Among the three ministers, the Cabinet Chief Jiang Shang was in charge of the overall situation and was equivalent to the Prime Minister. The Second Minister Kou Zhun was in charge of the court and the Second Minister Yan Song was in charge of the local affairs.
The three of them worked together to make the huge state machinery of the Great Xia run smoothly. Ouyang Shuo, the Emperor, was above the Cabinet and controlled the entire court.
...
22nd afternoon, Hall of Diligent Government.
The three ministers, Jiang Shang, Kou Zhun and Yan Song, Xiao He, Wei Yang, Fan Li and Du Ruhui, gathered together to finalize the five-year budget of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Chen Bingguang, the head of the Industry Department, and Meng Zhida, the head of the Bank of the Four Seas, were also present.
Ever since the founding of the dynasty, the financial management of the Great Xia Dynasty had become more and more formal. Throughout the year, the amount of funds that the imperial court had saved, the large expenses for the next year, and the estimated revenue had to be finalized before the end of the year. They could no longer casually control the finances like before.
At the end of the year, they had to calculate the budget set at the beginning of the year to clarify their responsibilities.
Whosoever overspent would be punished with a flogging.
"Let's begin!"
Ouyang Shuo sat on the throne and said calmly.
Ever since he ascended to the throne, Ouyang Shuo rarely took charge of the planning of the territory like he did when he was a lord. He would carefully plan everything and let the ministers carry it out.
Now, Ouyang Shuo only looked at the overall situation and spoke less and less.
Firstly, there were many things that he did not need to say. The ministers would understand his intentions and act according to the rules. Secondly, Ouyang Shuo was now the Emperor and his words could affect the fate of thousands of people. He was naturally cautious.
Seeing this, Jiang Shang stepped forward and said, "Lord Fan, the Finance Department will first report last year's expenditure to the Emperor before discussing next year's expenditure."
"Yes!"
Fan Li stepped forward and reported, "Thanks to the Emperor's good fortune, the imperial court's revenue last year reached 65 million gold coins. The tax revenue was 51 million gold coins, and the corporation's revenue was 8.5 million gold coins."
The corporation's revenue included the financial revenue of the Bank of the Four Seas, as well as the profits of the [Shushan Steel Group] and [Hua Xia Shipping Group].
A few days ago, under the leadership of Ouyang Shuo, the Industry Department followed the Shushan Iron and Steel Group and integrated artillery, warships, weapons and armors, simulating aircraft, firearms, and other military factories to jointly establish the Cang Dragon Military Industry Group, which became the largest and most profitable group in the dynasty.
The corporate restructuring of the Great Xia Dynasty was in full swing, and it gradually became the economic pillar of the imperial court.
"The fiscal expenditure for the year is 61 million gold coins, including 21 million gold coins for public utilities, 18.5 million gold coins for the military, 12 million gold coins for administration, 5 million gold coins for subsidies, and 4.5 million gold coins for other expenses."
Public expenditure, including basic welfare, education, medical care, infrastructure construction, agriculture, forestry, and water, accounted for the majority of the fiscal expenditure.
Among the other expenses, there was one that was rather special. It was the expenses of the royal family.
The maintenance fees of the Xia Palace, the salaries and expenses of the female officials and palace maids, the daily expenses of Ouyang Shuo, Song Jia, Bing'er and the other members of the royal family were all recorded in a complete account book.
Including the expenses of the royal family meant that Ouyang Shuo was not prepared to set up a private treasury outside of the national treasury.
The private treasury of the royal family was separated from the national treasury. The national treasury's revenue was usually from agricultural and commercial taxes, while the private treasury's revenue was from monopolized industrial taxes such as silk, tea, salt, and iron.
In contrast, the Great Xia Dynasty had long released the monopoly of silk, tea, and salt. With the signing of the iron ore import agreement with Australia, the supervision of iron ore was gradually loosened.
There was no way to talk about the industrial taxes.
The private treasury of the royal family was used to support the members of the royal family and to repair the palace. Usually, there would be leftovers, and when the national treasury was insufficient, it would be used to replenish the national treasury.
Of course, there were times when it was insufficient.
Especially in the later period of the dynasty, the members of the royal family were huge, numbering in the tens of thousands. They were like a group of worms corroding the foundation of the dynasty.
Every time the palace was repaired, a large amount of silver would be consumed.
During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a fire in the palace. Just the repair of the palace alone cost seven million taels of silver, which accounted for a small part of the Great Ming Dynasty's revenue.
The national treasury was generally used to pay salaries, repair roads, bridges, and irrigation works. During disaster years, it was also used for disaster relief. Of course, there were also extravagant emperors who transferred the money from the national treasury to the private treasury for personal enjoyment.
In the later period of the Ming Dynasty, this evil trend prevailed. The emperors were extravagant and licentious. They allowed eunuchs to use the name of the emperor to amass wealth, exploit the people, and embezzle the national treasury.
Some emperors even colluded with corrupt officials to divide the stolen money or directly take the stolen money for themselves by confiscating the property. Many families were confiscated and destroyed.
This made the royal family rich, but the people suffer, and the foundation of the dynasty was broken.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo wanted to eliminate this malpractice from the beginning.
Other than the funds allocated by the Ministry of Finance, the royal family actually had other sources of income.
