Chapter 680 The Imperial Minister of Finance (Part 2)
After dealing with the more urgent matters in the morning, Jacques Cole would have a quick snack at 12 noon local time in the imperial capital.
This simple meal was also prepared by his secretary on weekdays, but today when he was taking a vacation, he had to do it himself.
But for Jacques Cole, the process of making lunch himself was simply enjoying it, because only in these ten minutes he could temporarily forget the financial matters of this huge empire, relax his spirit and focus on the bread, eggs and vegetables in front of him.
The Chancellor of the Crown did not dare to eat too much at noon because it would make him feel sleepy in the afternoon, and he had to keep his stomach to deal with the New Year's dinner invited by a certain imperial nobleman to attend in the evening - if he remembered correctly, the arrangements for dinner and cocktail parties were scheduled for three months later.
However, such dinners and cocktail parties are not a relaxing moment for Jacques Cole, but an annoying "evening shift" that requires him to cheer up.
Because at these dinners, he needed to communicate with representatives sent by various forces while drinking and chatting, and then try to reach some agreements to maintain the delicate balance between the major forces.
Jacques Cole had long been tired of this kind of work that was actually helping the reckless empire prime minister wipe his butt, but he was unwilling to let his previous twenty-three years of work be destroyed little by little.
Moreover, during the period when he was the Chancellor of the Crown, Jacques Cole's mentality had already changed. He hoped to change this somewhat corrupt empire through his own abilities, even if it was just to allow this empire to run longer.
He actually wanted to find an opportunity to impeach the current imperial prime minister, but he dared not do so.
This "dare not" is not because of fear of being retaliated by the other party after the failure of impeachment.
On the contrary, Jacques Cole was very sure to impeach him, not only because he had a lot of black materials, including the other party's dereliction of duty, but also the emperor's emphasis on him, the manager of the "money bag".
But once the current imperial prime minister is impeached, Jacques Cole knows that this position will fall on his "prosperous" Chancellor of the Finance Minister, and then he will be ready not to go home.
After all, no matter how many problems arise as the prime minister of the empire, it is also a problem of his work ability. The feat of not returning home since taking over as prime minister made Jacques Cole believe that the other party’s work attitude is absolutely fine.
Thinking of this, the imperial minister of finance couldn't help but recall the moment when he had been the most "easy and free" in recent years, and was not restricted by work.
That was when he received a secret report from his own sister and her husband being under house arrest by the latter's younger brother, and brought his Majesty the Royal Guard to negotiate with the Royal Silencer.
Exciting and thrilling are also the farthest days he has left his work in the years.
It was during this experience that he learned about Amber's existence.
Based on the subtle relationship between the other party and his niece, Jacques Cole actually occasionally thinks of Amber and his Atlas group before going to bed after the incident, and then quickly read some relevant information in the first few minutes when he was sleepy.
"By the way, 'Wokin', I remember whether His Highness the Princess recently invited the actual controller of the Atlas Group to the imperial capital?" After stuffing the last half of the bread into his mouth, Jacques Cole asked in a somewhat vague voice.
"Yes, His Highness Agnes greeted Mr. Amber, Ms. Isabel and others from the Atlas Group yesterday afternoon at the Royal Airport, and a dinner was held afterwards."
"Huh? Is Little Isa here too?"
Jacques Cole was shocked when he heard the news, but then returned to calm because he knew he didn't have time to meet the niece.
While having a meal, Jacques Cole had already read his recent work arrangements. Every morning is an important matter that cannot be solved, in the afternoon, a large number of documents are reviewed and various meetings are held. In the evening, he has to go to a cocktail party to deal with the nobles of the imperial capital.
"Forget it. See you next time I have the chance, 'Wojin'. Prepare the documents you need to approve in the afternoon. I will start working in 10 minutes."
As he spoke, Jacques Cole opened a can of potion and poured half a bottle in one mouthful.
Green apple flavor, very sweet.
This thing is also a psychotrope characteristic of the Royal Pharmacist team. Its only function is to temporarily dispel fatigue and make people feel energetic.
Ten minutes later, Jacques Cole returned to his desk, and a huge virtual screen appeared in front of him, with a large number of files and data reports almost covering the entire screen.
And this imperial secretary of the treasury was just like a machine without emotion, completing the approval of one matter at a very fast speed.
