After listening to Li Tianxing's words, Qi Feihong felt a little flustered in his heart. He frowned and said, "When did the Red Dragon Kingdom have so many soldiers?"
Li Tianxing said: "I also had this question, so I sent someone to inquire. The result is that the leader of the country Yu Wenxian has been quietly expanding his army in recent years. The number of soldiers in the Red Dragon Kingdom has already exceeded one million. The leader of the country Yu Wenxian is determined to achieve his goals. To take back the territory of the Red Dragon Kingdom, we spent a lot of manpower and material resources, and we have been secretly recruiting soldiers."
Qi Feihong glanced at the ministers, with a strange look on his face. He seemed very happy, but also seemed a little worried: "Chilong Kingdom has a million troops attacking Xingtian City. It's no wonder that the defenders of Chiyou City have no time to take care of us. Now the situation has changed. Before, Some of our deployments should also be adjusted. Pass the order, the army will besiege Pingyi City on three sides, and must capture Pingyi City within three days."
All the ministers responded in unison: "I obey the order." Only Finance Minister Jin Min did not speak. He kept looking at Qi Feihong, as if he was hesitant to speak.
Qi Feihong saw Jin Min's expression, but he did not ask any more questions in front of everyone. Instead, he continued to discuss military and state affairs with the ministers until the end of the morning court.
All the ministers left one after another, Qi Feihong ordered A Yuan to quietly leave Jin Min alone and ask Jin Min if he had anything to say. Jin Min did not have any scruples because Qi Feihong was the lord of the country. He said bluntly: "My lord, the army is marching to the north. The daily military expenditures consumed are extremely staggering. The national treasury cannot make ends meet. In order to avoid shortages of money and food, I request your majesty to collect the money as soon as possible." Taxes, exemptions and reductions of various subsidies in some cities, it would be better if the ruler of the country makes up his mind as soon as possible."
Qi Feihong had expected this to happen, and said with a smile: "The tax collection is already in preparation, so we can't rush it. I have already ordered people to promulgate the latest tax policy. In the future, there will be tax revenue, and all will be taken care of by you. . I have the spirit stone heart in my hand, and I have already produced a lot of spirit beads. I will use them all for you to refine spirit coins for military expenses. I think it will be enough for us to sustain for a while."
Jin Min said: "Although there are many spiritual beads, they are not enough to withstand the consumption of the army. Regarding taxes, because of the benevolence of the king, the citizens pay more than the country compensates them, which is also of no avail. I must tell the truth. At present, the national treasury But there is not a single spiritual coin left. If the army continues the Northern Expedition, it can only last for five days at most. If no more spiritual coins are added to the treasury within five days, I, the Minister of Finance, will have no choice but to resign and go home."
Qi Feihong frowned and said, "How come there are no spiritual coins left?"
Jin Min said: "The king of the country doesn't know something. According to the king's will, all the family members of soldiers who join the army must be given monthly living allowances, and they don't have to do anything for the Qilin Kingdom. This is a huge expense, At least 80 million spiritual coins are needed every month. The subsidy expenses of the Generalized System of Preferences are even greater. The current population of Qilin Country is one billion, and one spiritual coin per person per month is one billion. Military expenditures are usually okay, every month That is tens of millions, but it will be doubled or even several times during wartime. Sometimes, tens of millions of spiritual coins are needed for one day's consumption... In addition, the Ministry of Industry needs a large amount of spiritual coins every month to build city walls and buildings, officials The ministry needs spiritual coins to distribute officials’ monthly rewards, etc., and the treasury’s spiritual coins have already been exhausted.”
Qi Feihong asked: "How many spiritual stones can the spiritual stone veins produce every month, and how many spiritual coins can be produced if all of them are refined?"
Jin Min said: "The spiritual stones mined from the spiritual stone veins each month can be used to refine approximately 500 million spiritual coins. Because in the later stages of mining, it becomes more and more difficult and the output decreases month by month."
Qi Feihong frowned and said: "Can it take one month of mining of spirit stones to refine 500 million spirit coins? This seems to be a little too little..."
Jin Min said: "In the first two years, it was relatively easy to mine spirit stones, and one billion spirit coins could be refined from the spirit stones mined in one month. Now it is no longer possible, mining is getting harder and harder, and the output of spirit stones has dropped sharply. "
Qi Feihong nodded: "How much spiritual coins can our industries earn each month? Those industries that you personally controlled before must have some spiritual coin income, right?"
