The Restoration of Rome: In the Name of Augustus

Chapter 26 Tax Policy Proposals

Jocelyn stood with his head bowed in the center of the council chamber, his fingers unconsciously clenching beneath his robes. The shadow of the throne enveloped him, and the only sound in the air was the faint crackling of the candlelight.

He leaned forward slightly and asked hesitantly, "Your Majesty, you summoned me here because of Guy..."

The king's voice came from the throne, as weak and clear as ever, but icy in tone: "Uncle, you've been...getting quite close to Guy lately..."

Jocelyn lowered his head even further and cried out urgently, "It was Guy who falsely claimed to be acting on the king's orders! I... I have always been doing my best to manage the kingdom's finances for you!"

A very soft, almost mocking sigh came from behind the mask: "To the best of your ability?" The king sat up abruptly, his gaze, sharp as an eagle's, fixed on him through the eyeholes of the mask. "Even that extra dinar allocated to Reinald counts as 'to the best of your ability'?"

Jocelyn's throat tightened, and he was about to explain when he was stopped by a hand on the throne, wrapped in a white linen glove and slightly raised.

"Uncle," the king's tone suddenly shifted, the oppressive aura lessening, his voice becoming almost probing, "tell me, setting aside all these political troubles, what do you most desire in your heart?" The gaze behind the mask's eye sockets calmly locked onto him, "I want to hear the truth."

Jocelyn was silent for a moment, and when she looked up again, her eyes held a complex mix of emotions.

"Edessa," his voice lowered, "that is... my lost homeland."

The king nodded slightly, as if he had expected this.

"So, in your opinion, Uncle," he tilted his head slightly to one side, his silver mask gleaming coldly in the candlelight, "what kind of person is Guy? Or rather... what kind of monarch would he be?"

Jocelyn's brow furrowed, the image of Guy's volatile expression and Reinald's fanatical eyes flashing before his eyes. "He... is exceptionally brave, a sword of the Church and the Knights. But..." he chose his words carefully, "he is only a sword."

The king let out a barely audible sneer: "A sword? You overestimate him, Uncle. A sword... if it's wielded without knowing why or where it's pointed, what's the difference between it and a butcher's knife from a country farmer? Let alone a king like him?"

His voice suddenly rose, weak and lacking in energy, yet each word was clear and resonant in the silent air: "If he had remained obedient, he might have been able to secure a small corner of the land with the help of his fortified city. Unfortunately, he is surrounded by voices that crave glory through war, rather than genuinely caring about the kingdom's survival. The biggest difference between him and that madman Reinald is this—Reinald at least served under me and turned the tide in Montgisa; he had the right to be mad! But what does Guy have?"

He leaned forward slightly, his tone becoming more serious: "Uncle, if you still want to see the day when the cross flies over Edessa, you need to broaden your horizons. That brute can't give you the future you want."

The king's voice finally softened, carrying an undeniable tone: "Our peace with Saladin is like an hourglass. In these limited days, what we must do is to reform the finances, broaden tax sources, cut all unnecessary losses, and save every bit of strength to prepare for the storm that will inevitably come in two years."

Jocelyn's facial muscles twitched slightly, as if he had just gone through a fierce internal struggle. Finally, he took a deep breath, and his eyes regained the sharpness and focus they usually displayed when handling official business: "I understand, Your Majesty. You intend to reform the finances?"

The king nodded: "Before that, I first need to understand the kingdom's current tax revenue sources."

"Your Majesty," Jocelyn cleared his throat and answered smoothly, "the kingdom currently has roughly six sources of taxation: land and agricultural tax, poll tax, commercial customs duties, church tithes, judicial fines, and vassal taxes."

"The largest share of these taxes are commercial taxes, customs duties, and tithes, but the final tithe is controlled by the church, and I have no right to interfere."

The king pondered for a moment and said, "Regarding the tithe, I will discuss it with Archbishop Heraclius. As for the commercial tax... tell me the details."

Jocelyn hesitated and said, "Well... it's hard to say. There are many subcategories, most of which overlap and conflict with each other. There has never been a clear official definition. It's a complete mess. But even so, the final amount deposited into the treasury is still quite considerable."

"Is that so?" The king leaned back slightly, resting on the cushion of his throne, and changed the subject, saying lightly, "Uncle, I recently read some books that Earl Raymond brought back from Cairo, which record the wisdom of the Emperor of the distant Eastern kingdom of Seres."

"In Seris, all major commercial transactions require government approval and permits. This reduces commercial disputes caused by breach of trust and also regulates the market, keeping merchants' turnover and profits under their supervision."

"Secondly, for handicraft workshops, they use a unique algorithm I've never seen before: 'raw material purchase tax deduction,' which allows artisans to deduct the raw materials they purchase for production before tax."

"Thirdly, and most importantly, and with the greatest wisdom, they abolished all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levied only one tax on commercial transactions—the 'Commercial Value Added Tax.' For example, a blacksmith might spend ten silver coins to buy iron, forge it into armor, and then sell it for fifty silver coins. This tax would only be levied on the forty silver coins of added value."

The King, looking at the stunned Jocelyn below, added in a relaxed tone, "Uncle, I'm an amateur when it comes to these things; it's all just hearsay. However, I think there might be something to learn from them. I'd like to entrust this matter entirely to you, to give it a try first. What do you think?"

Jocelyn was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't understand why the king would suddenly come up with such a wildly imaginative and almost impossible idea.

He instinctively questioned, "Your Majesty, this... is unbelievable! Merchants' costs, prices, and profits are their secrets. How can we possibly expect them to obediently declare or even calculate so-called 'added value'? Even if they were forced to agree, they would still collude to falsify accounts!"

"The merchants of Genoa and Venice are our lifeblood. They come here because our commercial taxes are clear and straightforward. Now, with this complicated system where no one can say for sure how much tax they'll ultimately pay, they'll be sailing to Alexandria in Egypt tomorrow! Even... even if the merchants are willing to cooperate, how are we supposed to establish regulations, calculate, supervise, and collect the taxes? This will require hundreds, even thousands, of scribes, accountants, and tax collectors! Your Majesty, this enormous sum of money in salaries and expenses could very well exceed the revenue generated by the new tax itself! We'll go bankrupt before the treasury!"

Jocelyn's chest heaved as he gasped for breath, "And...and the nobles and the church wouldn't agree to this level of reform!"

Jocelyn took a deep breath, lowered his head, and gritted his teeth: "Your Majesty, please forgive my bluntness, but while our past methods have not been perfect, they have been stable and predictable. Your new plan, however, sounds wonderful, but in reality, it's like... Satan's temptation..."

The king was not angered by his questioning; instead, his voice was unusually calm: "Uncle, I understand all your concerns. You are right. If it were implemented fully tomorrow, the result would be exactly as you predicted—a complete disaster."

"So what I need is not for you to believe it will succeed right now. What I need is for you to believe in me. Let's not see it as a decree about to be promulgated, but as... a turbulent river that we both need to cross together, and on the other side of the river..." the king leaned down and whispered, "may lie a gold mine that could make the nation powerful."

"We won't alert anyone. Aren't you in charge of Akka City? We'll just choose Akka for a pilot test for now. You and I will personally evaluate it and see if it's a brilliant idea or a foolish dream..."