Crewe Fernando sat absentmindedly at the huge round table in the royal chamber, staring at the ornate chandelier on the ceiling, listening to Luke, the Imperial Chancellor, read a large article about the Empire's taxes for the whole of last year.

Crewe Fernando was crowned twenty years old, becoming Fernando XIII in order, and as of this year it is already in its tenth year. For so many years, the government of the empire was almost controlled by Luke, the imperial finance minister, and Chad, the imperial political secretary, and in many cases, he Fernando XIII was nothing more than a national symbol.

This kind of day was difficult for the ambitious Fernando XIII to accept, but fortunately his father, Fernando XII, left him General Orlando, a pious holy knight who married Luke's eldest daughter, but was loyal to the royal family, and with the blessing of the god of war and the trust of His Majesty, he became the supreme military governor of the imperial capital, commanding the most powerful army in the empire, the Royal Knights. This formidable cavalry force has not failed since it was established two hundred years ago.

Originally, the Imperial Finance Minister Luke and the Imperial Minister of State Chad restrained each other, and Orlando, the head of the Royal Knights, the highest military governor of the imperial capital, the empire has been smooth in the past ten years, and the politics are harmonious, although there are still rebellions such as Senat from time to time, but they have all been eradicated by Orlando one by one.

But in the heart of the young Fernando XIII, he always held his breath, he boasted that he was healthy, energetic, had the time and ability to restore the glory of his ancestors, and fulfilled Fernando I's unfulfilled wish: "conquer the orc tribes in the north and completely solve the orc invasion in the south, and devour the lords in the south and no longer let them be divided", so that the Holy Alliance Empire established by Fernando I will become an empire that truly unifies the entire continent.

So, after several years of preparation, Fernando XIII began a series of plans, first to select powerful personnel from the Royal Athletic Competition, and to reuse them, and then let the Royal Academy secretly train talents for himself in all aspects needed to govern the country, and slowly promote and hire. At the end of last year, Fernando XIII seized the opportunity to use a dispensable excuse to elevate Luke, the Minister of Finance of the Empire, and promoted all the talents he had cultivated in the past few years to take over the collection of imperial taxes.

In the eyes of the young Fernando XIII, everything needs to be rich at the beginning, and as long as you control the source of the economy, you can make a big difference. He has even prepared a comprehensive and huge plan to be carried out in the next few years, hoping that this plan will achieve his wish within ten years.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?" Fernando XIII was distracted by his huge plan when he felt his sleeve being pulled, and he came back to his senses and saw the royal magician Catherine Randy sitting beside him gently tugging at his sleeve, Fernando XIII looked at her with inquiring eyes, and heard Luke's slightly displeased voice say, "Your Majesty, you are distracted!"

Fernando XIII's face flushed, he was a little carried away during this time, and he was often immersed in his beautiful designs, and he had been distracted like this many times.

"Lord Luke, Your Majesty has been busy with government affairs these days, and his rest is somewhat insufficient, please understand. Catherine Landy, who had been appointed by Fernando XIII as his magical advisor, whispered to Luke, defusing the awkward atmosphere.

Luke frowned slightly, and then immediately explained, although he knew that Catherine Landi was just explaining Fernando XIII's distraction, but after all, he was facing the ruler of the empire, and it was inconvenient for him to say too deep and too heavy. So Luke picked up the wooden cup in front of him and took a sip of the water. Saving money was an important part of Fernando XIII's ambitious plan, including the fact that he could only drink water during royal meetings.

Luke rested for a few seconds by drinking water, and gave Fernando XIII time to adjust his mind, and then said, "Your Majesty, just now I read about last year's income. The tax revenue of the imperial capital was 9 million the year before last, and 8 million last year; the tax revenue of Sunrise City was 8 million the year before last, and 6 million last year; the tax revenue of Haifeng City was 18 million the year before last, and 15 million last year; the total tax revenue of the chambers of commerce and business alliances of various cities in the south headed by Freedom Paradise was 22 million the year before last, and only 19 million last year. The year before last, the lords of various places had 12 million in taxes, and last year it was, well, less than 1 million, of which Seke City had just been recovered, without any taxes, and an additional 350,000 were spent. ”

Luke didn't read out a set of numbers, Fernando XIII's face turned a lot blue, and after Luke finished reading all the tax figures of the empire last year, Fernando XIII asked in a blunt voice: "What was the total tax last year?"

Luke hesitated slightly, and read out a number: "49 million." ”

"Damn!" Fernando XIII stood up in a frustrated manner, slapped his hand on the table and said, "Luke, as the Minister of Finance of the Empire, how do you explain this!49 million? This amount of money is not enough for the normal expenses of the Empire, and what are you talking about 'conquering the orcs and integrating the south'?"

