"Compared with the rural landlords who run the granges, the merchants, bankers, and industrialists in the cities earn dozens of times more, live in much more luxury, and can fully afford the current tax burden, and you insatiable fellows never work in the fields yourself, but only make a lot of money with your mouth, what else is there to complain about!" The more Grigory spoke, the angrier he became.

"But—"

Jacob Fogel was still about to argue, but the old saint was no longer interested in listening, and flicked his sleeves and turned to leave the banquet hall.

"That old stubborn is finally gone." Jacob Fogel let out a sigh of relief as Grigory's figure disappeared through the door.

Jacob Fogel sold out the rest of the "Honorary Priesthood Certificate" on behalf of Frank, and the guests left after receiving the certificate, and the charity dinner ended unhappily.

Of all the people, only Colossa, who was in a good mood, was so troubled by Gregory that the dinner was over an hour early, and he could return to Canaan before midnight. However, before he could slip away, he was grabbed by Palatina.

"Don't go yet, His Highness Frank still has something to say to you."

Grofer scratched his head helplessly, and had to follow her back to the banquet hall.

At this time, there were only a few people left in the hall, all of whom were high-ranking and powerful people, and some topics that were inconvenient for discussion in front of the public could be openly discussed.

"John, what do you think of the question that Old Man Gregory just asked?" Frank returned to the hall, calm and unanimous at the mention of Gregory.

"It's just an old stubborn who is outdated, saying some stupid things that seem to be reasonable but are actually ridiculous." John Lauer shook his red hair and made no secret of his contempt for Gregory, "He only saw the merchants, industrialists and bankers earning a good life, but he did not see the risks that these clever and resolute businessmen took for it, the world does not need everyone to take the lead and work in the fields, the social division of labor determines that everyone should shine in the industry they are good at, the old man only sees that businessmen make more money than landlords, and it is reasonable to conclude that businessmen pay more taxes than landlords, How did he not see that the businessmen created much more social wealth and jobs than the landlords who only exploited the peasants? In the final analysis, this world is driven by money, and those who cannot see through this truth are doomed to be abandoned by the times. ”

Frank did not immediately respond in the affirmative or negative to John Lauer's fierce criticism, but pondered for a few seconds, then turned to face Prince Canaan with a smile: "Colossa, tell me what you think." ”

Grofa was checking the time, but he didn't expect to be asked by the crown prince by name, so he hurriedly stuffed his pocket watch into his pocket and smiled a little awkwardly: "My opinion is not exactly the same as that of Mr. John Lauer, first of all, I have to admit that the social class represented by merchants, industrialists and bankers is indeed the main force leading the progress of our times, and the state should take more into account the importance of commercial trade when formulating economic policies." ”

"Mercantilism, that's what we've always advocated." John Lauer interjected coldly.

Gloroda ignored him, and then said to Frank: "But I don't agree with Mr. John's opinion on agriculture, if there is no stable supply of food, I am afraid that urban industry and commerce will not be able to develop, and now that the empire has lost the Far Eastern Province, the main agricultural region, I don't know if you have noticed, the news of the rebellion in the Far East reached the Holy City, and the first to react was not the Imperial Cabinet, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the grain market. ”

"Actually, I have noticed this as well," said Corofa, who did not intend to criticize the Reich Cabinet for its inresponsiveness, but the Count of Müller still came out to defend himself, "and the extraordinary surge in grain prices since yesterday indicates that the market is pessimistic about the situation in the Far East, and that the self-proclaimed clever speculators have taken advantage of this opportunity to hoard grain, and to employ shameless people to spread alarmist rumors through the street tabloids, with the aim of taking advantage of the panic of the population about the rebellion in the Far East to raise the price of food and make a fortune, and the Cabinet has responded, tasked with a committee to control food prices, which it is believed will soon bring the market back to normal. ”

"The response of the Prime Minister is very timely, and this fluctuation in food prices proves in one way that His Excellency Gregory is not conservative and outdated in his concern about the agriculture of the Empire," Colossa added, "of course, this does not mean that I fully agree with His Excellency Gregory's ideas, such as the reduction of taxes on the landlords, and the reduction of the tax burden on the landlords, which will reduce the rent of the tenant farmers and pay more wages to the servants and servants of the household, which I deeply doubt, in the case of Canaan, The landlords would only give the tenant farmers just enough food to survive, and the benefits of the tax cuts could not be conveyed to the tenant farmers at the bottom of the social ladder or even to the serfs who had lost their personal freedom. ”

"It is precisely because we recognize the magnitude of the problem that we are committed to promoting reform." Frank's face was heavy.

Grofa looked up into the eyes of the crown prince, and said something a little more earnest: "Frank, I am Canaanite, please allow me as an outsider to tell the truth that is not very pleasant, the empire is not only outdated in the inquisition system or the tax system, the rural issue is the most important, we all know that the Far Eastern provinces are the largest agricultural region in the empire, and the rebellion in the Far East is the general outbreak of rural contradictions, Your Excellency Gregory believes that this issue has not received enough attention at present, I deeply agree, The revolutionary movement in the Far East is like a wildfire in the steppe, if left unchecked and ignored, the wildfire will eventually burn all over the wilderness, cross the borders of the country and spread to the empire and even to our own Canaan. ”

"How do you control it? What are your thoughts? A sneer from Baron Bazel suddenly came from beside him.

"Different regions have different social problems, I don't know much about the empire, I don't dare to express my opinions, but I know more about the situation in Canaan, the Far East is a close neighbor of Canaan, the social environment and cultural traditions are similar, and the situation is similar, I guess the Koras family in power in the Far East will take the opportunity of the success of the revolution to ......"

"Canaanite, watch your words! It was not a revolution, but a conspiracy rebellion! Before Corofer could finish his sentence, he was sharply interrupted again by Bazel.