68 Episode 6 New Fiscal Reforms A Famous Merchant (1/2)

Hercule is a human being.

It is true that Hercule has various ideas and knowledge that are not found in this world, and because he is not bound by the fixed concepts of this world, he can think flexibly. ...... However, he is only human, and his knowledge is limited.

It is true that Hercule may be smarter than humans, but he is still a human being, and there are limits to what he can do, and he can make mistakes.

It is true that Hercule is an ”agent of God” on earth, but this is only a setting, and in reality he is neither an agent nor a child of man.

Therefore, Hercule's abilities are limited.

In the past, the Lemurian Empire placed a great deal of emphasis on agriculture.

Or rather, in this world.

In this world, commerce and industry are still considered lowly.

However, Hercule believed that there was a way to make a living in commerce and industry.

Therefore, he monopolized coffee and bone ash porcelain, encouraged the cultivation of commodity crops such as sugar and cotton, and formed guilds of merchants to collect taxes from them in order to stabilize his finances.

However, Hercule was neither a merchant nor an economist.

There are limits to his abilities.

And the bureaucrats of Lemuria, while competent, were not very bright in economics.

So ......

Hercule decided to hire an expert.

”Let me start by saying thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shylock and Mr. Antonio, for accepting my offer to be Minister of Finance, Commerce and Trade.

”No, Your Majesty. I'm honored to be asked to serve in such a prestigious capacity.

I will certainly do my best to live up to your expectations.

I was summoned to the audience room by two human men.

One of them had dark hair and a slim figure. The other was a middle-aged man with a stern face, dark eyes, and a nose as sharp as an eagle's beak.

This man's name is Shylock.

He is a six-star man whom Hercule approached to become the Minister of Finance, and he is a merchant who mainly works in finance.

The other man has brown hair and is of medium height. A young man with a gentle face and light brown eyes.

This man's name is Antonio.

He is a Messianic man whom Hercule approached to be the Minister of Commerce and Trade, and is a merchant who is mainly engaged in trading.

Hercule met these two men about five years ago ......, that is, when Hercule was twelve years old and had started his financial reform.

After listening to the opinions of the bureaucrats, Hercule began to reform the tax system and monopolize local products, but ...... his policies were not perfect.

However, his policies were not perfect. These two people pointed this out.

The fact that a person who is not a nobleman or a bureaucrat can give an opinion to the emperor shows a great deal of courage and shows that he thinks he is right.

So Hercule took the opinions of the two ”experts” and modified the policy.

The result: ...... was a great success.

Hercule really wanted to appoint both of them at that time. ......

But they both had their own problems.

First, Shylock.

He was a Six Star.

The Lemurian Empire was a Messianic nation, and the Six Stars were the enemies of Messianism, who had betrayed and murdered the Messiah, the Son of God.

There was a lot of opposition to appointing them.

Then there was Antonio.

He was a messianist, but not from the ...... Lemurian Empire.

He was a trader from the western city-state of the Republic of Adleria.

He himself emigrated to Nova Lemuria long ago and became a citizen of Lemuria. ......

Since the Republic of Adorlia was an enemy of the Lemurian Empire, vying for control of the Album Sea and the trade zone, there was much opposition to the idea of taking Antonio.

At the time, Hercule's political base was not yet stable, so he decided not to appoint him.

At present, however, there are no political forces in the Lemurian Empire that are hostile to Hercule.

So we can hire him with impunity.

Now, let's get you two to work. I'm going to outline the second round of tax reform. I want you two to work out the details with the bureaucrats.

Hercule then told them the details of the second round of tax reform.

The contents of the previous tax reform, or ”First Tax Reform”, are as follows

Commercial Tax

Before the reform: ...... Collected from each merchant.

After the reform: ...... The tax is collected from each merchant by forming a guild and receiving a payment from the guild.

Per capita tax.

Before the reform ......The tax is collected regardless of the amount of property.

After the reform: ...... Messianic Orthodox and Achaeans were exempted. After the reform: Messianic Orthodox and Alexians are exempted.

Land Tax.

Before the reform: ...... ”Payment of money” is recommended (...). Inspection Law. Not including per capita tax (low amount).

After the reform: ...... ”Payment by money” is recommended in principle (...). Pay a fixed amount of tax every year. Per capita tax is included (high amount).

Emancipation Tax.

Before the reform: ...... No change

After the reform: ...... unchanged.

These reforms were carried out with an emphasis on how to secure financial resources easily and simply without incurring labor costs.

As a result, there are four areas where the reforms are not thorough.

One is that the burden of the commercial tax per merchant may be extremely heavy for some and extremely light for others, or that the tax may be levied 'equally' regardless of their income.

The burden per merchant is decided by the guild and not by the state.

Therefore, there was a possibility of inequality or excessive equality among merchants.

Next, the land tax.

First of all, this method of collecting land tax has a major drawback.

This is because it does not take into account the value of money, the fluctuation of the price of gold.