Luke closed his mouth tightly and didn't answer. Chad, who was sitting on the side, did not change his face, but he smiled in his heart, his old rival Luke was reprimanded by His Majesty in person, which is always a happy thing. And the royal magician Celine Randy attended such a meeting because of the favor of Fernando XIII, and she was very self-aware, and basically listened from beginning to end. As for the other dozen or so officials present, they were not as good as Luke and Chad in terms of identity, and when they saw His Majesty angry, they all buried their heads deeply, lest His Majesty suddenly vent his anger on himself.

Fernando XIII didn't care about the actions of the others, he fixed his eyes on Luke, and his heart was even more annoyed to see Luke use such an uncooperative attitude towards himself. His shout echoed in the empty royal conference room: "It's a whole twenty million less than the year before, twenty million, enough to build another royal knighthood! What the hell is going on?Ah, I see, it must be corruption, damn it, these greedy guys who can't kill them all, I'll let people investigate this matter thoroughly! Luke, I know that many of your tax collectors are not clean, you must give me an explanation!"

There was a hint of anger in Luke's eyes, but he was immediately suppressed by him, and in the face of the supreme ruler of the empire, Luke would remain sane when he was angry. Luke slowly stood up, and also took this opportunity to adjust his mood, and when Luke stood up, he calmly said to the enraged Fernando XIII: "If you have to give you an explanation, please remove me from the post of Minister of Finance of the Empire, as for the tax collectors under me, maybe they are a little greedy, but I can guarantee that they are only embezzling more than a million dollars a year at most." ”

"Very good!" Fernando XIII gritted his teeth, pointed his finger at Luke's nose and said, "Luke, you admit to embezzlement, very good! Do you think I won't dare to kill you?"

"Your Majesty, as the supreme ruler of the empire, you can kill anyone you want. Luke replied calmly in the face of Fernando XIII's accusations: "But I must remind you that, first, I just confessed to the corruption of my men, not myself, and second, that last year's taxes were not collected by me and my men. ”

As soon as Luke's words fell, the entire royal conference room suddenly fell silent, and even the enraged Fernando XIII closed his mouth. Yes, it was the same Fernando XIII who overthrew Luke last year, taking away the power to collect taxes, which was originally within the purview of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that led to the current situation. No matter how unreasonable Fernando XIII was, there was no way to punish Luke for this matter.

"In any case, the Empire's tax revenue has shrunk significantly, and you, as the Imperial Finance Minister, have an unshirkable responsibility!" How could the young and competitive Fernando XIII admit in front of his subordinates that it was his impatience that caused such serious consequences, and at the same time he was a little angry in his heart, if Luke buried his head in admitting and humbly accepted his reprimand, satisfying Fernando XIII's vanity of power, maybe this matter would slowly find a way to make up for it, but now Luke actually contradicted himself in a tone that was neither humble nor arrogant, so Fernando XIII said: " Now I announce that I will remove Luke Empire from the post of Minister of Finance and replace it with me!"

"As you wish, Your Majesty. Luke calmly accepted Fernando XIII's order, his face did not change, he slowly stood up, bowed slightly to Fernando XIII, and then said: "By your will, I am now a commoner, and I have no right to appear in the royal meeting room, please allow me to retire." ”

After saying this, Luke took a deep look at Fernando XIII and turned and walked out.

Fernando XIII looked at Luke with a blue face, he didn't expect that his own order, the other party could accept it so calmly, in order to hit Luke hard, Fernando XIII thought about it, and added another order: "In view of the significant reduction in the empire's taxes last year, from tomorrow, Victor will no longer serve as the royal chief magician, nor will he teach at the Royal Academy of Magic, and the empire's monthly subsidy of 250,000 gold coins and 150,000 magic materials will be cancelled!"

This sentence made Luke's body tremble slightly, and Fernando XIII, with the pleasure of revenge, raised his head high, and looked at Luke from top to bottom, he even wanted to see Luke's expression of pleading with him. But Luke only paused for a moment, did not look back, and continued out of the royal boardroom.

Fernando XIII watched Luke walk out of the room, and then turned his gaze to Chad, who was sitting at the round table, who looked at Fernando XIII with great respect, this gesture satisfied Fernando XIII's vanity like never before, and from now on, he expelled Luke, and in this way, he subdued Chad, and the real rule of the entire empire would officially belong to him.

Fernando XIII looked around and said in a majestic voice: "Now, let's discuss how to deal with this financial crisis, I think ......"

“......”

“......”

“......”

There was no discussion, no objection, and Fernando XIII made a series of plans according to his wishes, while the rest of the people in the royal chamber either buried their heads lower or followed the example of Chad, with respectful expressions on their faces.