After Angus reported the flood damage to Catherine and Adele, he grinned helplessly and said: "Our government has no money~!"
This made both Catherine and Adele stunned, thinking: Why is there no money?
Catherine and Adele have been in charge of Nai'an's government affairs recently. After a moment's thought, they realized that they were indeed out of money. To be precise, the government in their hands was indeed out of money.
To put it bluntly, Naian can be considered a moderately wealthy province in the Ruman Empire.
Naian has a population of three million, most of whom are farmers. The Beni River is in an excellent location, with abundant and gentle water. It is a veritable golden waterway. The land in the entire basin is fertile and the terrain is gentle. It is truly a thousand miles of fertile land.
Known as the granary of the southern part of the empire, a large part of the food supply to the eastern provinces comes from Naian Province.
Not only that, although the mountainous area in northern Nai'an has inconvenient transportation and rugged terrain, it is rich in products and has many mines.
Nidel City has a population of 300,000. In this era, its scale is far larger than the capitals of many small countries. The industry and commerce in the city are developed. There are a large number of dwarf and elf craftsmen who manufacture and export a wide variety of handicrafts and contribute a lot of tax revenue.
The tax that Naian pays to Ruman City every year amounts to more than three million gold coins. This does not include the military rations shipped to Constantine according to the quota every year.
After all, Nai An is not poor at all.
When Lorraine was appointed by the emperor as the governor of Nai'an, there were many people who envied him. In the position of governor of Nai'an, it was easy to make money, and he didn't have to be like the governors of the cold northern provinces.
, you have to squeeze money out as hard as oil.
If Lorraine and Catherine didn't have the support of the emperor and were willing to spend a lot of money to smooth things over, it wouldn't have been so easy for Lorraine to get this position. If nothing else, if half of the Heraldry Council objected, Lorraine would have to wait three more days.
months time.
Otherwise, the Marquis of Maleton, who had outstanding meritorious service, would not have been accused of being the governor of Naian after his meritorious service on the northern front.
And Lorraine did not disappoint everyone. He made a fortune in Nai'an, and his reputation has long been spread back to Ruman City.
Jealousy is jealousy, with the emperor's tacit approval and the public support of Grand Duke Julius. When Lorraine was trying to get money, he always asked Leo to take the lead. No matter how jealous you are, you still have to weigh it, because he is the future emperor.
After a few years of waiting, this little brat, who was being ravaged by several women all day long, sat down on the supreme chair in Ruman City. Thinking of so and so who had robbed me of my business back then, his mind went crazy and said, "I'll do it."
Kill him".
All in all, Naian is not only not poor, but can also be considered a little rich.
The only problem is that there are attacks by orcs every year, and the dwarves and elves in the ravines also play anti-tax performance art in front of the Governor's Palace from time to time.
However, in previous years, the orcs only harassed us, so the problem was not that big. All we had to do was mobilize the entire province's army and carefully deploy our defenses. If we didn't seek merit, but seek no fault, it wouldn't be a very troublesome matter.
It can only be said that Lorraine was rather unlucky. As soon as he took office, he encountered an attack by the Orc coalition that had not been seen in hundreds of years.
Large-scale mobilization, mobilizing the entire province's army, recruiting militiamen, storing and transporting enough food and materials to support 50,000 troops for half a year of fighting, spending military pay and combat subsidies, and distributing first aid and pension expenses all cost a lot of money.
As the saying goes, when a cannon goes off, there is a thousand taels of gold.
The gold coins and supplies stored in Naian's treasury and warehouse are like an hourglass, decreasing little by little at a speed visible to the naked eye until it slowly bottoms out.
Although Emperor Julunde generously granted Lorraine a special fund of one million gold coins every year, Lorraine had already spent more than half of it. This money was not for Lorraine himself, just the "Land"
It cost a lot of money to develop the Reward Regulations.
Moreover, everyone knows that all administrative units have a routine before the end of the year, which is to spend money unexpectedly and consume the budget.
