When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1013 If the Holy Grandson isn't in a hurry, then I'm not in a hurry either.

"How is our King Gigi settling in with life in Flower Hill City?"

Charles VIII, leaning on his cane, strode along the ancient city walls of Flowerhill.

The king, who had just returned from the battlefield of Windmill Land, looked less youthful and more weathered than before.

Chancellor Lorenzo, standing beside him, smiled elegantly: "He is very pleased. He has taken several new lovers and said that Fran is so happy that he has forgotten about Leia."

"Tsk." Charles VIII clicked his tongue lightly. "He still has his hopes; we need to keep a close eye on him."

"I know this."

The cool morning breeze ruffled Charles VIII's short hair, carrying with it the river mist and the hustle and bustle of the city's cooking smoke.

Charlie stopped and turned his head to look into the city, as if he were looking at his entire kingdom.

After fifty years, the windmill site is back in my hands.

This achievement alone is enough to warrant historians writing a detailed account of Charles VIII in their books.

Charles VIII was not satisfied. Since the windmills rolled down so easily, it meant that the internal reforms of France over the past fifty years had been largely successful.

At this point, his target was no longer the small Windmill Field, but the entire empire.

He wants to climb to the top step by step; his goal is an extremely rare title.

Great Emperor!

Like Alexander the Great, Riodola the Great, and Castells the Great.

Charlemagne, what a wonderful title.

He has already completed the first step, controlling the mouth of the North Nauan River—Windmill Land, and also controlling the nominal king of the Kingdom of Leia—Genigis.

Even the Flesh and Blood Royal Court provided assistance, looting the Holy Throne City and seizing the Triple Crown.

Although it's a bad thing, it's a good thing.

Because of this title, Fran took the opportunity to halt the civil war in Leia, united the nobles of Leia, and installed Grand Duke Omes as regent.

However, anyone with discerning eyes in Leia could see that this Grand Duke Omes was nothing more than a dog of Charles VIII!

Next, it will take a few years to establish the papacy, and then the votes of the Els, the Pope, the Frans, and the Leias will be collected.

With four votes combined, he became the emperor of the Holy El Empire.

Even if the Norn disagree, so what?
The only remaining step is to establish Pope Grandiva's position.

To be honest, Charlie has never really thought much of Grandiva.

Unfortunately, he is currently the only one in France with the reputation and qualifications to oppose Saint Sun.

But where should the Pope of the Holy Alliance be positioned?

Charles VIII raised his head and gazed at Flower Hill City bathed in the morning light.

A winding, silvery river flows through Flower Hill City; that is the lower reaches of the Namnaan River.

The two Naoan Rivers, one to the north and one to the south, carved out a fertile and rich golden plain, the center of imperial civilization.

Standing atop the city wall, Charles VIII could see flat-bottomed barges interspersed with a few flute-shaped boats moving slowly.

Red, blue, and white sails alternate, and the boatmen's ropes are distributed like a spider web.

These ships docked at the Grand Dock of Flowerhill City, unloading grain, firewood, peat, stone, and wine.

Between the boats, small ferries can be seen, like tiny silver fish among black sharks, quickly shuttling between them to transport passengers and small goods.

Standing beside Charles VIII, Lorenzo also looked towards the city.

After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke to the king who had returned from his campaign, saying, "The citizens of the city have been calling for a reduction in tariffs on peat."

"Peat is indeed better than firewood. It takes up less space and burns more vigorously and longer, but the smoke is a bit pungent, which is not as good as charcoal."

This was Charles VIII comforting his prime minister, Lorenzo, who had previously thought that France was so vast that it had everything.

It doesn't matter if the Holy Alliance makes a little money.

Therefore, in the first tariff negotiations with the Holy Alliance, they didn't pay much attention to anything except spices and sugar.

But reality slapped Lorenzo hard in the face.

Not only was peat popular in the city, but Saint-Lian's mortar and inexpensive fabrics were also sought after by the common people.

As for low-level laborers and artisans, especially poor migrant workers in border areas, they tend to prefer buying products from Saint Union.

Although products from Saint Alliance are often ridiculed as being monotonous and poorly made, their low prices and large quantities are undeniable.

Even the Amway store, the wool and garment distributor of Saint Alliance in France, offered a free woolen garment for referring five new customers and a permanent 20% discount for referring ten new customers.

Putting everything else aside, the title of "VIP" alone is enough to give the middle class face.

These clothes, in particular, often copy French fashion, producing low-quality versions of French fashion.

This has ruined the reputation of the Holy Alliance in this circle.

But this also shows how deeply Saint-Leninist goods have penetrated the French market.

How much do you think the Holy Alliance's annual revenue is?

