King

It was not only the southeastern provinces that decided to build a defensive line, but almost all the border provinces in the south made the decision in the shortest possible time - to build a defensive line.

I have to admit that the nobles of the Alpha Kingdom have a strong sense of crisis.

As soon as some signs appeared, they were not even sure who the enemy was, so everyone started to prepare for war spontaneously.

Before any clues could be found about the assassination case, the defense construction plans of each province had already appeared in front of Caesar IV.

According to convention, nobles do not need to report to the king when building military defense lines on their own territory. The kingdom even encourages border nobles to build more castles and fortresses.

Asking for instructions in such a formal manner is naturally not because the nobles respect the king more. Everyone's main purpose is one-to ask for money!

"Prime Minister, in the past, when provinces built defense lines, were they funded by the kingdom?"

Caesar IV asked with concern.

If you could describe the current financial situation of the Alpha Kingdom in one word, it would be: poor!

Very poor!

Very poor!

…

As long as it was money-related issues, Caesar IV would have a headache. Even the recent assassination of Prince Claude is far less difficult than the kingdom's financial problems.

After all, on his own territory, Caesar IV could still figure out the life and death of Prince Claude.

As long as the person is not dead, follow-up issues can be easily discussed.

In a few days, a cult organization will declare responsibility for the assassination, followed by a manpower attack by the Kingdom organization, and finally an exchange of interests between the two parties.

The processes are all ready-made, just follow the template and prepare. If you have done enough work to save face and given a certain amount of compensation, the matter will be over.

In contrast, the financial hole is an unsolvable problem.

The just-concluded funeral of the old king and the ascension of the new king also cost a lot of money, making the kingdom's already deficit finances even worse.

“Your Majesty, there is no clear decree from the Kingdom that provides for this.

However, in the past, when provinces built defense lines, the kingdom would provide subsidies in varying amounts based on actual conditions.

Except for the larger amount of subsidies in Northern Xinjiang, subsidies in other provinces are all symbolic, and the main compensation method is tax reduction or exemption. "

As soon as the Grand Duke of Newfoundland finished speaking, Finance Minister Marquis Delgado stood up and refused unceremoniously: "No! Tax reductions and exemptions are absolutely not possible now!

Your Majesty, due to the impact of the war, the tax revenue in the northern region of the kingdom has been greatly reduced, especially in the seven newly recovered provinces, where not even a penny of tax revenue can be collected.

The kingdom's current finances mainly rely on the central and southern provinces. The several southern provinces that are now proposing to build defense lines are all major tax-paying provinces in the kingdom, accounting for almost one-third of the fiscal revenue.

Especially for the newly imposed repayment tax, these provinces contributed nearly 40%. Once they are given tax exemptions, the kingdom's finances will immediately collapse! "

The data does not lie. Because they can collect tariffs, the financial contribution of border provinces is obviously much higher than that of inland provinces.

We are already short of money. If we cut off the most important financial income, we will not go bankrupt.

“The financial problem is indeed serious, but we have to consider the proposals of various provinces to build defense lines.

With the changes in the international situation, these provinces have transformed from rear areas into new defense centers.

Even if the finances can't come up with the money, we still have to make a gesture to give the local nobles some comfort. It's best to encourage them to complete the construction of the defense line on their own. "

Archduke Efiero proposed bravely.

Frankly speaking, this proposal is really embarrassing.

But there is no other way. As the Kingdom's Minister of Military Affairs, when the national treasury is empty, he can only rely on local nobles to complete the construction of national defense projects.

Theoretically, they could also convene a parliament of nobles to raise construction funds from across the country.

Unfortunately, the major provinces in the kingdom are currently under great financial pressure. Each one of them is still in the economic recovery period. If they continue to increase taxes, they will force the small nobles to go bankrupt.

"Are these provinces capable of completing these projects on their own?"

Caesar IV asked with concern.

To defend your homeland, you are not afraid that the nobles of this province will not contribute, but that they are powerless.

"Your Majesty, this depends on the determination of those big nobles. Most of the provinces that need to build defense lines are relatively wealthy.

If a few big nobles are willing to spend a lot of money and pool the efforts of the entire province to build a solid line of defense, there shouldn't be much of a problem.

Considering that the current threat of war is not great, we still have enough time to allow them to determine the construction period based on the actual situation. "

Marquis Delgado replied hurriedly.

In order to save the kingdom's finances, he also tried his best. Now we must save where we can, and we must try our best to save where we cannot.

In order to reduce expenses, the salary of the kingdom's officials can only be 70%, and even the king's annuity has been stopped by the Ministry of Finance.

Of course, this was not stopped by Marquis Delgado, but was initiated by Caesar III in order to unite people when he was in power.

Funding cuts for various activities have been even more severe. The most typical is the convening of the Noble Council, and the standard of food provided by the kingdom plummeted.

The original monster meat, spices, delicacies from the mountains and seas, as well as all kinds of snacks and fruits provided all day long are now gone, only ordinary beef and mutton + bread are left.

The most direct consequence was that the nobles stopped coming to dine and started their own small stoves one after another.

Seeing this scene, Marquis Delgado was not only not annoyed, but instead cut off this part of the budget with a smile, forcing the parliament to directly cancel the food supply.

There are many similar sexy operations. There are rumors in the outside world that Marquis Delgado has got into Qian's eyes.

