Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2180 Iron Fist Taxation

"There is a problem with this store, let me search it." Outside a leather goods store in Enkhuizen, a group of mercenaries with live ammunition rushed over.They deftly surrounded the gate, then smashed it open with the butts of their guns, revealing the panicked people inside.One of them was wearing an elegant dress, tall and not particularly flustered, which made the East Coast sergeant major who led the team spot the target at once, and went forward to arrest him with a pistol.

"Who are you? Thugs! Fanatical thugs! I am a member of the Enkhuizen City Council, let me go, thugs!" The gentleman wanted to resist subconsciously, but after being knocked to the ground by a few gun butts , He didn't make a sound anymore, and was dragged away by two soldiers like a dead dog.

Others in the store looked at these wolf-like soldiers with trepidation.Fortunately, they were not the target of the East Coast soldiers. After arresting the city councilor, the group of soldiers left in an orderly manner without doing anything to them.Their troubles were evidently not over, however, when a tax collector from The Hague came in with two armed entourages, intending to go over the store's accounts and talk to them about the latest tax items. .

The United Provincial Government is really struggling financially.They are now heavily in debt, and they spend about 400 million East Coast silver dollars every year just to pay off the interest on the national debt, not to mention the larger amount of principal.Purchasing war materials from various countries, paying Prince Waldeck’s military salary, rebuilding the navy, recruiting mercenaries (including the payment to the east coast), maintaining the operation of the government, and attracting allies, each of which will cost countless money. Relying on the existing taxation is definitely not enough, mainly relying on the issuance of long-term treasury bonds and businessmen to raise funds.

But whether it is persuading businessmen in the Netherlands and Zeeland provinces to buy government bonds or make donations free of charge, it has now reached a bottleneck period.In particular, the 4000 largest wholesalers in Amsterdam, who represent businessmen’s attitudes, were very surprised that the nobles and commoners in the three northern provinces did not pay taxes, and demanded that the government take immediate action, otherwise they might refuse to buy the new issue of value 20-year long-term national bonds of [-] million dong.

The speaker of the third-level parliament, Konrad van Boiningen, carefully understood the complaints of the merchants and believed that their dissatisfaction was justified. Therefore, he immediately asked the east bank mercenaries led by Mao Junzhong to enter the most stubborn Friesland and Georgia. The two provinces of Ronningen assisted the tax collection officials sent by the parliament to collect taxes.

As for why it is only these two provinces, it is actually easy to understand.Gelderland, one of the three northern provinces, has been approved by the three-level parliament before, saying that it will collect taxes in accordance with the new tax law formulated by the government, and at the same time form a militia unit to go to the southern Netherlands as the reserve army of Prince Waldeck .

In addition, the populous Drenthe area was also bought by Van Beuningen.The conditions he bought were very simple, and at the same time, the people in the area could not refuse, that is, to officially establish a province in the Drenthe area, give them political power, and allow them to send representatives to the three-level parliament to vote.There is no doubt that having political power has been something that the general population of Drenthe has dreamed of for many years, and their voting rights have been delegated to other provinces until now, which has damaged many of their interests.They couldn't refuse the condition offered by Van Beuningen this time, and they didn't want to refuse it. Therefore, they happily reached a compromise with the United Provincial Government, allowing tax collectors from the three-level parliament to come to collect taxes, and at the same time form a larger militia team. Join the anti-French coalition.

In this way, the only remaining provinces are Friesland and Groningen, where the Orange family has a very strong influence.Of course, people of insight in these two provinces are not unaware of the embarrassing situation they are facing now, but whether it is the influence of the Orange family or their internal disputes, they are unable to respond to the parliament's tax increase request in a timely manner. up.Not responding, in Van Beuningen's view, is rejection, so it is normal for some bad things to happen to them.

Of course, if we look at it from a fiscal point of view, collecting taxes from provinces such as Friesland cannot actually make up for the huge financial deficit faced by the United Provinces government, but this behavior itself is actually a statement from a political point of view. Are the people and nobles in provinces such as Lisland willing to share the difficulties and make their own contributions and sacrifices for the country.Businessmen in Amsterdam and other places have paid a lot. If you still insist on nothing, how can you convince others?It is not your prerogative to hide behind and do nothing, you have to do something about this war.

