Chapter 360 Are you rich? No money?

Chapter 360 Are you rich? No money?

There are two main reasons why this movement to regain lost ground achieved such great results after lasting for three months.

First, the reconstruction of the Roman standing army and the use of firearms. The empire used a large amount of money and promotion channels to build a well-trained army. At the same time, it also attached great importance to the restraint of nomadic cavalry by gunpowder, and equipped it with a large number of artillery and muskets. At the same time, the artillery frame was improved to facilitate transportation and gradually reduce the weight of the artillery. In the following battles, the artillery played a role many times.

Second, Rome has caught up with the good times. The internal turmoil in the empire caused by Timur's death created a vacuum in the Middle East. Rome took the opportunity to enter in a large scale, which was also the reason for its rapid expansion.

The demise of the Ottomans also stimulated some people. The emir of Damascus had surrendered to the Mamluks, and the southern part of Rome could only stop at Latakia. Peter was quite satisfied with this result. The northern part of Syria was captured, and the next step was to govern it.

Peter declared the newly conquered lands exempt from taxes for a period ranging from one to three years, began a census, and established local government structures. The ravaged Anatolia got a breather, and Rome already controlled an area larger than the Macedonian dynasty, and its control intensity was unmatched by other dynasties.

Michael also went to Georgia to show off his power, and King Alexander was immediately cowed. Send people to deliver gifts and ask envoys to express their loyalty to Constantinople as soon as possible, otherwise it will be over.

Envoys from the Black Sheep Dynasty and the Zara Yier Dynasty have arrived in Fan City. They met Peter in order to avoid fighting on two fronts. They wanted to get rid of the Tamerlane Empire and at the same time avoid a two-front war, so they brought a large number of gifts to Peter, hoping to get a promise not to attack them.

In Constantinople, a small personnel change also affected the nerves of many people. Prime Minister Angel officially resigned from the position of prime minister because of his old age. Mirchanian gave this veteran minister a lot of land to support him in his old age because he had been with him for more than ten years. Listerine was also appointed prime minister, and he finally got the position he had longed for.

At the same time, he also understood that if he wanted to stay in this position for a long time, he must handle national affairs well.

At this time, Rome's territory stretched from Venice in the west to Van in the east. It was a powerful empire. The consequences of rapid expansion will gradually emerge over time.

And Listerine's ability in the Senate for so many years was not something he boasted about. He knew that the Emperor and Caesar wanted to keep these places under their control, so a transportation system was necessary.

Listerine's first decree after taking office was to rebuild Anatolia's postal system, setting up post stations every 25 kilometers or so, and training a large number of horses to replace them. It can be used not only by the military but also by businessmen. If you want to send a letter, you need to pay one to three silver lei.

Such proposals were quickly approved and implemented immediately. Since the station west of Ancyra has been established, this time it is mainly to establish the system in the eastern region. So it's another project that needs money and the Chancellor is crying again.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty will go on an expedition this time. If everything goes well, we will capture the Lake Fan area. For such a large territory, the current military defense alone is definitely not enough."

Adrian proposed this in order to continue to increase the standing army, which coincided with Mircea's idea.

"I think so too. I am adding some troops to guard the borders of the empire. Otherwise, the land I finally returned to will have to be given away to others."

Seeing that the emperor was preparing to increase his troops, Baptiste could not sit still.

"Your Majesty, I suggest that this resolution be suspended."

Mircea was a little unhappy, but faced the Chancellor's request, he decided to listen patiently.

"Then tell me, why?"

"Your Majesty, our country's current financial situation is relatively good, and there are still a lot of trophies obtained from the West in the treasury. But in recent years, there are too many places that need money, such as water conservancy in Wallachia and Moldova, and border defense in Dalmatia. , as well as the construction of the navy and the north, all of which require money. Not to mention the construction of Constantinople and other cities.”

"Your Majesty, no matter how rich you are, you can't afford to spend it like this."

Listening to Baptiste's cry of poverty, Adrian responded directly: "Our country has been victorious in wars over the years, and most of the spoils obtained have been handed over to the national treasury. All of them have been spent in just a few years?"

"Not everything stored in the national treasury will be spent, but a portion must be set aside to deal with emergencies."

Mircea thought for a moment and asked Adrian how much he would need to build a standing army.

"Your Majesty, according to the current territory, an additional 130,000 troops must be added."

"What?" An increase of 130,000 would cost Baptiste his life.

"Your Majesty, if we expand the army like this, the finances cannot afford it. It is still possible to expand the army by 30,000."

This time it was Adrian's turn to object, "Thirty thousand, what if the enemy invades? There are too few troops to fight back and resist."

"Now that the situation has stabilized, no country has the energy to fight a war with our country, so why do we need so many troops? War is a country's last resort, and negotiations with neighboring countries can best be resolved through diplomacy, just like Komnenos did. "

Looking at Baptiste's appearance, money really shouldn't be spent casually. The real situation is quite different, because there is a lot of construction going on, and a lot of money is coming out of the warehouse every month. But since it is in the fiscal budget, there is no problem.

But neither the Ottoman invasion nor today's military expansion was in the budget, let alone the recruitment of 200,000 people into the army. This year is estimated to be the most serious year for fiscal deficit.

Although Baptiste argued hard, he still passed the resolution to expand the army. However, in order to appease him, the original 130,000 troops were reduced to 50,000, which was still within control.

Nowadays, domestic taxes and trade taxes are slowly increasing, and the governance of new territories also takes a long time. The colonies in the East, then, were the greatest targets of income.

The East India Company turned over more than 200,000 lei in profits every year, and there was still room for growth. However, the East India Company not only engaged in trade, but also operated colonies. It had broken away from the nature of a trading company and could be said to be a government agency in disguise. But this is also a right granted to them by Caesar, and it is not easy for him as an official to take it away.

The East India Company also wants to divest some administrative rights and govern India, which is fine, but if the battle line is stretched too long, the gains will outweigh the losses.

The current territory extends from Ceylon to Temasek and Formosa, and the company is running out of staff. Just monopolize trade and leave other governance to the empire. They are responsible for making money and handing part of the profits to the state treasury.