Such frantic cost-cutting was only to ensure that the kingdom's finances could be maintained.

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Caesar IV asked quite excitedly.

It's not that I don't trust him, it's mainly that my finance minister has too many great ways to save money. Most of them are successful, but if you do too many, there will always be mistakes.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will come forward to coordinate this matter. When it comes to your own safety, I am not afraid that they will not try their best.

Southern Xinjiang is different from northern Xinjiang. There is no need to transport food and grass all the way. The cost of building a defense line here is not that scary.

However, there are still certain difficulties in individual provinces to build complete fortifications by relying on their own strength, and they must coordinate with other provinces for support. "

The Grand Duke of Newfoundland said bravely.

There is no doubt that coordinating the relationship between all parties is a hard job, but there is no way. If he, the prime minister, cannot be appointed, the king will have to do it himself. Others are not important enough.

Although Caesar IV has performed well since he succeeded to the throne, his ability to coordinate the relations between all parties is still unknown.

If something goes wrong, the aftermath will only be more difficult to deal with. He simply went in person. With his prestige as prime minister for many years, everyone had to give him some face.

…

Prince Claude, who saw griffon cavalry flying past the sky and wandering in the garden, hurriedly returned to the ward.

If you claim to be recovering from your injuries, you must act like you are recovering from your injuries. If people see him alive and kicking, how can he be ripped off?

Politics is the most magical thing. If the Alpha Kingdom is really ready to fall out with the Hessian Kingdom, it might bite him back and say: He directed and acted in the assassination.

Of course, the probability of this happening is low. The assassins sneaked in as nobles of the Alpha Kingdom. This alone was doomed, and they could not get rid of the blame no matter how hard they tried.

The nobles of the Aslant continent pay great attention to their own image, and no one wants to wear the label of a rogue country.

Waging wars for the sake of honor is a common thing. Cheating at this time is almost equivalent to directly starting a war with the Hessian Kingdom.

"Count Tatara, how was your conversation with the Alphas?"

Prince Claude asked with concern.

Trapped in the house every day, I have to worry about being seen by the gryphon cavalry in the sky when I go to the garden. But in the past few days, there were a lot of gryphon cavalry above his head.

Someone was sent to inquire, and the answer they gave was: In order to protect his personal safety, the patrol force was specially strengthened.

"Your Highness, the progress is not going very well. According to the intelligence collected, the Alpha Kingdom has begun preparations for war, and several southern provinces are preparing to build defense lines.

Currently, the Southeast Province is making the best progress. It is said that they have completed the preliminary planning of the defense line. It is planned to invest 300,000 laborers and build a steel defense line for three years..."

Before Count Tatara could finish his words, Prince Claude interrupted: "The Alphas are crazy!

We didn't do anything and they started preparing for war. The war with the orcs had just ended, where would they have the financial resources to carry out these projects? "

It wasn't that he was making a fuss, but that the Alpha Kingdom's reaction was too abnormal. War is never something that can be started immediately.

Not to mention two big countries, even if two nobles were to fight, it would take some time to prepare.

Usually, a time and battlefield are chosen that both parties agree on, and when everyone is ready, they lead the team there to fight.

If something happens, we can unilaterally announce an extension. Most of the time, this request is accepted.

Although wars between countries are not so disciplined, there are still many things that need to be prepared.

If there is no need for nationwide recruitment, it is very simple. After preparing strategic materials, the king can go to the battlefield with an order.

If it is necessary to mobilize the private army of nobles to participate in the war, things will become troublesome. In the event of an invasion by a foreign enemy, this mobilization speed should be faster. It is estimated that it will only take a few months.

If we take the initiative to launch a war externally, it will take at least half a year just to coordinate the internal relations among the princes, and it will take at least half a year to prepare strategic materials and recruit troops.

This is still theoretical. In practice, more problems will arise. After all, the Hessian Kingdom has not fought a national mobilization war for hundreds of years.

The only countries that have truly high mobilization efficiency are those that face foreigners directly. The specific mobilization efficiency depends entirely on the frequency of wars with foreign races.

This is also the reason why many countries have advantages in population, economy, number of experts, and weapons and equipment, but they lag behind others in the ranking of powerful countries on the mainland.

“Your Highness, I heard that all the expenses required for building the defense line in the southeastern province will be financed by the local government.

The fundraising meeting will be held tomorrow at the Dalton family's residence. Whether it is a bluff or whether construction is really going to start, we will know when the meeting ends tomorrow.

However, the two most powerful factions in the Southeast Province, Governor Pierce and Earl Hudson, were the promoters of this project. As long as they are determined to build it, other people's objections will be ineffective. "

Count Tatara explained patiently.

The way of thinking determines the outcome.

The nobles of the Alpha Kingdom still adhere to the extreme jungle law of competing with the orcs. If they relax their vigilance, they will die.

The subjective influence in their subconscious made them ignore that the enemy had changed. Still using the same concept of dealing with orcs, in response to the current international situation, he treated his neighbors as imaginary enemies.

The deviation of this concept fell into the eyes of Prince Claude, that is: Alpha people are a group of lunatics.

Haiyue, whose name was abandoned, collects online collections for country names, province names, county names, mountain names, river names, dangerous place names...

Submit everything you can think of. It's time for readers to show off your imagination.