The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 356 Assessing the Situation
On July 1735, 7, an order from Prince Chen's palace was sent to Huayang City (now Annapolis Royal), requiring each Acadian household to pay a special war tax of ten gold dollars to deal with possible border conflicts.

At the same time, Chen Wangfu also issued a temporary ban, requiring all trading companies and individuals in the country not to trade with the New France territory.

It is reported that after the Chen government failed to negotiate with the French about the construction of Fort Beausejour by the New French colonial authorities on the north bank of the Petite Ning River (now the Mississippi River), it decided to fortify Fort Anlu (now Amherst, Nova Scotia), build walls, set up artillery positions, and station military armed personnel to engage in a military confrontation with the French on the other side of the river.

Since we need to build a fortress, it will naturally cost money.

In view of the suddenness of this incident, building cities and forts was not included in the annual financial budget of the State of Chen, and there was no extra funds in the official treasury. However, in order to maintain border security and protect all citizens of the kingdom, a special war tax could only be temporarily levied to raise funds for the construction of part of the fortress.

As for the temporary ban issued by Prince Chen's palace on trade with the New France territory, it was naturally a proper countermeasure to the French military provocation.

You have already made military threats against us with your fangs bared, so why should I do business with you?
That's definitely aiding the enemy!

Therefore, after receiving this ban, although the Arcadians were somewhat dissatisfied about not being able to do business with their former compatriots, they did not dare to challenge the authority of the Qi people and were prepared to accept it honestly.

Of course, with Chen's almost nonexistent naval power, it was impossible to stop the smuggling trade they carried out in private.

However, they were rather disgusted with the temporary collection of special war taxes by the Chen Wangfu, believing that this was an "evil policy" and a disguised infringement of their Acadian property.

If you can temporarily impose special taxes today on the pretext of war, can you impose taxes on us again tomorrow with other excuses?

Ever since you people of Qi began to rule Arcadia, oh, or should I say Qingchuan Prefecture, you have started to levy taxes on us. Moreover, you are even more greedy than the English in the past. All added up, the combined tax rate exceeds 20% a year.

If you Qi people had not brought in an Irish mercenary army to stir up trouble and showed your bloody side to the local unruly Mi'kmaq people, believe it or not, we would have dared to resist taxes violently.

In 1710, when the English occupied this place, they asked us Acadians to pay taxes, but we gave up the taxation with various excuses.

Therefore, during the English rule, the Acadians lived a very comfortable, stable and prosperous life.

The Qi people levied a 20% tax on them, which was extremely painful for everyone, but it was not unacceptable. At least this tax rate was definitely much lower than in mainland France and the New France territory.

Even though the Chen government levied a special war tax of ten gold dollars from each Acadian household due to the risk of French invasion, in everyone's eyes, the amount was actually not large and could be afforded by searching one's pockets.

However, the Arcadians were worried that the Qi people would start to break the rules and frequently impose taxes on them under various excuses, thus emptying everyone's pockets.

In addition, they also heard from various channels a piece of news that made them feel unfair, that is, in the collection of special taxes for this war, the Chen government also treated the people under its jurisdiction differently.

For those immigrants from the East who had settled there for less than five years, the special war tax was reduced by half, and those who had settled there for three years were exempt from tax.

Why?

We are all citizens of the State of Chen. Just based on the length of time we have settled there, we are required to levy taxes and fees in different tiers. This is obviously unfair to us "old citizens"!

Furthermore, ever since Qi established colonial rule in Qingchuan Prefecture, we Acadians have been excluded from government management agencies and have not been given the "autonomy" we deserve.

Didn’t you, the State of Qi, claim that rights and obligations are equal?

We Acadians pay the full amount of taxes every year as you require, but why don't we get the corresponding rights?

So, on the third day after receiving the tax collection order from Prince Chen's Mansion, several Arcadian representatives in Huayang City submitted a petition to the local county government, requesting the cancellation of the special war tax levied on them.

"Was the Acadians' petition secretly instigated and encouraged by the French in the north?" He Qichuan, the magistrate of Huayang County, tapped the petition on the desk with his fingers, his face changing from gloomy to happy.

"I have not yet found any French instigators." Hou Youshan, the head of the Huayang County Police Department, replied with a guilty conscience, "However, if you have any doubts about these Acadians, I can tie up a few of them at night and torture them severely. I think I can find out something."