The office has been renovated, fourteen months' wages and bonuses have been paid to employees, transportation, heating, and cooling expenses have been subsidized. A trench has been dug and filled, and then dug and filled again, etc.
.
The reason is very simple. The allocation for next year is based on this year's expenditure. If the money sown for you this year has not been spent, doesn't it mean that your unit does not need so much allocation? Your superiors will be happy to cut it off.
Your allocation for next year.
Lorraine faced the same situation. How he spent the money was his business, but he also had to pay Russell from Man City, and Russell kept one eye on Lorraine.
Therefore, Lorraine spent all the one million special funds before the end of the year. Not only Lorraine, but also the New Year is coming soon. All the institutions that spend public money in Naian have completed the target for the year and have a slight deficit.
What's more, Grand Duke Julius was not embarrassed at all to ask his son-in-law for money, so he gave Lorraine a large sum of money, and of course this money was also incorporated into the treasury.
Just like that, Lorraine has no money, and the government has no money either.
Dozens of villages and small towns need to be rebuilt, more than 100,000 acres of land must be re-cultivated, and 50,000 people need to be fed, clothed and sheltered for most of the year. These are a huge sum of money. Without this war, Naian
Still able to withstand it.
But this battle has left Naian impoverished.
Angus scratched the sparse hair on his head and said distressedly: "What should we do? Otherwise, Your Highness, let Ruman City allocate some funds."
When Catherine heard this, her face suddenly darkened. She snorted with a straight face and said, "Don't even think about it. I won't beg that old bastard Russell."
When Angus saw that he had offended Catherine, he was immediately speechless.
Catherine frowned and thought for a moment. With her arrogant temper, she would naturally not consider asking Ruman City for assistance.
And Archduke Julius didn't even have to think about it. Under the control of Russell, the finances of the eastern provinces have never been rich. The Archduke bought the captured Almohad battleship from Maple Leaf Danlin and spent all the remaining money in his hand.
, he also kept asking Catherine and Leo for money, otherwise he would not give Lorraine a huge salary.
Catherine thought for a while, took one last look at Adele, leaned over to Adele, and the two discussed a few words in a low voice. Adele was stunned for a moment, then nodded happily and said, "
Okay, you can figure it out."
Catherine sat up straight and said sternly to Angus: "Well, since our government has no money now and your governor is not here, Dale and I will advance the payment with our own money."
Angus was so shocked that he jumped up from his chair, waved his hands repeatedly, and said anxiously: "Then how can we do it? Why don't I think of another way, just mobilize the whole province to make a donation."
"Donate money?" Adele sneered and said, "Put it down, it's not thirty-two thousand. It's not like we don't know the virtues of those people. In this city of Nadel, it would be good if we could collect five or six thousand."
It’s not a thank you for your efforts,”
Angus thought for a while and said: "We can start with the civil servants and deduct one month of their salary as a donation. I think the people below will definitely agree."
Catherine and Adele looked at each other and then laughed at the same time.
Adele shook her head and said: "Let's forget it, doing this will offend everyone below.
Senior officials don't live by their salaries, but their monthly salary is not much.
The clerks at the lower level all rely on one or two gold coins to support their families. If they are asked to take it out, it will only get worse and fall on the common people. For tens of thousands of gold coins, no one is satisfied with the best they can get, and the common people will not be satisfied anymore.
Resentment means more gain than loss.
And this is a bad start. Lorraine still has a long way to go in the future, and we can’t get this bad reputation."
Seeing what Adele said so eloquently, Angus couldn't help but nodded with sincerity, thinking to himself, this is the real good wife, how come Lorraine is so lucky!
Angus said: "How about we think of another way? How can we use the private money of two ladies for official business? If this spreads, doesn't it show that we Naian people are incompetent?"
Catherine curled her lips disdainfully and said, "Money can't grow from the ground, so what else can you do?
