The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Speaking of which, Peter had somewhat forgotten how much property the royal family had. He went to find the royal family's chief financial officer and asked him to report.

On Justinian Street in Constantinople, there was a building that looked a little different. It was also a bank, but it did not do business with civilians. Each time the funds flowed, it was around 100,000 to 100,000 lei. Some people thought it was strange, but when they saw the royal emblem, they understood that this was a bank exclusive to the royal family.

Yermak had only been the chief financial officer of the imperial royal family for three years. He was shocked when the old chief financial officer handed him a room full of financial accounts. After he spent ten days sorting them out, he realized that the royal family was really too rich.

The royal family members had a fixed tribute every year, 30,000 lei for the queen, 15,000 lei for the prince, and 12,000 lei for the princess. There were also former emperors and queens who had to receive an annual salary of 200,000 lei.

These are just small expenses. In addition to gold coins, the royal family's annual food, clothing, housing and transportation are a large sum of money. Sometimes they have to hold several tea parties and banquets. In recent years, the royal family has built palaces in other cities, and the emperor has allocated funds from his private treasury to colonize. At least 1.2 million lei a year.

Sometimes the emperor's hobbies are also very expensive. Peter is keen on collecting books and other works of art. He always collects ancient Roman and ancient Greek books at all costs. These are all expensive. In addition, he encourages art and personally pays for the cultivation of artists. These actions are unmatched by rulers of other countries. Calculated in this way, 1.5 million lei a year is the lowest.

Such expenditures are indeed the highest in Europe, but fortunately, the income is also rich and diverse. First of all, there are transfers from the treasury, which mainly bear the civil engineering expenses of the royal family. The government-controlled minerals will also provide raw materials for the royal family for free. This amount of money can offset it.

Then there are the industry, commerce and trade finance controlled by the royal family. Take the Royal Bank and the Royal Chamber of Commerce as examples. Both of them were established by Peter himself. At first, they relied on shipping maltose to the Hanseatic League to obtain funds, and now they have expanded their business to the whole of Europe. Banks are engaged in foreign exchange business, and the annual turnover and dividends are huge figures.

The workshops under the control of the royal family hired people on a large scale to produce. The textile factory in Constanta employed 600 people, and the workshop in Constantinople employed more than 1,000 people. And such existence exists throughout the country.

The workshops provide money, and the most important manors provide food and other agricultural products. Hundreds of thousands of farmers work for them on the royal land, and their situation is a little better than that of the farmers under the landlords, but only a little.

The manors and workshops can cover most of the expenses, and the trade from the East makes the royal finances even richer. Under the promotion of the emperor, the Senate passed an order that 20% of the income from Eastern trade should be handed over to the royal family, because this is the only way to remember who is driving all this.

Not only the East Asian trade, but also those colonies need to pay taxes. Especially India, as the key colony of the empire, must play a demonstration role. Other private colonies and countries directly present gifts to the emperor.

And now there are only two private colonies, one is Mason's Sarah Island, and the other is De La Salle's East African inland area. After De La Salle died a few years ago, his son asked Peter to name this place with his family name. Peter agreed and gave him a range of 200 miles around. He can expand to the south, but not to the north, which will cause trouble for the empire to control Egypt.

De La Salle thanked the emperor for his gift and began to work hard to develop this land. The town on it has begun to take shape, and there are already small workshops and blacksmith shops. The annual caravans have become their way of contacting other places. Hunting black slaves has become the biggest part of De La Salle's export earnings, and his ambition is not only this place, he also wants to continue to expand until the seaside.

In order to get the emperor to allow his actions, De La Salle had to pay tribute to the emperor every year with 50 black slaves, 3,000 lei and a large amount of materials. Mason paid tribute to Peter with a large amount of sugar, coffee and lei, as well as gifts from other countries, all planned by the emperor himself, some of which were exchanged for coins, and some were kept for his own use.

"Sir, this year's situation is the same as last year, with a surplus of about 650,000 lei."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Yermak thanked his subordinates. He would not be exhausted if they did not do it themselves. In addition to his assistants, he, the general manager, also has 20 regional heads, each of whom is responsible for the financial revenue of their region. After auditing and profit and loss, they are summarized above.

However, in addition to thinking that he can report to the emperor, Yermak is also thinking about whether he can get some more money to invest. Before, he embezzled 30,000 lei to invest in a manor without authorization, and later made up for this gap. Although the law is very strict, the huge benefits still tempt him to reach out for money. Anyway, there is too much money in the private treasury to spend for a while, so it is better to use it for investment.

In fact, each regional manager also thought so. If he took a little, he would not be discovered. Even if the higher-ups checked, he could forge the account books or make up for it with money. Anyway, he was 100% safe.

Just as he was meditating, his subordinates came to report: "Sir, there is a decree from the palace. His Majesty said he wants to hear about the current financial situation."

"Oh, God, I have to be ready."

When Yermak learned that the emperor needed to hear about his property, he quickly prepared the account books and other things. After all, there were too many things to read.

On the way here, he kept thinking about what the emperor was going to do. Was his trick discovered and he was going to be beheaded? Or did he need money from somewhere to support him, or did he want to report the banquet? In short, everything was possible.

"Sir, what do you think the emperor summoned you for?"

"I don't know, you'd better shut up now, otherwise I don't mind tearing it apart myself."

Yermak was impatient with the assistant's words. After all, it was such a situation, and he would be fine if he could be quiet. This was indeed the case. After hearing it, the assistant immediately said nothing and waited for the arrival.

After rushing and hurrying, he finally arrived at the palace. The eunuch chief greeted him in person, which made Yermak flattered. After stuffing a bag of gold coins into the other party, he also knew the reason why the emperor came to him, to save dowries for the princesses.

The emperor now has three princesses, and it is not known how much dowry each princess needs, but according to the situation in Europe, at least 1 million lei is required. Three princesses mean 3 million, and if other things are added, it will be even more. Although the private treasury can withstand it, I don’t know how much the emperor wants.