On the other hand, the pro-reform Reich Industrial, Commercial and Financial Capital Group also did not budge, with Alberton Weinstein Jr. and Jacob Fogel as spokesmen, and attacked the backbone of the conservative faction, the Holy See, calling for the abolition of "tithes" and "charitable agency".

Frank himself, the standard-bearer of the reformers, was unable to meet the demands of the capital group on this issue. After all, he also holds the position of "Grand Duke" of the Holy Light Church, and agreeing to abolish the "tithes" and "charitable agency" is tantamount to digging up the financial resources of the Holy See, and cutting off people's financial routes is like killing their parents, and they are bound to lose the support of high-ranking clergy and become a "traitor" in the eyes of the Holy See.

The reforms were only a means to change the financial woes of the imperial government. Since Frank's reform plan has not succeeded, is there any other way to increase fiscal revenue without the need for major surgery on the social system?

Actually, there really is!

To this day, the imperial regime has lasted for more than 1,600 years. In its long history, it has been mired in financial crises many times, and it has accumulated a wealth of experience in dealing with crises by turning them into disasters.

According to the traditional practice, every time there was a fiscal crisis, the imperial government always set off a wave of currency reform, the specific method is to recycle the old currency and issue new money, the new currency has the same face value as the old currency, but the gold and silver content is reduced, through this back and forth exchange, the government can use the same amount of gold and silver to mint more money, so as to collect a seigniorage tax on the whole people, reduce the pressure of government debt.

It stands to reason that although the gold and silver content of the new coinage is lower than that of the old coin, after all, the face value is the same, and if the imperial government can use coercive means to promote the new coin, and use government credit to make up for the lack of gold and silver content, then the purchasing power of the new currency will not decline significantly compared with the old coin.

Unfortunately, this "theoretically valid" deduction did not apply to the conditions of the Yashan Empire. First of all, the credibility of the imperial government is very bad in the hearts of the people, and who can accept this disguised plundering of private wealth? There will always be every effort to keep the old coins privately, resist the new coins, and the prices of goods in the market will also be adjusted accordingly according to the gold and silver content of the new coins - the same bag of flour, you can buy it for only 1 gold duke with the old coins, if you use the new coins, sorry, the price will be doubled. Of course, this phenomenon of dual-track price coexistence is illegal, but it is difficult for the government to restrain others from trading in private and on the black market.

In addition, in this era of global trade, the Assanian Empire could not close itself off, and its total import and export volume surged year by year, and it maintained a trade deficit for a long time. From the holy city to the provinces, foreign imports can be found everywhere in the market.

The imperial government engaged in the trick of exchanging new currency for old currency, forcibly stipulating that the face value of the old and new currencies was equal, and the people in the country had no choice but to accept the new currency; Foreign traders don't want to eat your set, and they still calculate the price of imported goods from the empire according to the real gold and silver ratio. This has led to a general increase in the price of imported goods in the market after the currency reform, so what reason is there not to follow the price increase of similar domestic goods? Eventually, inflationary pressures fell on the lowest level of consumers, spurring more and more violent revolts and riots, a situation of instability that the imperial authorities sought to avoid.

Finally, the biggest resistance to traditional monetary reform comes from Treasury holders. When the new currency with lower gold and silver content replaces the old currency, the imperial government can use the new currency of the same face value to repay the national debt, while the creditors originally lent the government the old currency with higher gold and silver content, which is equivalent to the disguised depreciation of the bonds in the hands of the creditors, and the creditors of the imperial government are precisely the new industrial and commercial financial capital groups with deep pockets. These shrewd capitalists are afraid that they will not be able to take advantage of them, and the government still expects them to suffer dumb losses? It's a dream!

"The maturity date of the national debt is getting closer and closer, and the military appropriation can no longer be delayed, Prime Minister Mueller considered issuing a batch of new coinage to save the emergency, but unfortunately as soon as the news was revealed, it attracted a stern warning from the domestic merchant group, claiming that if the government forcibly reduces the gold content of the coinage, they will refuse to underwrite the next treasury bond, and sell the treasury bonds in their inventory as soon as possible."

Frank raised his hand to his forehead, his face full of sadness.

"Prime Minister Muller was so frightened that he almost fainted on the spot, and he dared to mention the issue of a new currency again, so he could only come to me and beg me to help solve the financial problems, but what good way could I do it? Alas, two old brothers, now I can only rely on your help to come up with advice. ”

Under Frank's expectant gaze, Roland fell into deep thought. "Redheaded" John scratched his cheeks, coughed lightly, and was the first to break the silence.

"Your Highness, in my opinion, if you want to survive the current difficulties, the solution still falls on the currency reform."

"But as I said earlier, this won't work!" Frank waved his hand irritably.

"Your Highness, don't worry, the currency reform I am talking about is not the same thing as the stupid method of reducing the gold and silver content of coinage." John Lauer replied confidently.

"Tell me what you do." Frank was in the mood.

"You know, earlier this year, I went to the New World colonies for two months, focusing on the mining development company in Jotunheim, and found that the magic crystal mining and smelting operations are operating well, according to the current mining scale conservative calculation, the annual output of magic crystal rough ore is not less than 500,000 tons, which can bring at least 25 million gold dugah net profits to the imperial government."

Roland couldn't help but move his ears, and he was interested in the data revealed by John Lauer. The Assanian Empire held large colonies in the New World, and there were no less than 100 companies whose main business was mining and smelting magic crystal ore, all of which were originally public-private partnerships, with the government granting companies "mining rights" certificates in exchange for some of the company's shares, and the rest of the shares being raised by private individuals.

But as the empire expanded outward, fiscal pressures grew, and in order to make up for the deficit, state-owned assets had to be sold off to private institutions. The equity of those mining companies, which is the most valuable asset in the hands of the imperial government, has been sold out in batches by selling a little this year and a little next year, and those mining companies have been completely "privatized" one after another from the government in terms of equity structure and business model.

Last year, the Yashan Empire started a new round of war in the New World, and finally ended in a draw with the combined forces of Hailan and Feizhen, and the two sides negotiated to divide the Magic Crystal Mining Area. In this way, the empire took possession of a new mine in the Jotunheim region and established a large state-owned mining development company, which John Raul now called the "Jotunheim Company".

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