"One million one hundred and seventy thousand?"

The Duke of Star Lake, and - although he must not say it in public - the current regent of the Emerald City, Thales Canxing was shocked. He uncontrollably turned up the volume, scaring everyone in the study to tremble.

.

The Duke's voice fell, and the study became silent and depressing.

After a moment, Thales finally recovered from the blankness. He closed his mouth, put down the account book with difficulty, and looked at the two rows of people in front of the desk in disbelief:

On the left are the three high-ranking guards, Marius, Strauss and Hugo. They have calm expressions and serious eyes.

On the right stood six serving officials of the Emerald City's Department of Finance and Taxation. They lowered their heads deeply and were nervous. From time to time, they secretly glanced up at the Duke, and then quickly looked down at the ground.

"Your Highness Thales, to be precise," the Financial Controller standing in the front row - Lord Melahovich, who came from Ligur State and has settled in the Emerald City for many years, but whose East China accent is still hard to change, sniffed.

, as if he was about to be executed, "It's 1,178,653 Tormund gold coins."

Thales' expression remained unchanged, dull and numb.

"And only part of it, Your Highness," a financial officer couldn't help but remind him, "is the biggest among them."

"Also, this is an advance repayment," another humble assistant financial officer added in a low voice, "it is an initial amount with a guaranteed nature."

"Yes, if we count the total, it is close to..." Before a younger review officer could finish his words, his colleagues held him down and begged him to shut up with their eyes.

Thales was stunned for a few seconds, then silently let go of the account book in his hand.

If, just if...

If he sold the entire Xinghu Castle, all the land, property, and belongings, including the pile of cats and dogs, would he be able to collect 1.17 million gold coins?

"Tell me, my lords," Thales's eyes were dull and his voice was hollow, "How did you manage to make the Queen's City, which is prosperous and prosperous, owe so much debt, turn it into a pile of bad debts and a mountain of debt?

A bottomless black hole?”

Compared with this, the tens of thousands of foreign debts owed by Anke Bailar, the Western Wilderness assassin, to the Doyle family by his father are nothing, nothing! It’s just water, okay! Why do you need to be so arrogant?

He went to the royal banquet looking for Tails to kill someone with a collapsed look and screamed loudly!

You know, a certain South Coast Guardian Duke who owed millions or even tens of millions of gold coins to different creditors and business groups was running around and spending money like water every day, making everyone in the kingdom think that he had something in his family.

Oil and mines will cause endless harm in a lifetime!

The officials looked at each other, worried.

Under the prince's questioning and Marius's threatening eyes, the officials present were afraid to speak.

After a long while, under the eyes of Chief Melakhovich, an old accountant stood up and told Duke Thales tremblingly and heartbrokenly:

Originally, the Queen's City was a rare example of governance in a kingdom that had no foreign debt, was financially sound, had a balanced balance of payments, and was as rich as any.

Until around the time of the Bloody Year, the situation in the kingdom suddenly changed, and the situation took a turn for the worse. Rebels were sprouting like wildfire, and foreign enemies were also watching with eager eyes.

In order to support the kingdom's war and for the safety of the territory itself, the old Duke Leinster Kevin Deere urgently needed a large amount of funds to prepare for the war. To this end, he raised funds from various sources, borrowed foreign debts, and even re-ordered the Emerald City and surrounding areas.

The overall budget of the fiefdom.

"But that was more than 20 years ago," Logistics Officer Straw said in disbelief, "Don't tell me, you borrowed debt for 20 years in one go?"

"Of course not," Melahovich said righteously, "Since the coronation of the noble and great His Majesty Kessel, the kingdom has ushered in peace and prosperity, and we have quickly paid off our debts, until - the Desert War."

Another financial officer in his prime took over the conversation and talked eloquently, saying that at that time His Majesty Kessel asked the vassals across the country to contribute to the war on the western front, but the old Duke was kind-hearted and did not want to conquer the war.

The government had to raise taxes on military services, so they had to borrow money again. Most of it was invested in the form of military funds to support the kingdom's war, and the rest was used for the construction of facilities and order maintenance in Emerald City and the South Coast Territory.

"But even the Desert War happened more than ten years ago." Flag Officer Hugo pointed out this with a frown.

"Yes, the debt from the desert war would have been paid off soon," Melakhovich rubbed his forehead, "If there hadn't been an emergency..."

The finance and taxation officials burst into tears immediately. They spoke to each other. First, the old Duke was assassinated, Iris was fighting among themselves, the South Bank Territory was shattered, people in the Emerald City were panicked, the war was in chaos, the military and police were rampant, and the merchants were trying to change things. After the war, the people who once recovered their strength

South Coast towns are also becoming increasingly depressed.

Therefore, after Duke Jenn succeeded to the throne and put down the rebellion, he had to borrow money again to reorganize the market, maintain order, and win back confidence and business for the Emerald City.

However, the good times did not last long. Not long after Master Zhan En's rule, various measures began to show some improvement. The hard-working and hospitable citizens of Emerald City were waiting for a new round of thunderbolt from the blue - the shocking general edict of the Kingdom of Stars.

