Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 172: Eating the Food of the Next Year
That afternoon, after Locke escorted the silver to the treasury and returned to the Prime Minister's residence to report, he found thirteen Viking advisors sitting in the lobby. They were fiddling with a strange tool in their left hands and writing furiously with quill pens in their right hands, seemingly checking accounts.

"What is this?" Rocky leaned closer to examine it closely.

The young man raised his head, revealing a look of disdain for country bumpkins. "The abacus, a calculating tool taught to us by the Duke, comes from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East."

After saying that, the young man continued to deal with the accounts in front of him. He was Vig's personal advisor, belonging to the Duke's mansion, and was only responsible to Vig himself. He had no obligation to be loyal to the king and had no need to curry favor with Rocky.

Silently reciting abacus formulas, the staff skillfully manipulated the abacus, the oak beads on both the upper and lower levels jumping between their fingertips, filling the first-floor hall with the clattering sound of the beads colliding.

As dusk fell, bright whale oil candles lit up the candlesticks around them, as if it were daytime again. The staff worked overtime until late at night and resumed work the next morning. With an efficiency that Rocky had never seen before, they finished clearing up last year's accounts in just three days.

Surprisingly, the staff's calculations were not significantly different from Pascal's remaining ledgers; there was indeed a deficit of 12,000 pounds last year.

Pascal wasn't greedy for money?
Vig felt a deep sense of doubt: what was the purpose of a surrendered Anglo-Saxon nobleman who had worked diligently for more than ten years?
He summoned Rocky, who was in low spirits and gave an unexpected answer.

"Twelve years ago, when His Majesty was still the King of Northumbria, someone suggested that he confiscate the monastery's assets. The Prime Minister persuaded him to stop, promising to resolve the financial issues on the condition that His Majesty would protect all the monasteries within the territory."

So that's how it is. Vig roughly understood Pascal's motives. The former prime minister seemed to regard this job as some kind of atonement, to the point that he worked himself to death in office.

"Is it all worth it?"

Sensing this dedication and sacrifice, Vig got up and went to the window, gazing at the vast expanse of yellowing clover lawn outside. After a long while, he resolved to reverse the current decline.

Returning to his desk, Viggo reviewed his staff's work summaries. The vast majority of last year's £12,000 debt came from within the country.

"Ragnar is preparing for an expedition, and Pascal doesn't have the money to pay the bills for all the supplies, so he has to put them on hold for now. Let me see which unlucky souls are in trouble."

The first in the list is the Duke of Wessex, Ethelworth, whose grain and ships were requisitioned by the royal family for a total value of one thousand pounds.

The Duke of Mercia was asked by the royal family to borrow eight hundred pounds to pay soldiers for overtime service, without specifying a repayment date.

The Earl of Kent, in the territory of Wolf, trade flourished, and many goods were requisitioned by Pascal, totaling five hundred pounds.

The Duke of Tyneburg, the royal family has demanded four hundred pounds worth of pig iron ingots for the production of military equipment, and the payment has not been made to this day.

The Earl of East Anglia, the royal family borrowed four hundred pounds from him and also requisitioned five hundred sheep.

Besides the high nobles, merchants and gentry in the Landineum region were also not spared; their wealth was forcibly invested in the expedition. The problem was that the Norse lords surrendered without a fight, and the army received no spoils, thwarting Pascal's plan to use the spoils to settle debts.

Moreover, Denmark and Sweden have always been poor, and with the added burden of war, the annual income they pay to the royal family is negligible. From an economic perspective, this expedition was undoubtedly a complete failure.

"It's all Hafdan's fault. If he had stayed put in Gothenburg, the war wouldn't have started. Because of his actions, countless civilians were killed or injured, the government spent tens of thousands of pounds, and more than 10,000 of us were forced to go to Northern Europe to starve."

After spending most of the day locked in his study, Vig drafted a financial report, and the next day he summoned Lodge and his staff to discuss it.

After confirming the details, Vig went to the main hall on the third day and informed Ragnar of the current predicament. "Your Majesty, we had a deficit of 12,000 pounds last year, and I recently borrowed 2,000 from the Berbers, which I expect to repay 3,300, for a total of 15,300 pounds. Here is the detailed report."

Ragnar took the stack of papers and said to the two queens with a wry smile, "I was doing quite well a few years ago, but I never expected to suddenly owe such a huge sum of money. I really don't know what to do."

At this moment, the fourth prince, Uber, standing at the bottom of the steps, waved his fist and shouted, "We are Vikings, there's no reason for us to honestly pay our debts! If anyone dares to come and collect their debts, we'll kill them all!"

Vig remained expressionless, too lazy to explain to the boy, silently thinking, "The vast majority of the debt comes from your vassals. If you dare to default, your family's throne may be in jeopardy."

Ragnar distributed the papers to the two queens. All three looked grim. Seeing this, Sigurd, who was being held in Asura's arms, spoke up:
“I’ve heard Alfred mention that commoners who owe money sell their cattle, sheep, and land to pay off their debts. Father, we have a lot of land, why don’t we sell it to pay off our debts?”

That's a feasible solution.

When the Anglo-Saxon kings faced financial crises, their first priority was to raise taxes, followed by borrowing money from the church, using land as collateral.

The youngest son's unintentional remark reminded Ragnar that he had confiscated Nils's fiefdom of Nottingham last year, and it was a good time to sell it for emergency use.

However, Vig's words dispelled this wishful thinking:

According to common practice, land prices are linked to annual returns, typically 10-20 times the annual return. Nils, having exhausted his resources to expand his army, had very little land left; if he had simply sold land, he could have raised at most three or four hundred pounds.

As for the town of Nottingham, assuming Ragnar is willing to grant a charter allowing the town's residents to govern themselves, they could extract an additional source of income, but with a population of less than two thousand, the income provided would be limited.

After listening to him, Aslaci hesitated and said, "Well, if land and noble titles were sold together, buying a manor would grant you a knighthood, and you might even get a baronship."

She stopped herself halfway through her sentence, regretting the foolish things she had said.

Selling official positions and titles is tantamount to depleting the prestige of the royal family, and the nobles will also strongly oppose it—how can you trample on the military merits and honors that we have fought for with our lives!
Seeing that no one spoke, Vig finally came up with his own solution:

First, a luxury tax will be levied, with heavy taxes imposed on wine, spices, sugar, and dyed fabrics.

II. Organize land reclamation.

Third, promote the planting of clover to increase the number of sheep, and at the same time, sign supply agreements with various merchants to repay the debt with wool instead of precious metals.

Fourth, audit the accounts of the two royal domains of York and Tamworth, which are far from the palace and require stricter controls.

In this way, an extra £2,000 in fiscal surplus is expected each year, and after eight years, £15,000 may be repaid, achieving fiscal stability.

　Thank you to reader Daowu Huaxia for the donation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)