king.

Chapter 646: The nascent agricultural tax
The dwarves took the lead, and the alien alliances responded one after another.The dwarves don't need to worry about the specific contact and transaction work, they just take care of it all.

There is a strategic purpose to contain the human race, and making a fortune by acting as a second-tier dealer is also one of the reasons.

Participating with great fanfare, each tribe soon exposed themselves.Everything else can be hidden, but the weapons and equipment made by the dwarves cannot be hidden.

Occasionally, there are one or two high-quality weapons, which can be said to be produced by highly skilled craftsmen. A large number of high-quality weapons can only be mass-produced by dwarves in the entire continent.

After the officers and soldiers on the front line noticed the intervention of the alien alliance, they quickly realized that something was going to happen, and immediately fed the news back to their respective forces.

……

Alpha Kingdom.

As soon as he received the news, Caesar IV ordered a high-level meeting of the kingdom to be held.

In terms of strategy, he has always done a good job.Although my strategic judgment ability is average, my advantage is that I know how to hold meetings and discuss things.

The plan discussed by all parties may not be the best plan, but it must be the one that best meets the kingdom's current needs.

"Your Majesty, it is true that the Alien Alliance secretly supports the Earth-centered races, but it is still too early to say whether they will join the war.

At least the elves don’t want to start a war now!

There are rumors that the elf mother tree can already give birth to elves.

If the news is true, the elves will choose to remain silent to accumulate strength for a long time to come. "

Prime Minister Marquis Delgado spoke first.

The news of the recovery of the Elf Mother Tree is purely human speculation.

The theoretical basis is very simple. The Elf Forest is under full martial law, and even envoys from all races are not allowed to enter their royal city.

Every weird behavior has a story behind it.

If there is such a big movement, even if the Elf Mother Tree is not resurrected, other big things will happen.

In situations of uncertainty, simply release gossip to test the elves' reactions.

There has been no official response yet, but some people within the human race have already concluded that the Elf Mother Tree has revived.

No evidence is needed, your opponent’s intuition is enough!
If the news is true, what the elves need most now is time.

The Elf Mother Tree can not only give birth to elves, but the flowers it blooms can also increase the probability of elves getting pregnant.

In the past, the elves were able to dominate the continent, and the biggest contributor was the Elf Mother Tree.

"If the news is true, then the elves should take action and muddy the water on the mainland.

The Alliance can tolerate an elven clan that is peaceful in a corner, but it absolutely cannot tolerate an elven clan that can threaten the hegemony of our human race!

The Elf Mother Tree can be damaged once, and it can be damaged a second time, or even be completely destroyed.

Although countries have their own calculations due to their own interests, when it comes to issues involving racial hegemony, everyone still holds the same position.

It is theoretically feasible for the strong men in the alliance to come forward to mediate and organize a large army expedition! "

While speaking, Earl Aikman glanced at Hudson.

Once such a large-scale military operation is passed by the Union Parliament, the probability that the command position will fall on Hudson is as high as [-]%.

As the closest human nation to the elves, the Alpha Kingdom must be the main force in the coalition.

There is no doubt that this is a gamble with high risks and high returns.

If it succeeds, the last obstacle to the kingdom's dominance of the northern continent will be cleared; if it fails, its vitality will be severely damaged and it will return to the age of being passively beaten.

“Count Aikman, what you are talking about may be just military.

In fact, the reason why the elves have been able to live freely until now is not only a military issue, but also an economic and political issue.

The elves are different from the orcs. Not only are they powerful overall, but their individual strength is also amazing.

Especially when fighting in the jungle, they can also display stronger combat effectiveness.

Once a war is launched, it will definitely be protracted.The amount of money and food that needs to be consumed is absolutely an astronomical figure.

Although it is shared by the entire alliance, the money and food must be transported from various countries to the kingdom, and then from the kingdom through the Principality of Moxi before being transported to the battlefield.

For one soldier to fight on the front line, at least thirty soldiers are needed to transport food and supplies.

Considering the complexity of the battlefield, consumption will further increase as the front advances.

If you want to destroy the elves, 80 million is not enough.The huge consumption of money and food is enough to restore rationality to all countries.

Even if this battle is to be fought, only after clearing out several alien races entrenched in the Central Continent can everyone dare to give it a go.

As for the recovery of the Elf Mother Tree, there is actually no need to worry.

Even if they really recover and the elves' fertility has increased, these newborn elves will have no fighting power.

If you give them a little more, it's [-] newborns a year.The birthrate of the elves is almost constant, and the growth rate within a hundred years is almost negligible.

The population is growing rapidly and we have to wait until these newborns reach adulthood.

If you want to threaten the hegemony of our human race, you need to accumulate strength for at least hundreds of years.

With the current situation on the mainland, if the alien alliance wants to support it for hundreds of years, it may not have the ability.

If nothing unexpected happens, the kingdom will engulf the Orc Empire within 30 years and complete its digestion within a hundred years.