"What if we can't get anything out of you?" He Qichuan glared at him. "If you are tortured into confessing and this causes civil unrest, should this county go and apologize to King Chen, or should you hang yourself to make amends?"

If Chen Guotai wasn't so short of talent, he wouldn't have appointed a loser like you as the chief of the police department?
We didn't even receive any advance news about such a big event as the local people's petition and demonstration.

If they gather a crowd to riot or raise an army to start an uprising, I'm afraid my county government will be destroyed and people will be beheaded. I guess they won't even know why until they die.

"Sir, I have been leading the local soldiers to clear out the Mi'kmaq in the forest recently, and I really can't spare the extra energy to keep a close eye on the Acadians in the county." Seeing the magistrate's dissatisfied expression, Hou Youshan complained, "Sir, you also know that my police department has only twelve people in total. With so many things to do in and out of the city, there are no extra people to do other things, so there will definitely be omissions."

"You are so impatient!" He Qichuan rebuked, "As the chief of the police department of this county, you should be responsible for maintaining public order. How can you shirk your responsibilities because of a lack of manpower? Now, the relationship between our Chen State and France is getting tense. The top priority should be to maintain internal stability to avoid internal strife and civil unrest, which will be taken advantage of by the French. This time, the Acadians in the county are excited about the collection of special taxes and are protesting. If we are not careful, it will cause a civil unrest. So, put aside other matters, mobilize manpower, and do your best to find out the reason, and don't let the scoundrels disrupt the order of Huayang."

"Yes, sir!" Hou Youshan clasped his fists and responded.
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"Oh my God, are you guys planning on having a war?"

Dei Menavar looked at the muskets and swords scattered on the ground in front of him, first let out a low cry of surprise, then opened his mouth wide and remained silent for a long time.

"Father Bevier, we... we have just submitted a petition to the Qi people, and they will certainly consider our request carefully. So... so we don't have to do this..." De Lar Vorendey swallowed a few times and stammered.

"Gentlemen, the Qi people will not consider your feelings." Father Belvi said with a serious expression: "They have never had the Lord in their hearts, and they will not regard us Acadians as their own people. If the English are robbers, then the Qi people are demons, demons without souls."

Yes, the people of Qi have no souls, and they have never believed in the existence of God in their hearts.

When the first group of immigrants from Qi arrived in Arcadia seven years ago, Father Bevier was extremely delighted and thought that as immigrants from the civilized world, they must be full of confusion in their hearts when they came to this wild new world from their distant homeland. They might have some desire to convert to God and would be easily influenced by the Lord and become Catholics.

However, reality gave him a heavy blow. The people of Qi did not believe in God at all.

Oh, that's not right. In their hearts, they do have some faith in God, and in church, under the cross, and in front of the priest, they will also shout "God bless you."

But they did not regard Catholicism as their only faith.

Oh, God, can you imagine?

In the world of Qi people, there are countless "gods of heaven", including Guanyin Bodhisattva, Nuwa, Buddha of the West, Taoist Tianzun, Mazu, as well as countless Kitchen God, God of Wealth, God of Land, Dragon King...

Even their dead ancestors will accept their worship of incense and pious kneeling!
The people of Qi believed in polytheism.

Or an atheist.

When faced with any difficulties, they seem more willing to believe in human power rather than rely on supernatural "gods".

Over a period of more than seven years, Qi State sent more than 7,000 to 8,000 immigrants to Acadia (more than 1,500 of whom were sent to Newfoundland), but the priests of the Acadia Diocese developed only a handful of believers, and in the following period, they were controlled by the local government and were ordered not to preach to the immigrants of Qi State.

In contrast, after the State of Qi took over Acadia, because it was unfamiliar with the local customs and lacked manpower, it neglected the control of the local indigenous Mi'kmaq people. As a result, the diocese developed more Catholics among the Mi'kmaq people in a very short period of time and successfully tied them to the church, becoming the most steadfast allies of the French.

After the failure of his missionary work to the Qi immigrants, the devout Father Belvi was keenly aware that once the Qi people gained a foothold in Arcadia, it would be a huge disaster for the Catholic world.

As the number of immigrants from Qi State increases day by day, this place, once considered a model of the church, may become a black hole in the Catholic world, abandoning all the glory of the Lord, and then be torn apart, becoming a "foreign land" full of Qi State's colors.

This is a completely unacceptable reality for a devout missionary.

