Greece’s Roman Road
Chapter 146: special period
The next day, Prime Minister Alexandros hurried to the Royal Palace on Syntagma Square to meet King George.
In the council room, seeing that the king and the crown prince were discussing matters, the prime minister did not care about anything else and said directly to King George: "Your Majesty, the public opinion in Greece these two days is almost all criticizing the government."
"If left unchecked, it may lead to unrest."
"I implore Your Majesty to grant the government the right to temporarily censor the news to calm the situation"
King George seemed not at all surprised by the Prime Minister's words, instructing him to sit down.
"Prime Minister, when I went to the port of Piraeus to inspect the day before yesterday, I met a family, dragging their family with them, carrying their luggage and luggage on their backs, and obviously they were going to emigrate." King George pressed the Prime Minister's question not to list, Instead, he started telling a story.
"As a king, it is natural to feel humiliated when encountering subjects emigrated to other countries."
"I went up and asked them where they were going and why"
King George talked eloquently. Although he was anxious, Alexandros could only be patient at this time.
Hearing that it was an immigrant, Alexandros disapproved.
At the end of the 19th century, people from Greece immigrated to North America every year, ranging from tens of thousands to thousands.
At this time, North America was vast and sparsely populated, with rapid industrial development and a large shortage of labor.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Greeks immigrated to North America.
King George continued; "They told me that they wanted to go to relatives in Smyrna (on the coast of the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor). The taxes in Greece were too high, and they were busy all year round, just to be able to eat."
Alexandros widened his eyes with a wonderful expression.
He faltered and said, "Here, maybe they have wealthy relatives, in Ottoman's place."
King George, as if he had never heard of it, continued: "Didn't Ottoman be defeated by us? Why did the Greeks go to Asia Minor instead?"
Due to the high foreign debt of the government, and the previous government in response to the war, Prime Minister Terry Kupis raised taxes several times.
Although the war is over now, the government's finances are still tight, and the temporary increase in taxes during the war has not been abolished.
Moreover, the foreign debts of the Greek government, until now, have always been repaid with interest due every year, and the principal has not been repaid at all.
The current tax system in Greece is also an equal tax system. Everyone pays the same amount of tax regardless of income gap.
Therefore, although the Trikupis government seems to increase taxes only a little each time, for the people of the middle and lower classes, every increase makes them feel unbearable.
Because under this tax system, people with different incomes have different tax bearing capacity.
For those who are rich, such a tax increase is not worth mentioning.
The two are in stark contrast.
People with higher incomes feel that taxes in Greece are low.
On the other hand, the poor with low income feel that the taxation in Greece is very high.
Such unfair taxation has resulted in a weak tax collection capacity in Greece.
"Frankly speaking, Prime Minister, do you think Greece should not change?" Constantine interjected.
The army also has grievances against the government now.
Originally speaking, in peacetime, the Greek army was increased by 10,000 people, and the strength of a standing division was established. As a result, the meeting was over, and there is no shadow of appropriation until now.
Two days ago, the chief of the general staff was full of anger, and hurriedly came to Constantine, saying that the pension fee for the Greek soldiers was clearly stipulated, but now the payment has shrunk, causing the soldiers of the army to come. Blame the officer.
"Greece did win the war, but do you have to digest these newly acquired territories?" Constantine said this, but he was also angry.
"Albania is still under military control. If the Greek government does not take measures to bring Albania under the control of the Greek government, when will you wait?"
Originally, last time the government deliberately held a meeting on Albania's affairs, but after that, nothing happened.
"Do you have to wait until the Italians have recovered from the political chaos of the defeat of the war and have time to meddle in Albanian affairs?"
Without money, the government can't do anything.
Constantine's complaint made Alexandros look embarrassed: "Your Highness, there is nothing you can do. You know the financial situation of Greece."
"I know that the government has no money. If the current situation continues, if no changes are made, there will be no money in the future."
Alexandros saw that Crown Prince Constantine was targeting the tax system, and he said with bitterness in his heart, "The reason why the government adopts a tax-sharing system is that it is easy to operate and everyone pays the same tax."
Originally thought that the prime minister's post was a sweet pastry, but now it seems that it has become a hot potato.
King George has been deeply touched since he encountered the immigration incident.
The Greeks' own kingdom was not welcomed by the Greeks, and after discussing with others, they also intended to reform.
Alexandros was in the conference room, walking back and forth anxiously, thinking about the opinions of the king and the crown prince.
The next day, Greek Prime Minister Alexandros delivered a speech to lawmakers at the National Assembly Building, demanding tax reforms and higher taxes for high-income earners in response to the financial crisis.
The Prime Minister, who was under tremendous pressure in all aspects, had no choice but to test the reaction of the parliament and the people.
A stone stirred up a thousand waves.
Obviously, by doing this, the interests of high-income earners have been lost, and naturally they have to fight back~lightnovelpub.net~ The next day, the Athens newspaper also changed its tone and began to criticize government officials, corruption, inefficiency, social services Difference.
At the same time, he began to accuse Greece of the party system, which divides the party and does not care about Greece's national interests at all.
Especially when Trikupis was the prime minister, because Greece borrowed a lot of debt for infrastructure construction, the contractors followed behind the officials, bribing officials, giving kickbacks, and collusion between officials and businessmen to get the project.
Officials and businessmen prospered, while the Greek government was heavily in debt.
The unrest caused by the hosting of the Olympic Games intensified.
On the morning of July 8, Constantine himself sat in the Defense Ministry building in Athens.
"Okay, everyone, Greece is now in a special period. From now on, there is no order from the General Staff. Any Greek army must not be moved at will. Violators will be punished with treason." Constantine said with a serious face to the army. The officers of the General Staff announced.
Almost all the senior members of the Greek army were present.
"Your Highness, is this too much of a fuss?" Manugianaski asked suspiciously.
"Making a fuss? Do you know how many wars have been caused by conflicts over taxation in history?" Constantine said angrily.
"Especially the first division of your army, which is stationed on the outskirts of Athens, you must be careful not to make mistakes at this time."