If the top elves have a foresight, what they need to consider now is not how to increase their strength, but how to protect themselves! "

After listening to Earl Francis' explanation, Hudson could only sigh that he was worthy of being the finance minister, but his ability to calculate accounts was different.

The war seems to be a competition for military strength and extortion of money and food, but in fact it is a competition for productivity.

The human race has been able to rise rapidly. In addition to its smooth political tactics and strong military strength, the most important thing is that its productivity exceeds that of other races.

Pushing the timeline forward, the original human race did not have any advantages. Looking at the mainland, the racial talent can only be regarded as average.

However, the human race has strong learning ability, and everything that each race is good at has been learned over and over again.

The crystallization of multi-racial wisdom collided in the human race, sparking a civilizational leap.

If your cultivation talent is not strong, you can optimize your skills and create the ones that are most suitable for you.

While the cultivation of other races is relatively simple, various branches of cultivation emerge in endlessly in the human world, presenting a prosperous age where a hundred flowers bloom.

The expansion of the Holy See has stifled this flourishing practice to a certain extent, but the Holy See has declined.

As long as the base is large enough, there will always be strong ones.

In today's human race, the advantage in number of top experts may not be very obvious, but the strength of the middle and lower classes definitely far exceeds that of other races.

……

The ministers continued to express their opinions, and soon Caesar IV was confused.

What everyone said makes sense and is supported by their own theoretical foundations.No one dares to say how the situation will turn out in the future.

"Marshal Hudson, what do you think of the current situation?"

After being called out, Hudson was still in a state of confusion.It was obvious that just like Caesar IV, he was stunned by the officials.

There are certainly opinions, but the current discussion is equivalent to deducing the future situation.

Everything is deduced based on the established logical template. If something happens in the middle, all the inferences will be invalid.

Just like what everyone predicted before: the Holy See will inevitably decline under the encroachment of various countries until it is finally destroyed.

As a result, three major variables brought the Holy See back from the brink of destruction: the outbreak of a demonic disaster, the invasion of the inner earth race, and the return of overseas powerful men.

"Your Majesty, for the kingdom, it doesn't matter at all whether the foreign alliance intervenes in the war.

There is no inner earth race entrenched in the kingdom, and foreign races cannot find a support target if they want to support it.

If the alien alliance directly joins the war, we will still have to fight the orcs, and it will be regarded as the beast-killing war being brought forward.

In the current state of the Orc Empire, it is no match for the Kingdom. Our border can advance hundreds of miles in at most half a year.

Whether the Elf Mother Tree is restored or not, there is no need to waste time.

You can hide it for a while, but you can't hide it for a lifetime.As long as the number of elven newborns increases significantly, we can assume that the elven mother tree will be restored.After the orc empire is destroyed, the war against the elves can begin.

Just follow our strategy of dealing with the orcs, launch a war every few years, and keep fighting them for attrition.

The most important thing to do now is to divide the land on the border.

The free people who migrated before the kingdom have now taken root.The results were pretty good, and [-]% of the money and food for the frontline troops was saved.

This proportion is expected to increase to [-]% in the future.

Whether we continue to migrate free people or directly entrust the aristocracy to rule, we cannot keep the land idle! "

Hudson replied cautiously.

There is no political statement, but it represents the interests of the aristocratic group.

If the Royal Government wants to increase the number of direct territories, it will take more than a day or two.The idea is beautiful, but the reality is very cruel.

Moving free people, despite what Hudson said was simple, the practical resistance was beyond imagination.

Since ancient times, "guarding the border" has been the most difficult task in the world, and usually the prisoners are exiled.

The royal government pushed for the migration of free people in front of them despite pressure.Even Caesar IV was scolded bloody among the people.

If we continue to migrate free people, not to mention the pressure from public opinion, there will not be that many unemployed vagrants in the kingdom!

Those who remain now are those who have the skills to gain a foothold in the city, and all of them are owners of families and businesses.

If the royal government dares to force these people to go to the frontier to open up wasteland, they will dare to turn around and run away to settle in other countries.

The real way left for the royal government is to continue to divide the land and let the enterprising nobles pass.

This was not intentionally dug by Hudson, it was entirely the Kingdom's follow-up strategic needs.

How can we destroy the orc empire without a group of vanguards?

What Hudson did was just to continue to set an example for the younger generation of the Kingdom, allowing everyone to see the benefits of opening up to the outside world.

The border ten years ago was the Northland, the border seven years ago was the seven provinces of Northern Xinjiang, the border five years ago was the Near East, and now the border has reached the eastern part of Xueyue Lake.

At this rate of advancement, the current border will become the hinterland of the kingdom in a few years.

It's just a few years of hard life for enterprising aristocratic children who don't mind.

At the local level, these people are the most determined militants in the kingdom.

The further the kingdom advances, the safer their territory becomes.Supporting the war is safeguarding one's own interests.

This is a conspiracy. Even if all parties know about Hudson's plan, everyone must support it.

The destruction of the Orc Empire is a fundamental national policy, and all interest groups must serve this strategic goal.

