When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 626: Qianhe Valley's Finances
This fiscal meeting, which took place in the golden autumn of October, lasted for a total of four days and was extremely exciting.

First, two county governors failed to win the budget. One of them was so angry that he seduced his rival's wife at night. After being discovered, the two sides fought in court.

Then, because the issuance rights of road and bridge bonds were assigned to the Gospel Court of Busak, a wealthy merchant of Magdi was deprived of his agency rights and attempted to attack Busak's mansion at night, but he took the wrong road and went to the Jeshka mansion, where he was shot dead on the spot.

Then the two tribunes argued back and forth over the issues of the Road and Bridge Bureau and tariffs, slamming the table and cursing at each other, and even got to the point where they left the table in anger.

However, with the example of the previous beer hall riots, and the political consensus that political struggles should not spread, both sides are still fighting but not breaking up.

There were wise people in both camps, and each nominated a second-in-command to mediate, thus suppressing the dispute.

The final result was the establishment of the "Roads and Bridges Bureau" to manage tariffs, with Catherine, the President of the Privy Council, serving as the Director of the Roads and Bridges Bureau. On the one hand, she was responsible for the construction of overall roads and bridges, and on the other hand, she was responsible for the distribution of tariffs.

If the statistical financial report had not been delivered the next day, the county governors and cardinals attending the meeting would have almost forgotten what the meeting was for.

After saying goodbye politely to the monk who brought the report and the Pravda, Sylvester had just turned around when a male servant in the house quickly stepped forward and continued to tidy up his clothes.

While drinking hot milk, Hillvis quickly flipped through the financial report, occasionally stopping to make a clicking sound.

After finishing his tidying up, he did not rush to read the Pravda. Instead, he picked up the teacup, walked through the corridor, and went to find Herman who lived in the guest room.

Besides Herman, the others who accompanied Meliati to the Holy Court this time included several county governors from the Mountain County.

These county governors all have one thing in common, that is, they are all born into the nobility of North Mound County. They are the ascended chickens and dogs who carry the iris flag into Feiliu Castle and finish their lives.

They were all accommodated in guest rooms of the Apostolic Palace, which has nearly 100 rooms, 30 of which are specially used to accommodate foreign distinguished guests.

Even Horn himself lived in the Holy See Building and only went to the Mechanical Palace for vacation on weekends.

As an old nobleman and the century-old Earl of North Mound County, Silvestre had to say that this palace was new, but in the end it was too simple.

There are no decorative tiles on the corridor skirtings, no dome or paintings overhead, no ceramic vases or murals on both sides, not to mention the marble floor without carpet.

Compared to a Patriarch of the Thousand Valleys, or the Pope in the eyes of the common people, this place is more like a new home for an emerging noble family.

After all, if you want something beautiful and sturdy but don't want to spend too much money, you'll have to neglect the interior decoration.

"Good morning, may the Lord bless you, Lord Herman." After knocking on the door of Black Horse Knight Herman, Hillis sat down on the hardwood chair without any hesitation.

Sitting by the window, Herman held a stack of Pravda in both hands and read. In just three or five days, he had almost developed a habit.

Since the independence of the Thousand River Valley, Pravda began to expand from within the Salvation Army and quickly gained popularity among the urban population.

Using movable type printing, Pravda was published weekly.

The main contents published include five pages: current affairs news, official announcements, theology popular science, commentary articles, poetry and jokes, interspersed with things like shipping timetables, trade advertisements, etc.

At least in many towns in Langsand County, reading Pravda has become the most fashionable behavior among the urban middle class.

Carrying the Pravda newspaper under one's arm became a fashion item for citizens, because it meant that one was literate and did not do heavy physical labor, so one had time to read the newspaper.

Some master craftsmen were illiterate and would even buy a newspaper and ask their apprentices to read it to them.

This shows how popular and widespread this type of newspaper is.

In this era of information blockade, it is quite attractive for the middle class to know what is happening thousands of miles away and the attitudes of those in power through a small newspaper.