In the next quarter, 13 colonial planets that have initially completed transformation will apply for grants to build an ecological dome.
Starting from the 1st of next month, the proportion of expenditure on "gravity subsidies" in the fiscal budget will be officially increased, and will be used to extend the survival time of staff in abnormal gravity or no gravity environments.
The comprehensive energy exploitation of Andromeda Nebula fell by 12% again, and the application for exemption of local aristocratic industrial tax was rejected
The application for repair and maintenance costs of the Grand Palace increased by 25%. Your Majesty, why has it increased again? There is really not much of the imperial golden dragon in the vault. Alas. The approval is increased by 5%.
Each matter is either approved or rejected under the review of Jacques Cole. Each matter may mean that the lives of a large number of imperial civilians and even nobles will be affected. Some people may live a slightly better life, but at the same time, there will be other people who cannot survive the next month.
But the life and death of these imperial people will not have any impact on the Chancellor of Finance. When the territory ruled by an empire is large enough, these things are just a string of numbers on the report in front of him.
As long as he can continue to maintain the current balance of the empire, he doesn't mind adding a few more zeros to this string of numbers.
Jacques Cole's modified brain thinking speed is much faster than the "original", and after entering a specific "working state", it will directly block any emotions generated by the brain to prevent these emotions from affecting his decisions. Otherwise, he would not be able to deal with so many things calmly and quickly.
As the work continued, a sting began to appear in Jacques Cole's brain, knowing that it was his brain that was approaching his limit again under a long high speed operation.
The last time this happened to my brain was yesterday afternoon.
A fire of namelessness caused by the unfinished official duties also surged into Jacques Cole's heart at the right time. Of course, the same scene also happened yesterday afternoon, or every day before.
Indeed, after becoming the Imperial Minister of Finance and gradually expanding his influence, his family gained unprecedented revival and rose to a height that had never been reached before.
Every day, countless people wait outside the family fortress to meet, trying to connect with him, the Imperial Minister of Finance by first opening up the relationship between the Cole family.
His family was indeed getting better, but he almost burned out the family and the empire. He once thought that after he ascended this position, he would gain the envy of countless imperial nobles.
Now it seems that the ‘right’ is indeed there, and it is still very large.
But I never really felt the thing of "profit". Or the biggest "profit" I have obtained is that I have the support of the top team of Royal Pharmacists, which allows me to obtain medical insurance that is comparable to His Majesty.
But this guarantee is just to allow him, the Minister of Finance, to live longer in this position.
Jacques Cole quickly finished the document in front of him, then temporarily relaxed and lay down on the back of the chair, covering his face with his hands and rubbing it gently, while still muttering words:
"Calm down, Jacques Cole, you are an imperial nobleman, calmness is one of the virtues of nobles"
At the same time, 'Wojin' also controlled the office service terminal and delivered some drinks and snacks to the desk. These snacks were also reviewed by the Royal Pharmacist team and some supplements were added to the drinks.
"Sir, do you need to change your mind and deal with some 'private matters'?" "Wokin' made suggestions in a timely manner, which almost became a scene that will happen every day. Before Jacques Cole was about to be stimulated to 'Red Wen' by busy official business, give him something else.
Hearing the suggestion of "Wokkin", the Chancellor looked up and glanced at a small progress bar in the lower left corner of the virtual screen, which represented the progress of the pending official business today.
"86% Well, today's progress is OK, so just change your mind~"
Jacques Cole snapped his fingers, and the projected virtual screen above the desk immediately switched to a new interface.
The overall structure of this interface is not much different from the interface just now, but the content has changed from the financial affairs of the Star Dragon Empire to some "private matters" related to Jacques Cole's personal and family.
"Let me see. The Motari family and the Fesare family hope to obtain the position of governor and chief executive of the galaxy system of the Rinathat system, and I need to take some relationship."
The first item of "private matters" is the "buying and selling official positions" activity from Jacques Cole's own family. These two families have obviously already moved their own family, so the family brought up this "need".
Although there are many nobles in the empire, not all nobles can have fiefdoms. Even the nobles who have fiefdoms are just a continent on the planet, and the better part is the entire planet.
Only by reaching a title above the earl can one obtain a fiefdom based on galaxies.
In addition, most of the acquisition of fiefs was due to military achievements, so for some families who were not military aristocrats, or those small nobles, they could only make their minds on positions such as Galaxy Governor, Governor of the Planet or Chief Executive.
