eastern european eagle

Chapter 573 Royal Income
Peter had forgotten how much property the royal family had, so he went to find the royal treasurer and asked him to report.

On Justinian Street in Constantinople, there is a building that looks a little different. It is also a bank, but it does not do business with civilians. Each capital flow is around hundreds of thousands to several million lei. Some people found it strange at first, but when they saw the royal emblem, they understood that this is a bank exclusively for the royal family.

Yermak had only been the financial steward of the imperial royal family for three years. He was shocked when the old steward handed him a room full of financial account books. After he spent ten days sorting them out, he realized that the royal family was really too rich.

The royal family members received a fixed tribute every year, with the queen receiving 15000 lei, the princes 12000 lei, and the princesses 20 lei. The former emperor and queen also received a salary of lei per year.

These are just small expenses. In addition to gold coins, the royal family's annual food, clothing, housing and transportation cost a large amount of money. Sometimes they also have to hold tea parties and banquets. In recent years, the royal family has built palaces in other cities, and the emperor has allocated funds from his private treasury to colonization, which means at least 120 million lei a year.

Sometimes the emperor's hobbies were also very expensive. Peter was keen on collecting books and other works of art. He would always collect books from ancient Rome and ancient Greece at all costs, which cost money. He also encouraged art and personally spent money to cultivate artists, which was something that other rulers of other countries could not do. So, 150 million lei a year was the lowest.

Such expenditures are indeed the highest in Europe, but fortunately the income is also rich and varied. First of all, there are transfers from the treasury, which mainly cover the civil engineering expenses of the royal family. The government-controlled mines will also provide raw materials to the royal family for free. This amount of money can offset it.

Then there are the industries, commerce and trade finance controlled by the royal family. Take the Royal Bank and the Royal Chamber of Commerce as examples. Both were established by Peter himself. They initially relied on shipping maltose to the Hanseatic League to obtain funds, and now have expanded their business to the whole of Europe. Banks are engaged in foreign exchange business, and the annual turnover and dividends are huge figures.

The workshops under the control of the royal family employed a large number of people to carry out production. The textile factory in Constanta employed 600 people, and the workshop in Constantinople employed more than 1000 people. And such factories existed all over the country.

The workshops provided money, while the most important estates provided food and other agricultural products. Hundreds of thousands of peasants worked the royal lands for them, and their situation was slightly better than that of the peasants under the landlords, but only slightly.

The manor and the workshop could cover most of the expenses, and the trade from the East made the royal finances even richer. Under the emperor's promotion, the Senate passed an order that 20% of the income from Eastern trade should be handed over to the royal family, because this would help them remember who pushed all this.

Not only the East Asian trade, but also those colonies needed to pay taxes. Especially India, as a key colony of the empire, had to serve as a model. Other private colonies and countries directly presented gifts to the emperor.

There are only two private colonies now, one is Mason's Sarah Island, and the other is De La Salle's East African inland area. After De La Salle died a few years ago, his son asked Peter to name this place after his family name. Peter agreed and gave him a 200-mile radius around it. He can expand to the south, but not to the north, which would cause trouble for the empire's control over Egypt.

De La Salle thanked the emperor for his gift and began to work hard to develop the land. The town had already taken shape, with small workshops and blacksmith shops. The annual caravans became their way of connecting with other places. Hunting black slaves became the main source of De La Salle's foreign exchange earnings, and his ambition was not limited to this place. He also wanted to continue expanding to the seaside.

In order to get the emperor's approval for his actions, De La Salle had to pay tribute to the emperor every year in the form of 50 black slaves, 3000 lei and a large amount of supplies. Mason paid tribute to Peter in the form of a large amount of sugar, coffee and lei. The gifts from other countries were all planned by the emperor himself. Some were exchanged for coins, and some were kept for his own use.

"Sir, this year's situation is the same as last year, and we can probably make a surplus of 65 lei." "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Yermak thanked his subordinates. Without them, he would be exhausted. In addition to his assistants, he also had 20 district leaders under him. Each of them was responsible for the financial revenue of their region. After audit and profit and loss, they were summarized to the higher authorities.

However, Yermak not only wanted to get his job done, but also wanted to see if he could get some more money to invest. He had previously misappropriated 30,000 lei to invest in a manor, and later made up for the shortfall. Although the law was very strict, the huge benefits still tempted him to take the money. Anyway, he had too much money in his private treasury to spend for a while, so he might as well use it for investment.

In fact, each regional manager also thought so, that if they took a little, they would not be discovered. Even if the higher-ups checked, they could falsify the account books or pay the difference, anyway, they were 100% safe.

While he was meditating, his men came to report: "Sir, there is a decree from the palace. His Majesty wants to hear about the current financial situation."

"Oh, God, I need to get ready."

When he learned that the emperor needed to read about his property, Yermak quickly prepared the account books and other things, after all, there were too many things to read.

On the way here, he kept wondering what the emperor was going to do. Was his trick discovered and he was going to be beheaded? Or did he need money from somewhere to support him? Or was he going to report the banquet? In short, everything was possible.

"Sir, what do you think His Majesty wants to see you for?"

"I don't know, you'd better shut your mouth now, otherwise I don't mind tearing it apart myself."

Yermak was impatient with his assistant's words. After all, he was in such a situation and he wished he could be quiet. Indeed, the assistant said nothing after hearing it and waited for the arrival.

After rushing to the palace, Yermak was greeted by the chief eunuch, who flattered him. After giving him a bag of gold coins, he also knew why the emperor came to him, which was to save dowries for the princesses.

The emperor now has three princesses, and it is not known how much dowry each princess needs, but according to the situation in Europe, at least 100 million lei is needed. Three princesses means 300 million, and if other things are added, it will be even more. Although the private treasury can bear it, it is not known how much the emperor wants.

(End of this chapter)