Eric stared at the document in his hand, frowning.
After a long while, he let out a long sigh, put down the document, closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand, and relaxed a little.
He had been reviewing documents for a whole afternoon. Apart from going to the toilet once, he had no time to rest. Naturally, he felt very tired.
Glancing at the documents still piled high on the table, Eric couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Before he ascended the throne, he had always imagined how satisfying and joyful it would be if he really became the king of this kingdom.
But when he actually ascended the throne, he was only happy for the first few days. After that, for nearly half a year, he was always entangled with annoying work and could not have any free time at all.
The too busy and stressful life made him involuntarily miss the time when he was a prince.
At that time, he didn't need to think about so many messy state affairs. He could eat whatever he wanted, sleep whenever he wanted, and play whatever he wanted.
But after becoming the king, because he was too busy, he not only couldn't sleep well, but even eating had to be squeezed out of time every day, and he had no freedom at all. As for playing? Even while dreaming, he was reviewing official documents!
When he saw his father busy reviewing official documents before, he didn't pay much attention to it, but when he came to do it himself, he fully understood that being a king was really not a comfortable thing.
In fact, he knew very well that the reason why he always felt tired was entirely because he was not satisfied.
Why do you want to be a king? Of course because the king has your greatest power in this kingdom.
But after he became king, he found that he had no control over the kingdom at all.
Whether it's words spoken or orders given. No one cares, so what's the point of being a king
"Tuk-tuk—"
There was a sudden knock on the door, and before Eric could speak, it was pushed open, and an unusually familiar figure walked in.
Look at this person who is always moving at an unusually steady pace. The middle-aged man, whose every step seemed to be accurately measured with a ruler, slowly walked in front of him, and Eric forced a smile.
"Duke Stark, is something wrong?"
Earl Stark bent slightly and gave Eric a salute.
"Your Majesty, I am disturbing you now because I am here for the military budget meeting that will be held in three days." Earl Stark said calmly. There was no fluctuation at all, and then hearing it in Eric's ears made his heart skip a beat.
After a long silence, Eric asked: "Duke Stark, do you have any comments about this?"
"Yes." Duke Stark nodded. "I heard that His Majesty intends to increase the budget of the military department this year. Especially the budget of the Zhenbei Army, right?"
Eric frowned, thinking that he just revealed a little bit, and Duke Stark came to the door, really not giving him any space.
However, he was just thinking about it in his mind, and still kept a smile on the surface and said: "Well, I have this plan. According to the intelligence, the Sak Kingdom seems to be ready to move again. In order to prevent the Sak Kingdom from invading, the military department should be appropriately raised. A budget is also necessary. And if nothing else happens, the kingdom’s fiscal revenue this year will be pretty good, so it shouldn’t be a problem to increase the budget.”
Earl Stark pondered for a moment. Then he asked: "Your Majesty, have you ever thought about a very important question?"
"what is the problem?"
"At the beginning of next year, your loans from many nobles in the kingdom will be due. If the debt is not paid by then, I'm afraid you will lose many important supporters."…
"Arrearage?" Eric frowned deeply.
This so-called arrears are actually the various investments made by the nobles in the kingdom who supported him before he ascended the throne.
It's just that the guys before called this a donation, and they waited until he ascended the throne. However, these donations were immediately regarded as debts and Eric was asked to repay the debt.
The ten chambers of commerce designated by the Magic Industry Administration. Those standing behind are actually these guys.
Eric has always disliked Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, so he used this name. Not only did he rectify the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, but he could also use this as an exchange for debts. For him, it was really two birds with one stone.
And having those technologies not only in the hands of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce would also be very beneficial to the entire kingdom.
Therefore, Eric has been conniving with the Magic Industry Administration's various small actions against the New Flying Chamber of Commerce. The main purpose is actually to take away the income that originally belonged to the New Flying Chamber of Commerce.
However, the time is still short after all, and the impact of the ten chambers of commerce on the market is still far less than that of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, so there will not be much profit from it in a while, as those nobles said The debt owed is still a big headache for Eric.
"But if funds are allocated from the kingdom to repay the debt, all aspects of the kingdom will be very nervous next year." Eric said helplessly.
In the six months since he ascended the throne, Eric has discovered that he is more like a businessman than a king.
Because every day, almost all the time, he was worried about money, even worrying about a small amount like a gold coin, which he never paid attention to before.
Only when he truly became a king could he understand how embarrassing the Lampali Kingdom was facing now.
