Chapter 614 The Crown Prince's Human Geography Lesson (I)

Chapter 614 The Crown Prince's Human Geography Lesson (I)

These suggestions were naturally adopted. Everyone knew that the empire would launch a major conquest to the east. It was just a matter of time.

As the crown prince, Alexander was responsible for national affairs. All the troops, intelligence, and materials needed to be reviewed by him. Batista assisted him as the prime minister.

"Your Highness, this is the basic situation of our country, including population, territory, diplomacy, taxation, and army. These factors constitute the basic situation of the empire."

Alexander looked at the pile of documents in front of him and felt a headache. But he still picked up the first one to see the population of the empire.

As of now, the total population of the empire is 15.5 million. This is the number of people currently registered, and the Georgia region has not yet been registered, and it is expected that there will be nearly one million people.

The Balkans and Anatolia account for more than 80% of the population, followed by the Apennines and Ukraine, and finally Syria. Most people are farmers. They own their own land for cultivation, pay taxes to the government every year, and serve in the military when necessary.

At this time, most areas have become monetary taxes, and tenants also pay monetary rent, which enhances the empire's business and trade. A large amount of agricultural products are sold in the market, and the industrial and commercial departments established by the government are responsible for maintaining the stability of food prices and preventing them from fluctuating.

Most people speak Romanian and believe in Orthodox Christianity. Others either believe in Orthodoxy and speak other languages, or vice versa. There are not many other people who believe in Crescentism and Buddhism, which can be ignored.

At this time, Constantinople already has some oriental faces, and they all come here to make money. Some people converted to Orthodoxy, but most people maintain their original beliefs.

"Your Highness, the lives of our subjects are much better than ten years ago. They live a prosperous life, the government's income has increased, and industry and commerce have also been boosted."

Batista handed the chapter on fiscal revenue to Alexander. The annual income of 7 million gold lei is enough for the government's annual expenditure. Although industry and commerce have been developed, agricultural taxes still account for more than half of the income.

"Our trade with the East is of utmost importance, and the income from trade accounts for one-fifth of the fiscal revenue. The canal from Egypt naturally needs to be protected."

At this time, the trade with the East was completely controlled by Romania. Whether it was the sea or the grassland, it had to pass through Rome or Russia. The excavation of the canal made this waterway completely the only circulation point for merchant ships to travel, and many ships came every year. In order to ensure safety, the empire also set up strongholds along the way to protect the safety of the trade route. The most important of these was India governed by the East India Company.

The East India Company established more than 50 strongholds and fortresses on the Indian mainland, with the Bengal region as the focus of its rule, and was specifically responsible for fishing in the local area.

Under such circumstances, the East India Company recognized the administrative power of the local rulers, and the company had the privilege of "Diwan" (financial management). In this system, those princes were nominally in charge of the government, but because the local finances were controlled by the East India Company, their income was often not even enough to maintain daily expenses, let alone resist him.

Among the administrative officials of the East India Company, the most important were the tax collectors. They were not only responsible for taxation but also for administrative and judicial affairs. In addition, the company also set up magistrates and police stations to maintain social order.

A few years ago, the emperor began to separate the commercial functions and government functions of the East India Company. Peter divided the company's employees into two categories: commercial employees and administrative employees. One person cannot have two jobs. Administrative employees become officials, responsible for taxation, justice, and administration, and are promoted step by step according to seniority. Employees and companies sign contracts, so it is also called the "contractual civil service system." Company employees are not allowed to use administrative power to engage in commercial trade, destroying the fairness and freedom of trade, and acts of extortion are prohibited; administrative employees are not allowed to accept gifts from anyone; people engaged in taxation and judicial work and those engaged in company trade are prohibited from engaging in private trade.

Due to the vast territory of India, the East India Company knew that it would be difficult to effectively rule India on its own. Therefore, after conquering India, the East India Company produced two forms of rule: directly owned colonies and indirectly ruled dependencies. Directly ruled by the company, and established provinces in these areas; there are also vassal states, called "Indian princely states", which are indirectly ruled by the company through resident officials. They took the approach of colluding with the princes and nobles of the Indian princely states, using India's own power to implement violent rule over India, and collecting taxes through Indian landlords to achieve the goal of permanent occupation.

The economy gained from India has benefited Rome a lot. A large amount of spices and textiles were transported, and local taxes were also handed in. In addition to the East Asian trade, Rome and a group of merchants made huge profits. The safety of the waterway must be guaranteed at all costs.

Another direction of Rome's colonization was Africa. The prince of the Kingdom of Abyssinia came to visit with an embassy, ​​and the two sides got along very well. Trade continued to expand.

As a result, the port of Andronikos broke through the upper limit of cultivation and was mainly engaged in business and trade. The local population also quickly exceeded 4,000, becoming an important trading city.

Due to geographical factors, Africa has not had a mature regime since the southern desert, and most people live in the form of tribes. Although the Romanians tried their best to avoid conflicts with indigenous tribes, during their repeated expeditions into the interior of Africa and the establishment of trading points, they engaged in hundreds of battles of varying sizes with the local indigenous peoples.

With the advantage of equipment, there were few direct casualties in the frontal battles. However, due to the complexity of the geographical battles, many soldiers were ambushed by the natives or attacked by large animals, and finally died without effective treatment. After many colonial troops launched attacks to eliminate hostile native tribes, the empire gradually established small castles that combined trade and military control along the Blue Nile and the White Nile.

Small castles are generally built against the main river channel. Each trading point is stationed with an army of thirty people and about twenty black servants. They use the weapons and supplies brought by the fleet to maintain the safety of the waterway near the trading point and implement a deterrent policy against the nearby natives.

At this time, Romania had built fifteen small castles in the upper reaches of the Nile. Through the interconnected trading points, the colonial army established a tight grid chessboard in the vast inland. When any hat point on the chessboard was attacked by indigenous forces, the neighboring soldiers could quickly arrive at the battle site by boat and attack the attacking natives. In this way, Romania can firmly control the upper reaches of the Nile.