Vol 9 Chapter 18: Tax increase?

So Archibides settled down and bravely retorted: "We have harvested some gold and silver mines, but His Majesty once warned our Finance Department that gold and silver cannot be spawned, and must be linked to the annual food production and taxes. Corresponding ... In short, if more gold and silver are issued, the silver coins in our hands will become worthless, so mining gold and silver directly from the gold and silver mines will not be able to be the master of the new mercenary's expenses. , You must get Her Majesty's approval. "After that, Archibides turned and saluted to the doctor respectfully.
Dafus said softly: "Akibides is right, gold and silver mines are a strategic material of the Kingdom and cannot be used as long-term financial expenditures, unless there are unexpected special circumstances."
"Your Majesty's decision is correct! If you step on, dig, or send out gold and silver mines, and flood gold and silver in the kingdom, it will only destroy the kingdom's trade prosperity and cause chaos." Minister of Commerce Mariji immediately agreed, as Archibalds endorsed.
Archibides continued in a spirited manner: "And ... Lord Alexis, you have only seen how much land the Kingdom has added, but you have not seen how many officials we have added to manage these lands. This is a huge expense. Not to mention the large amount of relocation costs required to move citizens to these new lands, as well as roads and repairs on these new lands. Bridges, repairing temples ... repairing various public facilities and maintenance costs, this is a huge expense. To tell you the truth, if not for the trade boom in recent years, the increased commercial tax revenue will barely make up for these increases. Expenses, I'm afraid the monthly pay you will receive will be reduced. "
Archibides said, and nodded his thanks to Mariji.
Alexis was dumbfounded. He thought that by enacting this new decree, the Kingdom would have two or three special legions that could be put into battle at any time. The Ministry of Military Affairs would feel much more relaxed. I did not expect that the real difficulties would still exist. Behind.
He said helplessly: "Since everyone agrees to establish such an army of foreign free people, and also believes that sufficient military expenditures are necessary to maintain it, the state treasury cannot provide military expenditures for it, but there is no military expenditure. The army cannot be established, so what should we do? "
西 Lucias looked at the nose and nose, and looked at the heart.
Hiplops' eyes turned, and he stopped talking several times.
What Mariji and Sedorum whispered.
Shermon shrugged and said apologetically, "I don't know much about the kingdom's finances."
Akibides, who had yelled at no money before, remained silent at this moment.
The other ministers either didn't know much about it and were a little bit confused, or they looked like they were thinking, and there was a strange peace in the palace hall.
This is a loud voice: "Because the establishment of an army that is truly out of daily labor and capable of engaging in combat at any time is the ever-expanding need of our kingdom's territory. It is a new and long-term important national policy, so its military expenditures It is better to collect new taxes from the people alone! "
As soon as this remark was made, some people were dismayed, others still looked, and others were obviously relieved.
Tax increase, finally someone said it! ... Daves grasped the armrest of the seat with both hands and looked at the speaker: Ataris, it really was him! Dare to serve, brave to serve, worthy of being the outstanding talent recommended by Kuno Gorata, knowing that it will offend the general public, or hesitate to speak out, depending on the safety of the kingdom is more important than its own gains and losses. In comparison, another valued chairman, Sipulos, who has a stronger ability to do things, obviously thinks too much. As for Lucias, Hermon, Sedorum ... hehe.
Daphs glanced at his ministers calmly, and took all beings into his eyes. When contacted with Sipros' eyes, Sipros quickly turned his head away. He had realized that his performance just let Davers down. Already.
"Tax increase? This is not good, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the public to accept." The first responder was the Minister of Medical Affairs, Mr. Helps.
"Yeah, since the establishment of Dionia, the direct tax of the kingdom has been one percent, and it has been unchanged for almost 20 years. The people have become accustomed. If they are to be taxed now, let them pay more money. I am afraid it will be difficult for them to accept it. "Herculid, the Minister of Construction, also later showed his attitude. As technical officers, neither he nor Helps seemed to consider the issue from the perspective of the kingdom. .
