So Akibides calmed down and retorted: "We have harvested some gold and silver mines, but His Majesty once warned our Finance Department that gold and silver should not be issued indiscriminately, and must correspond to the annual grain output and tax revenue... In short, with more gold and silver hair, the silver coins in our hands become worthless, so we can directly mine gold and silver from the gold and silver mines. As the expenses of this new mercenary, the Finance Department cannot make the decision and must obtain the approval of His Majesty." After saying that, Akibides turned and bowed respectfully to the doctor department.

Davers said softly: "Akibides is right. Gold and silver mines are strategic materials of the kingdom and cannot be used as long-term financial expenditure unless there are sudden special circumstances."

"Your Majesty's decision is right! If you step on gold and silver mines, dig and ship them randomly, and let the gold and silver flood in the kingdom will only destroy the trade prosperity of the kingdom and cause chaos." Minister of Commerce Mariji immediately agreed and endorsed Akibides.

Akibides continued with excitement: "And... Lord Alexis, you only see how much land has been added to the Kingdom, but you don't see how many officials we have added to manage these lands and pay more. This is already a huge expense. Not to mention the large amount of relocation costs required to move citizens to these new lands, as well as the construction of roads, bridges, temples on these new lands... various public facilities and maintenance costs, which is even more a huge expense. To be honest, if it weren't for the prosperity of trade in recent years and the increased commercial tax revenue that barely made up for these increased expenses, I'm afraid the monthly salary paid to you would have been reduced."

Akibides said, nodding to Mariji to express his gratitude.

Alexis was stunned. He thought that after formulating this new law, the kingdom could have two or three extra special legions that could be put into battle at any time, and the Military Affairs Department would feel much more relaxed. Unexpectedly, the real difficulties were still behind.

He said helplessly: "Since everyone agreed to establish such an army composed of free peoples in the Gentiles and believed that sufficient military expenditure must be required to maintain it, but now the treasury cannot provide military expenditure for it, but without military expenditure, this army cannot be established, so what should we do?"

Lycius looked at the nose and the nose looked at the heart, looking at the thoughtful.

Siphorus' eyes turned, and he wanted to speak but stopped several times.

What was Mariji and Sedorum whispering.

Hemmon shrugged and said apologetically: "I don't know much about the finances of the kingdom."

Akibides, who had previously shouted that he had no money, remained silent at this moment.

The other ministers either really didn't know much about this and were a little confused, or they looked thoughtful, and there was a strange calm in the palace hall.

This was a loud voice: "Because it is the ever-expanding need of our kingdom's territory that is truly out of daily labor and able to engage in battle at any time, it is a new and long-term important national policy, so its military expenditures should be levied separately on the people!"

As soon as this said, some people were shocked, some still looked, and some were obviously relieved.

After the tax increase, someone finally said it!...Davs grabbed the handrail of the seat with both hands and looked at the person who spoke: Ataris, it was indeed him! He dared to take responsibility and was a great talent recommended by Kunogorata back then. He knew that he would offend the general public, but he still said it without hesitation. He regards the safety of the kingdom more important than his own gains and losses. In comparison, the other rotating chairman he valued, Cyporus, who has stronger ability to do things, obviously considered too much. As for people like Lucias, Hemon, Sedorum...haha.

Davers glanced at the ministers quietly and took all living beings into his eyes. When he contacted Siphorus's eyes, Siphorus quickly turned his head away. He had realized that his performance had disappointed Davers.

"Tax increase? It's not good, it's probably difficult for the public to accept it." The first response was Medical Secretary Helps.

"Yes, since the founding of Dionia, the direct tax of the kingdom has been one percent, and it has remained unchanged for almost 20 years. The people have become accustomed to it. If they want to collect taxes now and make them pay more money, it will probably be difficult for them to accept it." The Minister of Creation Heraclid also expressed his attitude. As technical officials, neither he nor Helps seemed to consider the problem from the perspective of the kingdom. The first thing they thought of was the mentality of the people.

"Your Majesty has said just now that the times are changing, the environment is changing, and the kingdom is changing. Of course, our laws should also change accordingly to adapt to new needs! 20 years ago, when Dionia was established, it only had three or four small towns, and the population was probably less than 30,000, which was very inconspicuous. Now the kingdom is the overlord of the Western Mediterranean, with a territory of more than ten times that of that year, with a population of more than 3 million, and there are many city-states and forces affiliated to us. They are no longer the small city-constitution alliance that was back then!"

