Chapter 43
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 43: The Last Straw
One million five hundred thousand pounds.
In 1937, one million five hundred thousand pounds had the purchasing power equivalent to one to two billion US dollars in 2020, which was a huge sum of money for individuals and private organizations, but quite meager for a country.
Prussia’s current revenue generation ability was poor, with last year’s government total revenue being around 2.1 million pounds, the Hohenzollern family’s revenue being over 600,000 pounds, while during the same period England had a domestic financial revenue of 29 million pounds.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia borrowed a lot of money and expanded its army for revenge. However, after the war, they found themselves unable to even pay the interest on the debts. The King of Prussia had to give land to many people with tax cuts and exemptions to somehow get rid of the huge debt.
Prussia fought fiercely against Emperor Napoleon but ended up with a group of rich landowners, who didn’t have to pay taxes. This caused the government’s income to plummet. With the previous king’s mismanagement, when Leader One took over, Prussia was really broke.
Leader One borrowed 1.5 million pounds in short-term national debt to start building the framework for industrialization. But these troublesome people were causing delays.
Prussia currently had around 2900 Junker landowners. Excluding those who had already declined, there were still more than 2200 families. Among them, about 410 Junkers were granted tax exemptions during the Napoleonic Wars. They didn’t have to pay any taxes and took advantage of national crises to grab more land, now owning over 5000 hectares each.
There were also nobles who could gain immense wealth through various means. During the Napoleonic Wars, over a hundred lords were granted tax exemptions. These nobles not only avoided taxes but also enjoyed many privileges and allowances from the Hohenzollern family.
The Junkers who paid taxes were good, the nobles who paid taxes were good, while the ones who didn’t pay taxes were considered parasites.
Leader One proposed industrialization as a national policy, but these people opposed it for various reasons. For instance, they complained that the 1.5 million pounds were borrowed from inferior people and that industrialization would lead to agricultural depression, rural depopulation, and even air pollution.
Their opposition mainly came from wanting a bigger share of the benefits in the industrialization process. These Junker landowners, Grand Aristocrats, and the tax evaders hoped to grab a larger piece of the pie for themselves.
From mid-September to late October, Redel had Anna and others revise the plan at least six times, each time expanding their benefits. However, they remained unwilling to agree, showing insatiable greed for more.
On October 29th, the parliamentary session ended, and Anna went to meet the prince regent holding her plan which had been rejected for the seventh time.
Leader One, with his arms crossed lazily, lay on the sunken part of the sofa, asking about the situation in parliament.
Anna slammed the plan on the desk, looking extremely angry and frustrated.
The seventh industrial plan took thirty percent of the budget to silence different social classes, giving subsidies, discounts, interest-free loans, and shady bidding processes.
The parliament members were still against this plan.
Anna stormed out in anger, leaving the parliament members thinking they had won again as they moved on to discuss the next topic of whether to install trash bins in Berlin City.
Ten minutes later, Anna returned holding a Flintlock pistol.
She pointed the gun at all the parliament members and scolded them for two hours, silencing everyone and preventing anyone from leaving.
Despite this, the seventh revision of the industrialization plan still did not pass. The parliament members remained stubborn, raising black cards during the voting. Anna couldn’t bring herself to shoot anyone and could only storm off to complain to Leader One.
"Now I should go to the newspaper, those lawmakers will definitely bad mouth me in the newspaper." Anna’s blood pressure rising rapidly.
Leader One still lazily lay on the sofa.
"Anna, you go back and rest first, I will handle this matter properly."
Rude countrywoman breaks into parliament with a gun, disrupts the normal proceedings and threatens the esteemed gentlemen lawmakers
The second financial secretary appointed by the prince regent is a ruffian and scoundrel, what is happening in Prussia.
Useless King of Prussia elevates a female rogue into the cabinet, dismissing the wise ministers
These are the headlines of the evening newspapers. At the same time the newspapers were being sold, the lawmakers also used their power to organize protest groups.
Over five thousand people gathered in front of the Redel-Catherine Palace. This time it was not a peaceful protest, under the instigation of the lawmakers, mobs threw stones and garbage, damaging the main gate and perimeter walls of the estate.
The lawmakers behind the scenes waited for over an hour, but seeing no reaction from the prince regent and feeling bored, they let the protest group disperse.
"He really is a weak leader, the most cowardly ruler in Prussia’s history."
"Yes, let’s reject the proposal a few more times, then the profit will be increased to fifty percent."
"Fifty percent is too much, I think forty percent is enough. After all, we are pillars of the nation and should selflessly sacrifice some of our own interests to help the progress of the country."
Several heavyweight parliament members quickly agreed on the matter, stating that unless the prince regent allows everyone to take forty percent of the industrialization budget, the parliament will never pass the proposal.
How did Your Highness the Regent respond to the situation at the center of the event?
At 9 PM that night, a special meeting of the General Staff Department was held at the Redel-Catherine Palace, attended by Marshall Steinmetz, General Ron, General Moltke, Colonel Catherine, and Colonel Hans.
The Marshal represented the traditional military forces, while the other four were close advisers of Leader One.
Leader One sat at the head of the long conference table, with the others standing on either side.
"Marshal, please have a seat. There are chairs available," Leader One said casually.
"Um..no, Your Highness the Regent I’ll stand and listen." The marshal glanced back at the chair, but sensed something was wrong. A sudden late-night emergency meeting definitely meant trouble.
"I want to know if the army needs anything recently," Leader One asked.
The marshal looked around cautiously, feeling like… like they were setting him up today, the atmosphere… seemed off to him.
The marshal didn’t mention conditions. Ron spoke on his behalf, saying that a two percent increase in visible military expenses and a three percent increase in secret military expenses would be enough.
Leader One glanced at Catherine.
Catherine immediately placed nineteen pages on the table and asked the marshal, "Marshal, can you please double-check if there are any military personnel on this list? I’ve already screened it, but there might be some people I don’t recognize. Please help identify and exclude any military personnel involved in military interests."
The marshal quickly glanced through the list, seeing many names. He couldn’t recognize them at that moment and might need three to four days.
Leader One said, "Marshal, you have three days to strike off the names on the list. Please try to remove anyone with friendly ties to the military, then hand the remaining list to Catherine. We will start cleaning up the bugs in three days."
The marshal said, "Yes, Your Highness."