Besides, I'm just paying it in advance, it's not for free. I'll pay it back to us next year or the year after when the finances are better."
Angus thought for a while, this is the simplest way at present. There are tens of thousands of people waiting to eat and live, and there is no time to waste. Moreover, senior officials like Angus and others more or less know that Lorraine
Several of the women are millionaires, and even Vera, the nominal maid, owns a large corporate group.
Angus bowed deeply to Catherine and Adele, and said solemnly: "On behalf of Nadel who lost their home and all the people of Naian, I would like to thank Her Royal Highness the Princess and Miss Adele for their kindness. No
Lord Lorraine and you two, we Naian people don’t know what kind of suffering we will go through this time.”
Thinking about the hard battle that Lorraine had fought when she first took office, Catherine and Adele sighed together, and Catherine said: "No need to thank us, after all, we are also part of the Naian people now."
At this time, the people in the study room were pushed away with a clang, and Leo ran in with his short legs and shouted, "Sister, sister," before he even entered the door.
Milena shouted from behind, "Leo, wait for me", she also held up the hem of her skirt, panting carefully, and ran in with small steps.
Leo rushed straight to Catherine's desk, jumped forward, and laid his upper body on Catherine's desk. He put his hands on his fat white head, blinked his big black and white eyes, and looked at Catherine pitifully.
Catherine stroked her smooth forehead, then raised her head and glared at Leo, and said, "How many times have I told you, don't jump up and down like a local monkey."
Leo raised his head indifferently and said, "Let's not talk about that first."
Then he blinked his big eyes hard and said sweetly: "Sister, can I bring back a sandwich bread from outside?"
Catherine became vigilant, looked at Leo with wide eyes, and said worriedly: "What's your wrong idea? Tell me clearly, what kind of bread?"
Leo said: "It's that kind of large meat-filled bread. The ingredients inside are very special. I've never seen them before, so I want to bring them back."
Catherine looked at Leo suspiciously. This little ruffian had a lot of criminal records and could not be believed. Catherine turned to look at Milena and asked: "Mileina, is this what Leo said?"
Melina lowered her head and kept talking "that" and "this" for a long time, but she didn't make a clear sentence.
Leo jumped down from the table and looked at Milena with that cute look that would kill all caring women. Mileena hesitated for a moment, and finally plucked up the courage and said, "Let's just say that's the case."
Adele also looked at the young couple with confusion, but thinking that Melina was always sensible and reassuring, she didn't think much about it.
Catherine said "Oh" and said: "In that case, you can do whatever you want. Really, ask me about a piece of bread."
Leo jumped up with a cheer and said loudly: "That means you agree, don't go back on it, otherwise you adults will set a bad example and you will teach me and Melina a bad lesson."
Catherine curled her lips and said: "Tch, you have already learned how to be bad with Lorraine. I don't even bother to say that you two are bad guys, one big and one small."
Leo put his hands on his hips, laughed "haha" in the middle of the study, and said to Milena: "Did I tell you, it's okay, you have to ask me to come back and ask my sister and the others."
Melina lowered her head and said nothing, as if she had done something wrong.
Leo pulled Melina and said, "Let's go, let's go, hurry up and bring it back."
Catherine shook her head. She was already at her wits end with Leo's current temper. No matter how well she taught him, she could not hold back the power of Lorraine's bad example.
Catherine turned to Angus and said, "Then bring someone over tomorrow and we will give you the money."
"What money?" Leo, who was about to go out, turned around and came back.
Adele saw that Leo was extremely sensitive when he heard the word "money", and she became happy and said with a smile: "You really have the same temper as Lorraine. You can't move when you hear money."
Leo scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Don't you praise me like this? I'm still a little bit far away from the boss."
Adele looked at Leo speechlessly and slapped her forehead helplessly.
Leo simply took Melina and sat down again, stared at Catherine and said, "What money is it?"
Knowing that this little ruffian would not give up if he didn't let him figure it out today, Catherine had no choice but to tell what happened just now.
