Loan?

George's eyes widened.

The king was nowhere near as wealthy as outsiders thought. Nominally he was the supreme leader of the entire country, but in reality only one-third of the Saxon kingdom was actually under the direct jurisdiction of George, and the nobility, including the Marquis of Bracbarn, occupied two-thirds.

It was a fief reserved for the nobility. From the moment the white man became the new human being again in the cell mode, the feudal system became an almost eternal agreement between the king and the nobility. The nobles paid part of the taxes in their fiefdoms, and the king was responsible for the major expenditures of the state. Of course, in order to gain the favor of the king, as well as to gain more and greater power, the nobles will often take the initiative to sacrifice to the king, including money and land, in order to obtain a higher rank of knighthood.

The nobility's acquisition of land was no longer directly derived from the king himself, as it had been in the past. They are more likely to seek new continents from overseas, or fight for wealth in war. In the Saxon kingdom, for example, the normal annual tax (the direct part of the king, including the income from overseas operations, plus the payment of noble fiefdoms) was about 12 million gold pounds. However, this money did not belong entirely to the king himself, and he also had to continue to invest in domestic construction and the welfare of the people, as well as military spending...... As a result, the annual surplus is actually very small.

As for the King's Inner Treasury, it is the income from the operation of the royal family's commercial projects.

There are not many benefits for the population, but there are a few vital items that must be maintained anyway. "Grain collection and allocation" is one of them, and the main content is to build warehouses in various localities, reserve grain, and carry out grain transportation according to the actual needs of various localities, so as to ensure a stable supply of grain.

The price of potatoes in the market is stable, and two pennies can buy a kilogram. The same is true for oats, no matter how much the merchants try to do it, they will not find a reason or excuse to raise the price of grain. Because of this, except for extremely rare disaster years, the Saxon kingdom basically does not have large-scale price fluctuations in normal times, even in the severe famine in the northern provinces a few years ago, the king also relied on a strong army to tightly seal the disaster area, implemented a food rationing system for most of the disaster victims, and forced the way to starve to death the sick and the old and weak, and finally did not have much impact on the grain market in other provinces of the country.

Discarding a small part and ensuring a large part is the common choice of most of the superiors.

In terms of personal wealth, there is no denying that the king was really rich. Necuri has around 200,000 pounds of liquidity at any time, and the royal family members are enviably dressed, but these do not represent the true strength of a country.

200,000 gold pounds were thrown into the grain market in the Saxons, like a pebble thrown into a puddle, splashing at most a little water, and being swallowed up in an instant.

A tenfold increase in this figure would indeed cause regional food price fluctuations, but as long as the national grain depot releases the accumulated grain stockpiles, any speculator will lose everything in the face of the overwhelming grain frenzy.

This figure is increased by a hundredfold and will be characterized as abnormal speculation. Will the king and the nobility jointly invest large sums of money to bail out the market at any cost? If the speculators are strong, the king will use his army and, in the most barbaric way, cut off all the tentacles that the speculators want to disturb the grain market.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why King George deplored the 600,000 lost elite troops.

Taxes are collected quarterly every year and allocated to the various areas needed? And then collect taxes? Dial down again...... This is a normal cycle, and the amount of tax revenue will also increase as the country functions normally.

But there are always exceptions, natural disasters and wars that are beyond the normal range? It means additional spending. As a result, the kingdom's finances can only operate in debt? Of course, it can be temporarily alleviated by selling government bonds, etc., but the debt must be repaid, and the shortfall will increase with abnormal events? and the ever-expanding number of frequent problems.

The explosion in the port of Sester destroyed the kingdom's fleet? In King George's view, this is simply taking away his own heart. Overseas territory management and discovery is an important source of funding for the royal family? Therefore, he must rebuild the kingdom's fleet in a short time, at least to restore most of its strength. Delay in the payment of the pension of the dead sailor has become normal? Is this a multiple-choice question? When it comes to "generating profits as soon as possible" versus "maintaining equipment", almost everyone chooses the former.