For the sake of the Lord and the sacred faith, hundreds of years ago, countless knights and believers, fearless of danger and sacrifice, launched one crusade after another against the pagan world.

Then, in order to defend the Catholic world of the Arcadia Diocese and to continue to spread the Gospel of the Lord, we will also bravely face up to it and not allow the Qi people to continue to occupy Arcadia.

They must be driven out, thus restoring the purity of God's world.

In the past few years, he used the cover of his missionary identity to frequently organize radical Acadians and local indigenous Mi'kmaq people to launch attacks on the Qi people.

They made full use of the ambush and night attack tactics they learned from the Indians, and inflicted heavy blows on the Qi people on many occasions.

However, as the number of Qi immigrants increased and the means of defense became more and more stringent, their attacks became less and less effective. There were even several times when they were counterattacked by Qi armed personnel when their raids failed, with many casualties and he himself almost became a prisoner.

To make matters worse, as the Qi people's financial resources gradually increased, they equipped the Irish mercenaries of more than 200 people with a large number of mules and horses a year ago, making them the sharpest blade in Arcadia, leaving many underground resistance organizations and Mi'kmaq people nowhere to hide. Any movement would result in a quick attack from the other side, causing huge losses, making the situation in Arcadia increasingly favorable to the Qi people.

If the situation continues like this, it will be a foregone conclusion that the people of Qi will completely control the entire Arcadia.

But unexpectedly, a few months ago, Qi State had an exchange of fire with the French Navy in the Mediterranean, which immediately caused tensions between the two countries.

In order to put pressure on the people of Qi, instructions from the government and the diocese came one after another from mainland France and Quebec, which was to create some "small troubles" in Acadia and put the people of Qi into a certain dilemma, thereby providing the French government with more bargaining chips to restrict Qi.

More than a month ago, the Governor of New France ordered the construction of Fort Beausejour on the border with the Qi-controlled area, causing tension in the entire Acadia region.

The people of Qi transferred all the Irish mercenaries to Anlu Fort for garrison, thinking that they could be used in case of emergency, which immediately caused a defense gap in the Huayang area (now the Annapolis River Valley). Before that, in order to deter the Acadians, the Irish garrison had been stationed in Taiping Fort (now the town of Digby) near Huayang County.

When Father Bevier learned about this, he decided to take advantage of this great opportunity and make a big move.

He instigated the Arcadian people in Huayang City to revolt, thereby overthrowing and expelling the Qi people.

"Whether it is called Arcadia or Huayang, this place will always be our home." After leaving the monastery in the mountains, de la Reyna rode slowly towards Huayang City. "Back then, when the English invaded, we chose to fight to the death for our home. After France used our home as a bargaining chip and ceded it to England, we did not choose to migrate for the sake of our home. When the Qi people took this land from England, we continued to choose to submit for the same reason."

"Yes, for the people living on this land, we did not move to those colonial territories still under French control because of the change of sovereignty. It is naturally because the land under our feet is our eternal home, a home that has become vibrant after generations of hard work. Therefore, it does not matter who the king is. What matters is whether we can keep the home that we have built with so much difficulty." said Dei Menaval.

"Mr. Volendeyer, Mr. Menaval, what you mean is..." Louis Montecarlo, who was following behind him, felt something vaguely and subconsciously turned his head to look behind him.

"The people of Qi issued a decree allowing us Arcadians to select seven representatives to join their newly formed Council of State. This is a very welcome change, which means that we Arcadians will now have the right to participate in and discuss local politics." Menaval said quietly.

"Could it be that the Qi people want to use this deceptive method to temporarily stabilize us?"

"Some things have to be tried."

"The riot planned by Father Bevere..."

"Dear Louis, do you remember?" De Lale Vorendeyer looked at him sideways and said seriously, "Four years ago, we all swore allegiance to the Emperor of Qi and the King of Chen in front of God. ... So, we cannot go against God's will."

"But..." Louis Montecarlo was still a little hesitant, "But, once the French invade Arcadia, we will all be liquidated."

"No." Worende shook his head and said softly: "The Qi people sent envoys to Boston to discuss the establishment of an offensive and defensive alliance with the English. I think that in order to weaken the strength of the New France territory, the English are likely to choose to support the Qi people. In addition, don't forget that Qi has the most powerful navy in the world and can easily strangle New France. Therefore, the war may not be fought."

(End of this chapter)