King
Chapter 757 - 757 40 Madman's Kingdom_1

757: Chapter 40, Madman’s Kingdom_1 757: Chapter 40, Madman’s Kingdom_1 The decision to construct a defense line was not just made by the Southeastern Province, but almost all the border provinces in the south made the decision in the shortest time — to construct a defense line.

One must admit, the sense of crisis among the aristocrats of the Alpha Kingdom is strong.

Just a hint of trouble, even when the enemy is not yet certain, they spontaneously begin to prepare for war.

The assassination case hasn’t uncovered any clues yet, but the defensive line construction plans of various provinces have already appeared in front of Caesar IV.

As per tradition, nobles do not need to report to the King when building military defense lines on their own territories, the kingdom even encourages border nobles to build more castles, more fortresses.

The fact that they are submitting such formal requests certainly isn’t because the nobles respect the King more.

There is only one primary purpose they have — money!

“Chancellor, has the kingdom allocated funds for the construction of defense lines in various provinces in the past?”

Caesar IV asked with concern.

If there is one word to describe the current financial situation of the Alpha Kingdom, it would be: Poor!

Very poor!

Extremely poor!

…

Any issue related to money gives Caesar IV a headache.

Even the recent assassination attempt on Prince Claude doesn’t compare to the daunting issue of the kingdom’s finance.

In the end, regarding Prince Claude’s life and death on his own territory, Caesar IV can still figure it out.

If the person isn’t dead, subsequent issues can be negotiated.

In a few days, a cult organization will take responsibility for the assassination case, and then the kingdom will organize men to encircle and suppress them, finally there would be an exchange of interests between the two sides.

The process is ready-made, just prepare according to the template.

After doing enough face-saving work, give some compensation, and consider the matter done.

In contrast, the financial deficit is an unsolvable problem.

The just-ended funeral of the old king and the coronation of the new king were a huge expense, adding fuel to the fire of the kingdom’s already deficient finances.

“Your Majesty, the kingdom doesn’t have a clear law to make regulations in this regard.

However, in the past when provinces constructed defense lines, the kingdom would provide subsidies of varying amounts based on the actual situation.

Apart from a large amount of subsidies in the Northern Border region, symbolic payments are given in other provinces, and the main way of compensation is still tax relief.”

No sooner had the words of Duke Newfoundland ended, the Minister of Finance, Marquis Delgado, stepped forward and bluntly refused, “No!

Absolutely no tax relief now!

Your Majesty, affected by the war, tax revenue in the northern region of the kingdom have been drastically reduced, especially the seven newly recovered provinces, not a penny of tax can be collected.

The current kingdom finances mainly rely on provinces in the central and southern regions.

The several southern provinces that now propose to build defense lines are the large tax-paying provinces of the kingdom, almost accounting for one-third of fiscal revenue.

Especially the just added repayment tax, these several provinces have contributed nearly 40%.

If they are exempted from taxes, the kingdom’s finances will immediately collapse!”

Data does not lie, due to the ability to collect tariffs, the financial contribution of border provinces is far higher than that of inland provinces.

Already short of money, if the most important fiscal revenue is cut further, it would be a miracle if bankruptcy is not declared.

“The financial situation is indeed severe, but we also have to consider the proposal of each province to build a defense line.

With the change in the international situation, these provinces have shifted from the rear to the new key defensive positions.

Even if the finances can’t afford to pay, we have to show an attitude, to appease the local nobles, preferably to encourage them to complete the defense line construction on their own.”

Duke Efiel proposed reluctantly.

Frankly speaking, this proposal is indeed troublesome.

But there is no choice, as the Minister of Defense in a kingdom with an empty treasury, he can only rely on local nobles to complete the national defense construction.

Theoretically, they could hold a Noble Parliament and prepare construction funds from across the country.

Unfortunately, almost all provinces in the kingdom are under financial pressure, and they are still in the period of economic recovery.

Continuing to impose taxes is forcing the small nobles towards bankruptcy.

“Do these provinces have the ability to complete these projects on their own?”

Caesar IV asked with concern.

If they want to protect their homeland, it’s not that the nobles of this province are unwilling to put in efforts, but they might be powerless to do so.

“Your Majesty, it depends on the determination of the major nobles.

The provinces that need to build defense lines are generally economically prosperous.

If the major nobles are willing to invest heavily and gather all the forces of the province, building a robust defense line would be feasible.

Considering that the current war threat is not severe, we have enough time to let them determine the construction period based on the actual situation.”

Marquis Delgado quickly replied.

In order to preserve the kingdom’s finances, he had done his best.

Now, every province must economize wherever it can, even where it cannot.

To cut down on expenditures, salaries of royal officials can only be paid seventy percent, even the royal pension of the king, has been discontinued by the Ministry of Finance.

Of course, it was not Marquis Delgado who discontinued it, but it was proposed by Caesar III during his reign in order to unite the people.

Every event’s funding was cut down even more drastically.

The most typical one is the Noble Parliament convened, the food standard provided by the kingdom plummeted.

The original magical beast meat, spices, exotic delicacies, and all-weather snacks and fruits are all gone, leaving only ordinary beef and mutton+ bread.

The most direct consequence was that the nobles all stopped coming for meals, each starting to cook for themselves.

Seeing this, Marquis Delgado was not annoyed at all.

Instead, he laughed and cut off this portion of the budget, forcing the Parliament to cancel the food supply directly.

