Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

In order to boost the morale of the people, Vespa set the tone of "grand celebration" for this triumphal ceremony, and all kinds of activities were included.

Drama performances, simulated naval battles, gladiator competitions, public banquets. A large amount of public budget was invested in it, which greatly satisfied the local people. This is what is called bread and circus.

After symbolically wandering around the field for a few rounds and having a simple meal, Orville and Tia were called to Vespa's residence in Rome.

Rome had just entered the imperial era not long ago. The previous emperors generally took the "people-friendly" route. They had their own decent residences on the Palatine Hill, which was a wealthy area, but many other nobles also had their own houses on the hill. There may be some differences in specifications between the two, but there is no essential difference.

It was not until Nero, who died last year, that the emperor had his own magnificent palace. Nero marked out a large area on the Palatine Hill as his palace.

Vespa certainly didn't want to be associated with Nero or any other ridiculous emperor, so he didn't live in Nero's palace, but bought a not particularly luxurious mansion on the Palatine Hill in the wealthy area as his new residence in Rome.

He was not born in a high family. Although his original residence was a single-family house, it was located in the civilian area. Although the elders didn't want to see the emperor have too many privileges, it was obviously very inappropriate for the "monarch" to live in such a place.

Under the guidance of the house servants, Tia and Orville walked through the unfamiliar courtyard and came to the reception room.

Vespa sat in the main seat of the reception room, while Tia and Orville sat on the left and right sides.

There was no need to say too many polite words between family members, and Vespa went straight to the point.

"I'm glad you can return safely with honor after the war, but to be honest, the situation in the city is not very good now."

Tia became nervous: "Has someone rebelled again?!"

Vespa smiled and shook her head: "If that's the case, it would be simple. We now have a bigger problem, insufficient fiscal revenue, and the current treasury has bottomed out. We need to think of ways to get more money."

During Nero's reign, the treasury spent a lot of money, but it was barely able to maintain. Later, there was a big fire in Rome, and Nero did not take effective reconstruction measures.

Later, the emperors kept changing like a revolving lantern. As soon as each emperor came to power, he would definitely spend a lot of money to stabilize the people and buy off the army. These people were either overthrown before they had time to make money, or they didn't think about what to do after the treasury funds were spent.

In addition, the remnants of the Germanic Legion and the two legions fought in Rome again, and the city was damaged again. After Vespa came to power, in order to stabilize the people's hearts, he must give priority to rebuilding the city. This astronomical expenditure is definitely beyond his financial resources, so he can only embezzle a large amount of treasury funds.

With this grand triumphal ceremony and various reward activities, the treasury has actually run out of funds.

He called the two people over, actually wanting to hear their opinions. Although he was not a dictator, the Senate still gave the emperor a lot of autonomy and he could make many decisions, such as how to increase government revenue.

Tiya thought seriously for a while, and then answered carefully: "First of all, I think we can increase taxes on some provinces with spare capacity, and then use the collected money to conduct a census. The last census was 26 years ago. I think the population of the empire will be further improved. By collecting various regular taxes from these people, we should be able to alleviate the financial difficulties.

In addition, since the time of Caesar, there have been many scattered lands that have not been included in the tax scope. We can measure these lands and impose taxes on these lands, which should also be considered as income.

Then some senators are obviously rich enough to provide some funds for the country. We can ask the Senate and the upstarts to donate to the country. At the same time, I think we should limit their spending and not let them be overly extravagant and wasteful. We can charge higher tariffs on Eastern trade and meet the country's financial needs at the same time."

Increasing national fiscal revenue is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. Tiya's methods are more realistic and have no resistance. They are the kind of panacea methods.

Vespa nodded slightly. In history, he did use similar methods.

But I'm afraid this routine operation is not enough. The treasury needs money immediately. Tiya's method takes three or four years to complete. Time is too slow and we can't wait. At least we have to use other methods to deal with this most difficult period first.

Tiya's methods are too open and aboveboard, but in extraordinary times, we should also have some extraordinary measures.

So Orville suggested at the right time: "I think we can appropriately increase the types of taxes, or not just limited to taxes. For example, priests of small temples, middle and lower-level officers of peaceful provinces, and even some minor official positions in Rome, we can sell some of them in exchange for fiscal revenue."

Tiya interrupted Orville directly: "Isn't this equivalent to selling official positions?"

Orville did not shy away: "That's right, so everything must be within a reasonable range. We are short of money now. The operation of the country needs money as blood. If we don't do this, where will the money for military expenses, public utility expenses, public servants' salaries, social welfare expenses and national reconstruction come from?"

Vespa was also somewhat interested in this proposal. He was much more pragmatic than Tia: "Then what? Any other ideas?"

Compared to the ancients, Orville actually felt that he had no advantage in IQ, physical strength, emotional intelligence or anything else, but there was only one thing he absolutely had an overwhelming advantage in - enough ideas, no matter whether they were feasible or not, the imagination and life of modern people were completely different from those of ancient people.

"There are many more. For example, for some prisoners, as long as there are qualified people willing to guarantee them and can come up with a sum of money, we have a reason not to detain them before the trial, but to give them a certain degree of freedom, so that they can move freely within a certain range. I call this practice "bail". It is not difficult for prominent families to spend a little more money for freedom.

In addition, some corrupt officials can be deliberately promoted, and when they have embezzled enough money, they can be caught red-handed. In this way, you can gain a reputation for strict law enforcement and the money of corrupt officials.

Also, Emperor Nero devalued the currency and reduced the silver content of silver coins. This is an extremely dangerous move. It will reduce the credit of the currency. We should pay attention to this and must not make a fuss about it. But we can also benefit from financial behavior. Perhaps it would be better to draw inspiration from Alexander's successors. The Romans did absorb the financial methods of the Greeks, but perhaps not enough."