So Archibides made up his mind and boldly retorted: "We have harvested some gold and silver mines, but His Majesty once warned us in the Ministry of Finance that gold and silver should not be distributed indiscriminately, and must correspond to the annual grain production and taxes...... In short, if there is too much gold and silver, the silver coins in our hands will become worthless, so the gold and silver will be mined directly from the gold and silver mines as the cost of this new mercenary, and the Ministry of Finance will not be in charge, and must obtain His Majesty's approval. With that, Archibides turned to the doctor and bowed respectfully.

Davers said softly: "Archibides is right, gold and silver mines are strategic materials of the kingdom, and cannot be used as long-term financial expenditures, unless there are unexpected special circumstances. ”

"Your Majesty's decision is right! If the gold and silver mines are trampled on, dug indiscriminately, and the gold and silver are overflowing in the kingdom, it will only destroy the kingdom's trade prosperity and cause chaos. Commerce Secretary Marigi immediately agreed, endorsing Archibides.

Achibides continued in high spirits: "There are still ...... Lord Alexis, you have only seen how much land has been added to the kingdom, but you have not seen how many officials we have added and more salaries to administer these lands, which is already a big expense. This is not to mention the large relocation costs that will be incurred in order to move citizens to these new lands, as well as the construction of roads, bridges, and temples on these new lands...... The cost of repairing various public facilities and maintaining them is a huge expense. To tell you the truth, if it weren't for the boom in commerce and trade in recent years, the increased business tax revenue barely made up for these increased expenses, I am afraid that the monthly salary paid to you would have decreased. ”

Achibides said, nodding his head to Marigi in thanks.

Alexis was dumbfounded, he thought that with this new decree, the kingdom would have two or three more special legions that could be put into battle at any time, and the military department would feel much more relaxed, but he didn't expect that the real difficulties were still to come.

He reluctantly said: "What should we do if we have all agreed to build such an army of foreign freemen, and since it is thought that it must be maintained with sufficient military funds, but now the treasury cannot provide military funds for it, and without military funds, this army cannot be established?" ”

Lucias looked at his nose and his nose at his heart, looking contemplative.

Cipros's eyes rolled, and he stopped talking a few times.

What Marigi and Sedorum were whispering.

Hmon shrugged his shoulders and said apologetically, "I don't know much about the kingdom's finances. ”

Achibides, who had shouted that he had no money, remained silent at the moment.

The other ministers either didn't really know much about it and were a little dazed, or they also put on a thoughtful look, and there was an eerie calm in the palace hall.

This was the sound of a loud voice: "Because the establishment of an army that is truly free from daily work and ready to fight at any time is a growing need of our kingdom, and it is a new and long-term important national policy, it is better to have its military expenditure to be a new tax on the people alone!" ”

As soon as these words came out, some people were shocked, some still looked the same, and some were obviously relieved.

Tax increase, finally someone has said it! …… Davers grabbed the armrests of his seat with both hands and looked at the person who spoke: Ataris, sure enough, it was him! Dare to do things, have the courage to do things, worthy of the outstanding talents recommended by Kunogorata back then, knowing that they will offend the general public because of this, they still do not hesitate to say it, regarding the safety of the kingdom is more important than their own gains and losses. In comparison, the other rotating chairman he valued, the more capable Sipros, obviously thought too much, as for Lucias, Hermon, and Sedorum...... Hehe.

Davers quietly glanced at the ministers, taking the beings into his eyes, and when he made eye contact with Sipros, Sipros quickly looked away, he already realized that his performance just now had disappointed Davers.

"Tax increases? This is not good, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for the people to accept it. The first to respond was Medical Secretary M. Phelps.

"Yes, since the establishment of Dionia, the direct tax of the kingdom has been one percent, and it has remained the same for almost 20 years, and the people have become accustomed to it, and if they want to tax it now and make them pay more money, I am afraid it will be difficult for them to accept it." The Minister of Construction, Heraclid, then expressed his attitude, and neither he nor Herps, as technical officials, seemed to think from the perspective of the kingdom, and the first thing that came to mind was the mentality of the people.

