Novels online

Chapter 492: The Church, King of Greed

Archbishop Beaumont had previously promised the Crown Prince his cooperation in overhauling the bureaucracy, and he had been quite diligent about it lately, publicly condemning corrupt officials at every opportunity.

At his insistence, local churches would periodically parade images of Gehazi through the towns, delivering sermons. Gehazi, a figure from the Bible, was punished by God with severe leprosy, turning his entire body ghastly white, all due to his greed. The paintings, at least, were visually striking.

However, as the situation gradually calmed, the church had mostly stopped mentioning the matter. Beaumont bringing it up now was simply an attempt to impress Joseph.

Fouché accepted a glass of wine from a priest, shot a disdainful glance at the verbose Beaumont, and scoffed quietly, muttering,

"Hmph, those officials are hardly as greedy as you are."

Joseph turned to him, curious. "What do you mean?"

Fouché realized he had spoken out of turn, but under the Crown Prince's gaze, he could only lower his voice. "Your Highness, many in the church know that Archbishop Beaumont's personal fortune amounts to three or four million francs. That money..."

Having once been a priest himself, he was privy to a good deal of internal church information.

Joseph exhaled, his brow furrowed in a nod.

He knew it, too. As members of the First Estate, how could the clergy not be corrupt? Especially since France strictly limited the church's secular power, leaving its members with little other pursuit than amassing wealth.

Nevertheless, he currently had no choice but to cooperate with the church. Compared to the aristocracy, the clergy was somewhat more compliant and more reliant on the royal family, making them easier to control.

To implement national-level reforms, he needed to rally forces he could use, dividing the cooperation between the First and Second Estates—the clergy and the nobility.

Once the various reforms in France were largely complete, a crackdown on the church would inevitably be put on the agenda.

For one, the fact that one-tenth of the nation's land was in the church's hands simply could not be ignored.

Historically, after the French Revolution succeeded, the National Assembly managed to survive its initial financial crisis by confiscating church lands and issuing paper currency, "assignats," using these lands as collateral.

Furthermore, the church still collected the Tithe. Although the actual tax rate wasn't the full 10%, hovering around 7%, it remained a significant burden on the national economy.

After everyone received Holy Communion, Beaumont concluded his tirade against corrupt officials and signaled to a nearby priest.

The priest hastily produced a piece of paper adorned with patterns and dense text, holding it up for everyone to see.

Beaumont smiled faintly. "This is the 'Wealth Protection Certificate' that the church has introduced, in accordance with God's revelation. By purchasing this certificate, one receives a blessing, thereby avoiding harm from greedy individuals."

Joseph's eyes widened in astonishment. The church truly was adept at innovation, even managing to create a certificate out of something so trivial!

However, he could only watch helplessly.

After all, to persuade the church to hand over its stored grain, he had promised to let them sell "improved Blessing Cards" (Indulgences).

It was evident that the church had been busy over the past year or so, rolling out all sorts of certificates to make money.

Joseph subconsciously clicked his tongue, his anticipation for the gains from reforming the church growing even stronger.

...

Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica.

In a second-floor room at the home of Councillor Girolamo, fellow Councillor Bartorio pushed several papers to the center of the table, then surveyed the others in the room.

"These were sent by Monsieur Ennio from Charleston. Oh, he went to America at my request four months ago."

Another Corsican councillor picked up the top sheet, reading aloud,

"In Nabos, Charleston, there have only been three Madame Massimos in the last nearly 30 years. Two of them are still alive; the other passed away early this year.

"The deceased Madame Massimo never mentioned having Corsican relatives and was impoverished, with all her possessions not exceeding 30 dollars.

"However, some townsfolk saw an Italian-accented man contact her nephew, her only relative, after her death. Afterward, her nephew began claiming she had once visited Corsica."

"So..."

Bartorio slammed his hand on the table, fuming, "So Madame Paoli has no American aunt whatsoever! Even if she did, she would at most leave her a 30-dollar inheritance, not 10,000 dollars!"

"Please look at this again."

He pulled two documents from the papers and handed them to the councillor beside him.

The latter couldn't understand English and handed the documents back.

Bartorio jabbed a finger at the two papers. "These are certification documents issued by Charleston City Hall. This one is for a villa located on the west side of Charleston, and this one is for a large cotton plantation in the southern suburbs. Both belong to Madame Paoli."

"Didn't you say Madame Paoli didn't inherit any property?" Girolamo, his informant, immediately feigned confusion.

"This is no inheritance at all; look at the transfer date on it." Bartorio gritted his teeth. "Late April. That means these are properties Madame Paoli recently acquired!"

Girolamo pointed to the price on the certification documents, exclaiming, "The house and land together total 100,000 dollars! Where did she get so much money?"

All seven councillors in the room immediately grimaced.

Oscar Paoli had always proclaimed his sole dedication to restoring the nation, claiming to possess no personal wealth, and that even his London residence was a gift from supporters. Yet now, a colossal sum of 100,000 dollars had suddenly appeared.

Without anyone needing to remind them, they all immediately thought of the 25,000 Pound Sterling in aid, equivalent to 120,000 dollars, which had been accidentally destroyed in a fire a few months prior.

Paoli's acquired properties in America, combined with the 10,000 dollars his wife inherited in the Netherlands, precisely matched that figure.

"I think the matter is quite clear now," Bartorio stated. "Paoli has betrayed us."

Someone raised a question: "But he has no reason to do that..."

"No, he does." A lean, brown-haired man who had remained silent until now spoke up. "Actually, early this year we received intelligence that the British seemed to be negotiating with France and might no longer offer Monsieur Paoli asylum."

The speaker was the official in charge of intelligence for the Corsican Restoration Organization. He took a deep breath and continued, "I reported this to Monsieur Paoli, but he said he feared no Frenchman and told me to disregard it."

Girolamo immediately interjected, "In that case, Monsieur Paoli must have been planning to leave Britain since then."

He had intended to reveal the news about the British withdrawing their protection for Paoli himself, but someone had beaten him to it.

The brown-haired man pondered, "No, it's more than just leaving Britain. I believe he may have made a deal with the French."