Chapter 23 Fiscal Crisis
"Your Majesty, this is the expenditure and tax situation for this quarter." Director Ford, who is in charge of the territorial government affairs, handed over a roll of parchment with both hands.
Paul unfolded it quickly, scanned it quickly and asked, "Are there any questions?" He was not interested in things like statements.
"Uh... there is indeed a 'problem' and the situation is not optimistic." Manager Ford frowned slightly. He looked at Butler Phillip who was sitting opposite him and quietly gave him a wink.
Steward Philip was responsible for managing the treasury of the Lord's Mansion and said, "Sir, if this continues, our financial situation will become beyond our means."
"Scare - did pirate activities affect tax revenue?"
"Yes, in the days after the old count was called by the Lord, in addition to the pirates who landed, there were also some lawless people who took advantage of the opportunity. Fishing in troubled waters, the activities of Roadhog water bandits have caused traffic in some villages and towns to be cut off. Several of the tax officers we sent have been humiliated and expelled."
"Especially Fulan Port, although it is attacked by pirates every year. They extorted some property, but it is still our largest tax source, and now the Shark Gang is occupying it and will not move away." Manager Ford was at a loss when he thought of this.
"Does this mean that we cannot make ends meet?"
Butler Philip explained: "The recent expansion and training of the army have cost a lot of money and food. In the past, it was enough to provide food and drink for the soldiers. Let them go home after the war, and now we have to give them military pay and custom-made uniforms..."
"There is also the purchase of raw materials for making new weapons, the recruitment of craftsmen... At the last meeting, it was decided to build a ship..."
Paul became more and more confused as he listened. He unfolded the scroll again and read it carefully. .
Some measures must be taken.
......
After the last military meeting, Huxin Town originally wanted to continue to "shrink" for a month. After completing the training of two complete infantry battalions, it would be flattened. Pirates within the territory. Unexpectedly, Cecil, the chief intelligence officer, made a great contribution as soon as he took office and found out an important piece of news: Shark had annexed the remnants of Quick's escaped army. In order to avenge and establish his new brother's authority, he sent 500 troops to give Paul a little show. . It seems that killing an earl made the pirate leader a lot more inflated.
The army's morale was high after winning the battle, and the people who didn't need sharks went all the way to Lake Town. With the help of Cecil's intelligence, the old knight Schroeder led the army and some courageous fishermen to kill the gang on the way. The pirates stopped him.
Schroeder used a small force to lure the pirates ashore, gradually moving away from the ship, and then led the main force to quickly insert between the pirates and the river bank to cut off their retreat.
The two sides set up their positions and engaged in a melee. Relying on the huge advantages brought by discipline and firearms, and the fact that the soldiers at this time had long been reborn after a victory, the Huxin Town army won another great victory.
The pirates lost more than 400 people, including casualties and captures. Now the Shark Gang became honest and started to hide in Fulan Port.
The Huxin Town army pursued them all the way to Fulan Port. They found that the city wall of Fulan Port was taller than before, and various fortifications were also increased. They did not dare to attack rashly, but stationed themselves nearby. Keep an eye on the pirates to prevent them from plundering again.
"It's like this, and they haven't retreated to the sea?" Paul was surprised. It seemed that these pirates really wanted to occupy Fulan Port for a long time.
Forget it, sooner or later they will be the meat on their own chopping board.
He issued instructions to the officers to use the two newly formed infantry companies as the main force and the internal guard troops as the supplement to destroy the Roadhog water bandits in various places. They would train and fight at the same time. The new recruits might have a hard time dealing with pirates. But it was very easy to deal with these gangsters who had just gathered together.
With the progress of the "cracking down on crime", Huxin Town gradually regained control over the entire earldom except Fulan Port. However, many villages and towns were plundered by pirates and bandits. Facing the The two tearful representatives of the public opinion, but the Earl could not bring himself to scrape another layer of oil from these poor people. He ordered that some villages and towns be exempted from taxes for two quarters.
With the gradual recovery of transportation in various places, taxes have been collected to some extent, which has temporarily alleviated the current financial crisis and allowed the top management of Huxin Town to breathe a temporary sigh of relief. However, this is only a temporary relief. If we want to truly solve the financial crisis, we must immediately launch some easy-to-fund projects.
......
That afternoon, Paul summoned a group of Ford executives.
"Everyone, what do you think of this thing I made?"
Everyone was given a piece of "paper".
Director Ford held a piece of hard stuff and asked doubtfully: "Is this "paper"?"
"Ahem...this is just a trial product, but it will definitely have great potential after it is completed."< br>
This is the "paper" that Paul made based on his understanding of papermaking. He made a pile of bark, wood, and bamboo and steamed it in a pot. After cooking, he pounded it into a pulp with a stone mortar, and finally mixed the slurry. Spread it out in the sun and you end up with a...well...crisp cardboard.
“What is the use of this kind of thing?”
“Replace the parchment paper currently used.”
The material used for writing in today's world is basically parchment, and the production process is extremely complicated. The entire leather needs to be treated with lime, then dehaired, degreased and fleshed, stretched, scraped multiple times, polished with pumice, and finally dried. And the output is not high. A piece of sheepskin looks quite big, but the parchment paper obtained after processing is less than 1 square meter. This leads to the extremely high price of parchment paper. It is no wonder that there are illiterates everywhere. Common people can’t even write. Neither can afford it.
"But, this thing..." Manager Ford broke it with a little force, and the paper in his hand suddenly shattered, leaving him speechless.
"Ahem..." Seeing that everyone was a little disdainful of his great invention, the Earl cleared his throat and said sincerely: "As long as time passes, I am confident that I can make them softer and thinner. . Any great invention is subject to doubts when it is first born, but no amount of doubts can stop the wheel of history."
"Look at the parchment now, how expensive it is. Even some small nobles dare not buy more, let alone common people. Taking the church as an example, I asked Pastor Anderson that even if they did not take into account various failures and accidents, they would need to kill more than 300 people to copy a "Holy Scripture". A sheep. My God, it takes more than 300 sheep to exchange for a book, and a series of replicating production processes are required. "
" And what about the 'paper' in your hands, its raw materials. It's just something as inconspicuous as bark or bamboo. As long as the technology is mature, a lot of it can be made in a few days. If we can make it softer, thinner, and less brittle, this will definitely be epoch-making. Something that will turn the world upside down.”
After an impassioned speech, everyone could not help but be fascinated.
"If it can really be improved to what adults said, it would be a weapon to make money." Ford's manager, who was suffering from financial problems, was the first to think of this.
"Exactly!" Paul clapped his hands vigorously. "Although the early products may not be as durable as parchment paper, the raw materials are sufficient and the production is simple. When the time comes, we will focus on the 'cheap' feature, and we will not worry about sales."
“Besides writing, it has another wonderful use.” A mysterious smile appeared on the count’s face.
"Oh? Dare I ask, sir..."
"Free your butts."
(End of Chapter)