"Your Majesty has said just now that times are changing, the environment is changing, the kingdom is changing, and of course our laws should also be changed to meet new needs! Twenty years ago, when Dionia was established, only three The four small towns have a population of less than 30,000, which is very unremarkable. Now the kingdom is already the hegemon of the Western Mediterranean. The area of ​​the territory is more than ten times that of that year. The population is more than 3 million, and many are attached Our city-states and forces are no longer the little city-state alliance that year! "
Cypress finally stood up to speak, and said with emotion: "When Dionia was first established, all public officials, including the elders, were unpaid, and now the junior officials in the Kingdom can buy a cow for a month's salary, more Don't say us
Twenty years ago, Dionia sent troops to fight, and all the citizens who could fight together were less than 10,000 people. They could reach the front line within a few hours. After a day or two, they could end the battle and return to the city. The time was short. Not even the soldiers ate the rations they carried;
Nowadays, once the kingdom starts a war, it can easily dispatch tens of thousands of people. The combat time is calculated in months. The required military food is calculated in tons as the basic unit. It does not include other material consumption. These are all by the kingdom. To provide
Twenty years ago, Dionysian had no major expenditure other than roads. Now the kingdom has countless public buildings, not only construction costs, but maintenance costs are not a small number, and schools in towns. And public hospitals are not enough to maintain their operation, and the kingdom needs subsidies to maintain ...
The larger the kingdom, the greater the consumption. Can that one percent tax alone meet the growing needs of the kingdom of Dionia? of course not! We are relying on the business tax charged by the trade prosperity brought about by the strength of the kingdom! Relying on the inheritance tax collected for the prosperity of the kingdom by the power of the kingdom! It depends on the other expenses that the kingdom has made to make the people's life rich and colorful (such as the competitive lottery hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, the library borrowing costs, etc.)! Thanks to the wise work of your Majesty and everyone's hard work, we can barely guarantee the development of the Kingdom today!
To be honest, the direct tax collected by the kingdom for 20 years has been maintained at 1%, which is definitely a huge miracle! This is a blessing from Hades! This is His kindness! Even during the most difficult times of the war, the kingdom was only borrowing money from the people, not arrogantly charging high war taxes. The people of Dionia should feel lucky that they live in such a happy kingdom, not elsewhere .
Look around us, this is no longer the traditional world where Greek city-state citizens did not collect direct taxes decades ago.
In the eastern part of Sicily, during the reign of Dionysius, the war tax of each city-state was as high as 30% and lasted for many years. Even after he was overthrown, the direct tax of Syracuse was close to 10 per year. % To ensure that the city-state can restore its strength as soon as possible and ensure security under our pressure;
In the western part of Sicily, the tax rates of the Phoenician and Carthage states are relatively low, but also exceed 5%. It is said that the money of these taxes was spent on the conquest of southern Iberia.
Look at the Greek mainland. In the past few decades, wars have been frequent. Which city-state has no direct tax of more than 20%. Even the richest Athens, they have even come up with a wonderful tax collection method and will divide the Demo district under their jurisdiction. There must be a lot of wealthy foreign merchants who settle in each tax collection area, and then stipulate how much share of the tax must be paid in the area. If it is not reached, they will be punished. Often, due to the begging and persecution of the people in the area, more than half of the tax is covered by these Wealthy businessmen took it.
Not to mention Sparta ~ EbookFREE.me ~ It has always been the government that controls all the wealth that a city-state earns, and then it distributes it.
Dear everyone, this is a world with frequent wars and dangerous rebirth. Countries and forces around us are accumulating strength and struggling. Dionysian cannot be taken lightly even now that he is strong. Not only should the kingdom increase taxes, but the tax rate must not be too low. This will ensure that the kingdom can operate normally and that it has enough power to defend the security of the territory and the interests of the people! "
The words of Hiplops were deafening, making some people feel lost and some people suddenly realized.
Immediately afterwards, Davers exclaimed loudly: "Good word!"
Many people then realized: Your Majesty supports tax increases!
The atmosphere in the hall began to change, but Lucia was still worried and persuaded: "His Majesty, once the additional tax is proposed, it will not only cause a lot of controversy in the Senate, but also cause a lot of dissatisfaction among the people. It may cause turmoil in the kingdom and it will have a great impact on your prestige! "
Davers smiled slightly and said in a deep voice: "Like Ataris and Cypress, for the sake of the country, regardless of personal honor or shame, dare to make such a proposal. As a descendant of Hades, the patron saint of this kingdom, do I still care Do you want to debunk! I just ask you, Lucia, should the tax increase be? "
Davis pointed directly at the center, and Lucias could not avoid it, but could only answer: "Your Majesty, from the current state of the kingdom, we ... need an army formed by the free people of the Gentiles; in order not to affect the kingdom Normal operation, we also ... need to add a little tax to provide material support for this army. "