Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

Steinmetz seemed to understand something as soon as he walked in. August already knew that he would be angry, and then ran over to confront her, and even made a bet with Tina on who would pay for lunch.

Tina guessed that it was the representatives of the old aristocracy, because the bill was clearly intended to weaken their privileges, and they would definitely be unhappy, but Steinmetz came first, and it would be annoying to miss a move.

"Your Highness, didn't we agree to increase military expenditures before? Let alone increase military expenditures, you want the army to leave home!" Steinmetz was very excited, and his excitement was unprecedented.

"Marshal, let me speak openly to you. Although I really want to agree to increase military spending, the parliament will definitely not agree, and I don't have the money. So why not just cut the military expenditure in half, so that the parliament will be happy too. ”

"What? Cut it in half. There are so many people in the entire Prussian army, and all you cut is their hard-earned money! And you had an agreement with us before the coup. It's your job to convince the parliament, right?"

"Convince the Parliament? Marshal, if you send the army into the Parliament, won't the problem be solved? The point is that the Parliament agrees? The point is that I have no money, I have no money, do you understand? Where can I get the money for you if you want military expenses? And you The expenditure of this army has already accounted for [-]% of the total government expenditure, what else do you want me to do? Or if you lead the troops to defeat France now, the money problem will be solved immediately."

This blocked Steinmetz's mouth. Of course, he couldn't rush France down. This is unrealistic, but if you want to say how the army can get money... then it may really only be through war.

If you want to expand your military in peacetime, you have to spend money on military development in other areas, and this is generally not worth it because the military has no way to directly create profits unless there is an imminent threat, like Prussia.

In fact, after talking for a long time, it was still a matter of money. If Steinmetz could get the money, then August could expand the army immediately, to an army of five million, but don't talk nonsense if you don't have money.

Of course, the parliament demanded a reduction in military expenditures, and the army demanded an increase in military expenditures, so August also came in to take care of both groups.

"Marshal Steinmetz, if you understand the situation, then the things we are going to talk about next will be much simpler. The first is the military's requirements, including salary increases, more advanced weapons, and the expansion of military camps. These are all no problem. , but extending military service will not work. Prussia has a small population. If everyone goes to serve as soldiers, there will be no one in society to produce.

Next is the issue of military expenditure. This can only be reduced. Your current military expenditure ratio is too terrible, and it is of no use. All that money has gone to the Ministry of Industry. Remove this part of the money. to the Ministry of Industry. "

"Huh? The military industry is responsible for the Ministry of Industry?"

"Just ask whether military industry is industry. Your military gives money to companies to build factories for them. Companies produce military supplies, and then you spend money to buy them. I have never seen anyone take advantage of them like this. We can't do this now. In the future, companies will If you want to build military industry, you have to pay for it yourself, or you can honestly find a bank loan, so that you only have to pay for the supplies, and this part of the money will be counted on the Ministry of Industry.

Then the funds for military facilities are calculated on the Ministry of Construction, and the salary expenses are calculated on the Ministry of Finance. The salaries of the Ministry of National Defense are not required to be military expenses, but are uniformly distributed by the Ministry of Finance, as well as all the secretaries and assistants in your office. He is a civil servant, not a soldier, and cannot receive his salary from the Ministry of National Defense. He must go to the Ministry of Finance to receive his salary. "

Augustus reduced everything that could be reduced, and the military expenditure on paper fell from [-]% to [-]%, but the actual military expenditure was divided into various departments.

In other words, it is less but not less, but rather a lot more.

So whether the reduction in military spending requested by the parliament has been achieved, and whether the increase in military spending requested by the army has also been achieved, the difference is only on paper and in reality.

The officials won't react much because they have been allocated a lot of funds. Do you think they are really serving the country and the people? Saying so much is not just a small amount of money, it also makes it easier for them to make false accounts. Hello, hello, hello, everyone.

Now the problem on the army's side is solved.

Tina had to admire August's magical brain circuit, but in the future, military supplies for the army could not be purchased directly with military funds.

But if it’s troublesome, it’s troublesome, right? After all, there is indeed no money.

As soon as the Minister of Defense left, Mr. Humboldt, who had just taken up the post of Ministry of Education, walked in. This Humboldt was famous, the pioneer of Prussian education reform, and his progressive ideas coincided with August.

Humboldt: "Your Highness August, is it true that you want to universalize compulsory education?"

August: "Yes, the next generation is the future of Prussia. High-quality education can provide the country with talents that can be used in the future."

Humboldt said happily: "That's great. How much funding can the Ministry of Education get this year?"

August: "I hope you can completely reform the education system from top to bottom. You can't just do superficial work. It must be popularized. Prussia must experience education regardless of its status."

Humboldt: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I already have a very complete system in place. As soon as the funds arrive, we can start to popularize compulsory education as soon as possible."

"As for money... I'm sorry, there is none... Mr. Humboldt has great talents and strategies, and has made many innovations in educational technology. Can you try to achieve educational reform without funds?"

"Forehead……"

Embarrassed, everyone present was amused by this cold joke.

Humboldt had no choice but to retreat. What can you do in a country without funds? Education can only be put aside first and later.

Then there is the Ministry of Agriculture. Probably the problem is that the land reform seriously offends the interests of the Junckers. If they don't do it, what can they do if they don't have money? Even annexing land will cost money, but it is obvious that August cannot afford the money.

"Previously, the output of agricultural products fell, which caused the price of agricultural products to rise. The Junckers were lawless in driving up food prices. People wanted to buy cheap foreign food, but high tariffs prevented them from buying foreign food. I hope you can come up with a gentler approach to stabilize Domestic food prices to address the impact of disasters.”

A representative from the Ministry of Agriculture asked, "Of course there is no problem. We can try to discuss it with the landowners. The problem is funding."

"As the saying goes..."

Don't ask, just ask because you don't have money. August casually sent away the people from the Ministry of Agriculture. If you don't have money, you don't have money.

Almost all the important cabinet members came back and forth. It was already dark after August sent all these people away. Not to mention lunch, he couldn't even eat dinner. He was exhausted and the problem had not been completely solved.

Valentina went to the Ministry of National Defense to handle matters, and now she only had Tina left by her side to relieve her stress.

"How is it? Is it easy to be the regent?"

"What are you talking about while you're watching? Why don't I give you a day tomorrow to play with."

"Forget it, I don't want to be tortured like this, so, do you have a solution to the problem of money that has been going on all day today?"

August rubbed his eyes, "I thought there was still a lot of gold in the treasury, but I didn't expect there was only such a little bit. I didn't want to do it so early. I have no choice but to do this... let's print money... "

Tina looked at August's face, which looked like a little devil's smile, but she felt a little helpless. Tina knew very well what printing money meant. It would lead to a reduction in the country's currency credit, which would also affect the international market. Something very serious has gone wrong.

August’s explanation was, “Printing money will not cause inflation. It will only cause inflation when it flows into the market. And it is not a bad thing for Prussia now. More liquidity enters the market and national purchasing power increases.” Talent needs to come up, and the government must make changes to pull the entire country forward.”