Therefore, after the negotiation failed, the east coast army, known as the "notorious" cruelty, withdrew from the battlefield and began to act as a violent machine to assist the Hague government in tax collection.As for whether the people on the east bank have also gained some benefits in this legitimate taxation operation, it is not humane. Anyway, the money sent back to the mainland by the officers and soldiers of the detachment has never been broken, and the amount seems to be It is also quite a lot, far exceeding the military salary they received.

Enkhui was once the main port of departure for Dutch whaling ships and one of the important commercial ports for trade with Russia. There are actually not a few rich people.At the same time, it is also an important producing area of ​​tobacco and dye crops in the Netherlands, one of the largest leather manufacturing centers, the most important production base of whale products, and a seafood distribution center that is also known as Hollen. Naturally, people from the east coast will not come here empty-handed. And return.In fact, before they went to this leather shop to arrest a pro-Orange family MP, they had already legally seized the MP's main property, and the real property could not be taken away. It had to be handed over to the United Provincial Government for auction, but some It is not difficult for floating money to do some tricks when counting and counting, which seems to be the main reason why they did not rob people at will when they arrested people in this leather goods store-since the money has been allocated, why bother to do something in public? What about the things people criticize?We are soldiers from civilized countries!

And this arrest in the leather goods store is obviously not an isolated case.In fact, in most cities in the two provinces, such actions have been taking place and have never stopped.In two months, people from the east coast have arrested more than 60 "gentlemen", including city councilors, provincial councilors, and nobles who are not councilors but have great local influence.It's not that these people have resisted before, but they don't have military power in their hands, so they persuaded some militiamen to come to fight against them, but the people on the east bank didn't show mercy at all, and directly opened the way with cannons, killing these people crying for their fathers and mothers, and turning their backs on their backs.

It's not that the Dutch haven't experienced being "repaired" by foreign mercenaries. For example, the Orange family likes to use German mercenaries to clean up their political opponents, but it's the first time that they have been so ruthlessly done by heretic mercenaries.In particular, these two provinces are still the traditional territory of the Orange family, and they have never been the only ones who can mess with others, and there is no reason for others to mess with them. Therefore, this experience is particularly unforgettable, and it made them realize the power of the iron fist on the east coast.It is not that no one in the United Provincial government has objections to this, but in the current political climate, any public opposition may be labeled as "supporting the Orange family". The congressman dared to take this kind of political risk, so the behavior of the East Coast Army completely lost control and supervision, and all kinds of forces in the two provinces were immediately wiped out.

It can be seen from this that although Van Boyningen has always shown himself to be personable and knowledgeable, he is actually a ruthless politician in essence.In order to achieve his goals, he can withstand any pressure and challenge any bottom line.A few years ago, the councilors from the three northern provinces were very proud in front of him. At that time, he had been talking to them kindly and advising them gently, but who would have thought that it was this thick-eyed and thick-eyed man How could the guy be so ruthless?He had already used the East Coast mercenaries once before in the event of forcing the provincial councilors to vote, but it did not attract everyone's attention at that time. This time, he used the name of taxation to clean up the remnants of the Orange family in Friesland and other provinces. , it completely made people realize that a lion is a lion after all, and it wants to eat people!

"Whether the tax collection is fake, whether the clean-up of political enemies is true, or borrowed our hands, this old Fan is also a cruel person. Damn, in fact, I am most annoyed by this kind of literati who are gentle on the outside and vicious on the inside. When will we stab us in the back?" In the Enkhuizen City Hall, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun, the commander-in-chief of the East Coast Army Task Force, was playing with a beautiful oil painting and said with a smile: "Lieutenant Yang, what happened here Alright, let’s go to the Black Sea for a while?”

"Detachment Captain, you are joking again. No one knows when the matter here will be settled." Lieutenant Yang Chengdong who followed behind him also smiled and said: "The French army in the Southern Netherlands is attacking fiercely, Prince Waldeck The situation is not optimistic, we may be drawn to the front line at any time. I want to go to the Black Sea, but I have to have a chance!"

"Hehe, don't worry about this. The French also have their own difficulties. These years, there has been a famine and trade sanctions. How can they spend so much energy? Butteville's offensive seems fierce, but their casualties are not small at all. , the consumption of materials is even more astronomical. Not to mention, Louis XIV also dispatched [-] elite soldiers from the front line, and wanted to ship them to Ireland to turn the tide of the war. Frenchman, it’s not that easy! Same as the local traffic conditions, sooner or later it will be a pool of mud." Mao Jun mercilessly complained: "Compared with the situation here, I think the situation in the Black Sea is more interesting."

(End of this chapter)