Jin Min said: "Every month is not equal. At the most, the income is 30 million spirit coins, and at the least, it is only more than 10 million. On average, the income is about 20 million spirit coins per month."
Qi Feihong said: "In this way, it is indeed not enough. The two together are still too little. In a large-scale battle, these spiritual coins will be gone in one go... If Lord Jin has any ideas, please tell me directly. .”
Jin Min said: "The tax law promulgated by the king, if all the citizens of Qilin Country currently pay in full, the maximum monthly spiritual coins will be only 500 million, and the spiritual coins issued to the citizens are more than one billion, which means there are hundreds of millions of spiritual coins. The difference. I believe that canceling this GSP policy and accurately distributing part of the spiritual coins to those who really need assistance can save a lot of expenses and increase the revenue of the national treasury in disguised form for the current war. As for tax revenue The 500 million spiritual coins can be used for various matters besides war consumption."
Qi Feihong said: "Do you know that doing this will cause dissatisfaction among the people and shake the foundation of Qilin Country?"
Jin Min said: "If the foundation of the Kirin Kingdom has always required the king to use spiritual coins to maintain it, the foundation itself is unstable. With all due respect, the GSP policy should have been canceled long ago. Remember when the king formulated this policy At that time, it was said that it would last for one year. Later, due to frequent wars, some families did not have the labor to obtain spiritual coins to maintain their livelihood, so the king issued an order to continue to this day. In fact, there are only a few families without labor. If subsidies continue to be generally distributed, It is an injustice in itself. Only a few families really need subsidies, and the country’s leader must also understand this.”
Qi Feihong nodded: "That's true, but if some people who really need help are missed, I'm afraid it will still cause some turmoil."
Jin Min said: "The head of the country can order the Ministry of Household Affairs to conduct a census of the country's population, identify those who are indeed unemployed and in need of assistance, establish files, and issue monthly subsidies. Others will no longer receive subsidies and must support themselves. This is more fair. It is reasonable, prevents some people from being too lazy to work, and can also reduce the pressure on the national treasury, killing two birds with one stone."
Qi Feihong said: "How long will it take to complete this move?"
Jin Min said: "I believe that the Ministry of Household Affairs will take the lead, and the city lords and garrison leaders of each city will be responsible. Officials of the city lord's palace and garrison officers will come forward to check and register. It can be completed in a month at most."
Qi Feihong thought about it and said: "One month is too hasty. I think it will be limited to half a year. Starting from Qilin City, city by city will be verified. After the registration is completed, the new policy will be implemented."
Jin Min said: "I obey the order. I will go and prepare now. I will complete the verification of Qilin City in the next few days. I will summarize the situation and report it to you, the Lord, for review."
Qi Feihong said: "Go and do it, Master Jin, thank you for your hard work."
Jin Min cupped his fists and saluted, turned around and left, organizing people to start a population census from Qilin City. The household department dispatched personnel to participate, and the garrison of Qilin City went door-to-door to conduct inspections and obtain first-hand accurate information to prepare for the implementation of the New Deal.
When the war broke out, the Qilin Kingdom needed a large amount of spiritual coins and supplies. It was indeed time to make changes and adjustments to adapt to the requirements of the new era.
Qi Feihong is definitely not a stubborn person. He is willing to listen to other people's suggestions and make timely adjustments.
What Jin Min said was only part of the adjustments that need to be made. With money, perhaps many things can be solved, but there are still some things that cannot be solved with money, such as whether the people of Qilin Kingdom are satisfied with the various current policies of Qilin Kingdom, and Do you sincerely support the various decisions made by Qi Feihong and others?
In view of this, Qi Feihong summoned some ministers to come over. After some discussion and deliberation, he finally decided to implement a new policy in Qilin City, gradually change the policies that were not in line with the current situation, and use new policies to manage the affairs of the whole city.
If the Qilin City experiment is successful, it will be expanded to other cities step by step, slowly including all the existing cities in Qilin Kingdom.
Reform takes time, and it also requires everyone's concerted efforts. At the same time, it must be fully publicized so that all the people of Qilin Kingdom can slowly accept the changes.
Any change requires time to adapt and accept, so reform must not be rushed and can only be done slowly.
