France's fiscal deficit, it dares not fight them head-on.

At the same time, the bankruptcy of factories will cause a large number of workers to lose their jobs. And the people on the other side cannot buy goods. The country will fall into turmoil in a short time.

Joseph nodded: "You are right. So, we must try to stabilize domestic trade."

Bailey said worriedly: "Your Highness, according to my estimation, the tax farmers will always affect at least one-third of the caravans in the country. With such a large scale, we simply cannot fill it in a short time."

The number of one-third may not seem much, but it means that one-third of the country's goods will not be traded, 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.