king.

It was not only the southeast province that decided to build a line of defense, but almost all the border provinces in the south made a decision in the shortest possible time - to build a line of defense.

It has to be admitted that the nobles of the Alpha Kingdom have a strong sense of crisis.

Just a little bit of signs appeared, and they were not even sure who the enemy was, so they started preparing for battle spontaneously one by one.

The assassination case has not yet been found out, and the defense construction plans of the provinces have already appeared in front of Caesar IV.

According to the usual practice, nobles do not need to report to the king when they build military defense lines on their own lands. Even the kingdom encourages border nobles to build more castles and fortresses.

Asking for instructions in such a well-mannered manner is naturally not that the nobles respect the king more, and everyone's main purpose is only one-to ask for money!
"Prime Minister, in the past, the construction of defense lines in various provinces was also allocated by the kingdom?"

Caesar IV asked with concern.

If one word could be used to describe the current financial situation of the Alpha Kingdom, it would be: poor!

very poor!

very poor!
……

As long as it is a matter related to money, Caesar IV has no headaches.Even the recent assassination of Prince Claude is far less troublesome than the kingdom's financial problems.

After all, on his own territory, Caesar IV can still find out the life and death of Prince Claude.

If the person is not dead, follow-up issues are easy to discuss.

In a few days, a cult organization would announce that it was responsible for the assassination, followed by the kingdom organization to encircle and suppress them, and finally the two sides would exchange interests.

The processes are all ready-made, just prepare according to the template.If you have done enough for the face, and given a certain amount of compensation in the face, the matter is considered to be over.

In contrast, financial holes are unsolvable problems.

The funeral of the old king had just ended, and the ascension of the new king was also a huge expense, which made the kingdom's financial deficit even worse.

"Your Majesty, the Kingdom does not have a definite decree to make regulations in this regard.

However, in the past, when the provinces built defense lines, the kingdom would provide subsidies of varying amounts according to the actual situation.

Except for the large amount of subsidies in the northern Xinjiang region, the subsidies in other provinces are all symbolic, and the main compensation method is tax reduction or exemption. "

As soon as the Grand Duke of Newfoundland finished speaking, the Minister of Finance, Marquis Delgado, stood up and refused politely: "No! There is absolutely no tax reduction or exemption now!

Your Majesty, due to the impact of the war, tax revenues in the northern region of the kingdom have been greatly reduced, especially in the newly recovered seven provinces, which have not collected a penny of tax.

The current kingdom's finances are mainly provided by the central and southern provinces.The southern provinces that proposed to build a defense line are all major tax-paying provinces in the kingdom, accounting for almost one-third of the fiscal revenue.

Especially for the newly levied repayment tax, these provinces contributed nearly [-]%.Once tax exemption is given to them, the kingdom's finances will collapse immediately! "

The data will not lie. Because of the ability to collect tariffs, the financial contribution of the border provinces is obviously much higher than that of the inland provinces.

It was already short of money, but if the most important financial income was cut off, there would be a problem if it didn't go bankrupt.

"The financial problem is indeed serious, but we have to consider the proposals of the provinces to build defense lines.

With the changes in the international situation, these provinces have changed from the rear to a new defense center.

Even if the finances can't afford the money, we have to take a gesture and give some comfort to the local nobles. It is best to encourage them to complete the construction of the defense line alone. "

Archduke Effiero bit the bullet and suggested.

Frankly speaking, this proposal is really embarrassing.

But there is no way, as the Minister of Military Affairs of the Kingdom, in the case of an empty treasury, he can only rely on the local nobles to complete the national defense project.

In theory, they could also convene a council of nobles to raise construction funds from across the country.

It is a pity that the financial pressure of the major provinces of the kingdom is not small at present, and each of them is still in the economic recovery period. If the continued taxation is to force the small nobles to go bankrupt.

"Are these provinces capable of completing these projects alone?"

Caesar IV asked with concern.

If you want to guard your homeland, you are not afraid that the nobles in this province will not do their best, but you are afraid that they will be powerless.

"Your Majesty, it depends on the determination of those nobles. The provinces that need to build defense lines are mostly richer in economy.

If a few big nobles are willing to spend their money and gather the strength of the whole province to build a solid line of defense, it should not be a big problem.

Considering that the current threat of war is not great, we still have enough time for them to determine the construction period according to the actual situation. "

Marquis Delgado replied hastily.

In order to retain the kingdom's finances, he also tried his best.Now it is necessary to save where it can be saved, and try to save where it cannot be saved.

In order to reduce expenses, the salaries of the kingdom's officials can only take [-]%, and even the king's annuity has been stopped by the Ministry of Finance.

Of course, this was not stopped by the Marquis Delgado, but was proposed by Caesar III in order to unite people during his reign.

For various activities, the budget cuts are even more severe.The most typical is the holding of the noble council, and the standard of food provided by the kingdom plummets.

The original Warcraft meat, spices, delicacies from mountains and seas, as well as all kinds of snacks and fruits provided around the clock, are all gone now, and only ordinary beef and mutton + bread are left.

The most direct consequence was that the nobles stopped coming to eat, and each of them started their own small stoves.

Seeing this scene, Marquis Delgado was not only not annoyed, but cut off this part of the budget with a smile, forcing the council to directly cancel the food supply.

