Eagle Byzantium

"Very good, you will be my 'Roland' from now on, but not the one who uses the sword, but the one who uses the pen." Gawain was obviously excited and satisfied with the young monk's plan. He raised his palm and pointed his fingers together. He continued to encourage, "It's better to do this Roland Bandinelli, Can we do an experiment? You must know that the test of truth is not by scholastic meditation, but by practical experiments. I leave to you the construction of the new synagogue in the entire western region and three years of it. Deadline. At the same time, to paralyze your old boss Anselm. Sir, I will divide it into several bishoprics, and let his people come here to collect tithes, preach and build churches. At that time, I would like to see whether it is your synagogue or the church of Anselm. Take advantage." Then Gawain waved his arms decisively, "If you Win, I will use the entire country’s resources and strength to support you in the future. If you lose, I’m sorry and I will abandon you, because I don’t want disputes and civil wars to escalate. At that time, I will return to the Catholic Church in Rome in time and give the rudder to the Roman Catholic Church. Turn back, do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, dear Patron, I'm glad you can give me this opportunity to experiment." Roland was ambitious.

Next, Roland remained anonymous, but took the seal, ring and scepter granted to him by Gawain, and rode a donkey towards Lydia to take up his post. His identity was "Lydia. President of the Mysian Renewal Society". "Sib", responsible for the construction and expansion of all local synagogues, just as the Sisters did in Melitene and Sebastian.

After Roland left, Gawain lay on the comfortable couch in the room and discussed the issue of fleet construction with Sherman Law, the director of the Finance Academy of Tarsus (former director of the Municipal Department) who was sitting in an armchair.

"The construction of the two naval frontier areas of Mysia and Atalia is now very successful. The docks and ports are in place. The salaries of the sailors and fleets have also begun to be paid by the local sacred real estate and customs duties. But we have removed the skuas. Longboat and sunfish offshore battleship outside , also need large galleys, but it will cost a lot of money to build them. Venice, Pisa and Amalfi are all countries that float on ships, and they come from all corners of the world. A lot of the money earned was put into the ship The entire country now supports nine regular brigades, five cavalry regiments, one professional artillery regiment, one professional engineering corps, four or five border militia armies, and several county militia armies on land. The military strength is close to 90,000, although there are sacred estates , large hospitals, real estate and royal territories to support it, but it is really difficult. How can I squeeze out part of the finance to build large ships? I will immediately go east to seize Tripoli and go west to recover Rhodes and Crete. We all need a fleet that can fight!”

Of course, Gawain also has an implicit goal, which is to hope that in the latter's strategy, he can compete with maritime powers like Venice or Fatima in Egypt at sea, so that he can more effectively support him on land. war.

After all, Sunfish warships and Skua ships are more suitable for fighting along the coast, and they cannot be expected to cross the sea to attack Egypt.

Sherman also thought for a while, "What if the cost of fleet construction is turned into a special tax and imposed on the citizens?"

Before he finished speaking, Gawain waved his hands in disapproval, "Although the Roman citizens in Tarsus are now much richer than before, they have also paid a lot for the country. Not only did they take out the dirt from under their beds, but they also It will be too much to support if there is a special tax on the fleet."

"The only alternative is to collect the wealth of the citizens to build a fleet." Sherman reminded.

"Hmm..." Gawain frowned, thought for a moment and then said, "What do you think about the national debt and synagogue annuity?"

"National debt, synagogue annuity?" Although Sherman had some clues, he still couldn't react for a while.

So Gawain then told the chief dean very clearly that the national debt is a debt borrowed by the country from all its subjects, but it must be repaid in installments and the subjects must be attracted with reasonable interest, which can quickly concentrate the wealth scattered among the people in a short period of time. In the hands of the royal family, it is the most ideal way to build ships. "The fleet must win in the war, so that we can expand the territory's tax sources and seize more trophies, which can be used to pay off the national debt, and even earn more The surplus." The chief dean understood it very quickly.

"Yes. If the failure leads to the destruction of the fleet, then it will really be a loss of money, and it will also bankrupt the national credit." Gawain took his time and gently pinched his forehead with his fingers, "In addition, the national debt will not only be We can still raise foreign debts internally and externally... Didn't Anna grant trade charters to the city-states such as Hot Duck and Pizza in Smyrna? We can definitely do that? I would like to use this opportunity to make some new friends. I will immediately send my royal businessmen Zhao Zhao and Billioni to Italy to lobby. Relying on the Bank of Bari, I will send money to various city-states such as Amalfi, Mantua, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, etc. raise "fleet construction funds". Anyway, they can borrow and repay them. I can also guarantee their trade in Asia Minor. Why wouldn't the two parties do it? "

Sherman immediately said that the Treasury would do its best to manage domestic and foreign debt affairs, but "What about the synagogue annuity?"

Gawain then told him that in the synagogue year, each town could raise funds independently. "We can first conduct experiments in the three cities of Tarsus, Seleucia and Iconium, that is, let the relatively wealthy soldiers , merchants and farmers, pay a large amount of money to the local city council, and appoint public opinion representatives to supervise it. This money can be used to renovate churches, roads, bridges, and build new trade bazaars-especially beneficial Development of small towns - As for donors, they will have the right to settle and operate cheaply in this town, become honorary citizens, and be able to serve as elders in the municipal council. When they reach a certain age, the municipal council will also be elected every year. Give him a sum of money that will last for twenty or fifty years, and the total amount will exceed the amount of his original donation. If he fails to pay it off at the time of his death, it will continue to be paid to his heirs.”

So the chief dean of the Finance Institute once again expressed his understanding, but also raised concerns, "In my opinion, the national debt is still good. This kind of synagogue pension system...not all cities and towns can maintain it forever." Regarding health finance and taxation, how should we solve the problem if the annuity leakage becomes larger and larger?

Gawain looked at him with some pity, and after a long time he lowered his voice and replied, "Listen, my dear Lao, we will not see anything after we die. No system maker will be responsible for what will happen a hundred years later. By then, future generations will naturally have How to deal with future generations, we only care about the present, then It is the speed of Tarsus that requires a fleet - at the same time, you have to spend a lot of time and money to introduce shipbuilding and naval warfare talents from Amalfi and other places. The sooner it can form combat effectiveness, the better. In terms of diplomacy, I will stabilize Venice first. If I guess correctly, their envoys should be coming soon."