It was precisely when the bankers saw this that they were willing to lend money to the king.

It is not very difficult to make a new loan request when the old debt has not been repaid.

Moreover, the news of the defeat in the north had already arrived, and the bankers would surely have tightened their purse strings and refused any loan offered by the king.

Send an army to kill all the bankers and solve the problem of borrowing from the root?

Although George often had similar thoughts, he was well aware that it was impossible. "Banker" is not an ordinary literal title, only the social elite who have accumulated a certain level of wealth is qualified to be called "banker". Some of these people have deep backgrounds, some own mines, some are high-ranking nobles, and some even have private armies and overseas territories...... Instead of fat hens concentrated somewhere stupidly waiting for the king to deal with them, they are scattered among the superior with a vast and interconnected network of intelligence. Sometimes, the king's orders were far less effective than a gold pound. The commoners don't care what the king is, they only have gold pounds in their eyes. Even in the worst-case scenario, a banker with enough money can gather a mercenary army willing to work for money in a short period of time, causing civil unrest in the kingdom.

Because of this, King George can only honestly repay the money according to the previously signed contract and pay the interest on time.

"Anyone willing to borrow?" He became interested in the Chancellor's words: "How much can you borrow?" ”

"The borrower is the Countess of Elpsor." The Earl of Lawrence's attitude was serious and serious, without the slightest hint of joke: "She is willing to lend eight million pounds." ”

"Countess Srpso?" The king and the Marquis of Brackbarne were chewing on the name in their minds, and a beautiful figure appeared in front of them.

This woman can be said to be a legend in the circle of the Saxon aristocracy in recent years. The story of how she was persecuted by her family members as a child, and then with the help of the Blackshire Warden, she managed to turn everything around and regain her family's succession and get her knighthood. Of course, people's interest in the story itself is not only about the plot, but also about the wealth and charm that the countess possesses.

"You mean Elizabeth?" The king had a good memory, and he quickly found information about Countess Elpsso from the many people in his mind, and called out her name accurately.

Count Lawrence nodded: "In fact, it was she who took the initiative to find me and asked for a loan. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn's eyes narrowed slightly, if he hadn't heard it with his own ears, he really couldn't believe that someone had offered to lend such a large sum of money. But he and Lawrence have been friends for many years, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer never lies about such things.

King George's question was more direct: "Why?" What did she want? ”

"The franchise of Forget Worries." The Earl of Lawrence did not sell it, and his voice was clear: "Elizabeth had been granted the right to franchise in all the cities before, and a considerable part of the profits from this business went to the royal family. She now wants to expand her business to more remote villages and towns, as well as to other countries. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn suddenly realized: "She wants to expand the scale of her business? ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer turned to his old friend: "Yes. ”

This answer did not dispel King George's confusion: "Why do she have to do it again and again, when she has already distributed shares to the royal family?" ”

"This time is different from the last time." Count Lawrence explained: "The business of forgetting worries in the country and small town belongs to another firm, in which you have no shares, Your Majesty. ”

The king's gaze suddenly sharpened: "Isn't she going to do something for this?" ”

Again, the Earl of Lawrence explained: "The eight million gold pounds promised by the Countess of Elpsso had no interest, and one million of them were specifically marked as "contributions" to the Crown. In other words, Your Majesty, you only need to repay seven million. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn's heart moved, this condition is really generous.

