In the city of Rome, in the residence of the supreme consul.

It was very lively here today, with countless warlords and nobles coming in and taking their seats in the living room.

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

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

And the reason why they gathered together today is very simple. Scipio convened a meeting of senators in the name of the highest consul of Rome.

“Everyone, first of all, I am very happy that you can be invited to come to my residence as the supreme consul to hold this meeting of elders.”

Scipio stood on the podium and glanced around below. After seeing that the seats were packed, he nodded with satisfaction.

“What is the real purpose of my meeting of elders this time? Everyone who is well-informed must have heard about it.”

“Yes, to issue a new decree!”

“In view of the fact that our frontline in Rome is tight and the national financial situation is very tight. Therefore, in order to resist the eager Carthaginians and prevent the territory of our Roman Empire from falling into the hands of thieves, I have decided to follow the policy of governing the people of Qin Dynasty. From today on, Cancel the tax exemption rights of all Roman nobles!”

“All Roman citizens, regardless of their status, whether they were slaves, commoners or nobles, as long as their profits exceeded a certain amount through business, agriculture or other side businesses, they had to pay corresponding taxes to the national treasury.!”

Scipio said categorically, without any room for change on his face.

As for the promulgation of the new decree, he had actually been thinking about it for a long time.

Ever since he learned that Fusu proposed this in Da Qin, he immediately realized the benefits of this decree. Not only can it alleviate the oppression of the common people by the nobles, but it can also greatly alleviate the financial pressure on the country.

The reason why their Roman army was in a stalemate with Carthage led by Hannibal for so long was because Hannibal did have good leadership and managed the army well.

In addition to being as solid as a rock, the reason was not only due to Rome’s economic constraints and food shortages, which caused them to retreat every time despite clearly having an advantage.

Later, after hearing about the success of Great Qin, they even It made Scipio extremely itchy, and he wished he could promulgate this decree in Rome immediately.

However, Scipio also knew very well that although the promulgation of this new decree would allow Rome to embark on the road to becoming a powerful country, it would not be easy to implement when implementing it. The resistance he received would inevitably be quite terrifying.

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

This is no joke!

Historically, because of violating the interests of the nobles, It is not uncommon for him to be assassinated and his relatives and tribes to be slaughtered.

After all, not everyone is like Prince Fusu of the Great Qin Dynasty. He has both thunderous means to suppress the riots of domestic powerful people and methods of appeasement and cooperation, so that they can Ignoring short-term profit losses and focusing on longer-term and greater profit returns, the entire Qin State was convinced of the new policy.

Scipio believed that he was far inferior to Fusu, so because of his closeness, The people were still around, and Scipio did not want to implicate them, so he did not act rashly for the time being.

Until the young Scipio and his daughter had been sent to Daqin in the name of an envoy, and he no longer had any worries, he He has just begun to formally promulgate his new policy.

Although he will suffer an unprecedented crisis, in order for Rome to become stronger, Scipio believes that we have the duty to do so!

The result is exactly as Scipio expected.

His new policy has just been proposed , suddenly stirred up a thousand waves like a stone, and instantly caused the aristocratic circle below to explode!!

You know, who can come to attend the meeting of elders, isn’t that family wealthy, with countless assets to their name?

Some of the more settled ones The nobles may only buy and sell some imported goods from the Qin Dynasty, but those greedy and bold nobles, in addition to these daily necessities, may even sell various arms and weapons!

And these things, according to Roman law, are all necessary Those who pay huge taxes!

If their tax-free rights as nobles are canceled at this time and they have to pay taxes on every income, then their wealth will probably be reduced by more than half!

Even if they pay it once, it may feel like nothing, but in this way Accumulated over time, that is a considerable amount of wealth. Although it will not make them depressed, it is definitely enough to make them nervous!

After all, the reason why they nobles can accumulate so much money so quickly In addition to the crazy exploitation of the civilian slaves below, the most important thing about their own wealth is that as nobles, they have the right to be exempted from taxes. No matter what kind of business activities they carry out, they can be exempted from all taxes.

To give a very simple example, let’s say a businessman in Rome transported a large number of finely crafted silk clothes from Daqin and planned to sell them in shops in Rome.

So first of all, when these silk clothes were transported to the Roman city-state, he needed to pay corresponding duties according to their weight.

After the clothes are put on the shelves and used as related shops, they need to pay a certain shop tax. When the merchants finally sell out the clothes, they have to pay personal income tax to the state based on their own income and profits.

The sum of the taxes before and after this item is sometimes even higher than the value of the product itself!

Why did Daqin only sell clothes for about twenty yuan, but when they arrived in Rome, the price jumped to thousands or even thousands of yuan?

Although there was a reason why Daqin’s prices for exporting these clothes were relatively high, in the final analysis, it was actually because Rome’s taxation was too complicated, which forced merchants to increase prices to ensure their own profits.

At this time, the advantages of being a Roman noble became apparent.

Due to Roman law, all profit activities carried out by Roman nobles did not need to pay any taxes to the state.

Then they don’t have to pay any of the numerous and complicated taxes mentioned above. Instead, they can sell these goods at the same high price as other civilians, and the profits are undoubtedly huge.

The most important thing is that because there are no taxes, the cost of goods for Roman nobles is several times smaller than that of common people.

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

In this way, those Roman nobles themselves made a lot of money, but the price economy of the entire market would also become chaotic because of their selfish behavior.

