"Your Royal Highness Princess, just spare me...... There really isn't any money left in the treasury. "When Jin Qi was summoned for the Imperial Council, he felt a strong sense of unease.

And when he learned that Sophia proposed the establishment and enactment of the Accelerated Immigration Act, he was already fully aware that this was probably another severe test for the few remaining stocks.

"The expansion of Thessaloniki was to be considered on the one hand, and the restoration of Athens was also being considered at the same time, and a large number of major works were being carried out in the empire at the same time. We still owe the Venetians a lot of money that we haven't paid back. Your Royal Highness Princess, before the population really breaks out, let's take a break. Jin Qi had just sat down, and before he could take a sip of water, he spat out his thoughts like a cannon.

"Don't worry, Mr. Kinch. We're just having a discussion. Constantine XI waved his hand. He also knows how much the treasury has in his heart, and besides, the empire does not necessarily need to use real money to win people's hearts.

After the destruction of Athens, many homeless refugees were relocated to towns such as Thessaloniki or Thebes. Providing them with shelter, farmland, or work is where the treasury really needs to spend, as for migration......

"Your Majesty, the people brought in by cash will never be able to stay in the empire for long, nor will they be able to be loyal to the empire. After all, the hustle and bustle is all about profit, and whoever can give a higher temptation will follow in whose footsteps, such a population is a factor of instability within the empire. The attraction is often either a businessman who forgets his righteousness, or a robber who has fallen into the grass. Although Jinqi was giving advice to Constantine XI, the corner of his eye still glanced at Sophia from time to time. Her Royal Highness usually lacks interest in the Imperial Council, and the fact that she has been so diligent in discussing the population issue today may also be the result of her communication with His Majesty John.

After all, no one knew how many whimsical things a co-emperor who was seriously injured and unable to leave the house would talk to Sophia every day in the Slou Garden.

"Okay, Mr. Kinch, why are you so nervous, I didn't say that I had to let the treasury break the money to support this immigration bill. Although there is no specific plan yet, my brother and I have discussed a framework that can be tried, and it is relatively suitable for the current form of the empire. Sophia placed the sorted manuscript on the round table of the conference. Thanks to the improvements made by the craftsmen, it is now easier for the disc tables to convey information.

The manuscript went round and round in everyone's hands, and it was only one page of content, but it was quite informative.

The first is the Act on the Distribution of Land for the Freedman Population, and the second is the Act on the Granting of Citizenship to the Converted Population.

The first was aimed at the freedmen, even the slave population, outside the empire, and the second, against the Ottomans on the other side of the Aegean Sea. And the expenditure that the empire needs to make is not money, but land.

In fact, this is a fairly easy to understand leverage. With the loss of power, the lands of the old aristocracy gradually returned to the control of the royal family. With the exception of a special area such as Trabzon in Pontus, the rest of the land was directly or indirectly administered by the Palaiologos royal family.

Of course, however, most of the land, especially the land devoted to food production, was still to be handed over to the common people, and only a certain percentage of the annual tenant rent was collected as income. However, within the empire, there was still a large amount of land suitable for cultivation that had not been used rationally, especially the newly recovered land in the previous war against the Ottomans, and there was still a large space for use.

The Freedmen Land Grant Act was in effect a temporary freedman status for foreign freedmen or slaves who went to the empire, and provided land to these new freedmen who joined the empire. In view of the instability of the immigrant population, the empire could also provide an additional number of years of tax exemption or reduced tax "settlement benefits".

Indifferently, whether they were slaves or freedmen still affected what they had to pay in the early days after settling in the empire. Only for the original foreign slave population, if you want to obtain additional land, you must first serve in the city defense army of each region for a certain number of years before you can truly have the status of free people, and these slave populations will become the "reserve population" in the empire to supplement the army. These reserve sources can provide manpower supplies for the main army or city defense army more quickly after the outbreak of war, and the combat effectiveness they can show on the battlefield will also be higher than that of ordinary new recruits.

For these slaves, being able to dismiss their slave status under the protection of the empire is the best reward, and relatively speaking, two to three years of service is not a price at all. Moreover, the empire will also pay them as usual, and will not withhold it. In this way, it can not only solve the problem of the industrial and peasant population, but also replenish the military source population and improve the quality of the empire's military resources. In the long run, it is undoubtedly a win-win decision.

The second, the Conversion Citizenship Act, was in fact a tentative decision conceived by John inspired by the Universal Gate of Gombrigne, which was intended to affect all the people of the empire and outside the empire who did not originally believe in the Orthodox Church. The original intention of the Universal Gate was to exchange faith for refuge and land. This law is in fact a complete implementation of the universal gate to the entire land under the rule of the empire.

Those who are willing to convert to the Orthodox faith, be baptized in the church, and repent of their sins can receive the reward of the gospel – also land and rent-free. Both bills were directed at the Ottoman Empire on the other side. The old faith is always the most powerful propaganda slogan.

On the surface, the Ottomans were a **** feudal state, but the slave class had a rather deep and solid imprint on the Ottomans. Even in the Ottoman army, a special army slave class was formed. The Ottoman royal family forcibly recruited soldiers and craftsmen from among the Christians by extracting blood taxes, which caused great conflict between slaves and slave owners, Christ and the crescent. After the enactment of the law, the empire may be able to take advantage of the internal contradictions of the Ottomans to enrich its population, and even use Trabzon as a dedicated port to transport the Ottomans in Armenia to the empire through the Black Sea route.

"In this way, all the empire needs to spend is a small amount of additional military expenditure, and some land that is normally vacant. How's that, Mr. Kinch, do you think it's reasonable? Sophia smiled.

"Your Royal Highness Princess, the treasury should be able to withstand such a burden......