"Your Majesty has just said that times are changing, the environment is changing, the kingdom is changing, and of course our laws and regulations should also be changed to meet the new needs! Twenty years ago, when Dioonia was founded, it had only three or four small towns, and the population was probably less than 30,000 people, which was very inconspicuous; And now the kingdom is already the overlord of the Western Mediterranean, the territory area is more than ten times that of the year, the population is more than 3 million, and there are many city-states and forces attached to us, it is no longer the small city-state alliance of the past! ”

Sipros finally stood up to speak, and he said with great emotion: "When Dionya was first established, all public officials, including the senators, were not paid, but now the salary of a junior official in the kingdom can roughly buy a cow a month, not to mention us;

Twenty years ago, Dionya sent his troops to fight, and all the citizens who could fight together were less than 10,000 men, and they could reach the front line in a few hours, and in a day or two they could end the fighting and return to the city-state, so short that the soldiers had not eaten the rations they had brought from their homes;

Now, once the kingdom starts a war, it can easily dispatch tens of thousands of people, and the battle time is calculated in months, and the military rations required are counted in tons as the basic unit, not including other material consumption, which are provided by the kingdom;

Twenty years ago, Dionya did not have any major expenses except for the construction of roads, but now the kingdom has countless public buildings, not only the cost of construction, but also the cost of maintenance alone is a large amount, and the money earned by the schools and public hospitals in various towns is simply not enough to maintain its operation, and the kingdom needs to subsidize it to maintain it......

The bigger the kingdom, the greater the consumption, and will the one percent tax alone be enough to meet the growing needs of the kingdom of Dionia? Of course not! We rely on the commercial taxes collected for the trade boom brought about by the kingdom's might! Relying on the inheritance tax collected because the kingdom is strong and makes the citizens rich! It is because of the other expenses obtained by the strength of the kingdom to enrich the lives of the people (such as the lottery for competitive competitions hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, the cost of borrowing books in the library, etc.)! It is only by the wisdom of His Majesty and the conscientious work of everyone that the development of the kingdom today can be barely guaranteed!

Truth be told, it's an absolute miracle that the direct taxes collected by the kingdom have remained at one percent for 20 years! This is Hades' blessing! This is Your Majesty's mercy! Even in the most difficult times of the war, the kingdom only borrowed money from the people, and not blatantly charged high war taxes, and the people of Dioonia should feel lucky that they lived in such a happy kingdom and not anywhere else.

Look around us, this is no longer the traditional world of a few decades ago when citizens of Greek city-states did not collect direct taxes.

In the eastern part of Sicily, during the reign of Dionysius, the war tax of each city-state was as high as 30% or more, and it lasted for many years, and even after he was overthrown, the annual direct tax of Syracuse was close to 10%, so as to ensure that the city-state could recover its strength as soon as possible and be safe under our pressure;

In western Sicily, the city-states of Phoenicia and the sub-states of Carthage had relatively lower tax rates, but they also exceeded 5%, and the money from these taxes was said to have been spent on the conquest of southern Iberia.

Look at Greece proper, there have been frequent wars in recent decades, which city-state's direct tax is not more than 20%, even the richest Athens, they even came up with a wonderful way to collect taxes, the jurisdiction of the Demo district into a block, each tax collection area must have a lot of settled foreign rich merchants, and then stipulate how much share of the tax must be paid in the area, failure to reach the penalty will be punished, often due to the pleas and persecution of the people in the area, more than half of the tax amount is borne by these rich merchants.

Not to mention Sparta, which has always been controlled by the government for all the wealth earned by the city-state, which is then responsible for distributing it.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a world of war-torn and dangerous rebirths, and the countries and forces around us are gathering strength to fight. Even if Dionya is strong now, it should not be taken lightly, the kingdom should not only increase taxes, but also the tax rate should not be too low, so as to ensure that the kingdom can operate normally, and have enough strength to defend the security of the territory and defend the interests of the people! ”

Sipros's words were deafening, causing some people to lose their minds and some to realize.

Immediately afterward, Davers praised loudly: "Well said! ”

Many people only then understood: Your Majesty is in favor of tax increases!

The atmosphere in the hall began to change, but Lucias still persuaded worriedly: "Your Majesty, once you propose an additional tax, it will not only cause great controversy in the Senate, but also cause great dissatisfaction among the people, and may cause turmoil in the kingdom, which will have a great impact on your prestige, Your Majesty!" ”

Davers smiled faintly and said in a deep voice: "For the sake of the national interest, Ataris and Sipros have the courage to make such a suggestion regardless of personal honor and disgrace, as the descendant of Hades, the patron saint of this kingdom, do I still care about this ruin!" I only ask you, Lycias, should there be a tax increase? ”

Davers's words went straight to the center, and Lycias couldn't avoid it, so he could only reply: "Your Majesty, judging from the current state of the kingdom, we ...... It was the need for an army of Gentile freemen; In order not to affect the normal operation of the kingdom, we also ...... A little extra tax is needed to provide material support for this army. ”