Standing in front of the desk, Duke Da'an took out the various documents in his bag and put them on the desk in different categories.

Then he pointed to the stack of papers closest to Tsepeš and said:

"The above is the record of the income and expenditure of the treasury in the last three years.

For the whole of last year, the total value of tax accounting was 49,600 ducats.

Among them, the total value of gold and silver coins is 17,930, wheat 5,600 setirs, oats 2,000 setirs, barley 12,000 setirs, rye 15,000 setirs, peas and other beans 1,800 settils.

In addition, there were 210 preterol of burlap, 70 preterol of fine linen, and about 6,000 gold coins worth of livestock, poultry, spices, leather, and wood.

In addition to this, there were mined copper and iron ore, of which the iron ore was kept for their own use, and the copper ore was sold to the Hungarians for a portion for 8,000 gold coins.

That's all the income of the direct territories last year, and the figures for the first two years are about the same, I don't remember very clearly, but they are all recorded on the paper. ”

Listening to the data reported by the Duke of Da'an, Tsepes nodded slightly while comparing it with what was written on the document.

At the same time, the conversion of various units also quickly gave birth to new numbers in his heart.

Setil is an ancient European unit of grain capacity, and each unit weighs about 250 catties today.

Pretro, a Greek unit of length, was mostly adopted by the Orthodox Church at that time, and each unit was equivalent to about thirty meters.

Converted, all kinds of grain combined, there are nearly 10 million catties.

Of course, the oats and legumes are mainly used as livestock feed.

In this era when deep processing is not possible, the best use of oats is to feed horses.

Because of the importance of horses in warfare and agricultural production, the lords would plan land specifically for the cultivation of oats.

With a general idea of all the data, Cepes was in a good mood.

The local lord is good, if you want money, food, and all kinds of daily necessities, someone will take the initiative to send them to the door.

Using this money and food to train an army and pull in a few allies should make the Ottomans fearful.

Just as Tsepes was thinking about it, Duke Daan's voice rang out again.

"As for last year's expenses, there are four main parts.

Among them, the payment of official pensions and dividends to family members without territory are the largest part of all expenses.

Gold, food, and other items, all added up, cost about a third of the total income.

Secondly, there is the public expenses that must be paid for the repair of bridges, roads, city walls, palaces, etc., which cost about a quarter of the income.

Then, there are the expenses of holding various celebrations, banquets, balls, etc., which account for about one-fifth of the income.

Finally, there is the cost of repairing military fortifications and maintaining a standing army, which accounts for about one-sixth of the total revenue.

After removing all the costs, there were 2,569 gold coins and a small amount of supplies left.

The exact amount of all expenses is recorded in the accounts, and if you want to see the details, you need to go to my office room.

There's no way, there are too many lists, I'm afraid it will take several people to move over. ”

Joy lasted only three seconds, and as one item after another was understated by Duke Da'an, Tsepesh's face became more and more ugly.

What the hell, it actually spends so much money in a year, and only one-eighth of it is spent on the army.

It costs nearly 20,000 gold coins to raise officials and family members every year, are they all monsters who eat money!?

Tsepeš seriously doubted the authenticity of these data, but at this moment, his heart was ruthlessly stabbed again.

"The remaining more than two thousand gold coins, bought a few sets of new clothes for your family, changed some tableware, and in the end, there were only two hundred and twenty gold coins left."

Cepes was furious, and he, the Grand Duke of Wallachia, was a complete pauper.

It is no wonder that many royal families in Europe end up with large foreign debts, and the situation should be much the same.

When there is no war, there is no money left every year, and when the war ends, there are only two means: raising taxes or borrowing money.

Tsepes showed all the depression in his heart on his face, he frowned, looked at Duke Da'an and said:

"Cousin, as the prime minister, how much is your annual annuity?"

Duke Da'an's face was as usual, and he said in a calm tone:

"My annual annuity is 1,200 gold coins, and some of the materials such as food and fine linen will be given to me in the form of benefits."

Oh, my God! This guy actually earns me 1,200 gold coins a year, and when he says it, he acts so deservedly.

No, this situation must not continue, and spending must be reduced.

"Cousin, there is about to be a war with the Ottomans, and for the sake of the country, I hope you can take the lead and take the initiative to reduce the annuity.

The salaries of all senior subordinate officers will be halved from this year.

The salaries of subordinate officials at the grass-roots level will be reduced by 20 to half according to the specific situation.

When the situation stabilizes, I will make up the money, and in order to tide over the difficulties, I can only grieve everyone first.

Cousin, do you think there's no problem with what I'm saying, we're all family, and I need your help. ”

At the moment, it is necessary to face both the Ottomans and stabilize the internal situation, so Tepes did not directly take tough measures.

As the prime minister, Duke Da'an took the initiative to reduce his salary, and senior bureaucrats such as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Military Affairs naturally had to express it together.

Senior bureaucrats have taken the initiative to ask for salary cuts, and middle-level bureaucrats will naturally follow suit, and whoever does not ask for a salary cut is an outlier.

If it is carried out layer by layer, there will not be much resistance, and even if people are dissatisfied, they will not blame him.

Tsepesh's idea was good, but Duke Da'an's expression froze suddenly.

In itself, he was not short of money, and the large territory in the west could provide him with an income of three or four thousand gold coins a year.

But if he does this, it is estimated that there will be many people who will greet his whole family cordially behind his back.

"Cousin, you frowned, is there anything difficult about it?"

Tsepeshi asked knowingly, with a puzzle and a smile on his face.

However, in the eyes of Duke Da'an, his cousin is definitely not as innocent and innocent as he seems on the surface.

Thinking about the scene when Cepes cut off Buleye's head a few hours ago, he couldn't help but shudder.

can be in the position of prime minister, firmly work for five years, and behave in all aspects, it is impossible to be a stubborn fool.

"Your Excellency, as a member of the family, of course I am willing to make sacrifices.

When I look back, I will write a statement to take the initiative to reduce my salary, and call on others to join me in taking the initiative to reduce my salary. ”

Those who know the times are Junjie, and Duke Da'an has made the right choice.

"Just write a statement, three days later, I will hold a meeting, I hope cousin, you can personally say this little suggestion at the meeting."

Tsepesh, who looked harmless to humans and animals, smiled and made further requests, but Duke Da'an could only smile, and then nodded helplessly.