Chapter 452 Privy Council
The biggest change at this financial meeting is that Dongfang Yamen has received an investment of nearly 500,000 lei in the next three years. It is also the largest allocation.
Grants here cover costs for colonial governance, expansion, immigration, and exploration of areas such as southern Africa and Southeast Asia.
People from the Household Registration Department plan to make a big move. Their goal is to increase the number of immigrants from the current 1,200 to 10,000 per year. For this reason, a lot of publicity was given to the benefits of the Eastern colonies, and it was promised that everyone who arrived there could receive a piece of land. Some people who could not survive were ready to sign up with their families and their families.
Such actions by Rome made the three countries in the Western Mediterranean covetous. Portugal, Castile and Aragon all began overseas exploration, but their achievements were simply insignificant compared to Rome. They just colonized the Canary Islands and made no other discoveries at all.
King Joao I of Portugal was later regarded as the founder of Portugal's prosperity, but now he is still worried about his low income.
Portugal has basically completed the movement to recover its lost land, which is a happy thing. However, the land in Portugal has been divided, the population is still increasing, and the king does not dare to attack the local tyrants in the church, so he can only turn to the blue land-the ocean for development.
In fact, it was not that he had not thought about land development, but he gave up because he felt that he could not defeat Castile. He just wants to get a fortune for Portugal, but now it seems that is not possible?
The king of Castile thought so too, or to be precise, the regency thought so, who made the new king less than two years old. These ministers had no choice but to serve as temporary regents. Although they had colonized the Canary Islands, they had not yet received any rewards.
Rome had to contain their deadly rivals in the Mediterranean. Especially after the other party occupied the city of Rome, this has risen to the level of religion, and regaining the city of Rome has become the ultimate goal of these Catholics.
A few days later, Prime Minister Listerine also presented his own plan to Peter. In this plan, he planned to combine service and taxation into one, collect money uniformly, and use part of the money to hire people to work. . At the same time, all taxes paid will be converted into currency, and taxes in kind will be cancelled.
The Senate was intended to be implemented on a pilot basis around Constantinople and then gradually spread to other places. For economically backward areas, physical tax is still used as a transitional stage.
Regarding the population issue that the emperor was concerned about, the prime minister came up with a very time-honored idea, which was to abolish the poll tax.
Since the poll tax suppresses the fertility rate, it should be abolished. I have to admit that this idea is really beyond the times. But this is really not possible now. The poll tax is one of the important taxes in the empire and cannot be canceled easily.
"Prime Minister, I am very satisfied with what you have done. I just wonder if you are tired of being in the Senate?"
Peter suddenly asked about Listerine's health. The prime minister thought it was because the emperor was concerned about him and said quickly.
"Your Majesty, don't worry, I am in good health."
But obviously this was not the emperor's ultimate goal. Peter was ready to let the prime minister rest.
"Really? That's great. After all, the Prime Minister is the center of the empire. I don't know what I would do without the Prime Minister."
Um? There is some smell of gunpowder in the air. After all, Listerine was a bureaucrat who had been working hard for more than ten years, and he immediately understood the meaning in the emperor's words.
"Your Majesty, I believe that there are more and more things to deal with now, and the Senate is no longer able to handle everything."
"Well, go on."
"Now the empire must not only deal with Western affairs, but also deal with Eastern affairs. This will make the Senate more and more bloated, and will reduce efficiency over time. I believe that another agency can be established to be responsible for decision-making on military and political affairs, but this agency can only consult The final decision lies with His Majesty."
This speaks to Peter's heart. He does not expect that the East can centralize power to a perverted level, but at least he must ensure efficiency and the absence of local rebellion. Otherwise, how can he carry out the next thing if his efficiency is not improved?
"Well, I deeply appreciate it."
In fact, the emperor can directly announce the establishment of new institutions, but doing so may cause discomfort to the ministers below. Therefore, it is better to discuss it with the prime minister.
Peter and Listerine kept writing on the paper, including the number of members of the organization, rights, etc., and finally asked the emperor to name the organization.
"Since it is responsible for advising His Majesty, let's call it the Privy Council."
"Privy Council...this is a good name", Peter approved the name and was ready to establish it. In addition, a new institution of the Senate was set up to share the work of the prime minister, but Listin did not say anything.
After leaving the palace, Listerine looked at the sky. It was originally clear but now it was covered with clouds.
"It seems that the empire is going to make big moves next."
This emperor is more enterprising than Mircea. He must go back and read Eastern books to learn how to get along with the emperor.
In any case, the new policy has begun to be implemented, and trials have begun in Constantinople, Adrianople, Wallachia and other places.
According to the decree, local people do not have to serve in military service from now on, and military service will be included in tax revenue. And the land is divided into several levels according to its quality, and taxes are paid according to the level. At the same time, physical taxes on cash crops such as grapes and flax are converted into monetary taxes, simplifying tax types and procedures.
Near Adrian and Castle, some rich farmers agreed with this decision. They were not willing to serve anyway, so they might as well pay more money. The local tax collectors are also happy to be able to reduce their workload, and the local area no longer needs physical taxes, but has turned them into monetary taxes, which makes it easier to implement policies.
A major event also occurred at the government level. The emperor suddenly ordered the appointment of the heads of the three departments of finance, military affairs, and foreign affairs as the first, second, and third deputy prime ministers, allowing them to discuss matters with the prime minister.
The three department heads did not expect that they would be promoted in just a few days. This was actually Listerine's suggestion, saying that it was too busy for him alone, so he should promote a few people to share the burden. Who makes Peter's desire for power stronger than Mircea? The prime minister's monopoly power began to weaken only after more than ten years, but it also increased the stability of the government. Ranking based on seniority can reduce the hostility of some officials towards the new prime minister.
Due to the increase in population and expansion of territory, the membership of the Boyar Conference expanded again, including members of the White Party (Sugar). They basically submitted proposals to the Senate and quarreled in the Parliament. Now that the country's economy is prosperous, there seems to be no major issues to discuss, and they seem to only have the right to intervene in the monarch's orders, but not the right to veto. Moreover, the victory in the war between the Empire and Venice fully demonstrated the huge advantages of the current system. If you want to change it to be like Venice, don't you want to live?