ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1068: Increase taxes?

So Archibedes calmed down and boldly retorted: "We have harvested some gold and silver mines, but His Majesty once warned our Finance Department that gold and silver cannot be distributed indiscriminately. It must be consistent with the annual grain output and tax revenue." Correspondingly... In short, if there is too much gold and silver, the silver coins in our hands will become worthless, so gold and silver are mined directly from the gold and silver mines. As the cost of this new mercenary army, the Finance Department cannot make the decision. , must obtain His Majesty's approval." After speaking, Archibedes turned around and bowed respectfully to the doctor.

Davos said softly: "Archibiades is right. Gold and silver mines are strategic materials for the kingdom and cannot be used as long-term financial expenditures unless there are unexpected special circumstances."

"Your Majesty's decision is right! If the gold and silver mines are trampled, dug, and mined indiscriminately, and the kingdom is flooded with gold and silver, it will only destroy the kingdom's trade prosperity and cause chaos." Minister of Commerce Mariji immediately agreed, saying Endorsed by Archibedes.

Archibides continued excitedly: "Also... Lord Alexis, you only saw how much land the kingdom has increased, but you haven't seen how many officials we have added to manage these lands. This is already a large expenditure. Not to mention the large relocation costs required to move citizens to these new lands, and the construction of roads, repairs Bridges, temples...repairing various public facilities and maintenance costs are a huge expense. To tell you the truth, if not for the boom in business in recent years, the increased commercial tax revenue can barely make up for these increases. Expenditures, I am afraid that your monthly salaries will be reduced."

Archibides said, nodding his thanks to Marij.

Alexis was dumbfounded. He originally thought that with this new decree, the kingdom would be able to have two or three more special legions that could be put into battle at any time, and the Ministry of Military Affairs would feel much more relaxed. Unexpectedly, the real difficulty was still there. later.

He said helplessly: "Since everyone has unanimously agreed to establish such an army composed of foreign free people, and believes that sufficient military expenditures must be needed to maintain it, but now the national treasury cannot provide military expenditures for it, but without military expenditures, this army The army cannot be built, so what should we do?”

Lysias looked at his nose with his eyes, and his nose with his heart, looking thoughtful.

Sipulos turned his eyes and hesitated several times.

Marij and Sedorum were whispering something.

Hermon shrugged and said apologetically: "I don't know much about the kingdom's finances."

Archibides, who had cried out that he had no money before, remained silent at this moment.

The other ministers either really didn't know much about this and were a little confused, or they looked like they were thinking about it. There was a strange calmness in the palace hall.

This is when a loud voice sounded: "Because building an army that is truly free from daily work and can go into battle at any time is a need for our kingdom's ever-expanding territory. It is a new, long-term and important national policy, so its military expenditures It’s better to impose new taxes on the people alone!”

As soon as this remark came out, some people were shocked, some looked the same, and some were obviously relieved.

Tax increase, finally someone is talking about it! ...Davos grasped the armrests of the seat with both hands and looked at the speaker: Atalis, it is indeed him!Dare to serve and be brave enough to serve, he is worthy of being an outstanding talent recommended by Kunogolata back then. Even though he knew that he would offend the general public, he still said it without hesitation, considering the safety of the kingdom to be more important than his own gains and losses.In comparison, the other rotating chairman he valued, Sipulos, who was more capable of doing things, obviously thought too much. As for Lysias, Hermon, Sedorum and others... haha.

Davos glanced at the ministers calmly, taking in all living beings. When his eyes came into contact with Sipulos, Sipulos quickly moved his head away. He had realized that his performance just now had disappointed Davos. .

"Increase taxes? This is not good. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the people to accept it." The first to respond was Medical Minister Helps.

"Yes, since the establishment of Dionia, the kingdom's direct tax has been one percent. It has remained unchanged for almost 20 years. The people are used to it. If there is a tax now, let them pay more money. I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to accept it." Minister of Construction Heraclid also expressed his attitude later. As technical officials, he and Helps did not seem to consider the problem from the perspective of the kingdom. The first thing they thought of was the mentality of the people. .

"Your Majesty has just said that the times are changing, the environment is changing, the kingdom is changing, of course our laws should also change to adapt to the new needs! When Dionia was established 20 years ago, it only had three The four small towns have a population of less than 3, which is very inconspicuous; but now the kingdom is the overlord of the Western Mediterranean, with a territory that is more than ten times that of the past, a population of more than 300 million, and many affiliated countries. Our city-states and forces are no longer the small city-state alliance they were back then!"