Although the overall financial revenue of the Lampali Kingdom has been growing continuously and significantly in the past two years, according to statistical estimates, the financial revenue for this year will probably not exceed three million gold coins.
If this amount of money is put in a city, it is quite considerable, but if it is put in the whole country, it is simply pitiful.
Not to mention anything else, it only counts military expenses.
Based on Eric's previous financial statistics when he led the Zhenbei Army and fought against the Sark Kingdom, the average daily expenditure was between 50,000 and 70,000 gold coins.
The war with the Sark Kingdom lasted for less than a month, and more than one million gold coins had been spent.
And these battles are not very fierce, if a full-scale war is really launched. Military expenditures will probably more than double.
Of course, in order to create momentum for Eric, the nobles in the kingdom who supported him invested heavily in the Zhenbei Army, which was much higher than the previous military expenditures consumed by the Zhenbei Army.
But even according to the previous military expenditure standards of the Zhenbei Army, military expenditures of at least 100,000 gold coins must be guaranteed for a year during non-war times.
Plus other armies in the kingdom. The military's previous annual military budget of 300,000 gold coins was simply stretched.
Eric has personally been on the battlefield and witnessed the ferocity of the soldiers of the Sark Kingdom. Naturally, he understands that the strength of the Zhenbei Army must be improved to ensure the safety of the Lampali Kingdom.
But the problem is... money.
The kingdom's annual fiscal revenue is calculated based on three million gold coins, leaving aside one million gold coins for basic administrative expenses. Coupled with various preferential subsidies for nobles, it will cost close to one million gold coins.
If there is one million gold coins left, part of it must be used to build the kingdom's infrastructure.
For example, a few days ago, the Agriculture Department proposed to carry out rectifications on several farmlands in the kingdom similar to what Bangta City had done before. The initial cost is expected to be 200,000 gold coins.
After counting other messy things, there are only a few gold coins left.
I want to squeeze out what Eric thinks is the minimum military expenditure of 500,000 gold coins. Easier said than done.
"Your Majesty, I understand your worries." Seeing the troubled look on Eric's face, Duke Stark smiled and said: "Priority is given to ensuring the kingdom's military strength. This is of course necessary. But you don't actually need to deliberately increase military spending. Isn’t it necessary to use the budget to increase military strength?”
Eric was stunned: "How can the strength of the army be improved without increasing military expenditures? I have served in the Zhenbei Army. I understand very well that without money, the soldiers will not even have enough to eat, so how can there be any What kind of fighting power?"
"That's right. But Your Majesty, have you ever thought that the kingdom's military expenditure is limited and difficult to increase. So instead of using limited military expenditure to support a large number of armies, these armies actually have no combat effectiveness at all. To ensure it, it is better to reduce the number of troops and adopt the route of elite troops, which will make it easier to increase combat effectiveness," Duke Stark said.
"Streamlining the army?" Eric frowned. "Duke Stark, the total number of actual troops in our kingdom is less than 50,000. It is already very difficult to defend the entire kingdom with such a number. If it decreases further, won't the kingdom be full of loopholes? Even if What can we do if we can defend the Sark Kingdom?"
"It's very simple." Duke Stark was obviously well prepared and continued with a smile: "The King's Corps is only responsible for the main defense objectives. As for the secondary defense tasks, nobles like me naturally also have the ability to assist in defense. obligation."
Eric was stunned: "What do you mean?"
"Take the Northwest Province where the Zhenbei Army is mainly stationed as an example. At present, in order to guard against the invasion of the Kingdom of Sak, the Zhenbei Army not only guards the entire northern border of the kingdom, but also deploys heavy troops in the Northwest Province. In my opinion, there is no Necessary. There are currently a total of seven noble private territories in the Northwest Province, so these seven noble families all have the responsibility to defend the territory, and they can help share some of the defense tasks. "
Eric shook his head: "How can that be done? This is the responsibility of the royal army. The noble private guards are only responsible for protecting their own private territories. How can they be involved in the defense of the kingdom's territory."
"Your Majesty, when you led the Zhenbei Army to counterattack the Kingdom of Sark, you also received help from many private guards sent by the nobles. Why don't you allow them to do their part now?" See Eric. Still hesitating, Duke Stark added. "The most important thing is that all the expenses of these noble private guards are paid by the nobles themselves, and the kingdom's finances are not borne. Wouldn't this save a lot of military expenses?"
Eric frowned, lost in thought.
After a long while, he unconsciously patted the table with his right hand and said softly: "This... seems to be a way..."