Well I didn't know I had that dream.
　Yeah. Totally I'm sleepy from it.

　Naturally absent.
　I couldn't sleep very deeply.

　It sucks.

　"The first person is 'me' I get it. I'll be careful.

　Julia nodded.
　''Well, I don't think you need to take it too far in between.

　''........''
　What's up?　Tetra.

　Tetra looks a little thoughtful.
　She has a difficult look on her face.

　'Hmm I was wondering if that time is somehow...'

　I like it....
　That's the topic.







　Our national finances are a thousand tarrant.
　Let me explain the breakdown.

　Salt monopoly four hundred tarrant.
　Paper monopoly ... 100 Tarrant.
　Monopoly on wine (spirits) ... Hundred Tarrant
　Commercial tax ... hundred tarrant
　Land tax ... 300 tarrant.


　And, as you can see, the bulk of the income comes from monopoly.
　It may sound strange, but this is how small countries finance themselves.

　All countries are the same.
　The Rosais clan's financial strength comes from the monopoly on salt.


　Now, the only thing that is sure to reduce revenues is the land tax.
　When I left the army, I promised to lower the taxes towards the soldiers.

　To be honest, I regret it, but....
　There was no other way to deal with that situation.


　They were simply abandoning their duties, not starting a rebellion.
　Putting them down with the military would lead to a full-blown civil war.
　For the most part, forcing them into the battlefield would not be useful.

　The current land tax is 30 percent.
　This will be changed to 10 percent.

　Well, a simple calculation shows that the land tax will be reduced to a hundred tarrant.

　A decrease in revenue of 200 Tarrant....
　Well, we'll figure it out.


　By the way, I'm also concerned about spending.

　Our country's expenditures are.....

　Infrastructure development ... two hundred tarrant
　Personnel expenses ... 400 Tarrant.
　
　Border security in the Hundred Tarrant.
　

　The cost of labor was minimal to begin with, but it's gone up since I became king.
　This is because I hired bureaucrats and so-called civil servants.
　To hire people, you need money.

　Incidentally, thanks to the bureaucrats, our ability to collect taxes has increased and our revenues have increased, so it doesn't make much sense to just fire them.

　You might think that border security spending is low but that's how it is in peacetime.
　If there's a war, there's a temporary budget.
　Of course, flood control and the construction of the city are also funded on a temporary basis by the reserves.

　The problem is that the money from the reserves has been completely wiped out.
　I blame it on flood control, the construction of the city, and the war.

　You can blame it on me. Or, rather, my fault.

　I've borrowed an additional 1,000 Tarrant from the Cilician merchants to pay for another war.
　The expenditure due to repayment of the debt is expected to increase.

　By the way, I haven't received any compensation from the Kingdom of Roselle yet.
　I guess they also need time to prepare a large sum of money.
　The plan is to receive it in five months' time.

　We have already paid the land to the Australians who wanted it, but we will not be able to pay the silver to the Australians who wanted it until after we have received the compensation.




　We are not in serious financial difficulties at the moment, but we are thinking about the future. "We are not in full-blown financial difficulties at this stage, but we need to think about the future and undertake a major financial reform.
　I agree with you. Flood control and the construction of the city are not yet complete... but what should we do?　The reduction in revenue is fixed do you want to step down?

　No, it's not good.　
　It really is a revolt.

　My popularity is at its peak right now.
　The fact that it's at its peak means there's a big drop-off when it falls.

　"First of all, personnel costs I'm going to stop building the bureaucracy here to eliminate any further increases.
　It accounts for 40 percent of our country's tax revenue... but how do we get them to pay their taxes?

　The traditional approach was to have village chiefs and other influential people contracted to collect taxes.
　But they collected more tax than the actual rate, and there were a number of cases where they either embezzled the difference or underreported tax revenues.

　That's why the policy has been to increase tax revenues by strengthening the bureaucracy.

　But.....
　It still seems to be a tough reality.
　Ideally, it would be a country with a well-developed bureaucracy like modern Japan, but....
　There needs to be a distinction between ideal and reality.


　I'm thinking of instituting a tax collection contractor system.
　"Tax collector...?　What difference does it make now?
　'Simply put ... up until now it was illegal to embezzle taxes. We're going to make it legal.

　No matter how much you crack down on it, it won't go away.
　In that case, just admit it from the start and then crack down on it.

　You can take 5% of the taxes you collect as your income. Let's say.

　Five percent is a lot there.
　It shouldn't be bad for revenue.


　'At the same time, give the commoners the right to sue the tax collecting contractor once a year. The contractor who loses the case shall forfeit all his property.

　The property confiscated belongs to the commoner who sued.
　And this is the custom in this country....