After listening, Leo rubbed his fat little chin, rolled his eyes a few times, and then said with a mature look: "Sister, this is not what I want to say to you. If the boss is here, I will definitely
I won’t agree with what you’re doing.”
Catherine slammed the table and shouted: "How dare he? There are so many people waiting to eat, where are we going to get money?"
Leo shook his head and said: "That's not what I'm saying. Since these people sacrificed their homes for us, we should save them. Not only should we save them, we also have to compensate them and commend them for sacrificing their own self for the greater good.
The excellent qualities of the people of this country regardless of personal sacrifices. Oh, although they were not voluntary, their contributions cannot be obliterated."
Catherine and Adele looked at Leo blankly, not expecting him to say such words now.
Angus couldn't help but rub his eyes. He actually saw Lorraine's figure in Leo just now. The manner and content of his words made him look like Lorraine who deserved a beating.
Catherine thought to herself: Could it be that this stupid brother has finally grown up and can say such shameless words that can only be said by a seasoned politician with a red face and without a heart beating?
Catherine said softly: "Then tell me your opinion, why should we reward them?"
Leo chuckled evilly and said: "In this way, next time we collect their things, grab their land, defraud them of money, and demolish them, these people will not only not object, but they may even take two bouquets of flowers."
Welcome us by the roadside."
Angus couldn't breathe and collapsed on the ground. He could only shout in his heart: Is the future of this empire bright or dark?
Adele was picking up a cup to drink water. When she heard Leo's eloquent remarks, she spit out all the water in her mouth. Then she held her chest in her hand and coughed. Melina quickly ran over and gave Adele a slap on the back.
.
Catherine fell heavily back on the chair, looked at the smug Leo, and said through gritted teeth: "Lorraine, I can't spare you."
Leo said doubtfully, "What does this have to do with the boss? No matter..."
"So, we need to reward these people greatly, but we cannot give them cash, otherwise there will be no guarantee that they will make false claims and cheat money in the future. The best way is to exempt them from taxes for one or two years. This is tantamount to generosity of the public.
We don't have to spend money, and we manage things beautifully. Anyway, the tax money will be handed over to Russell in the end, and it will be handed over to him for free. It is better for us to intercept it in disguise at the source. This is simply killing three birds with one stone.
Carving?"
Leo clasped his hands on his chest, raised his little head and said narcissistically: "Well, I admire myself so much for being able to come up with such a method."
Angus was thinking about whether he should escape from the study now. If he continued to watch Leo perform, he might be afraid that Catherine would silence him for the sake of the royal reputation.
Catherine grabbed the paper at hand, balled it up and threw it at Leo, and said angrily: "Give me a little more."
After Leo took a beating, he muttered in despair: "Look, you women are just petty and don't see others being smarter than you. You still don't admit when you're wrong."
Seeing Catherine slamming the table and trying to stand up, Leo shrank his neck and quickly waved his hand: "Let's get down to business, let's get down to business, why are you in such a hurry."
Seeing Catherine sitting back with a straight face, Leo said seriously: "Sister, Sister Dai'er, the two of you are going to take out two hundred thousand each. This is very good. We have to publicize it so that those people will treat you.
Be grateful. In the words of the boss, let them build a shrine for you two.
And I guess it won’t cost so much after rebuilding?
The question is, if you hand over the money to the people below, will 400,000 be enough?"
Milena asked curiously: "Leo, didn't you say you couldn't use 400,000? Why didn't you say it wasn't enough?"
Leo shook his head solemnly and said: "You don't understand. You don't know the moral character of the officials below. Disaster relief funds are a piece of fat. Anyone who handles them below will take a bite out of the disaster relief funds."
Especially, this is the money that Nicole and Del paid privately first, and it will be repaid to the public account in the end, which is even better."
Catherine, Adele and Angus were all stunned. The three adults looked at each other, and finally nodded to each other with solemn expressions.