Special Forces: Drop Fan Tianlei instantly at the start

Chapter 458

The city of Rome, in the residence of the Supreme Consul.

Today it was very lively, and countless warlords and nobles came to sit down in the meeting room.

These people are either noble, their ancestors are glorious, and they have a family history of hundreds of years, or they now hold great power and control a large number of soldiers and horses or financial resources.

It is no exaggeration to say that these people are sandwiched together, almost half of Rome, and can even determine the lifeblood of the whole of Rome!

And the reason why they are gathered in everything today is simply that Scipio, in the name of the supreme consul of Rome, convened a council of senators.

"Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I am glad that you have been invited to the residence of my Supreme Consul for this Council of the Senates. "

Scipio stood on the podium and glanced downward, nodding in satisfaction when he saw that the room was full.

"What is the real purpose of my meeting of the senators, I am sure that those of you who are well-informed have already heard of it. "

"That's right, to issue a new decree!"

"In view of the fact that my Rome is now facing a tight front and the country's financial situation is very tight, therefore, in order to resist the Carthaginians who are eyeing the Carthaginians and prevent the territory of my Roman Empire from falling into the hands of thieves, I have decided to follow the policy of Great Qin and cancel all the tax exemptions of Roman nobles from today!"

"All Roman citizens, whether high or low, slaves, commoners, or nobles, who earned more than a certain amount of profit through commerce, agriculture, or other side jobs, were required to pay a corresponding tax to the state treasury!"

Scipio's words were so categorical that there was no room for a turn on his face.

As for the promulgation of the new decree, in fact, he has been brewing for a long time.

Ever since he learned that Fusu had proposed this in Daqin, he immediately realized the benefits of this decree, which could not only alleviate the oppression of the nobles on the commoners, but also greatly ease the pressure on the country's finances.

The reason why their Roman army was in a stalemate with Carthage led by Hannibal for so long, in addition to Hannibal's good leadership and solid army management, was not because of Rome's economic constraints and food shortage, which caused them to have an advantage every time, but had to retreat.

Later, after hearing about the success of Great Qin, Scipio was even more itchy, and he wished to immediately issue this decree in Rome.

However, Scipio also knew that the promulgation of this new law would certainly put Rome on the road to becoming a strong country, but the resistance to its implementation would inevitably be quite terrible.

Because it offended the interests of all the nobles, that is, he would face the oppression of the entire Roman aristocracy at the same time!

It's not just fun!

In history, it is not uncommon to see instances where you were assassinated because you violated the interests of the aristocracy, and your relatives and groups were also slaughtered!

After all, not everyone is a figure like the prince of Great Qin Fusu, who has both thunderous means to suppress the domestic riots, as well as the means of appeasement and cooperation, so that he ignores the short-term loss of interests and focuses on the long-term and greater return of interests, so that the entire Great Qin State is convinced by the new policy.

Scipio thought that he was far inferior to Fusu, so because the people close to him were still around, Scipio did not want to involve them, so Scipio did not act rashly for the time being.

It wasn't until Scipio Jr. and his daughter had been sent to Daqin in the name of envoys, and he had no worries, that he began to officially promulgate his new policy.

Although he will suffer an unprecedented crisis, Scipio believes that it is incumbent upon him to make Rome strong!

The result was exactly as Scipio had expected.

As soon as his new policy was proposed, it suddenly stirred up a thousand waves like a stone, and instantly made the aristocratic circles below explode!!

You know, who can come to the meeting of the veterans, isn't that family with a lot of money and countless assets under his name?

Some of the nobles in the Anfen Point may just buy and sell some imported goods from Great Qin, and those who are greedy and bold will even sell all kinds of arms and weapons in addition to these daily necessities!

And these things, according to Roman law, are subject to huge taxes!

If their tax-free rights as nobles are abolished at this time, and every income must be taxed, then their wealth will probably be reduced by half!

Even if you pay it once, it may seem like nothing, but it accumulates over time, which is quite a lot of wealth, although it will not make them feel uncomfortable, but it is definitely enough to break their bones!

After all, the reason why these nobles were able to accumulate their wealth so quickly was in addition to the frenzied exploitation of the civilian slaves below.

The most important point is that as a nobleman, they can be exempt from all taxes, no matter what kind of business activities they conduct.

To give a very simple example, for example, a merchant in Rome brought a large number of finely crafted silk clothes from Daqin, ready to sell them in Roman shops.

Then first of all, when these silk garments were brought into the Roman city-state, he had to pay the corresponding customs duties according to their weight.

After putting the clothes on the shelves as related shops, you need to pay a certain amount of shop tax, and when the merchants finally sell out the clothes, they have to pay personal income tax to the state according to their own income profits.

The taxes before and after this item add up to sometimes even higher than the value of the goods themselves!

Why did Daqin only sell clothes for about 20 yuan, but when he arrived in Rome, it jumped to thousands or even thousands of dollars?

Although there is a reason why the price of these clothes is high when Daqin exports, in the final analysis, it is actually because Rome's taxes are too heavy, so that merchants have to raise prices to ensure their own profits.

At this time, the advantages of being a Roman aristocrat were reflected.

Due to Roman law, all the activities of the Roman nobility were not required to pay any taxes to the state.

Then they don't have to pay any of the cumbersome taxes mentioned above, but can sell these goods at the same high price as other commoners, and the profits are undoubtedly huge.

Crucially, due to the lack of taxes, the cost of goods for the Roman aristocracy was several times smaller than that of the commoners.

Once their goods are unsalable, or they want to suppress a certain store, they can lower the price at will.