　If there is a forfeiture of property in a court of law, half of that property goes into the state treasury.

　This would make it harder for the contractor to cheat.
　Commoners keep a close eye on contractor injustice.

　The state gets taxed whether the contractor cheats or not.


　Let's put the manpower vacated by the introduction of the contractor system into commercial tax collections.

　Commercial tax is a self-assessment tax.
　Of course, you can't follow a single merchant around and see how much money he makes.
　I don't have that much time on my hands.

　Nevertheless.........
　The merchants govern the taxes properly.

　That's because if you want to do business inside a city, you have to ask the state for permission to do so.
　And then they govern the taxes instead.

　This allows us to recover some of it.
　........but the tax is not collected from the peddlers who go from village to village or the markets that open on the roads.

　Even if the peddlers can't be helped, it's a shame they can't collect from the marketplace.
　From now on, we will collect taxes from these markets as well.


　And we will also raise the sales tax.　
　It has been 3% so far, but it will be changed to 5%.

　I think this is about right for our country's economic growth.

　Now we just need to develop our industries and.....
　The problem is that we've given the monopoly on paper and spirits to the great families.

　We'll need a new industry.
　I'll have to think about that.


　And let's not forget....

　I'd like to reinforce my salt monopoly.
　Salt?

　The main industry in the country of King Rosais is rock salt.
　Seventy percent of the salt is held by the king, 20 percent by the Rosais clan, and 10 percent by the great families.

　In addition, the salt in the country of King Belvedere was also seized by our country.　
　Probably 60 to 70 percent of the salt traded by Cilician merchants is from our country.

　In order to bring rock salt into an oligopoly, we want to suppress all the rock salt in the country, as a start.

　"We want to nationalize all the rock salt in the country," he said. ....We will provide land and money for the great families and other Rosais clans.
　...I see.

　As a matter of fact, Raimondo holds 70% of the salt in the Lossies clan.
　It was a gift from Raimondo to the previous king, when he was his brother.

　...although it may not be fair to say this after the death of the previous king.

　"I don't mind. And the land is fine. And what about the great lords?
　I'll talk to him about it.

　The three major families in this country are the Rosais, the As, and the Dibel clans.
　And I have the patriarchal authority of the As clan, and the Dibel clan is beholden to me.

　It's easy to convince them.

　But.....

　Don't you want the land?
　"Your Majesty doesn't want to reduce the amount of land, does she?　...No, I think you'd rather have all the land consolidated under royal authority.

　...You've noticed.

　''If I were His Majesty, I would think so. Your Majesty has already been recognized as a king by both the As and Dibel clans. The people also have faith in you. The support from the Rosais clan is already unnecessary. It is natural, then, that you would want to take power away from the obstructive Lossies clan to strengthen your royal power. And now that the previous king has fallen,

　I'd say it's quirky...

　You've been noticed.
　Could it be that the other great families have noticed?

　Don't worry. I'm the only one who knows about it. As for the rest as I'm sure Mister Bartolo is aware, he will not be disturbed.
　Well can you help me with that?

　Raimondo nodded at my question.

　'You cannot change the course of the times. The power of the commoners has increased and the power of the great families has decreased. And your power grows stronger by the day. I'm not foolish enough to think that only we, the Lossies clan, are safe under these circumstances, you know. One thing, make Julia-sama's son the next king. If you can't do this, then I will ask you to take the form of a son-in-law from the Lossies clan. If you promise to do this, I will be happy to help you strengthen your royal authority.

　All right. I want you to be rest assured. I, too, consider making Julia's son the next crown prince to be the most important factor in the country's stability.

　What I'm concerned about is whether or not Yulia will be under strong pressure.
　Well, Yulia and I are both nineteen years old.
　I can have children for another 20 years.

　I think they'll be fine but I'll have to support them properly.

　''If that happens, it'll be a quick story. Let's make sure that all taxation and military rights to the lands owned by the Lossies clan are returned to His Majesty.
　It's good that you're talking so fast but are you okay?
　Do we need a deal?


　One, to guarantee your status.　
　Two, pay a stipend.
　Three, the private ownership of land owned by the Lossies must be recognized. (Subject to taxation.)
　Four, to shoulder the debt.
　Fifth, to allow political participation in state politics.

　With those conditions, we should be able to go easily.
　'Debt ... is that much debt?'

　Raimondo nodded.

　'There are those who borrow for war and luxury. The nature of the high limit of what can be borrowed is bad because of the right to levy taxes... Perhaps if His Majesty said he would take it on his shoulders, many wealthy families would be willing to pay it back.


　



　Three months later, the meeting with the Lossies ended and all of their land was returned to me.

　However, since there is no replacement for the Lossies, the Lossies clan remains the ruler.