An Unexpected Gain

Joseph gestured for Gordmide to sit down and asked hopefully, "Has what I asked you to do yielded results?"

He had previously met this Bank of England —a greedy and cunning speculator, and also one of the senior members of the Tax Farmers Guild— through Jean Sonnet's introduction.

So he offered Gordmide a hefty reward to act as an inside man, collecting evidence of the Tax Farmer Magnates ' illegal activities.

At this point, if Gordmide says he has "good news," it's highly likely that he has discovered something.

Gordmide simply shrugged:

"Your Highness, as you know, those guys are very cunning, and I have been unable to find any evidence of their illegal activities."

Joseph frowned immediately, about to say something, when he saw the United Kingdom's smug expression:

"So, out of desperation, I had no choice but to try and lead them to commit crimes. And I was lucky; they quickly accepted my suggestion."

Joseph was somewhat surprised. "Oh? What did you have them do?"

"Well," Gordmide rubbed his hands together and smiled, "Your Highness, you see, I've done more than you asked. Perhaps, beyond the conditions we agreed upon before, you could grant me a few small requests."

Please speak.

"I have several friends who want to work in the Treasury Department, and I hope Your Highness can arrange some positions for them."

Joseph's face immediately turned cold.

These conglomerates, as expected, seize every opportunity to extend their reach into the core of the nation's Finance, and gradually gain control of the entire Finance system.

However, Joseph was not one of those politicians who could be easily fooled—it wasn't even the 19th century yet, and the financial control methods of conglomerates were not yet mature. The Rothschild Family's brilliant operations wouldn't be able to be implemented until 20 years later, but for him, these were all historical materials he had read countless times.

So, as soon as Gordmide bent over, Joseph knew what kind of shit he was going to take.

"That won't do," he categorically rejected. "France Finance must be under the absolute control of the government."

He had essentially made his intentions clear: I know you want to infiltrate the Finance system, but don't even dream about it.

Joseph continued, "However, I can offer you some other benefits. For example, I can help your bank expand its business in France, or introduce you to some excellent investment projects. Oh, my friend in the United Kingdom recently mentioned a promising one."

As previously agreed, Gordmide helped collect dirt on Tax Farmers in exchange for acting as escrow for Atlantic Insurance Company. In other words, when the United Kingdom purchased insurance, the money would first be deposited into his bank before being transferred to France.

Atlantic Ocean Insurance sells over Pound Sterling 500,000 worth of insurance annually, which is over 12 million Franc. This money, just by passing through Gordmide's bank, can bring him hundreds of thousands of Franc in profit. At the same time, it also enhances the reputation of his bank.

Therefore, Gordmide agreed to the cooperation without hesitation.

He saw that the Crown Prince was very young and seemed easy to fool, so he wanted to test him, but his plan was immediately rejected.

He could only nod with an awkward smile, "Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness. I hope we can have more cooperation in the future."

Joseph remained noncommittal, then asked, "Now can you tell me what you did at the Tax Farmers Guild?"

"Oh, yes, Your Highness," Gordmide said. "I suggested they hide all the Taxation documents and hand over fake ones when they went to the government Tax Bureau."

"They want to use these documents as leverage to continue taking on some of the more profitable tax revenues."

Upon hearing this, Joseph narrowed his eyes. Without genuine Taxation documents, the Tax Bureau would likely descend into chaos once they began collecting taxes.

Putting aside everything else, the lack of records for tax arrears and prepaid taxes alone is enough to cause a fight between taxpayers and Taxation officials.

In addition, taxes on land, factories, and similar assets will all need to be reassessed. Market Tax, which are levied based on experience, will be even more problematic—this tax is roughly a fixed amount based on the size of your stall, and the new Taxation officials will definitely argue with the vendors repeatedly.

It must be said that this method is indeed extremely malicious. If the Tax Bureau were caught off guard and this were done, it would definitely be thrown into chaos.

However, Joseph wasn't without a solution. For example, his first thought was—the documents were gone, but the person was still there.

Who is most familiar with these Taxation documents? It's definitely the "Tax Collector" hired by the Tax Farmers contractors who are actually responsible for collecting the taxes.

If the Tax Bureau discover serious problems with the documents they have obtained, making it impossible to collect taxes normally, then they can arrest all thousands of Tax Collector on charges of "participating in Taxation fraud."

These people are living Taxation data. Throw them in jail at night, handcuff them during the day, and have them go out to collect taxes with government Taxation officials. For every problem they solve, their sentences will be reduced by 5 days. In less than half a month, they will have the national tax collection work in perfect order.

Of course, now that Joseph knows that Tax Farmers Guild switch Taxation documents, the initiative has shifted to his side.

Now, all that needs to be considered is how to secure the evidence and use it to create the best possible outcome for tax reform.

Joseph then looked at Gordmide and asked, "Do you know where the Taxation documents are kept?"

"Yes, Your Highness." The latter nodded smugly. "As the one who proposed this plan, I was responsible for many aspects of it. The documents should all be in Viscount Ford's Villa in Antoine Town."

"Very good," Joseph instructed. "Go back now and act as if nothing happened. Notify me immediately once you've confirmed that all the documents are collected."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Five days later.

A large number of Paris Police poured into the Antoine Town and, to the astonishment of the townspeople, surrounded all the properties owned by Fuld and his family.

Then, the Intelligence Bureau began searching the house.

Because the objective was clear, it didn't take long to unearth a large number of Taxation documents, enough to fill more than ten Carriage.

After the Taxation documents were sent to the France Tax Bureau, the Paris Supreme Court immediately issued hundreds of arrest warrants, which were clearly prepared in advance and just waiting to be stamped and used.

Subsequently, Intelligence Bureau agents from various regions, with the cooperation of the Police, arrested almost all the heads of Tax Farm Office on charges of "forging Taxation documents."

A so-called Tax Farm Office is a Taxation institution established by Tax Farmers, and it has similar functions to the government's Tax Bureau. However, the Tax Farmers usually does not serve as the person in charge of the Tax Farm Office —they are the ones who provide the money and act as the chairman of the Tax Farm Office. The actual tax collection work is carried out by a large number of "Tax Collector" hired by them.