In this way, the Roman aristocracy themselves would make a lot of money, but the price economy of the whole market would also become chaotic because of their selfish behavior.

"I'm against it! The tax exemption of the aristocracy has existed since the founding of Rome, and besides, the rights that our nobles enjoy today are completely obtained by our ancestors with their brains and blood and sweat, and those deeds are still recorded in the history books, shining in all kinds of stone sculpture buildings!"

"On the contrary, those untouchables are greedy for life and fear death, and they have nothing to give, but the state still has to provide them with protection, so it is completely natural for them to pay taxes, which can be justified in any capital theory. "

The first to speak was a representative from the Manliu clan.

The power of the Manlius family was enormous, and it was one of the six most prominent noble clans in Rome, along with the Clans of Ernellius.

Moreover, unlike other clans, the Manliu clan was not too involved in politics, and there were no more powerful officials among the internal clansmen, and their clan became famous even because of their great wealth.

And I don't know if it's talent or family inheritance, everyone in the Manliu clan is a merchant. []

First of all, nearly one-third of the shops in Rome are under the name of the Manliu clan and belong to the Manliu clan, and most of the remaining trading houses are almost all under the shadow of the Manliou clan.

Either there are people from the Manliu clan who hold important positions in it, or they have received investment from the Manliu clan, and although these firms are not in the name of the Manliu clan, the Manliwu clan has the right to dividends.

Even half of the business with Daqin was monopolized by the Manliu clan, which shows how huge the commercial empire it established in Rome was, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the number one commercial giant in Rome!

Therefore, after the abolition of the tax exemption of the nobility, it was undoubtedly the Manliu clan that was most affected by the benefits, which is why their representatives were the first to jump out against the new code.

"Your arguments are well-founded and your words are very logical, but you have also said that it is your ancestors, not yourself, who have paid for your brains and blood, and the nobles have benefited enough in the shadow of their ancestors. "

"Of course, I will always remember their glorious deeds, but this is by no means an umbrella to defend my privileges!"

"Besides, Rome has come to a situation of internal and external troubles, life and death, and we must no longer live in the deeds of the older generation. "

"Please think about it carefully, why was Great Qin able to become the world's number one power today?"

"Isn't it precisely because of their suggestion at the Fusu prince that the Great Qin State has the courage to reform and innovate, and knows how to take the essence of the old laws and regulations and remove the dross, which has made the Great Qin develop rapidly and the national strength is strong to the point where it is now!"

According to the information sent by the military I have cultivated, there are many people in our Senate who have colluded with the Carthaginians privately, accepted money from the Carthaginians, and then used their own rights to leak the information of our Roman army to the Carthaginians, and even deliberately delayed and obstructed the war between our Rome and Carthage! This is enough to show that our Rome has been broken from the inside. "

"If a new code is not promulgated, Rome will always be content with the status quo, and it will continue to deteriorate from within as it is now, then let alone revive the glory of the original Roman Empire, I am afraid that even the Carthaginians will not be able to pass this pass, and sooner or later they will have to break through, and finally end up ruined!"

Scipio did not give in at all, and argued with the representatives of the Manliu clan.

"Scipio, Great Qin is Great Qin, Rome is Rome, the two countries are completely different in terms of national conditions and systems, how can they be compared with each other?"

"And in my opinion, the reason why Rome cannot rise like that Great Qin and grow into a world power has nothing to do with the legal system of my Rome, it is pure, it is just the gap between the leaders of the two countries. "

"If you Scipio could have half the ability of the Great Qin to help the prince of Su, I'm afraid that Rome would have risen long ago! Why should we use the way to exploit the interests of our nobles to strengthen the country?"

"In addition, you keep saying that you want to emulate that Great Qin, but so far, I have only seen you follow that Great Qin and live a luxurious and erosive life, but there is no change in other aspects, in my opinion, it is obvious that you want to make a lot of money and enjoy yourself, this time you just want to collect taxes from the nobles in the name of innovation and rejuvenation of the country. "

Cato also stood up against it.

He was Scipio's long-standing political enemy, and the conflict between the two can be traced back to his youth, which can be said to have a long history.

All this time, Cato waited for the opportunity to bring down Scipio, but Scipio has been dutiful to his duties since he became the supreme administrator, and he has left no leverage.

Unexpectedly, Scipio would die this time, risking the disapproval of the nobles of the world, trying to make all Roman citizens, Cato naturally not let go of such a good opportunity, and even directly smeared Scipio on the moral level.

"Cato, you don't have to slander me with those things that don't exist, if I want to make money, why do I need to use such lame means by virtue of my status as the supreme consul?"

"In addition, I admit that whether it is military ability, political means, or even inventions, I am far inferior to the Fusu prince, and I really don't have his ability to turn the tide and turn decay into magic. "

"But one thing I know very well is that if Rome wants to get out of its current predicament and follow the path of revival, then the new code must be implemented!!"

Scipio emphasized again, and his attitude was extremely tough and resolute.

"Oh, Scipio, don't you forget that you are a member of that clan, and if it were not for the strong support of our Cornelius family, and if we had not been able to clear your political enemies out of public opinion, how could you have sat on the position of supreme consul?!

"Now it's good that you dare to sit on our heads and give orders!Scipio, I advise you to be clear, our Cornelius family can make you sit on the position of supreme consul, and naturally we can pull you down!"

The person who spoke this time was from the family of Cornelius, and Scipio himself was from his own clan.

"Alas, after all, it still can't be worth the benefits. "

Looking at his people who stood up against him, Scipio couldn't help but sigh in his heart, he knew that he had basically failed to implement the new code.