First, when Ouyang Shuo went on expeditions, he would give some of the gold, silver, and jewelry he seized to the palace treasury. Second, Song Jia was in charge of the Shanhai Entertainment Holdings Group, which could generate considerable profits every year.
With these two sources of income and the fact that there were only three members of the royal family, Ouyang Shuo naturally did not need to use the national treasury. Moreover, Ouyang Shuo had always advocated frugality in the royal family. Except for necessary occasions, they would never be extravagant and wasteful.
As the saying went, "Follow the example of the leader."
With Ouyang Shuo as the leader, the royal family advocated frugality, so the nobles naturally did not dare to be too extravagant. The entire dynasty was a way to prosperity.
…
With the balance of income and expenditure, the imperial court would only save 4 million gold coins in a year.
Of course, in the eyes of the outside world, it was already an impressive achievement for Great Xia to have millions of soldiers, launch three to four wars a year, and achieve financial savings.
On a global scale, more than half of the territories could no longer make ends meet. They could only constantly increase taxes, issue national debt, and other methods to barely maintain the operations of the territories.
After the fifth system update, the slower construction speed, more realistic disaster system, smarter citizens, and more intense global competition would make it even harder for these territories to survive in Gaia in the next five years.
If they were not careful, they might even incur a calamity.
[Yan Huang Alliance] had suffered several defeats in a row, and their foundation was almost wiped out. Thankfully, with the opening of the Yan Huang Alliance to the North American sea route, with their talent in business, they were able to recover quickly.
The 4 million gold coins that Di Chen spent at the auction was probably paid for by his family. With Handan City's financial situation, it was impossible for them to fork out such money.
After discussing last year's income and expenditure, Fan Li continued, "According to the Ministry of Finance's analysis, there are four major benefits for Gaia in the next five years. Firstly, the integration of the four new provinces will be completed, which will greatly increase the imperial court's tax revenue. Secondly, [Cang Long Military Industry Group] and other groups will go through internal integration and gradually go on the right track, which will contribute even more impressive profits.
"Thirdly, industrialization will begin, and the production efficiency of private workshops will greatly increase, which will stimulate the growth of commercial taxes. "Fourthly, the implementation of the 'Trans-Mediterranean Trade Partnership Agreement' and 'Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership Agreement' will further stimulate ocean trade, and increase tariffs."
"Combining the above benefits, the Ministry of Finance's preliminary estimates that next year's financial revenue will reach a new level. It is estimated to reach 95 million gold coins, or even exceed 100 million, achieving an increase of more than 46%."
Ouyang Shuo was noncommittal when he heard this. A growth rate of 46% might seem amazing, but it was built on the foundation of the dynasty's constant expansion of territory, and not an internal growth force. It was definitely not sustainable.
Thinking of the few wars in Gaia in the next five years, the imperial court's finances would not be easy.
Seeing this, Jiang Shang squinted his eyes and said, "Although the Ministry of Finance's estimates are very optimistic, next year's expenditure will also increase by a level. Let's discuss the major expenditure plans of the four major departments!"
The Prime Minister of the Cabinet naturally paid attention to the King's every move.
After Jiang Shang finished speaking, the Minister of the Interior, Xiao He, was the first to step forward.
In the expenditure of public utilities, other than the basic welfare expenditure under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affairs Bureau, the remaining public expenditures were mostly led by the Executive Yuan. Together with the administrative expenditure, which accounted for the majority of the expenditure, the Executive Yuan had the largest share of the four major departments. It even exceeded the Privy Council, which spent money like water.
On the surface, the Executive Yuan did not make any direct financial contributions.
As such, it was not difficult to understand the pressure Xiao He was under. However, what needed to be said still had to be said. "Next year, the Science, Education, and Health Bureau will promote basic education and basic medical care in the four major provinces. The Agriculture Bureau will dredge the water conservancy, and the Construction Bureau will expand the road network. Public expenditures are expected to increase by another 4 million gold coins."
Ouyang Shuo asked, "Has the Executive Yuan sent anyone to investigate the situation of the public infrastructure in the four major provinces?"
"Yes. Overall, the foundations of the four major provinces are still relatively good. It is just that they were not unified in the past, so there is a need for a unified plan. Some of the construction standards also need to be in line with the imperial court. "
"Tell Jia Sixie that before spring, make the best use of the time to organize the people to dredge the water conservancy. Counties that have the conditions should open up more farmland. Do not let the land go to waste."
"Yes!" Xiao He hurriedly responded.
The matter that the King had personally instructed probably had a deeper meaning. It was not an exaggeration to place great importance on it.
However, Ouyang Shuo made the connection to Gaia's updated "Calamity System", so he instructed the Agriculture Bureau to make early preparations.
As the dynasty's industrialization accelerated and commerce prospered, the number of people engaged in handicrafts constantly increased. This created a very serious problem. The number of people engaged in agricultural production was weakened.
With the relatively backward farming techniques of ancient times, to ensure a sufficient food supply, there needed to be a corresponding amount of farmland. More importantly, there needed to be a sufficient number of farmers to farm.
Without pesticides, fertilizers, and hybrid rice to aid in agriculture, it was impossible to produce any miracles to greatly increase the yield per mu. The only way was to invest a large number of farmers into farming.
Therefore, in the three major sectors of agriculture, commerce, and industry, there needed to be a holistic consideration.
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