There were many similar mischief, and rumours spread that Marquis Delgado only cares about money.

Saving money with such a ruthless method was merely to ensure that the kingdom finances could maintain.

“Chancellor, what do you think?”

Caesar IV asked with great interest.

It was not that he didn’t trust him, but his Minister of Finance had so many brilliant ideas to save money.

Many of them were successful, but if it takes a while, there will be mistakes eventually.

“Your Majesty, rest assured, I will handle this personally.

It involves personal safety so they can’t avoid making efforts.

The Southern Frontier is different from the Northern Border, there is no need to transport food and grass for thousands of miles, the cost of constructing a defense line here is not that terrifying.

But relying solely on their own power to build a complete fortification, some provinces still face certain difficulties and must coordinate with other provinces for support.”

Duke Newfoundland responded with difficulty.

Undoubtedly, coordinating relations between all parties is a hard job, but if he, as a chancellor, doesn’t take on this task, the king will have to personally intervene, and others aren’t up to the task.

Since Caesar IV ascended to the throne, although his performance has been good, whether he has the ability to coordinate relations among all parties is still unknown.

In case the things go awry, the aftermath will only be more difficult to handle.

Better yet, I’ll do it myself.

With my prestige from serving as a chancellor for many years, everyone will still give me face.

…

Seeing Gryphon Cavalry flying in the sky, Prince Claude, who was wandering in the garden, hurried back to the ward.

If you claim to be recovering, you should look like you’re recovering.

If others see him sprightly, how could he still beg for sympathy?

Politics is the most magical thing.

If the Alpha Kingdom really is ready to fall out with the Black Forest Kingdom, they might bite back and say: the assassination was self-directed and self-executed.

Of course, the probability of such a thing happening is very low.

The assassin mixed in as an aristocrat of the Alpha Kingdom, just because of this, no matter how they shift the blame, they can’t get away with it.

The nobles of the Continent of Aslante value their own image very much.

No one wants to wear the hat of an unprincipled country.

It is common to start wars for honor.

Playing rogue at this moment is equivalent to directly declaring war on the Black Forest Kingdom.

“Count Tatara, how’s the negotiation with the Alpha People?”

Prince Claude asked with concern.

Stuck in the room all day, even taking a walk in the garden he has to worry about being seen by Gryphon Cavalry in the sky.

Unfortunately, these days, there are an unusually large number of Gryphon Cavalry over his head.

When he sent people to inquire, their answer was: in order to protect his personal safety, they had specially strengthened the patrolling force.

“Your Highness, things are not going very smoothly.

Based on the intelligence we collected, the Alpha Kingdom has begun to prepare for the war, and several southern provinces are preparing to build defensive lines.

The province with the most progress currently is the Southeastern Province.

It is said that they have completed the initial planning of the defense line.

They plan to employ 300,000 workers to build a steel defense line for three years…”

Before Count Tatara could finish his words, Prince Claude interrupted: “The Alpha People are mad!

We haven’t done anything, but they’re starting to get ready for war.

They’ve just ended the war with the Orcs.

Where do they get the financial resources for these projects?”

It’s not that he’s making a fuss, but the Alpha Kingdom’s reaction is too abnormal.

War is never something you can fight whenever you say you want to.

Not to mention two major countries, even if two nobles duel, it takes some time to prepare.

Usually, both parties choose a time and battlefield that both sides acknowledge.

Then, when everyone is ready, they bring their troops to fight.

If something happens, you can unilaterally declare a delay.

Most of the time, such requests are accepted.

Although the wars between countries do not follow these rules, there are still many things that need to be prepared.

If there is no need for a national draft, then it’s very simple, prepare strategic supplies, a command from the king and you can go to the battlefield.

If it is necessary to mobilize the noble’s private armies to participate in the war, things become more complicated.

Encountering foreign enemies invading, the speed of this mobilization will be faster, it would take several months to drag it out.

If you take the initiative to wage war against other countries, coordinating the relationship between local lords internally will take at least half a year.

It takes at least half a year to prepare strategic supplies and recruit an army.

This is just the theoretical time, in actual operation, there will be more problems.

After all, the Black Forest Kingdom, on the verge of waging a large-scale war that mobilizes the nation, which hasn’t happened in over a hundred years.

The only countries with truly high mobilization efficiency are those facing foreign races.

The specific mobilization efficiency depends entirely on the frequency of wars with other races.

This is the reason why many countries have advantages in population, economy, number of masters, weapons and equipment, but they are behind others in the ranking of powerful countries on the continent.

“Your Highness, I heard that the costs required for the Southeastern Province to build a defense line will be entirely raised locally.

A fundraising meeting will be held tomorrow at the Dalton Family’s residence.

Whether it’s just posing or really going to start construction, we will know when the meeting ends tomorrow.

However, the two major influences in the Southeastern Province, Governor Piers and Earl Hudson, are both promoters of this project.

As long as these two families are determined to build the project, others will be ineffective even if they oppose it.”

Count Tatara patiently explained.

The way of thinking determines the result.

The nobles of the Alpha Kingdom still follow the extreme laws of the jungle fought with the Orcs, and when they relax their vigilance, they will be annihilated.

The subjective influence of the subconscious makes them ignore that their enemy has changed.

They are still using the ways to deal with the Orcs to deal with the current international situation and wishfully regard the neighbors as imaginary enemies.

This conceptual discrepancy, seen by Prince Claude, results in: The Alpha People are all madmen.