Chapter 13 Income
Soon, the day came for the Chamber of Commerce to return.
The Chamber of Commerce developed rapidly this year, not only selling goods to Vienna, but also selling goods by sea to Crimea, Constantinople, Poland, Lithuania and other places. This also forced Genoa and Venice to acquiesce in their status. The two major maritime trade countries had no purchase channels for the things they sold.
"Sir, excluding costs and taxes, the Chamber of Commerce has earned a total of 260,000 ducats this year."
Luca, the leader of the Chamber of Commerce, reported the results according to Peter's regulations. They report every six months and exchange intelligence with leaders in each region to determine the most profitable products to sell.
Generally speaking, chambers of commerce with the support of lords develop the fastest. This chamber of commerce is no exception. Not only does it have the support of Lord Dobroga, but it also received a charter from Archduke Mircea, allowing them to go to Poland, Lithuania, and the principalities of Russia to do business.
In fact, the types of goods exported by the Chamber of Commerce are not many, including grain, salt, honey, beeswax, and some other items. Imports include high-value commodities such as iron, weapons, and luxury goods. Under Mircea's rule, Wallachia's local minerals also began to be developed, and sulfur, iron and other minerals began to be mined. Many boyar nobles saw the huge benefits of this chamber of commerce and cooperated with them one after another.
At this time, the Chamber of Commerce was the fastest growing commercial organization in the Balkans. It owned 30 trading stations and more than 20 caravans in Wallachia. These caravans traveled to and from Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and other countries, and reached as far as Vienna. They took Dobroga's grain and salt trade as a foothold and soon became an important economic force in Wallachia.
"Okay, everyone has worked hard this year. Keep up the good work next year!"
As the boss behind the scenes, Peter also has some encouraging words to say. And also issued the latest instructions, including lending money, expanding trade, spying on intelligence, and guiding people to Wallachia. This shows the importance of this organization's mission.
Under the operation of the Chamber of Commerce, the first money lending institution was established in Constanta with a capital of 10,000 ducats.
This lending institution sent people to carry out propaganda. Because lending is considered a sin in Christianity, it cannot be done in a big way and can only be carried out quietly. But for the majority of farmers, they hope that this year's harvest will be better.
Part of the profits of the Chamber of Commerce are given to Grand Duke Mircea through taxes, and the rest is distributed through dividends. Because Peter is also a shareholder of this chamber of commerce, he is entitled to the largest share. As a result, Peter could get a profit of nearly 220,000 gold coins.
As for the output under Peter's name, it is diverse, including grain, fruit, wine, and salt. Especially salt, because of its high quality, the products are even sold as far as Novgorod and the Teutonic Knights. Prices are also rising. Many Polish and Lithuanian businessmen came to Constanta just to get some refined salt. In Europe, most people use salt to marinate meat to extend its shelf life. Salt is a necessary condiment, so it is used in large quantities. Peter also made a lot of money from this project.
Then there is the taxation of Dobroga, because Peter announced that new immigrants will not be taxed for three years, so it is mainly industrial and commercial taxes and customs duties. These proportions are so small that they are not worth mentioning.
Moreover, Dobroga has a situation that is even more advanced than France: the nobles actually have to pay taxes, and even Peter's property has to pay taxes.
Hahahahahaha, how about it, I didn’t expect it! The nobles actually had to pay taxes, they had to pay taxes.
In fact, for a long time after the division of the Roman Empire, nobles had to pay taxes. The Eastern Roman Empire was stricter than the Western Roman Empire in this regard. It did not enjoy exemptions for noble landowners like the Western Empire, but only reduced taxes.
When it comes to tax-free rights, we have to mention the United Kingdom, another country in Europe. The financial privileges of the medieval English nobility were mainly financial immunity, private taxation rights, tax assessment and the right to approve taxation. In this respect, unlike in continental Europe, the British nobility did not enjoy tax exemptions. However, because the tax system was not yet complete at that time, nobles often used various means to avoid and evade taxes. However, this also led to a long-term struggle between the nobles and the king on tax issues, and the right to approve taxes was the king's compromise. the result of.
In Constanta, many people come here from Bulgaria and Lithuania. They were either hiding from the Ottomans or the nomadic tribes like the Tatars. In addition, Wallachia announced measures to encourage reclamation and handicrafts, and the number of immigrants coming here also increased.
After arriving in Constanta, immigrants will first go to the city hall to register their identity. He and his family then became part of Constanta.
The new immigrants who came here became freedmen. They could engage in handicrafts and commerce, and they could also cultivate other areas. But in return, they not only had to pay taxes, but they also had to engage in military training during their spare time. This became the main source of militia.
In this year, under Peter's impetus, Dobroga reclaimed about 10,000 yugrams of land. If the previous ones were added, the total would be 18,000 yugrams. (Ugram, land area during the Roman Empire, 1 gram = 25/12 acres = 13 acres)
Part of this was the fields of soldiers, and part of it was the cultivation of new yeoman farmers. After experiencing the previous harvest, those serfs no longer resisted fertilizers. After all, everyone wants to eat well and live a prosperous life.
Not only that, when he had nothing to do, Peter also urged the serfs to go to the fields to pull out weeds by hand to avoid harming the growth of crops.
After half a month of busy work, the entire tax revenue of Dobroga has been put into the treasury. Same as last year, minus what they left behind. In the end, Peter obtained a total of about 3 million pounds of rye and wheat, as well as cash crops such as grapes, fruits, and honey.
In addition, the yield of oats has also come out. The yield of oats per acre is 120 pounds, which is 108 pounds per acre. However, oat grass is also a good feed. Although the harvest of seeds is low, it is not unacceptable. Moreover, the yield of oat seeds in later generations was only three to four hundred kilograms, which was similar to that of soybeans. The price of European oats is very high, reaching 3 silver coins per pound, which is equivalent to the daily salary of an artisan. Oats are also very useful because horses need to eat them regularly.
The same was true for the land of Peter's soldiers. The land with 5 yug per person also produced an average of 15,000 pounds of rye.
After learning the news, Peter showed no expression. Director Alexander, on the other hand, smiled from ear to ear.
"Okay, supervisor, you haven't stopped laughing since just now."
"Sir, I have never seen so much food. You are the richest man in the country."
Alexander is right, the price of grain in Eastern Europe is now about one silver ducat per pound. In other words, about 12 pounds of grain were exchanged for one gold ducat coin. If all of these were sold, that would be hundreds of thousands of Wallachian ducats.
"It looks like the granary is going to be built again." Peter said.
However, before building the granary, he still sold part of the grain. There are millions of pounds of grain in total, which is a lot of money if they are all sold out.
But this is impossible. If you invest everything, you can't afford the price of food to plummet. So I can only throw away part of it and go to other places.
In this era, if there is more food, your income will be more. Especially after a certain time traveler adds bonus. If the rye is shipped to Spain, the profit can be doubled. Having said that, Peter was also depressed. Because - he doesn't have an ocean-going ship...
Therefore, Peter still followed the same old path. Cooperate with the smugglers who are seeking security, and sell food to Iran and Syria. In these places, food prices have skyrocketed due to the war. One pound of food can reach the price of 7 silver coins, which shows the extent of the turmoil.
In order to expand his income, Peter expanded the salt factory. The amount of salt originally produced is directly doubled, so the annual salt income is also doubled.