“The marshal is right, these border territories do need to be managed.

Prime Minister, this issue has been put on hold for a long time. What is your government's plan? "

Caesar IV took advantage of the situation and said.

The delay was the result of discussions between him and the government. Unfortunately, the delay was successful, and the royal government still did not come up with enough people to fill it.

The noble lords robbed a large number of people in the Papal States, but these were private properties and could not be seized by the royal government.

The main reason is that we were negligent when we first formulated the policy. We were just preoccupied with collecting money and forgot about population.

Subsequently, the Royal Government wanted to purchase serfs from the noble lords, but everyone knew the Royal Government's purpose and decisively refused.

After all, the Royal Government is not the only buyer, and we cannot cut off the future of our children just for a small temporary profit.

Even if there are no children of the right age, one must consider the reputation in the aristocratic circle and cannot betray class interests.

Of course, you can still buy it if you really want to buy it.The nobles of the kingdom will not sell it, but the nobles of other countries will. As long as the price is high enough, everything is easy to negotiate.

The main factor that led to the bankruptcy of the plan was that the executors of the plan were also nobles.

During the specific operation, a discount was given.Instead of purchasing immediately, they waited until the price of serfs soared after Hudson made a large purchase before taking action.

For a poor kingdom, cost-effectiveness always comes first.

Once the price goes up, the original budget will no longer be enough, and the plan will naturally fail.

Caesar IV was not on the front line, and decisions were made at internal meetings. This blame will undoubtedly fall on the government now.

With a simple glance, Marquis Delgado understood what the king meant, which was to activate the backup plan.

"Your Majesty, the government has made relevant plans. Generally speaking, we still follow the tradition of the kingdom when dealing with the newly added territory - military merit ennomination!
It's just that the number of heroes who gained enough military exploits in the last war was limited, and they could only entrust a small part of the land.

Considering the need to control the new territories, we decided to seal them all off.

In order to maintain the principle of fairness, nobles who do not meet the conditions need to pay a certain price if they want to obtain fiefs.

In addition to paying the land premium of three gold coins per mu, you must also bear an additional 5.00% agricultural tax. "

According to the tradition of the Aslant continent, the land of nobles does not need to pay taxes to the kingdom.

The government's fiscal revenue mainly comes from commercial taxes, mining taxes, and customs duties. War taxes can be levied during wartime.

The situation of the Alpha Kingdom is special. Because the military pressure is too great, the nobles have to amortize part of the frontline military food expenses.

These are all forced out. If everyone does not shoulder these obligations, the poor royal government will not be able to support so many soldiers.

Theoretically speaking, after the Orc Empire is destroyed, this part of the amortization will be gone.

There is only a small amount of tax collected in total, and a tax farming system is adopted. It is inevitable that the government will be poor.

The reformists' tax reform came about out of necessity.However, in the agricultural era, these taxes were ultimately limited.

The government is greedy for agricultural taxes, and it is not just a day or two.

It's just that the aristocratic group is not easy to mess with, and no one dares to tax the aristocratic lords. That's why there are free immigrants to guard the border and open up wasteland.

There is no doubt that the limited free citizens cannot meet the needs of the kingdom.

Being able to provide [-]% of the military rations on the front line is only possible in peaceful times, and there are not many troops stationed on the front line.

Once we enter the war years, that little output is simply a drop in the bucket.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of enfeoffment, the royal government targeted the emerging nobles.

Insufficient military merit has become the best excuse for the government to impose agricultural taxes.

In the past, if one dared to make such excessive demands, there would definitely be an embarrassing situation where no one would respond.

Guarding the border is such a dangerous thing, and if the government doesn't provide subsidies, no one will do it.

The current situation is obviously different. High-risk border defense has become low-risk.

The current situation is that if the kingdom does not cause trouble to the orcs, the orc empire will enjoy itself secretly. The orcs who dare to come over and invade the border will become fertilizer on the prairie.

"Prime Minister, it's not only the royal gold but also the agricultural tax. I'm afraid the small and medium-sized nobles can't afford it!"

Hudson said slowly.

He is aware of the government's motives and supports them deep down.After all, he won't be asked to pay these taxes.

It's just that due to my status, at this time, I have to fight for the promising young people in the military.

"Marshal, credit is allowed for gold!

If you make great achievements later, you can offset these noble gold.Therefore, this pressure can basically be ignored.

The issue of agricultural tax is actually not a big issue.The government only levies five points, which is completely affordable to everyone.

By holding fewer banquets throughout the year, this expense is saved.

The main reason is to maintain the principle of fairness in the kingdom!
It would be very unfair to others to obtain a title without having sufficient military merit without paying a certain price. "

After Marquis Delgado finished speaking, Hudson nodded immediately.

We have fought for everything we should, and the reason given by the government is very sufficient - lack of military merit!
As for the flaws in the details, military achievements in the future could be used to offset the royal gold, but agricultural taxes could not be exempted. Hudson deliberately pretended not to hear the implication.

(End of this chapter)