Chapter 1071
Therefore, Archipedes calmed himself down and mustered up the courage to refute, "We did harvest some gold and silver mines, but His Majesty once warned us, the Ministry of Finance, that gold and silver cannot be distributed indiscriminately, and must correspond to the annual food production and tax revenue … In short, if we distribute too much gold and silver, the silver in our hands will become worthless, so we can directly mine gold and silver from the gold and silver mines as the expenses for this new mercenary army. The Ministry of Finance cannot make the decision, and must obtain His Majesty's approval." With that, Archipedes turned around and bowed respectfully to the Medical Department.
Devers said softly, "Archipedes is right. Gold and silver mines are the strategic resources of the kingdom, and cannot be used as long-term financial expenses, unless there is a sudden special situation."
"His Majesty's decision is right! If the gold and silver mines are trampled, excavated, and distributed indiscriminately, the kingdom will be flooded with gold and silver, and it will only destroy the prosperity of the kingdom's trade and cause chaos. "Minister of Commerce Marigi immediately expressed his approval and endorsed Archipedes.
Archipedes continued in high spirits, "Also … Lady Alexis, you only see how much land the kingdom has increased, but you did not see how many officials we have added to manage these lands, and the higher salaries we have to pay them. This is already a very large expenditure. Not to mention the large relocation expenses needed to relocate the citizens to these new lands, as well as the construction of roads, bridges, temples, and all kinds of public facilities and maintenance costs on these new lands. This is also a huge expenditure. To tell you the truth, if it wasn't for the recent prosperity of trade, and the increase in commercial tax revenue barely made up for these increased expenses, I'm afraid that the monthly salaries given to you would have been reduced. "
Archipedes said and nodded to Marigi to express his gratitude.
Alexis was dumbfounded. He originally thought that with this new law, the kingdom could have two or three special corps that could be sent into battle at any time, and the Ministry of Military Affairs would feel much more relaxed. He did not expect the real difficulties to come.
He said helplessly, "Since everyone agreed to establish such an army composed of foreign freedmen, and thought that there must be enough military expenses to maintain it, but the treasury is unable to provide the military expenses. Without military expenses, this army cannot be established, so what should we do?"
Lucius looked at his nose, and his nose looked at his heart, as if he was deep in thought.
Cypross's eyes turned, and he wanted to say something several times, but he stopped himself.
Marigi and Cydorum were whispering something.
Hemont shrugged and said apologetically, "I don't know much about the kingdom's finances."
Archipedes, who had been complaining that he had no money, was now silent.
The other ministers either really didn't know much about this and were somewhat at a loss, or they also put on a thoughtful look. A strange silence appeared in the hall of the palace.
At this moment, a sonorous voice rang out. "Because building an army that is truly free from daily labor and can be deployed into battle at any time is a requirement for our kingdom's expanding borders. It is a brand new and important long-term national policy. Therefore, it is best to levy a new tax on the people for its military expenditure!"
As soon as these words came out, some people were shocked, some looked the same, and some heaved a sigh of relief.
Tax increase, someone finally said it out loud! Devers gripped the armrests of their seats tightly and looked at the person who spoke. It was Artaris. It really was him! Daring and courageous, worthy of being an outstanding talent recommended by Cunogorata back then. Knowing that it would offend the majority of the people, he still said it without hesitation, as if the safety of the kingdom was more important than his own gains and losses. In comparison, the other rotating president, Cypross, who was more capable, was obviously thinking too much. As for Lucius, Hemont, Cydorum, and the others … Haha.
Devers scanned the ministers quietly, taking in the expressions of the people in their eyes. When they met Cypross's eyes, Cypross quickly looked away. He had already realized that his performance just now had disappointed Devers.
"Tax increase? That's not very good, I'm afraid the people will find it hard to accept. "The first to respond was the Medical Minister, Herpes.
"Yes, since the establishment of Diónia, the kingdom's direct tax has always been 1%, and it has not changed for almost 20 years. The people are used to it, if we want to tax them now, I'm afraid they will find it hard to accept." The Construction Minister, Heraclides, also expressed his opinion. As technical officials, he and Herpes did not seem to consider the problem from the perspective of the kingdom, but the first thing they thought of was the mentality of the people.