There are many other similar operations.It was rumored in the outside world that Marquis Delgado got into the eyes of money.

Such frenzied throttling is only to ensure that the kingdom's finances can be maintained.

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Caesar IV asked quite excitedly.

It's not that they don't trust it, but it's mainly their own finance minister who has too many great ways to save money.Most of them are successful, but if you do too much, there will always be mistakes.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will come forward to coordinate this matter. It involves their own safety, and I am not afraid that they will not do their best.

Southern Xinjiang is different from northern Xinjiang. There is no need to transport food and grass for thousands of miles. The cost of building a defense line here is not that scary.

However, relying on their own strength alone, there are still certain difficulties in individual provinces in order to build complete fortifications, and they must coordinate other provinces to provide support. "

The Grand Duke of Newfoundland said bravely.

There is no doubt that coordinating the relationship between all parties is a proper chore, but there is no way, if he is not the prime minister, the king has to do it himself, and no one else has enough weight.

Since Caesar IV succeeded to the throne, although he has performed well, it is still unknown whether he has the ability to coordinate the relationship between all parties.

If something goes wrong, the aftermath will only be more difficult.Simply go in person, relying on the prestige of serving as prime minister for many years, everyone has to give some face.

……

Prince Claude, who saw Griffin cavalry flying over from the sky and wandering around in the garden, hurried back to the ward.

If you declare to the outside world that you are recuperating, then you have to look like you are recuperating.In case people see him alive and kicking, how can he be ripped off?
Politics is the most magical thing. If the Alpha Kingdom is really ready to turn against the Hesse Kingdom, it may bite him back and say: The assassination was directed and acted by himself.

Of course, the probability of this happening is very low.The assassins came in as aristocrats of the Alpha Kingdom, and this alone was doomed, no matter how hard they tried to shake the blame, they couldn't get rid of it.

The nobles in the continent of Aslant are very concerned about their own image, and no one wants to wear the hat of a rogue country.

It is common to wage wars for honor.Playing tricks at this time is equivalent to directly fighting against the Kingdom of Hesse.

"Count Tatara, how are you talking with the Alphas?"

Prince Claude asked with concern.

Trapped in the house every day, strolling in the garden has to worry about being seen by the griffin cavalry in the sky.But in the past few days, there are a lot of griffin cavalry above his head.

They sent someone to inquire, and the answer they gave was: In order to protect his personal safety, the patrol force was specially strengthened.

"Your Highness, the progress is not very smooth. According to the collected information, the Alpha Kingdom has already started preparing for war, and several southern provinces are preparing to build defense lines.

Currently, the southeast province is progressing the most smoothly. It is said that they have completed the initial planning of the defense line.It is planned to invest 30 laborers and build a steel defense line in three years..."

Before Count Tatara could finish speaking, Prince Claude interrupted: "The Alpha man is crazy!
We didn't do anything, they started preparing for the battle.The war with the orcs has just ended, where do they have the financial resources to carry out these projects? "

It's not that he made a fuss, it's that the Alpha Kingdom's reaction was too abnormal.War has never been said to be fought, and it can be fought immediately.

Not to mention two big countries, even two nobles would have to prepare for a fight.

Usually, they choose a time and battlefield that both parties agree on, and wait for everyone to prepare before leading the team to fight.

If something happens, it can also unilaterally announce an extension.Most of the time, this request will be accepted.

Although wars between countries are not so disciplined, there are still many things that need to be prepared.

If there is no need for national recruitment, then it is very simple, the strategic materials are prepared, and the king can go to the battlefield with an order.

If it is necessary to mobilize the private army of nobles to join the war, things will become troublesome.In the event of a foreign invasion, this kind of mobilization is faster, and it is estimated that it will take a few months.

If you take the initiative to launch a war abroad, it will take at least half a year to coordinate the internal relations between the princes, and it will take at least half a year to prepare strategic materials and recruit troops.

This is still in theory, but in practice, more problems will arise.After all, the Kingdom of Hesse has been around for hundreds of years and has never fought a national mobilization war.

The only ones with high mobilization efficiency are the few countries that directly face alien races.The specific mobilization efficiency depends entirely on the frequency of wars with alien races.

This is also the reason why many countries have advantages in terms of population, economy, number of masters, and weapons and equipment, but they lag behind others in the ranking of the most powerful countries on the mainland.

"Your Highness, I heard that the cost of building the defense line in the southeastern province will be fully raised by the local government.

The fundraising meeting will be held tomorrow at the Dalton family's residence.Whether it's a bluff or if construction is really going to start, we'll know when tomorrow's meeting ends.

However, the two powerful factions in the southeastern province, Governor Pierce and the Earl of Hudson, are both promoters of this project.As long as the two of them are determined to build it, other people's opposition will be invalid. "

Earl Tatara patiently explained.

The way of thinking determines the result.

The nobles of the Alpha Kingdom still follow the extreme law of the jungle to compete with the orcs, and if they relax their vigilance, they will die.

The subconscious subjective influence made them ignore that the enemy had changed.Still holding on to the set of concepts of dealing with orcs, facing the current international situation, wishful thinking regards neighbors as imaginary enemies.

This kind of conceptual deviation fell into the eyes of Prince Claude, that is: Alpha people are a bunch of lunatics.

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Send everything you can think of, the time has come for readers to show your imagination.