Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The leading Tax Officer stepped forward, his face devoid of any expression, "You are Jacques Ethor de Boka from Turaine, aren't you?"

Turaine was Boka's hometown. He immediately nodded, "Yes, I am Boka."

Then the Tax Officer pulled out a copper badge and showed it to him, "I am Pierre Gaspar Shommet, an inspector from the Reims tax office. You are now suspected of illegal taxation, intentional harm, fraud..." Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire

"Ah, there are quite a few charges, we'll discuss these in detail later. Oh, and your ID number is 1037083123, right?"

Thanks to the relentless efforts of the Minister of Civil Registry, every part of France, except for the most remote areas, had now universally adopted ID cards.

Boka's expression darkened as he nodded, "Yes."

"Then it's correct," Shommet signaled to the Tax Officers behind him, "Arrest him immediately."

"Yes, Chief!"

"What are you trying to do?" Boka took a step back and threatened, "I'm friends with Baron Le Corne, the municipal commissioner; you better be careful!"

"Municipal commissioner?" Shommet scoffed and turned to his subordinates, barking, "Move it!"

"Do you know who I work for?" Seeing the municipal commissioner was ineffective, Boka had to resort to mentioning his boss, "It's Viscount Borolei!"

"Oh?" Shommet's interest was piqued, and he began taking notes, "Tell me in detail how you work for Viscount Borolei."

Boka was stunned for a moment, and upon seeing that Shommet remained unmoved, he quickly put on a smile and frantically gestured with his eyes, whispering, "Don't be so serious. If you could perhaps rest outside the town for an hour, I could give you 2,000, no, 3,000 francs."

Unexpectedly, the tax inspector in front of him did not display the greed that other bureaucrats typically did; instead, he seemed extremely angry.

"You dare bribe an official?" Shommet snapped, "This will add another charge to your crimes!"

He was a follower of Robespierre, a "pureblood" Jacobin whose mind was filled with contributing everything to justice and freedom, creating a better country, and Boka's behavior was undoubtedly an insult to his ideals.

Just then, Boka's butler arrived with seven or eight fierce men armed with weapons.

Seeing Boka's unpleasant expression, these men immediately stood in front of him, separating him from the Tax Officers.

More people kept arriving; they were all Boka's tax collectors. Most of them were previously local thugs and bullies, and having become tax collectors, they continued their domineering behavior, beating those who owed taxes at will, thus developing an extremely arrogant habit.

One of them looked at Boka, "Master, what should we do?"

"Drive these guys away," Boka gritted his teeth.

He could tell that the Tax Office was serious this time. So, he decided to first drive away the Tax Officers, and then immediately seek protection from Viscount Borolei.

Shommet's Tax Officers stepped forward to push aside those tax collectors but were staggered by a shove from the opposition.

As more tax collectors arrived, their numbers quickly grew to nearly 20, surrounding Shommet and his men.

A loud "bang" made all of Boka's men flinch.

Shommet lowered his raised right hand, blew the gun smoke away from the muzzle, and told the Tax Officers, "In cases of a mob attack on Tax Officers, you are authorized to shoot to kill immediately!"

His men immediately formed a circle back-to-back, with the muzzles of their flintlock guns pointed at the thugs.

Boka turned and ran towards the courtyard, shouting at the same time, "Don't worry, anyone who gets caught, I'll certainly bail you out!"

Pierre Gaspar Shommet drew another pistol and aimed at the chest of the tax collector who was the most arrogant a moment ago, "Step aside."

When the man remained unmoved, Shommet did not hesitate to pull the trigger.

Another blast, the villain was blown backwards, his chest a bloody mess.

The remaining tax collectors suddenly recalled stories they had heard of Tax Officers killing attackers in the streets, and they immediately associated the feared reputation of the Tax Officers with these men before them.

A few of them trembled as they reached toward their waists. They too had pistols, and with the advantage in numbers, if a real fight were to break out, these Tax Officers would surely be no match.

Seeing this, Shommet immediately bellowed, "Fire!"

Although the six Tax Officers were extremely nervous, they still carried out the command, their flintlock guns spitting flames simultaneously. At a distance of only five or six steps, they instantly struck down six tax collectors.

"Prepare bayonets!" commanded Shommet, as he drew his own sword.

The ten or so remaining tax collectors, looking at the bodies on the ground, felt their legs go weak. They no longer had the courage to draw their weapons and fight, and they turned to run in terror.

"Everyone stop!" Shommet roared, "Or be shot dead immediately!"

Those tax collectors, usually so imperious, had even forgotten that the Tax Officers' guns were not yet reloaded. They froze right there, some raising their hands in surrender.

Shommet personally led one of his subordinates crashing into Boka's villa. In no time at all, he came out with a pistol at Boka and his butler's backs.

The tax farmers had already heard the gunshots, and now seeing the bodies on the ground, they were so frightened that they fell to their knees, their trousers soaked with a foul-smelling liquid...

Meanwhile, in Stian Town.

Although Tax Farmer Leconu was bound hand and foot, he still arrogantly shouted, "Huh, you dare arrest me?

"Let me tell you, in three days, someone will come to fetch me. By then, I will make you regret this!"

A Tax Officer, remembering this guy's past deeds from the records, smashed the butt of his gun into his mouth, and his yelling stopped abruptly.

Meanwhile, in Reyon, a fierce battle erupted.

After an exchange of fire between the subordinates of Tax Farmer Aubon and the Tax Officers, a melee ensued, and ultimately, with the help of the citizens and at the cost of four officers wounded, the Tax Officers managed to kill or arrest all the perpetrators.

In the following three days, Tax Offices across France were mobilized, arresting nearly a thousand tax farmers or their associates.

These were only the tax farmers where issues had been uncovered. There were still long queues of citizens raising complaints at various Tax Offices. It was foreseeable that many more tax farmers would be arrested in the coming days.

…

On the second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

Joseph, looking over the list submitted by Robespierre, finally relaxed his expression a bit.

He picked up a pen and signed his name behind the list, then handed it back to Robespierre, "You have done well. Let's begin the trials, then. Oh, those who violently attacked the Tax Officers, can be tried together to save time."

He eventually did not fully emulate the Jacobins' method from history.

Current France was still maintaining good order; there was no need to destroy it out of anger. Trials were still necessary.

It was just that the courts would probably be burdened for a while. However, most cases had clear evidence—the tax farmers' accounts, tax documents, and so on, were all in the hands of the Tax Offices, making it easy to verify whether there were any discrepancies.