"Have you read the latest financial report?" Silvers asked first, spreading the Truth newspaper on his knees.

Reading newspapers together was a regular activity for the entourage. It was more like chatting than reading newspapers together. The newspapers were just a topic of conversation. But today, Hillvis obviously had a lot of other topics.

"I have seen it." With the morning light shining in through the window, Herman sat by the window with his legs crossed, flipping through Pravda. "This year, the deficit is almost 10 pounds, but fortunately it is only temporary."

"How terrible." Hillvis couldn't help but sigh. If it weren't for the gold pounds seized from the Feiliu Fort Church, Qianhe Valley would probably have gone bankrupt in the first year of its independence.

According to the report results, the expenditure in 1446 was 149000 gold pounds!

Fortunately, this includes interest on debts and a large amount of one-time expenses, so the meeting expects to reduce spending to 90000 pounds next year.

The annual income in 1446 was rather miserable: Hotham County had nearly 2 gold pounds, Lower River County and Cassia County had only 1 gold pounds in total, and the five mountain counties had only 1 gold pounds in total.

Including some miscellaneous manor properties and trade income, the fiscal revenue of the Thousand Valley in 1446 was about 55000 gold pounds.

The tribute that Qianhe Valley paid to the royal family of Leia was around 60000 gold pounds every year. 55000 gold pounds seemed to be only a slight reduction, but in fact it was cut in half.

Because the Thousand River Valley no longer has to pay taxes to the church, which means that the at least 60000 gold pounds in taxes that it sent to the Pope of the Holy See City no longer have to be paid!
According to the current tax books, if Qianhe Valley could collect taxes in full, it should be able to collect more than 12 gold pounds in tax revenue.

But there was no way. The Thousand Valley War had destroyed the economy, not to mention that the nobles were blocking roads at the border in an attempt to prevent Thousand Valley from foreign trade.

"War, war," said Silvers jealously. "The only place that was not affected by the war was probably Langsander County."

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Because a large number of middlemen and tax chains were reduced in the financial report, the Salvation Army's tax revenue this year reached a full 25000 pounds.

Horn did not mention income from real estate and assets, commercial taxes, etc. in the financial report he submitted, but Hillis estimated that they were around 20000 gold pounds, so the total was 45000 gold pounds.

This one county is almost as good as the other eight counties. The former Langsander County was just mediocre.

How did it become so prosperous in just two years?

But Hillis and his men should forget about this money, because it belongs to the church income of the Pope and can basically be regarded as the independent income of the Salvation Army.

"Can this hundred-household district really have such a big effect on tax collection?" Herman asked casually while flipping through Pravda.

Herman just asked casually, but Hillvis had a lot to say: "Sir Herman, I think the Hundred Household District is just a cover for the Order. What's wrong with grouping 100 households into one group?

They said they could collect more taxes, but this year the taxes are less. Instead, the religious orders made a fortune by reselling wool and yarn, but we can't get the money.

Now they are setting up a Road and Bridge Bureau. I had originally thought of making a profit by setting up checkpoints and collecting taxes, but now there is no hope at all.

Alas, Mr. Herman, I am a little regretful. If I had known this would happen, I would not have cooperated so much. My reputation among the nobles is so bad that no one wants to get close to me. "

Listening to Hillvis' words, Herman just smiled indifferently. He only knew how to play pitiful role, but why didn't he mention that he took the opportunity to kill several feuding families?
Although Hillis said this, even if he knew it in advance, he still had to cooperate honestly.

Under this bureaucratic system of appointment, his power was greater and more concentrated than before.

But if he doesn't do a good job, Meliati will have countless reasons to pull him down, and there will be many people waiting for his position.

If he doesn't do it, there are plenty of people who will.

Apart from anything else, Count Sampoli, who didn't even get the position of county governor, was full of complaints.

"It's all for the Thousand River Valley." Herman was still concentrating on reading the newspaper.

Hillvis did not continue reading the newspaper. Instead, he turned his eyes and asked Herman, "Mr. Herman, what do you think of the road and bridge bonds?"

(End of this chapter)