When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 715 Three Years Passed in a Flash

After teaching the children of the Zhongsi Army their first lesson of the spring, Horn hurriedly practiced breathing techniques for half an hour before having to take a carriage to the Holy See Building.

In his Stag Room, Sissi and Madeleine, two of his most important ministers, had been waiting for a long time.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

"Good morning, how is your New Year?" After taking off his long sleeved robe, Horn was the first to shake hands and hug Madeleine, "This is the first New Year's Day for you and your new wife."

"Hahaha, everything is fine." Madeleine grinned. "She told me yesterday that she was desperate and she would never be able to catch up with my cooking skills in her lifetime."

Unlike many other soldiers, Madeleine did not marry the daughter of a knight, but instead married the daughter of a coachman in Mound County.

Of course, compared to the daughter of a noble, Madeleine got along better with the daughter of a small businessman.

"Sissi, you are already old, why don't you find someone to live with?" Horn said jokingly while shaking hands and hugging Sissi, "I think Bonard is a good choice."

Bonard, who was sitting by the door copying documents, immediately burst into a violent cough.

After the previous fierce war, as the situation gradually stabilized, these new rich in Langsander County immediately began to get married and settle down.

As of now, many of the team members who followed Horn are now married.

There is no need to mention the Grampvens and the Jeshkas. Chilvis found a landowner's widow with children, and Busak remarried the daughter of a scholar.

Pettier married his fiancée from his hometown, Bernardo married Das's sister, and Das himself had recently been having an affair with a former nun teacher.

This made Horn sigh that spring was indeed approaching.

"Hahaha, how could it be before you? Come to think of it, you are not young anymore, when are you going to get married? At least it will make us all feel at ease." Xixi responded with a smile.

This time it was Horn's turn to cough violently. He pretended to drink water to avoid it. "Well, how can we call home if the devil is not yet destroyed? Speaking of home, Sissi, I heard that you went back to your hometown during the New Year's Day?"

"Yes, I went back to the yard of Black Snake Bay to clean up and transport some of the furniture and luggage at home to the Holy Equipment Court."

"That's great. If you have any relatives or friends, you can bring them over to live here. The Holy Court is very big." Horn paused and asked, "How are the prices in the Holy Court these days?"

“The current market price of wheat is about 1 to 10 pounds for 12 dinar, and rice crackers are cheaper, buying about 16 pounds.

Vegetables are around 0.5 to 2 dinars per pound, and fresh meat is still expensive at between 2-3 dinars per pound.

But eggs are cheaper, half a dinar buys 12 eggs, and half a dinar can buy half a dozen sausages or two pounds of cheese."

Horn quickly calculated in his mind that a family of three would consume 3-4 pounds of grains a day, 1-2 eggs or sausages a day, plus some vegetables and cheese, and the total food expenditure for a month would be around 10 to 13 dinars.

According to the minimum monthly wage in the Holy See set by the City Hall, which is 25 dinars, even for those who receive the minimum wage, their monthly food consumption expenditure only accounts for about 50% of their total income.

In other words, they are just struggling to survive.

Of course, all of this is based on city hall’s subsidies and tax cuts for basic necessities.

The reason why the Holy See City Hall can provide such subsidies is entirely based on the prosperous economic benefits of a large number of state-owned factories and alchemy workshops in the Pope's Palace.

There are two main reasons why the state-owned factories are so prosperous.

Part of the reason came from the fact that Horn plundered the profits of wealthy people at home and abroad through war, dumping and financial warfare. Horn could even make these factories operate at a loss in the early stages.

The other part is based on the substantial exploitation of urban and rural product exchanges caused by the information gap among farmers.

Horn knew it, and he would never be afraid to face it.

For example, the mountain people in South Mound County are engaged in heavy spinning work, and the mountain people in North County are working hard to pickle meat. Although they are more profitable than before, it is the spillover effect of a large amount of hot money pouring into the market, and they should have earned more income.

But in reality, a large amount of profits were used by Horn to build factories, fortresses, weapons and infrastructure.

Therefore, as industry and economy developed in the later period, it was necessary to subsidize farmers.

It's not the farmers who owe Horn a favor, it's Horn who owes the farmers a favor.

"Your Majesty, I have to say something." Madeleine stepped forward and said, "This kind of subsidy will not last long, because with such high wages and living standards, it will inevitably attract a large number of people to gather.

As the population grows, price increases are inevitable, and subsidies won’t cover much.”

"I know, that's why the city hall promotes earthworm soil and breeding farms outside the city. There's no way to get food, so we have to transport it from Jeanne d'Arc."

Vermicompost is the process of using vermicompost in rural areas on the outskirts of cities to raise poultry, while farms raise cattle, horses, pigs, sheep and other livestock on Qiumu Island.

Because the soil on Qiumu Island is really not very good, the grain yield is not high if it is replaced with barley or oats.

You might as well just grow forage radishes and feed the livestock directly.

As for grain, Longsand County downstream is a grain-producing area and can be transported from Jeanne d'Arc.

But from a strategic point of view, if the enemy occupied Fort Joan of Arc, the industrial center of the Holy See would be cut off from food.

It's impossible for everything to be perfect. With a sigh in his heart, Horn walked around the table and sat down: "Have you calculated the tax situation of this 100-household area?"

"It's on the table."

By the end of 1447, Qianhe Valley had basically completed its transformation into a hundred-household district.

Of course, this kind of centurion districtization is almost incomparable with that in Langsander County. A large number of village stewards and small landlords hold the position of centurion heads.

But no matter who the centurion is, the rules and efficiency improvements of the centurion area are set.

The agricultural mutual assistance model has brought about efficiency improvements, and the new crop rotation method has increased per-acre yield, freeing up farmers' time and resources to generate income and improve their crops.

The centurions were eager to receive commendations from the head monks and be nominated to the Advisory Council by completing the various targets assigned to them.

With the help of itinerant monks and voluntary missionary monks of the Order of the Cause, tax collection and public security efficiency were significantly improved.

In addition, there is the North Mound County Steel Consortium, the large and small textile brotherhoods in South Mound County, the bacon workshops in North County, and the great prosperity brought about by the relaxation of industrial and commercial restrictions.

"…the 682-household district also spontaneously built 74 drainage and irrigation canals, 1800 small dams, and spontaneously reclaimed and reclaimed hectares of wasteland…"

"…Although a large number of farmers were unable to plant on time due to the turmoil and changes caused by the implementation of the 5-household district system, the average yield of those who were not affected increased by about %…"

The political tournament system established by Horn has already begun to show its ugly signs, with layer upon layer of indicators and pressure, forcing civil servants of all ranks to improve their political achievements.

The political achievements in 1447 were local agricultural taxation and infrastructure construction.

Last year, excluding Langsander County, the fiscal revenue of the other eight counties that were in a period of turmoil and recovery exceeded 10 gold pounds.

If Langsander County is included, the total fiscal revenue of Thousand River Valley is close to 15 gold pounds.

With the rise of trade between Langsander County and Black Snake Bay, the economic center of gravity of the Thousand River Valley has quietly moved south.

(End of this chapter)