The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1196 Taxation and Population (Part )
In addition to these reasons, the Austrian Empire was one of the few countries that allowed Gypsies to join the army, and thanks to Franz's reforms, soldiers of the Austrian Empire who died in battle could receive a generous pension.

The so-called pension may not be worth mentioning for nobles and rich people, but for common people it is a considerable income and can even change the fate of a family.

It is an especially fatal attraction for the gypsies living on the edge of the world, so they fight very bravely, even at the risk of their own lives.

The army of the Austrian Empire was actually the place where Gypsies were most respected. After all, the brave on the battlefield were definitely worthy of respect.

In addition to joining the army, the profession of tour guide is also very suitable for gypsies. Gypsies are naturally strong in social attributes and their ability to adapt to new things and new environments make them naturally suitable for this profession.

After having money, Gypsies in the Austrian Empire usually made different choices from Gypsies in other countries. They usually chose to settle down or narrow their wandering range within the Austrian Empire. After all, no one really likes a life of wandering.

The Albanians who converted to Catholicism gave Franz even more headaches. He originally thought that after signing the agreement with the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans would relocate all the Albanians.

Originally, this was an acceptable situation for both parties. The Ottoman Empire gave up provinces that were difficult to control and had negative returns, while at the same time preserving its population and believers.

For the Ottoman Empire, protecting believers and population is undoubtedly a plus, and cutting off the rotten meat can save a lot of energy.

For the Austrian Empire, reducing religious and ethnic issues was more important than anything else. As for the manpower needed to develop the land, it could also solve the problem of population distribution and employment for some people.

However, man proposes, God disposes. Some Albanians declared conversion and pledged allegiance to the Austrian Empire, which made both Austria and the Ottoman Empire very embarrassed.

The Ottoman Empire was strongly opposed to accepting this group of traitors, while there was a constant stream of flattery in the Austrian Empire, especially the church, which praised this behavior.

After all, in Eastern Europe, if you want to convert a nation, you have to use coercion and inducement for hundreds or even thousands of years, but the Austrian Empire only took less than a year.

But this kind of large-scale collective conversion actually attracted a lot of hatred, and Franz could even feel the cold murderous intent coming from St. Petersburg.

The British and French were so happy that their mouths were crooked. They didn't expect that the religious issue could be used in this way. The Austrian Empire's occupation of Albania itself had caused dissatisfaction in Russia. Although it was a transaction, Russia was still dissatisfied.

Now that a large number of potential Orthodox believers have converted to Catholicism, this has already stepped over Russia's red line.

Franz's wedding, which was supposed to be held within the year, was postponed again, and the Russian side even raised the question of whether the queen could choose not to convert.

In fact, the Habsburg family and the Austrian Empire were not opposed to interracial marriages (except for Judaism).
However, raising such issues publicly in diplomatic occasions cannot be taken lightly, as it concerns many aspects such as national honor and influence.

As a result, the senior officials from both sides who participated in the meeting refused to give in, and the situation was once very ugly.

How to deal with these converted Albanians is also a big problem. If the previous strategy is used, the Catholic countries will probably scold them to death.

But if you do it too well, then this kind of trouble will follow one after another, which is really a headache.

At this time, if the Jews, Gypsies, and converted Albanians were included, the population of the Austrian Empire had exceeded 50 million.

However, according to the usual algorithm, the above three types of population will not be included in the total population.

In fact, there are still about 20 to 30 Irish people in the Austrian Empire. They are currently only regarded as laborers, not as citizens. Even so, the population of the Austrian Empire did not decrease much due to the war. After being supplemented by Germany and Italy, the population is still nearly 4700 million.

This number is far stronger than the 3860 million during the same period in the history of the Austrian Empire, and is not much different from the 5200 million of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I.

But this number still cannot satisfy Franz, and cannot meet his ambitions for the future.

Therefore, Franz did something that was extremely risky and unpopular - he abolished the poll tax.

The abolition of the poll tax would reduce the Austrian Empire's direct tax revenue by 20 million florins, which was almost one-fifth of the Austrian Empire's fiscal revenue during the same period in history.

If Franz really dared to abolish the poll tax in history, he would definitely encounter unprecedented resistance and would most likely be regarded as a madman, and the country's finances would most likely collapse as a result.

However, this time it was different. The abolition of the poll tax would only reduce the Austrian Empire's fiscal revenue by one thirty-eighth.

Twenty million florins were nothing to the thriving Austrian Empire, and Franz's influence and oppression were unmatched by any emperor in Austrian history.

In addition, this was not the first time that Franz had done such an unorthodox thing, and the top leaders of the Austrian Empire had long been accustomed to it.

As for the common people, who have barely had time to celebrate, how could they possibly object?
The nationalists and the so-called middle class have been beaten repeatedly by Franz over the years. If they have any memory, they will not jump out to cause trouble at this time.

The abolition of the poll tax, such a big thing, did not cause any opposition in the Austrian Empire. Newspapers and the public were full of praise, and the clergy and nobles did not even have the courage to point out the situation behind the scenes.

On the contrary, some foreign media and institutions were pessimistic about the Austrian Empire, especially mainstream economists, because this was totally inconsistent with the economic common sense of that era.

Everyone knows that the poll tax is unfair, and those economists even understand it better than Franz, a later generation.

However, the poll tax was not officially abolished in the UK until 1991, so there must be reasons why it existed for so long.

The biggest advantage of the head tax is that it is simple and easy to implement, does not require complex assessments and calculations, has low tax collection costs, and does not require a large tax agency.

It has wide coverage and is relatively difficult to evade taxes.

It is also more likely to be supported by the rich and the nobles, promoting what they call social fairness and equality for all. In a certain country, the slogan for collecting poll tax is "equal taxation is the first step to equality for all."

But in Franz's eyes, these benefits were not important, let alone tenable. Hidden populations were not uncommon in Europe in the 19th century, and the amount of tax evasion depended entirely on the mood of local officials and gentry.

In 1848, the Hungarians captured able-bodied men in a small town of only people. During the Italian War, the Austrian Empire discovered millions of Italians who should not have existed.

Let's talk about the so-called social fairness and equality. A big banker like Solomon Rothschild paid the same amount of head tax as an ordinary dock laborer. Such equality is worse off.

In the eyes of the rich and the nobles, this is the most powerful proof that all men are created equal. However, Franz is an emperor and Austria is an empire. When it comes to paying taxes, fairness is obviously more important than equality.