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Chapter 516: Purging Unscrupulous Tax Farmers

Paris, southern suburbs.

In an interrogation room on the second floor of the National First Prison, a man covered in tattoos from neck to arms hung his head, nervously declaring, "I swear, Mr. Barna made me do it!

"He was the one who found people to create those fake documents. I just handed them over to the Tax Bureau as he instructed..."

"Your signature is on the handover documents with the Tax Bureau," the police officer opposite him said coldly. "Forging tax documents carries a sentence of five to ten years in prison."

"No..." The tattooed man flinched violently, quickly adding, "I can testify against Barna, oh, and my subordinates can prove it too!"

"You mean Recquedian Mallet de Barna, correct?"

"Yes, that's him."

"Where is he now?"

"He should be on Coals Street..."

"Yes, sir!"

As the interrogation continued, more and more high-ranking tax farmers were implicated, joining the new group of those being questioned.

Concurrently, the assets of all implicated tax farmers began to be frozen.

This was a ruling by the High Court – the forgery case was clear-cut and inevitably involved tax accounts, so freezing assets was perfectly reasonable.

Meanwhile, Tax Bureaus across France, aided by the police, began sealing local tax farming offices and arresting nearly all tax collectors.

Unlike Paris, where authorities had to consider public image and try to make fewer arrests, the local areas had no such qualms.

Local Tax Bureaus were only worried about the impact on next year's tax revenue, so they arrested everyone they could, figuring they could always release them later if no issues were found.

Just two days later, as more and more high-ranking tax farmers confessed, the "document forgery" case began to spread to the magnates of the Tax Farmers' General Assembly.

Inside his carriage, Barlow, one of the magnates of the Tax Farmers' General Assembly, watched with a somber expression as he read the large headline in the Paris Business Journal – "Shocking! Tax Farmers Collectively Involved in Tax Document Forgery, Over 150 Arrested." A suffocating sensation tightened in his chest.

Just two days prior, he had been planning how to adjust the scale of his tax farming offices and increase private liquor sales to maintain his original income levels after securing the salt and alcohol taxes for four provinces, including Reims and Champagne. Instead, he received news that his two most important tax farmers had been arrested for forging documents.

He knew he would soon be implicated.

Forging documents wasn't a major crime for him; customarily, he would only need to pay a sum – likely not exceeding 250,000 francs – to be released on bail. Still, he would inevitably face the trouble of appearing in court, and it would certainly affect his other businesses.

Barlow now somewhat envied Morrel, Goldsmid, and others whose businesses were mostly abroad. If things went south, they could abandon their French ventures and ignore these cases entirely.

He, however, was a native-born Frenchman, with all his roots here. He no longer thought about tax farming; he simply hoped to escape his current predicament.

Soon, the carriage halted in Versailles Palace Square. Barlow disembarked and hurried towards the palace gates, his head bowed.

In the Minister of Finance's office, his face pleaded as he addressed Archbishop Brienne, "Archbishop, I truly wasn't aware of these matters. It was all the idea of those below me...

"Of course, I bear some responsibility. I am willing to pay a fine for this."

He stole a glance at Brienne, then continued, "You see, would 500,000 francs be acceptable... Oh, no, 800,000 francs!"

Brienne simply stared at the table in silence until Barlow increased the fine to 1,000,000 francs. Only then did he calmly look up and say, "Count Barlow, the Tax Farmers' General Assembly's actions have severely impacted the national treasury, forcing me to issue special National Debt to cover the losses anticipated early next year due to tax collection disruptions."

"National Debt?" Barlow paused, then quickly understood and nodded, "Ah, yes, funds are needed to deal with the chaos. Esteemed Archbishop, I am willing to purchase 3,000,000 francs in National Debt to support you..."

Brienne shook his head slightly, extending a single finger.

"1 million..." Barlow began, then gasped, "You want me to buy 10 million in National Debt?!

"That's too much... What's the interest on this special National Debt?"

"Three percent," Brienne stated. "For a one-year term."

Barlow's face turned green.

If he used 10 million francs for tax farming, he could earn 3 million. But if he bought this National Debt, it would only yield 300,000 in interest!

He rose indignantly, gave a slight bow, and muttered, "I'll consider it," before turning and leaving.

With 4 million francs, he could easily manage this whole tax fraud mess, no matter how much he had to bribe. Why should he bother with Brienne's demeanor here?

After he left, Baron Morrel, Bolloré, and other magnates also visited Brienne's office one after another. Even Fould arrived before dinner to "admit his mistake."

However, they all departed with grim faces shortly thereafter.

As dusk fell.

On the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph listened to Brienne's report, frowning slightly. "Only Baron Pélier has promised to buy 7 million in National Debt? The others won't accept?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Brienne hesitated. "Perhaps 10 million is a bit much.

"According to my calculations, about 100 million francs will be needed to meet next year's budget. So, if each of them contributed 6 million francs, that would be sufficient."

Joseph, however, shook his head. "What you're referring to is just the cost of keeping government policies running. If we want to undertake projects like dredging canals or building wooden railways, that amount will be far from enough."

Brienne was startled. After such a massive undertaking as tax system reform, simply maintaining stability would be an achievement. Yet, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was already thinking about canal and rail projects?

Joseph paid no mind to his expression, stroking his teacup as he mused, 'It seems I'll have to apply a bit more pressure on them.'

Previously, it was hard to find a leverage point against these tax farmers, but now with the document forgery breakthrough, how could they be let off easy?

Historically, the Jacobins sentenced all tax farmers to death. While some of those sentences were excessively harsh, it clearly indicated the group's long history of misdeeds.

...

On the deck of the French Navy Frigate "Forest of Wonders," en route to Calvi Port on Corsica, Napoleon gazed at the faintly visible mountain outlines and sighed deeply.

On a small table nearby lay a copy of The Times from over a month ago. It had been translated and read to him many times, and the news about Paoli's rape scandal had carved a huge rift in his beliefs.

He recalled the works of Paoli he had read since childhood and couldn't help but shake his head.

'Everything about helping the Corsican people and driving out foreign oppression was just an excuse to deceive the public!'

Napoleon looked towards the several transport ships trailing behind. They carried two artillery companies and hundreds of infantrymen, a force that would secure his position as commander-in-chief of the Corsican Legion.