Chapter 296 War Bonds
While the officers and soldiers of Arda's army were fighting bloody battles on the front line.
Oh, it is so... so fulfilling to have a female scholar with a cold temperament and a legendary powerful witch achieve this.
Raising his head slightly, he met a pair of big and smart eyes, waving two small pink fists, one on the left and one on the right, to beat his legs.
Betty Dias, a queen from a famous family in the Gabela Empire, looked away from him shyly and said coquettishly: "Really, I have never been like this before..."< br>
He smiled and reached out his hand to gently touch her beautiful blond hair.
Ah! What a decadent and depraved life!
......
"Your Majesty the Earl... Your Majesty the Earl... Your Majesty the Earl!"
The world suddenly shook, and the scene in front of me began to become blurry.
What's going on? Paul shook his head.
When he woke up, his bright eyes had turned into thick eyebrows and big eyes.
"Bernard! Why is it you!" Paul almost jumped out of his chair and looked at the man in front of him, "Where's Ladi? Where's Betty?"
The chief secretary said very apologetically : "Sir Grayman, I'm sorry to disturb your rest. The two ladies are here. Do you want the meeting to continue?".
"Uh... sure, of course."
Paul remembered that he had made an appointment with the heads of various departments to discuss the recent work progress, and he actually dozed off in the middle of the meeting.
After thinking about it carefully, I blame that damn Hansel. Every time this guy reported work to him, he used an extremely long, convoluted, and rhetorically complex sentence pattern to talk to him. , a word can be stretched into a sentence, and a sentence can be expanded into a long paragraph. I have to use every brain cell to summarize what he means.
At this time, Hansel had finished his report that seemed to last for a century. Paul glanced indoors. Ladi and Betty were sitting not far away.
Miss Witch had no expression on her face, looking down at her notebook.
The female supervisor looked at Paul with disgust: Really, you are so old and you still drool when you doze off. And what do you mean when you wake up and call us two ladies’ names?
She quietly made a gesture to the corner of her mouth.
Paul took out his handkerchief, wiped the corners of his mouth, and coughed dryly.
"I'm sorry, I've been a little tired recently... which piece should I do next?"
Old Ford, the director of the Government Affairs Council, said: "Sir Graiman, I have to talk to you about finances. Let's discuss it,"
Paul put his hand on his forehead and said painfully: "Don't tell me that the money is not enough."
"Unfortunately, this is the fact. The expenses in May are as high as more than 8,000 silver coins. Even if you include your private treasury, our money is about to bottom out."
Since the Salt People's Riots, due to the expansion of public The security expenditure of the Ministry of Security and Internal Security Forces has increased significantly.
Since the formal war with the Kent family, military expenditures have become the bulk of Alda's financial expenditure. After landing in Fishtail Town, in order to meet the demand for troops on both fronts, Paul stroked his pen. Nearly 2,000 militiamen were sent to the battlefield by military service stations in various places. At the same time, he also approved Schroeder's plan to recruit auxiliary troops locally. Since it is a war, naturally we cannot go empty-handed, and we must keep up with the corresponding weapons and equipment. Soldiers need to eat and drink, and they also need some wine and buffs before fighting.
And Paul strictly prohibited his troops from solving the supply problem by looting-unless he had no other choice.
As of now, Alda has a military force of nearly 6,000 people. If it were not for his wealth-making skills, Paul would definitely be the most militaristic lord in the history of the Graiman family.
The money spent every day by such a "huge" army is like running water in the eyes of old men like Old Ford and Philip.
“I don’t understand. Our territory has obviously expanded so much. The entire northern Emden, and now the Carter family’s territory is almost completely occupied by us. Can’t the tax revenue from these places be balanced partially? ?”
“Your Majesty, the situation I told you has already taken this part into account...”
Of course everyone in the Government Affairs Council does not intend to leave the taxes from these occupied areas to the old owners. .
"My Lord Earl, I have a suggestion..."
"Hansel? Tell me quickly."
"In fact, you can save money by just stopping paying [allowances] to soldiers. Just like other lords, it is the obligation of the subjects to serve their lord."
Hansel's words aroused the approval of many people, but Paul immediately shook his head: " No! Absolutely not! Material incentives are an important means of maintaining morale. Our series of victories during this period have shown that I am right to give subsidies to soldiers. Which army do you think has our troops? "
“If it is material incentives, there are actually other means, which are commonly used by everyone...”
"No! That's even worse!"
Before Hansel finished speaking, Paul knew what he was going to say. How could he tolerate the army he had trained so hard to degenerate into a bunch of bandits.
Seeing that Lord Earl was neither able to do this nor that, Hansel resorted to another move: "Lord Earl, if I remember correctly, Port Fulan is preparing to build a stock exchange, right?"
Paul nodded: "Yes, this is a long-established plan, and you know it."
Hansel continued: "In this case, why not issue a war through the stock exchange Bonds not only raise military expenses, but also promote the business of the exchange, killing two birds with one stone.”
"This...it's not good to make money for yourself as soon as you are established?"
"What's wrong? Isn't it common for kings and lords to borrow money to fight wars? According to my understanding, Ge There has never been a case of the Lyman family failing to repay the money they borrowed, and our army is advancing rapidly, so we will definitely not have to worry about no one coming to buy the bonds. And..."
Hansel paused and said in a low tone: "You can use this method to test the rich people in the territory, who are of the same mind as you and who are not of the same mind as you. Anyway, people who buy bonds definitely don't want you to fail."
Paul suddenly realized: " You're right, Hansel." Then he hesitated: "What if the war drags on for too long and it doesn't end?"
Hansel: "With the current situation, sooner or later we will be unable to make ends meet. , it is better to raise a huge sum of money as soon as possible, make more muskets and cannons, and capture Center City as soon as possible. I heard that the wealth accumulated by the Ferdinand family for generations is the highest among the northwest lords. You occupy the treasury of the northwest Duke before others. , are you still afraid of not being able to pay? ”
"But...what if...unfortunately, the money in the treasury is not as much as the legend says? Those rich people are no more troublesome than the salt people who have nothing. They will cause trouble."
Hansel smiled slightly: "What are you afraid of? Didn't you also make more muskets and cannons?"
(End of this chapter)