“About a million pounds sterling.” Charles VIII glanced at Lorenzo and asked in surprise, “Didn’t the Duke of Laban say eight hundred thousand pounds sterling?”

"That idiot only thought about taxes, but forgot that the workshops were state-owned."

Judging solely from the exports of various products from the Holy Alliance during this period, excluding the output of the spice company, it is estimated that there has been a net inflow of two to three hundred thousand gold pounds in terms of goods.

Lorenzo is nominally the Foreign Minister, but in reality, the Finance Minister is a puppet of his cronies, and the finance department is under his control.

More than a million gold pounds...

Charles VIII's eyebrows went from relaxed to slightly furrowed. Over the years, the annual fiscal revenue of the Kingdom of France has been between 300 million and 500 million gold pounds.

According to the tax registers of the Church and the Kingdom of Leia, Thousand River Valley in Armorwood Province paid 6 gold pounds, Shattered Stone Plain paid 8 gold pounds, and Black Serpent Bay paid 2 gold pounds, totaling 16 gold pounds.

Now that number has increased nearly sevenfold, and that's in the empire's frontier region, at the foot of the desolate Dragon Vein Mountains.

There's a reason why Fran has such a high income.

Besides the growing power of the tax authorities and the increasing prosperity of commerce, the most important factor was the influx of precious metals and grains from the Flesh and Blood Royal Court.

If we take food as the anchor point, then there is no difference.

If we take commodities as the anchor, money is not as valuable as before.

Regarding the price revolution...

It was precisely because of the influx of precious metals from the flesh-and-blood royal court that monetary rent replaced in-kind rent, further strengthening Franco's ability to collect taxes.

In addition, the French royal family and nobles had the money to spend lavishly, arranging for large gold chains and large gold statues.

This resulted in a large amount of precious metals circulating among the people, which facilitated tax collection.

But what does your Holy Alliance have? It has neither a coastline nor fertile land.

Do you also feel that this number is abnormal?

"Not sure, let's wait and see." Charles VIII shook his head. "What do those guys say?"

The people Charles VIII was referring to were, of course, the friendly faction of the Holy Alliance. This group was small in number, but it was growing stronger day by day.

"They said that the Holy Alliance's dumping trade with France was a high-level form of tribute."

"Pfft." Charles VIII couldn't help but chuckle. "They're really in a hurry to say something like that."

There must be a reason for saying such a thing.

The wealthiest class in France spent lavishly, which led to the formation of a large commercial system centered around the nobility.

A silk robe with floral decorations might cost thousands of pounds, but migrant workers couldn't even afford a coat for 2 dinars.

To paraphrase an article from the Papal Proverbs, France's industrial system was built around expensive consumer goods, luxury items, and services for the upper and middle classes.

The Holy Alliance's industrial system, on the contrary, is an industrial system built around the lower and middle classes.

Apart from sugar and spices, the entire Holy Union produces almost no luxury goods.

Ceramics, silk, tea, perfume, rare treasures, jewelry, literature... none of them are presentable.

This is something many businessmen scoff at; in this world, it's naturally whoever has money to make money, what's the point of making money off the poor?

In a sense, the existence of the Holy Alliance complements that of the Franco-François Alliance, which is what many Franco-François groups who favor the Holy Alliance have been advocating for.

Charles VIII just felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

In fact, Charles VIII's attitude was also the attitude of the Franco-François Société Générale.

I have a feeling that something's wrong with this thing, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

"How many troops can we mobilize to fight the Holy Alliance on the border?"

Charles VIII provided a figure, noting that he always personally controlled the army, and Lorenzo almost never interfered in this matter.

"This troop strength seems a bit small."

"With the new settlement of Windmill Land, troops will be stationed in the north to suppress the great nobles, and a show of force will be taken at the border to pursue that group of cannibalistic warlords..."

At this point, Charles VIII paused, noting that the fighting prowess of those ogres was unusually high.

However, this was not the focus at the moment, so he put it out of his mind for the time being.

“I see.” Lorenzo pondered for a moment. “I think we should avoid a major war with the Holy Alliance. It would disrupt our plans and give the Leia and Norn an opportunity to take advantage of us.”

“That’s what I’m thinking too. Can you give me a solution?” Charles VIII stared earnestly at Lorenzo in the morning light.

"First, we'll use words to fight, then we'll use force."

Could you elaborate?

"Your Highness, you must answer one question for me first."

Charles VIII frowned: "Please speak."

Clearing his throat, Lorenzo asked seriously, "When are you planning to get married? We've chosen four noble ladies for you, are you not satisfied with any of them? You're not getting any younger."

"...Look at that grandson of the Holy Alliance, he's not married yet, is he? He's not in a hurry, why should I be? No rush, no rush..."

　P.S. A chapter rushed out before dawn.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)