, came urgently from the royal capital, blowing the horn of war again:

The Exter mission was killed on the way, the Northern Army marched on the border, Broken Dragon Fortress was in emergency day and night, and the power of the Star Nation was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing that the war between the two countries was about to break out, and the tragic Year of Blood was about to repeat itself, and everyone in the South Bank was panicking, the courageous Duke Zhan made a decisive order before going to the royal capital to participate in politics, urging everyone in the Emerald City to immediately raise funds and prepare for the war, in order to serve His Majesty,

As for the method of raising funds, the benevolent Duke thought of his father and was unwilling to increase taxes on the people, so naturally he would just borrow——

"As far as I know," Thales interrupted, "that battle didn't happen."

"Yes, it's thanks to His Highness..." Melahovich said with a smile on his face, "But the financial budget has been made, the loan contract and the IOU have been signed, and the subsequent financial and economic crisis has proved that the Duke is far-sighted...

"

"crisis?"

Finance and tax officials spoke out again:

Shortly after Exeter retired from the army, in order to celebrate the establishment of the heir to the kingdom, Duke Jenn donated large areas of mineral deposits, fields and corresponding industries to the royal family. It was a considerable source of income and seriously affected the financial health of the South Coast Territory, and the timing of the donation

Probably around——

"After I went to Exeter," the prince said with an ugly face, "believe me, Zhan gave the land to the royal family not just for congratulations."

Melahovich told him with an embarrassed look, so they had to borrow money again to fill the deficit. In the past thirty years, after experiencing the above numerous crises and disasters, the Emerald City's debts have continued to renew and increase, until today

, with interest...

Thales glanced at the number and felt dizzy.

"So everyone, what are the schedule and arrangements for repaying the debt?" Mallos asked softly.

The officials looked at each other.

"For such a large debt," Mallos said with unquestionable firmness, "you must have made arrangements for repayment early on, right? Instead of waiting until the last day to urgently raise money to repay?"

Thales reacted and his eyes lit up.

"Of course, of course it is. In fact, Duke Zhan was busy with this matter before the celebration, planning to solve it one by one..." Lord Melahovich said hurriedly, "And now with Your Highness sitting in the center,

If we look at things wisely and pay off our debts, we will naturally be more confident!"

Thales took a deep breath and reminded himself that life was still beautiful and he could not be beaten down by reality.

"Well, gentlemen," Thales raised his head, crossed his hands, and calmed his voice, looking very professional and knowledgeable, with a treasure worth tens of thousands of gold in his chest, "Currently, the treasury reserves of Emerald City,

How much funds can be used to pay off debts?”

"A lot, Your Highness, a lot," an auditor raised his chest and raised his head, "You must know that Emerald City is the capital of a party, with a strong family background and a lot of income..."

Thales nodded with satisfaction.

"Compared to debt?" Straw said sadly.

The financial chief immediately retracted his head.

"Not enough, Your Highness, not enough," the accountant who looked dim-sighted said tremblingly, "Please note that the Emerald City is the capital of a country, with complicated expenses and high expenses..."

Thales' smile solidified slightly.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Manager Melahovich quickly spoke:

"In fact, we still have a variety of means to raise enough money, such as flexible changes in the budget, advance payments or even diversion of other less urgent accounts, such as urban construction, disaster construction and relief fund reserves, or delaying the release of certain temporary external staff.

The salary subsidy for officials will be supplemented later when the turnover is sufficient..."

“We will further downsize some redundant and unnecessary urban positions,” the assistant financial officer quickly added. “Of course, positions above a certain level, such as financial and tax collection clerk positions, are related to the operation of the city and cannot be lightly touched.

of."

"We can find an excuse - such as celebrating the prince's visit - to collect this quarter's transaction tax and property tax in advance." A tax official also joined in.

"Just use the income record of each merchant in the previous year as the standard, increase it by 10 to 20% on this basis, and collect taxes in advance?" Another tax official whispered, "After all, people's lives are getting better and better.

Prices are stable but rising."

"A disaster response fund was allocated a few days ago. We can suspend the execution and let the farmers wait..."

"Save the expenses on various public banquets during the Jade Celebration..."

"There is also the equipment ordering plan for the Emerald Legion, which can be pushed to next year, although I think those guys copied by the cuckolds can still use it for a few more years to wrap up the rusty areas..."

"Of course, we can still discuss with the creditors and reach an agreement on certain debt extensions, but we will have to pay more interest."

"Northeast of Shuori Town, there is a piece of wasteland that has just been recovered from a bankrupt lord. There are already buyers asking about it. We might as well urge it and speed up the progress..."

"Including the sale of concessions in certain industries, as well as the exploration and mining rights of the newly discovered lithium mineral deposits, and the fishing rights of the oceanic eternal whales. Of course, there are some border areas where it is difficult to collect taxes, so you might as well outsource them all...

"

The finance and taxation officials were busy discussing ways to raise money to repay debts. Thales' head was as big as a bucket, and Mallos and the other two frowned.

But Thales soon thought of something.

"Okay, okay, gentlemen, let me put it this way," the prince interrupted them and asked tentatively, "well, using all the means you mentioned - regardless of how many bad ideas there are - to show off his magical power to raise money.

Funds, after repaying the 1.17 million..."
To be continued...