“I object! The tax-free rights of the nobility have existed since the founding of Rome. Besides, the rights that our nobles enjoy today were completely obtained by our ancestors with their brains and blood and sweat. Those deeds are still recorded in history books and in various It is a shining stone in the building!” (To read exciting novels, go to Feilu Novel Network!)

“On the contrary, those untouchables are greedy for life and fear death, and have not paid anything at all. However, the state still has to provide them with protection, so it is completely natural for them to pay taxes. This can be explained in any article of Capital.”

The first person to stand up and speak was a representative from the Manliu clan.

The Manliu family is very powerful. Like the Ernelius clan, it is one of the six most prominent aristocratic clans in Rome..

And the Manliu clan is different from other clans. They are not too involved in politics, and there are not many high-ranking officials among the clan members. The reason why their clan is so famous is that it is even ranked among the Roman clans. The six most prominent clans rely entirely on their huge wealth.

And whether it is talent or family inheritance, everyone in the Manliu clan is a talented person in business.[]

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. Most of the remaining business houses also have the shadow of the Manliu clan.

Either there are members of the Manliu clan holding important positions in them, or they have received investment from the Manliu clan. Although these businesses are not under the name of the Manliu clan, the Manliu clan has the right to dividends.

Even half of the business with Da Qin was monopolized by the Manliu clan. This shows how huge the business empire he established in Rome was. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the number one business tycoon in Rome!

Therefore, after the abolition of the nobility’s tax-free rights, the people who will be most affected by the interests are undoubtedly the Manliu clan. This is also the reason why their representative was the first to come out to oppose the new code.

“Your argument is well-founded and what you say is very logical, but you have also said that it is your ancestors who put in the brains and blood, not yourself, and the nobles have achieved success under the shadow of their ancestors. enough benefits”

“Of course I will always remember their glorious deeds, but this is by no means a protective umbrella to protect my own privileges!”

“Furthermore, Rome has reached a situation of internal and external troubles and life and death. We must no longer live in the deeds of the older generation.”

“Please think about it carefully, why did Great Qin become the most powerful country in the world so quickly?”

“Isn’t it precisely because of the advice of Prince Fusu that the Qin State had the courage to reform and innovate, and knew how to take the essence and discard the dross of old laws and regulations, which enabled the Qin Dynasty to develop rapidly and become as strong as it is now?!”

“.

There is a well-known saying in the Qin Dynasty, which is that if you want to fight against the outside world, you must first make peace with the inside.

According to the intelligence sent by the military I trained, many people in our Senate secretly colluded with the Carthaginians to accept the Carthaginians.

People’s money, and then used their own rights to leak information about our Roman army to the Carthaginians, and even deliberately delayed and hindered our war between Rome and Carthage!

This is enough to show that my Rome is broken from within.

“If a new code of law is not promulgated, Rome will always be content with the status quo and continue to deteriorate from within as it is now. Let alone restore the glory of the Roman Empire, I am afraid that even the Carthaginians will not be able to pass this test. I think it will be broken sooner or later, and in the end the country will be destroyed and the family will be destroyed!”

Scipio refused to give in at all and argued with the representatives of the Manliu clan.

“Scipio, Da Qin is Da Qin, and Rome is Rome. The two countries are completely different from their national conditions to their systems, so how can they be compared with each other?”

“And in my opinion, the reason why Rome could not rise like the Qin Dynasty and grow into a world power has nothing to do with my Roman legal system. It is purely just the gap between the leading figures of the two countries.”

“If you, Scipio, were half as capable as Prince Fusu of Qin, I, Rome, would have risen long ago! Why should we use the method of exploiting the interests of our nobles to strengthen the country?”

“In addition, you keep saying that you want to imitate the Great Qin, but so far, I have only seen you imitate the Great Qin and live a luxurious and decadent life, but there is no change in other aspects. In my opinion, it is obviously what you want. He is amassing money wantonly and coveting enjoyment. This time he just wants to collect taxes from the nobles in the name of innovation and rejuvenation.”

Cato also stood up to object.

He has always been Scipio’s political enemy. The conflict between the two can be traced back to their youth. It can be said that it has been a long time.

Cato has always been waiting (to get money) There was a chance to overthrow Scipio, but Scipio had fulfilled his duties since he became the top administrator and left no clues.

But he didn’t expect that this time Scipio would commit suicide and risk the disapproval of the nobles in the world in an attempt to let him go. All Roman citizens knew that Cato would not let go of such a good opportunity, even directly smearing Scipio on a moral level.

“Cato, you don’t need to slander me with those baseless things. If I want to make money, with my status as the supreme consul, why should I use such lame means?”

“In addition, I admit that whether it is military ability, political means, or even inventions, I am far inferior to Prince Fusu. I do not have his ability to turn the tide and turn corruption into magic.”

“But one thing I know very well is that if Rome wants to get out of its current predicament and implement the road to recovery, then the new code must be implemented!!”

Scipio emphasized again, his attitude extremely tough and decisive.

“Oh, Scipio, don’t forget that you are a member of that clan, and without the strong support of our Cornelius family and us fighting against all odds to clear out your political enemies, how could you have sat down? To the position of supreme consul?!

“Now you are lucky enough to dare to sit on our heads and give orders! Scipio, I urge you to think clearly. Our Cornelius family can put you in the position of supreme consul, and naturally we can also pull you down!”

The person who spoke this time came from the Cornelius family, the same clan that Scipio himself belonged to.

“Alas, the benefits are still not worth it after all.”

Looking at the tribesmen who stood up to oppose him, Scipio couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. He knew that his implementation of the new code basically failed.


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