Soshiyang's seemingly casual compliment was already the best reward for this brave young noble. The governor nodded quickly and said:
"You are too generous. The young man is ignorant and makes false claims about the overall situation. I hope you will Don't take it to heart, I will definitely punish him severely when I go back."
"Hey, he is right again, he should not be punished. I have said it before, everyone here can speak about the empire. , there is this bad habit in many places, they are afraid to speak, and they are not allowed to speak, as if something big will happen if they speak? In fact, if people speak, the nest will not collapse."
Then he put his hands behind his back, He took two steps back and forth, raising his head slightly as if thinking about something. After a few seconds, he suddenly said:
"What is the current official food reserve of Nathan No. 5?"
The Minister of Internal Affairs immediately replied:
"Currently, there are a total of 6.237 billion tons of food in the emergency supply warehouse."
Soshyan tilted his head and looked at the other party.
"Are you sure? If you are sure, I will immediately send people to check one by one."
"It is true that there may be some discrepancies in the actual statistics, because some foods are regularly put on the market, and then added New, plus."
Looking at the sweaty Minister of the Interior, Soshyan raised his hand.
“No need to explain. I didn’t pursue it in the past, but now, I will give you three hours and give me a new number. After that, this number cannot change in any way. Do you understand what I mean? ? It’s up to your Ministry of Internal Affairs to rectify it yourself, but I won’t be so tolerant of corruption in the future.”
Looking away from the back of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who hurriedly left, Soshiyang also fell into thinking. , obviously everything he did in Neisen No. 5 required huge resources to be invested. Children’s problems are indeed ultimately about food. This is why he did not directly block the path of child labor over 12 years old. Food is always the most realistic Yes, their parents cannot support them, so they have to fend for themselves.
"From now on, all orphanages in the Nessen system will be managed by rescue agencies affiliated with the war group."
After announcing a policy again, Soshiyang thought for a moment and looked at the governor.
"In order to make up for the food gap after child laborers leave the factory, additional food subsidies for children under 14 years old must also be carried out immediately. I will ask Nathan No. 4 to allocate a batch of food to support here as soon as possible, but this gap is huge. Governor, you also need more. Find a way."
Although King Willeton nodded in agreement, one word was written on his face -
Difficult!
Knowing that it is really difficult to rely on the Governor alone, Soshiyang glanced at everyone. Although the Mechanicus has many industries, they rely more on servitors and machinery, and their share of food is actually very low. There are some food processing factories, but they only produce and do not reserve large quantities of food. Therefore, currently, there is only one company left in the nest city that has huge food and resource reserves -
State Education.
During the Maelstrom Expedition, Soshyan had seen the vast financial resources of the state religion. With a wave of his hand, hundreds of millions of jihadists could be organized at will. The pilgrim ships were filled with hundreds of billions of tons of food supplies for these fanatical believers. .
After all, they don’t have to pay taxes, and they can continue to receive donations from nobles and various religious incomes from civilians. They don’t have to raise an army, so their wealth can easily reach an astonishing scale, such as that luxurious A church is probably not much cheaper than a battleship.
For Soshyan, leaving this wealth in their hands is a waste. It would be better to use it to feed the emperor's people
Seeing Soshyan staring at him, Nathan Archbishop No. 5 understood immediately. Although his expression looked calm and he kept turning the rosary beads in his hand, he was angry and helpless in his heart. Who would have dared to take advantage of the church before? Even if he is a governor, he can slap an excommunication on the head and then make the other person kneel on the ground to beg him, but there is nothing he can do about Soshyan, an Astarte.
Because that is the Astartes, the angel of the Emperor. From a religious perspective, he is superior to all members of the state religion, not to mention that the other party is the de facto lord of this planet. He has no way to deal with the law or reason. Resist each other.
But he still had to struggle a little.
"Ahem, since the Chapter Leader has this determination, we, as the Apostles of the Throne, will naturally also contribute. However, recently believers hope to organize a pilgrimage to a nearby holy land world. The church The expenditure is very large, so we are working hard to scrape together and see if we can provide you with 200 million tons of food."
Soshyan did not respond, and turned to the governor and asked: "The payment of tithes by the church in the past ten years. Are there any statistics on the situation? ”
There are many types of taxes borne by the residents of the empire, but generally there are three major items, the imperial tithe, which is the most basic and covers everyone. The second is commercial tax, including stamp duty, which is an indirect tax. The third is church tithe. Although it is also a direct tax, it was not mandatory in the earliest times. It is required by believers after they go to church. A "donation" paid voluntarily, but with the reforms of the Treasonous Church, the church tithe became a semi-official compulsory tax. The church even had its own huge tax official system, which was more efficient than the imperial government. Being able to knock on doors and collect taxes, usually a parish also means a tax district.
The governor glanced at the archbishop not far away, gave him a "I can't help it" look, and replied honestly:
"The church tithes in the past ten years have basically reached 90%. The collection rate. "
"What about the ratio?"
"It is usually 8% to 9% of the imperial tithe, which is about 7 to 8 billion per year. Ton. ”
The church tax does not belong to the fiscal revenue of the Chaodu government, and is not included in the reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the governor is well aware of it, and it is obvious that he has always paid attention to the church’s income. , maybe even borrowed money from the other party——
It is not uncommon for the governor to borrow money from the church. After all, the empire's tithes sometimes come suddenly and heavily. If there happens to be trouble in the hive city, the people are all destitute, even if they are pressed with a steamroller, it is impossible to squeeze them out. No matter what kind of trouble comes out, the governor who is desperate at this time will often turn to the state religion for help.
"Archbishop Radhoyane, three billion tons, including what the war group borrowed from the church, will be returned in full after five years."
Although Soshyan heard it as a request, But his tone did not allow him to refuse. Although he seemed to be a bit "big-eating" and suspicious, he actually didn't ask for too much. After all, the state religion had to maintain its operation and had to feed so many mouths. Soshiyang could also understand this. So he thinks this number is quite reasonable.
Even the transcendent State Church could only bow its head in the face of Lord Astartes.
“Yes, I will count all the holy treasuries as soon as possible and get them together for you.”
"Five days, it just so happens that I have to go to Naisen No. 6 and No. 7 for a tour. When I come back, I hope to see that this policy has begun to advance."
As he said that, he looked towards Governor.
"Governor Willaton, you will personally supervise this matter."
As he spoke, his eyes swept over the big nobles, big factory owners, and big mine owners.
"If there is still a gap, you can find a way to solve it yourself. I believe everyone here will fully support you."
His meaning was obvious, and the Governor immediately lowered his head and responded:
"Yes"
After that, Soshyan announced that an expanded galaxy-level meeting would be held on Nessen 5, and he would invite The governor and senior management of Naisen IV, the sages of Ulan Huda, and all legal expert representatives from the Ministry of Justice, etc., collectively discussed and announced a series of plans related to trade, industry, people's livelihood, education, defense, and military construction. and questions.
The meeting was not held on the surface of the planet of Nathan 5, but on the satellite of Nathan 5, Gaymeru 2. This is also the main "resort" for the nobles of Nathan, with Magnificent palaces and many leisure and entertainment facilities.
But this will take time. Before the meeting, Soshiyan will first visit the other two worlds in the Naisen galaxy.
So, after staying at Naisen No. 5 for two days, Soshyan immediately set off for Naisen No. 6.