"His Majesty has already said that the times are changing, the environment is changing, and the kingdom is changing. Of course, our laws should also be changed to meet the new needs! Twenty years ago, when Diónia was founded, there were only three or four small towns, and the population was probably less than 30,000, very insignificant. But now, the kingdom is the hegemon of the Western Mediterranean, and the territory area is more than ten times that of the past, the population is more than 3 million, and there are many city-states and forces affiliated with us. It is no longer the small city-state alliance it used to be! "
Cypross finally stood up to speak, he said with great emotion, "When Diónia was first founded, all the public officials, including the elders, were not paid, and now, the monthly salary of the junior officials of the kingdom can almost buy a cow, let alone us.
Twenty years ago, when Diónia went to war, all the citizens who could fight added up to less than 10,000 people, and they could reach the frontline in a few hours, end the war in a day or two, and return to the city-states. The time was so short that the soldiers did not even finish the rations they brought from home.
But now, once the kingdom launched a war, it could easily mobilize tens of thousands of people, and the war time was calculated in months, the military rations needed were calculated in tons as the basic unit, and this did not include other material consumption, all of which were provided by the kingdom.
Twenty years ago, Diónia did not have any major expenditure except for the construction of roads. But now, there were countless public buildings in the kingdom, and not only the construction cost, but the maintenance cost was also not a small figure, and the money earned by the schools and public hospitals in the towns was not enough to maintain the operation, and the kingdom needed to provide subsidies to maintain it …
The bigger the kingdom, the greater the expenditure. Could the 1% tax meet the needs of the Kingdom of Diónia? Of course not! We rely on the commercial taxes collected because of the prosperity of the trade brought by the strength of the kingdom! We rely on the inheritance taxes collected because the strength of the kingdom made the citizens rich! We rely on the other expenses that the strength of the kingdom made the citizens rich and colorful, such as the competitive games hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, lottery, library book borrowing fees, and so on! We rely on the wisdom of His Majesty and the hard work of everyone to barely ensure the development of the kingdom today!
To be honest, the direct tax collected by the kingdom had been maintained at 1% for the past 20 years, and this was definitely a great miracle! This was the blessing of Hades! This was the kindness of His Majesty! Even during the most difficult times of the war, the kingdom only borrowed money from the people, and did not blatantly collect high war taxes. The people of Diónia should feel very lucky to live in such a happy kingdom, and not in other places.
Look around us, this is no longer the traditional world where the citizens of the Greek city-states did not collect direct taxes a few decades ago.
In the past, in the east of Sicily, during the reign of Dionysius, the war tax of each city-state was as high as 30%, and it lasted for many years. Even after he was later overthrown, Syracuse's annual direct tax was still close to 10%, to ensure that the city-state could restore its strength as soon as possible, and to ensure its safety under our pressure.
In the west of Sicily, the tax rate of the Phoenician city-states and the Carthage city-states was relatively low, but it was still more than 5%. It was said that the money from these taxes was spent on the conquest of southern Iberia.
Looking at Greece itself, in the past few decades of frequent wars, which city-state's direct tax was not more than 20%. Even the wealthiest city, Athens, had even come up with a wonderful way to collect taxes. They divided the Demo district under their jurisdiction, and in each tax collection area, there must be a lot of foreign wealthy merchants who settled down, and then stipulated how much tax the area had to pay, and if they did not reach the target, they would be punished. Often, due to the pleas and coercion of the people in the area, more than half of the tax was borne by these wealthy merchants.
Not to mention Sparta, which had always been a city-state, all the wealth earned was controlled by the government, and then it was responsible for the distribution.
Everyone, this is a world of frequent wars and danger, and the countries and forces around us are accumulating strength and fighting. Even if Diónia is now strong, we can't take it lightly. The kingdom should not only increase taxes, but the tax rate should not be too low, so that the kingdom can operate normally, and have enough power to protect the safety of the territory, and defend the interests of the people! "
Cypross's words were so deafening that it made some people absent-minded, and some people suddenly understood.
Then, the Devers loudly praised, "Well said!"
Only then did many people understand: His Majesty was in favor of raising taxes!
The atmosphere in the hall began to change, but Lysias was still worried, "Your Majesty, once additional taxes are proposed, not only will it cause a lot of controversy in the Senate, but it will 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, Your Majesty!"
The Devers smiled faintly, and said in a deep voice, "People like Artaris and Cypross have put forward such a proposal for the sake of the kingdom, regardless of personal honor or disgrace, and I, as the son of the patron saint of the kingdom, Hades, do not care about this little bit of criticism! I only ask you, Lysias, should we raise taxes? "
The Devers's words hit the nail on the head, and Lysias could not avoid it, so he could only answer, "Your Majesty, from the current situation of the kingdom, we … need an army of foreign freedmen; in order not to affect the normal operation of the kingdom, we also … need to increase additional taxes to provide material support for this army."
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