Sipulos finally stood up and spoke, and he said emotionally: "When Dionia was first established, all public officials, including the senators, had no salary, but now a month's salary of a junior official in the kingdom can roughly buy a cow, and more Don’t talk about us;
Twenty years ago, when Dionia sent troops to fight, the total number of citizens who could fight was less than 20. They could arrive at the front line within a few hours, and the battle would end in a day or two and return to the city-state. The time was so short Not even the rations the soldiers had brought with them from home were eaten;

But now, once the kingdom launches a war, tens of thousands of people can easily be mobilized. The battle time is calculated in months, and the required military rations are counted in tons as the basic unit, not including other material consumption. These are all determined by the kingdom. to provide;

Twenty years ago, Dionia had no major expenditures except for building roads. But now the kingdom has countless public buildings. Not only the construction costs, but also the maintenance costs are a large number, as well as schools in various towns. The money earned by the public hospital and the public hospital is simply not enough to maintain its operation, and it needs subsidies from the kingdom to maintain it...

The larger the kingdom, the greater the consumption. Can the one percent tax alone meet the growing needs of the Kingdom of Dionia?of course not!We rely on the commercial taxes collected from the trade prosperity brought about by the kingdom's strength!It relies on the inheritance tax collected because the kingdom is powerful and its citizens are wealthy!It relies on other expenses obtained by the kingdom's power to enrich people's lives (such as competitive lottery sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, library borrowing fees, etc.)!It is only through His Majesty’s wisdom and everyone’s dedicated work that we can barely guarantee the kingdom’s development today!

To be honest, the direct tax collected by the Kingdom has remained at one percent for 20 years, which is definitely a huge miracle!This is Hades' blessing!This is His Majesty's mercy!Even in the most difficult times of the war, the kingdom only borrowed money from the people instead of charging outrageously high war taxes. The people of Dionia should feel very lucky that they live in such a happy kingdom and not elsewhere. .

Look around us. This is no longer the traditional world of a few decades ago where citizens of Greek city-states did not receive direct taxes.

In the eastern part of Sicily, during the reign of Dionysius, the war tax of each city-state was as high as more than 30%, and it lasted for many years. Even after he was overthrown, Syracuse's annual direct tax was close to 10%. %, to ensure that the city-state can regain its strength as soon as possible and ensure safety under our pressure;

In the west of Sicily, the tax rates of the Phoenician city-states and Carthaginian states were relatively low, but still exceeded 5%. It is said that the money from these taxes was spent on the conquest of southern Iberia.

Looking at the Greek mainland, wars have been frequent in the past few decades. Which city-state does not have a direct tax of more than 20%? Even the richest city, Athens, even came up with a wonderful tax collection method, dividing the Demo area under its jurisdiction. Each tax collection area must have a lot of wealthy foreign businessmen settled in it, and then it stipulates how much tax the area must pay. If it does not meet the limit, it will be punished. Often due to the pleading and coercion of the people in the area, more than half of the tax amount comes from these people. The wealthy businessman took it upon himself.

Not to mention Sparta, which had always been a city-state where all the wealth earned was controlled by the government, which was then responsible for distribution.

Everyone, this is a world where wars are frequent and dangers are reborn. The countries and forces around us are accumulating strength and fighting.Even though Dionia is now strong, it cannot be taken lightly. Not only should the kingdom increase taxes, but the tax rate should not be too low. Only in this way can the normal operation of the kingdom be ensured, and it will have enough power to protect the security of the territory and defend the interests of the people! "

Sipulos's words were so shocking that some people were stunned and others suddenly realized.

Immediately afterwards, Davos praised loudly: "Well said!"

Many people realized at this time: Your Majesty supports tax increases!
The atmosphere in the hall began to change, but Lysias still worried and persuaded: "Your Majesty, once additional taxes are proposed, it will not only cause great controversy in the Senate, but also cause great dissatisfaction among the people. It may cause turmoil in the kingdom, and it will have a great impact on your majesty’s prestige!”

Davos smiled faintly and said in a deep voice: "For the sake of national interests, Atalis and Sipulos have the courage to make such suggestions regardless of personal honor and disgrace. As a descendant of Hades, the patron saint of this kingdom, do I still care about this? Do you want to disapprove? I just ask you, Lysias, should we increase taxes?"

Davos pointed his words directly to the center. Lysias could not avoid it and could only reply: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation of the kingdom, we... need an army formed by foreign free people; in order not to affect the kingdom's For normal operation, we also... need to increase a little extra tax to provide material support for this army."

(End of this chapter)