No mistakes, one song, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one reading!
Although making money in such a position will definitely not have much profit after directly obtaining a fief, no matter how much a lean camel is bigger than a horse, it is better to have one than not.
And this is not the first time Jacques Cole has done this.
Indeed, the Minister of Finance certainly has no human rights, and he cannot appoint any position, because the appointment and removal of local governors and chief executives in the Star Dragon Empire is in the hands of the Civil Affairs Department.
However, during the years as Chancellor of the Finance Minister, he has basically had a good relationship with all senior imperial officials, and major affairs and administrative departments will also give him some "thin face".
The Civil Affairs Department and the current Minister of Civil Affairs are a very familiar line among many relationships, so Jacques Cole occasionally helps to clear the relationship in this regard. In most cases, it is also a governor and chief executive like this, and this is a poor person who makes money.
But the premise is that you can pay enough - Jacques Cole has a scale in his mind, and he knows exactly what the price of different positions are.
As for whether the other party has the ability to hold this position, it is not what Jacques Cole cares about. The projects inspected by officials will naturally be watched by the Civil Affairs Department.
Moreover, in most cases, these families that cost a lot of money will try every means to ensure that their performance assessment will not go wrong. After all, spending so much money is not to be dismissed by the Civil Affairs Department.
What's more, they bought this official to make money by plundering people's money, but the money will not pop up out of thin air. You must first let the local area develop more or less to achieve sustainable fishing.
Jacques Cole has only one requirement for these newly appointed governors and chief executives, that is, to have a little snack for the jurisdiction area, don’t just spend money, and to develop more or less, pay all the taxes that should be paid every year, and to complete the resources and population indicators that should be paid.
Yes, they did get ahead through Jacques Cole's relationship, but this does not mean that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will pay any attention to them, and must not have any luck. The relationship between the two sides will at most be a deal that has ended.
If these superior officials dare to default on taxes, they are embarrassed. The armed forces of the Taxation Department will come to you soon and teach you how to pay all the taxes step by step.
"'Wojin', retrieve the financial data of these two families."
"Yes, sir."
Soon, the relevant financial data of the Motari family and the Fesari family appeared on the screen, and Jacques Cole also watched the data start to calculate quickly.
"Well, if the financial situation of these two families has not changed much in the recent financial situation, they can indeed fill a hole in the empire."
Jacques Cole muttered, looking at another data that had just been opened, which was the gap left after the sixth celestial fortress of the Empire was under construction overdue and the budget was seriously overspending.
Most of these vacancy was filled by Jacques Cole through various means, and there was still the last vacancy left. He has not been able to find funds to fill recently. At this time, the two major families were just "delivered to their door".
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has always been wondering why the construction cost of this ladder fortress suddenly began to overspend in the final stage. However, in each application sent by the Ministry of Construction of the Ladder fortress, all construction and upgrading projects are clearly listed, so that no fault can be found.
To be cautious, Jacques Cole even personally consulted the Navy minister before, and after informing him of the situation, he hoped that the Navy could send someone to check whether there were any problems with the construction process of the ladder fortress.
However, the results of the three consecutive investigations were that "all construction projects are being carried out step by step without any abnormalities".
Under such circumstances, Jacques Cole naturally could not reject these overspending applications. He could not let the construction of this celestial fortress be shut down because the Ministry of Finance is unwilling to continue allocating funds, right?
After repeatedly confirming that the calculation is correct and asking "Workin" to help verify it, Jacques Cole also drafted the price the Motari family and the Fesari family need to pay for what they were seeking.
This is a number that makes any small and medium-sized family a headache. It takes great courage to take it out and buy an official.
"Okay, send it to them. Let them confirm within 48 hours after receiving the message, and it will expire~"
"Yes, sir."
‘Wojin’ nodded and continued:
"Sir, there is a temporary matter I just received that you need to confirm."
"What's the matter?"
"His Excellency Amber of Atlas Group, I hope to meet you."
"Oh? Interesting. When will he want to meet?"
Jacques Cole smiled, then picked up the drink on the table and took a sip. He didn't expect Amber to find him at this time.
"Now, Your Excellency Amber is currently waiting in the reception room of the Ministry of Finance."
"Puff"
(This chapter ends)