Cyporus finally stood up and said emotionally: "When Dionia was first established, all public officials, including the elders, were not paid, and now the salary of junior officials in the Kingdom can be roughly a cow for a month, let alone us;

Twenty years ago, Dionia sent troops to fight. All the citizens who could fight together had less than 10,000. They could arrive at the front line within a few hours, end the battle in a day or two, and return to the city-state. The time was so short that even the soldiers had not eaten up the rations they carried from their homes;

Now, once the kingdom starts a war, tens of thousands of people can be easily dispatched. The combat time is calculated in months. The military rations required are counted in tons as the basic unit, and other material consumption is not included. These are provided by the kingdom;

Twenty years ago, Dionia did not spend much money except building roads. Now the kingdom has countless public buildings, not only construction costs, but just maintenance costs are a big number. The money earned by schools and public hospitals in various towns is simply not enough to maintain their operations. The kingdom needs subsidies to maintain...

The bigger the kingdom, the more consumed it will be. Can that one percent tax be used to meet the growing needs of the Kingdom of Dionia? Of course not! We rely on the trade tax collected due to the trade prosperity brought by the power of the kingdom! We rely on the inheritance tax collected due to the strong kingdom to make the citizens rich! We rely on the other expenses obtained by the strong kingdom to make people live a rich and colorful life (such as the competitive competition lottery hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, the library’s book loan fees, etc.)! We rely on the wisdom of Your Majesty and everyone’s diligence, which has barely guaranteed the development of the Kingdom today!

To be honest, the direct tax collected by the Kingdom has been maintained by one percent for 20 years, which is definitely a huge miracle! This is the blessing of Hades! This is the kindness of His Majesty! Even at the most difficult time of war, the Kingdom only borrows money from the people, rather than singly collects high war taxes. The people of Dionian should feel very lucky that they live in such a happy kingdom, not elsewhere.

Look around us. This is no longer a traditional world where Greek city-state citizens did not collect direct taxes decades ago.

In the eastern part of Sicily, during the reign of Dionysius, the war tax of each city-state reached more than 30%, and lasted for many years. Even afterwards, even when he was overthrown, the annual direct tax of Syracuse was close to 10%, so as to ensure that the city-state can recover its strength as soon as possible and ensure safety under our pressure;

In the western Sicily, the tax rates for Phoenician city-states and Carthage sub-states were relatively lower, but they also exceeded 5%. It is said that the money for these taxes was spent in the conquest of southern Iberia.

Let’s look at the Greek mainland. Wars have occurred frequently in the past few decades. Which city-state’s direct tax is less than 20%. Even in Athens, the richest Athens, they even came up with a wonderful tax collection method, zoning the Demo district under their jurisdiction. There must be many settled foreign wealthy businessmen in each tax collection area, and then stipulate how many shares of taxes the area must pay. If they fail to meet, they will be punished. Often, due to the begging and coercion of the people in the area, more than half of the tax is borne by these wealthy businessmen.

Not to mention Sparta, it has always been the government's control of all the wealth earned by the city-state, and it is responsible for the distribution.

Everyone, this is a world where wars occur frequently and dangerously reborn. The countries and forces around us are accumulating strength and fighting for the struggle. Even if Dionia is strong now, it cannot be taken lightly. The kingdom should not only increase taxes, but also the tax rate should not be too low. This will ensure that the kingdom can operate normally, have enough power to defend the security of the territory, and defend the interests of the people!"

Siphorus's words were deafening, which made some people suddenly lose their minds and made some people suddenly realize.

Immediately afterwards, Davers praised loudly: "Well said!"

Many people only realized at this time: Your Majesty supports tax increases!

The atmosphere in the hall began to change, but Lucias still persuaded worriedly: "Your Majesty, once the additional tax is proposed, it will not only cause great controversy in the Senate, but also cause great dissatisfaction among the people, which may cause turmoil in the kingdom and will have a great impact on your prestige!"

Davers smiled faintly and said in a deep voice: "Like Ataris, Cyporus, for the sake of national interests, has the courage to make such suggestions. As the descendant of Hades, the patron saint of this kingdom, do I still care about this destruction? I only ask you, Lycius, should tax increase be increased?"
Chapter completed!