The king didn't think so, and he let out a disdainful snort from the depths of his nostrils: "This is too little, and the profit margin of the powder is very large." You can reply to her: either the loan will be classified as a normal contribution, or the royal family must get more than 50% of the shares. ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied cautiously: "Your Majesty, this is already the greatest concession I can get. Elizabeth is very loyal to you, in fact...... This money is not unique to her, but the financial resources of the nobles of many provinces and counties, such as Dorset, Franco, Humbred, and Sowen. Therefore, not only can you not mix with this business, but you must also give them a certain degree of tax relief depending on the specific situation. ”

The king had no idea that things would turn out like this. He frowned, thought for a long time, and asked unhappily, "Lawrence, how much do you think is appropriate?" ”

"Zero-fifth." The Chancellor of the Exchequer has long considered this issue: "I have spoken to Elizabeth that she is willing to lobby among the nobles in whom you have a stake for Your Majesty. After two years, you can use some excuse to reclaim this part of the tax reduction, and then everything will be back to normal. ”

This answer softened the king's expression slightly.

"Let's pacify the people first!" He turned his gaze to the Marquis of Brackbarn: "Do everything possible to consolidate the northern borders, and at the same time send emissaries to the Holy See." Even the apparitions of the Holy Lord must give us an account of this war, and if the Pope shirks or refuses, he will pay the price for his decision. ”

Marquis Brackbarn frowned: "Just consolidating is probably not enough." ”

This was clearly a special remark, and the eyes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the King were immediately focused on him.

"Armaments must be strengthened as soon as possible, and the northern giants may go south at any time." The Marquis spoke slowly, mainly so that the king could hear every word that was spoken: "Now the question is not only the bereavement of the families of the war dead, but more importantly, the rebuilding of the standing army, which must be larger than before. ”

Lawrence's face sank, he opened his mouth, but finally did not speak.

Before entering the palace for the audience, he had a discussion with the Marquis of Brackbarne about related issues. As Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Kingdom, he was particularly concerned about the domestic order. A large-scale defeat would inevitably lead to social unrest, and panic from the population would exacerbate already precarious financial pressures. This is no longer just a matter of stabilizing the grain market so that the people can have enough to keep order, but it is about the security of the kingdom.

The army would definitely have to be rebuilt, but Lawrence thought it could be put aside for a while, three months, or six months. Before that, the pension must be paid.

The change in people's hearts is uncontrollable. With 600,000 regular troops, plus more than 1 million logisticians, the sheer number is tingling just to think about. Lawrence had a hunch that if the problem was not handled properly, it would most likely lead to a large-scale civil uprising.

In fact, to some extent, it was also the fault of the king himself. The explosion at Port Seist worries George, who is so preoccupied with his overseas territories that he is desperate to restore the strength of his fleet. All the spare funds in the treasury were forcibly transferred out and all filled into the big hole of the fleet...... Of course, Lawrence also signed the relevant documents for the transfer of funds at that time, and he believed that the situation in the north was stabilizing, and this battle should be won and not lost, but who would have thought that the situation would turn over in an instant and the army would be defeated.

It is precisely because of the lessons learned last time that Lawrence has taken a very tough stance on the use of the loan this time———— and he must give priority to the payment of pensions before talking about anything else.

The Marquis of Brackbarn had previously agreed with his opinion, but he did not expect that he would now suddenly overturn the agreement reached earlier.

"I know the importance of the military." After much consideration, Lawrence decided to reiterate his opinion: "But without the support of the people, the recruitment of soldiers cannot proceed." When the time comes......"

"No recruitment." The Marquis of Brackbarn interrupted him with a very fast voice: "It only takes an order from His Majesty, call in the reservists first, and the question of money can be put on hold." ”

"Hold?" Lawrence was incomprehensible about this: "Without a salary, the soldiers would not obey orders. ”、

"Then find a way to get them to obey." The marquis's expression suddenly became fierce, and his whole person was murderous: "My opinion is: from now on, the Saxon Kingdom will enter a state of emergency, and important materials, including grain, will be managed in a unified manner, and the rationing system will be fully implemented. ”

Rationing?

King George suddenly realized.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was dumbfounded.

They finally understood what the Marquis of Brackbarne was thinking.

That's just crazy, it's beyond the normal logical bottom line.