CHAPTER 540: CHAPTER 518: MARKET, CHURCH, AND COUNT

Having quickly scanned through the letter sent by Valent Taylor, Horn’s eyebrows furrowed but then helplessly relaxed.

The situation truly refuses to give anyone a moment’s peace; first, Ludvik was assassinated, and the sugar trade agreement with the Holy Axis hangs unresolved.

Within Kasha County, monks and scholars are still fiercely debating the election of the next abbot and investigating the assassin’s identity.

If you ask Horn, does it really need investigation? Who else could it be besides the church? It’s just self-deception.

This assassination indeed added a huge trouble for Horn; Dean Ludvik was definitely a wise yet gentle person.

His alliance with the Salvation Army and their numerous consensuses all demonstrate his understanding. Their cooperation is largely based on this elder’s coercion and prestige.

If not for Ludvik, the Blago Monastery in Kasha County would still be fickle.

In contrast, Rang Buluo is someone who appears intelligent but actually is foolish.

It’s uncertain when they’ll elect a new abbot.

Shaking his head, apart from ordering heightened security, Horn couldn’t think of any better solution.

The issues in Kasha County are yet to be addressed, and now the Saint Sun’s Army brings another new trouble.

Nobles are recognizing the situation and gradually starting their classic fence-sitting.

Judging from this trend, the natural disasters and man-made calamities from Imperial Calendar 1444 to 1445, along with Leia Kingdom’s civil war, have greatly weakened the psychological defenses of nobles and yeoman farmers in Hotam County.

As for the real reason Prince Kongdai dispatched the gun cavalry team for sustenance, Horn can mostly guess.

Originally, the entire Thousand River Valley supplied him with nine decree companies; now there are only five, and the only provider left is Hotam County.

Although Hotam County nearly provides one-third of the entire Thousand River Valley’s tax revenue, collecting any amount remains questionable.

The previous Langsande County only paid over 8000 pounds; according to Saint Vault Master Qianqian’s estimate, the Salvation Army could potentially collect 20,000 pounds from Langsande County next year, split half between central and local.

The entire tax base of Langsande County hardly totals 70,000 pounds. Horn’s ability to maximize tax collection is due to financial instruments like bonds and the absence of middlemen profiting.

A wartime gun cavalry team costs 150 to 200 pounds annually.

With the current state of the decree companies, they are replenishing members, buying equipment and potions to maintain combat power.

Prince Kongdai needs at least 8-10 thousand pounds, and local nobles absolutely cannot provide that.

So what to do? The only option is bypassing the middlemen.

This approach is correct, but the means are too crude. If it were Horn, he would issue pardon bonds under the church’s name and forcefully distribute them among the nobles.

The gun cavalry team would only supervise, escort, and suppress, and wouldn’t directly collect taxes.

At that time, middlemen (nobles) would do the work, with the church taking the blame. Naturally, if victorious, the debt would be repaid; if defeated, it would be written off.

There’s a big difference between direct robbery and issuing a promissory note; the former makes people hope you lose, the latter makes people hope you win.

"Send this letter to the Secretariat. The day after tomorrow is the weekly meeting, right? Urgently submit this agenda, and transcribe it tomorrow."

The Secretariat is essentially the secretariat, mostly composed of monks from the Saint Father’s Association.

Usually, Horn and the cardinals’ correspondence and meeting records are completed by these monks.

"Understood, Your Grace." A secret monk stood up and left the office with the letter.

Horn then stood up himself, taking the draft schedule of the weekly meeting from the document rack by the window.

According to the Salvation Army’s system, a cardinal meeting is held every Monday morning, so agenda items must be submitted two days in advance, and meeting content delivered a day in advance.

Using the slanting warm sunlight outside, Horn leaned by the window and began reading the freshly delivered form.

After quickly browsing through, Horn was basically sure that the main contents were threefold.

First is the market agenda related to consumption tax.

Due to the implementation of the "1445 Plan," the Central Church Palace’s collection of local consumption taxes largely depends on establishing fixed markets.

Yet, issues have uniformly arisen during the two-month pilot of several markets; primarily, there are two.

The first is how to calculate taxes; tax collectors cannot track every transaction and accurately calculate due taxes, likely causing tax evasion.

Regardless of whether calculated by goods entering or exiting, or subtracting both sides, the problem is the lack of manpower and excessive numbers.

Don’t let it be that a day spent merely on data statistics prevents people from entering the market.

Not to mention the probable occurrence of smuggling and secret transactions.

Or simply goods observed inside and transactions made outside, which are possible.

The second is the inability to trade bulk goods because a market can hold several hundred or thousand people, and each transaction involves only dozens of pounds of goods.

A market generally covers 10 to 15 kilometers, approximately 20,000 to 30,000 people, with diverse yet limited quantities of traded goods.

While bulk commodity trade involves local merchants signing contracts with farmers from several villages.

Advance payments, and farmers must deliver tons of agricultural products, timber, or wool next year.

They have high quantities but few and single types, and tons of goods occupy numerous stalls, wasting transport and space.

According to Horn’s method, they must trade under regulation, but such quantities are inappropriate for the market.

The Gospel Court currently in charge has proposed solutions; tomorrow’s meeting is to decide which to adopt.

Horn believes the Imperial Cardinal Conference should make more multiple-choice and judgment questions, rather than fill-in and essay questions.

If fill-in and essay questions arise, it indicates insufficient preparation and communication before the meeting.

Licking his finger, Horn turns to the second page, which covers the agenda of establishing a new construction department.

Post-"1445 Plan," several towns will serve as settlements for the Priestly Order.

Any town with a Priestly Order must construct the following municipal buildings: church, city hall, Believers’ Square, clinic, bell tower, school, Night Watchman’s Tower, and armory.

Church and city hall are main political buildings, centers of religious and administrative affairs.

Believers’ Square is a venue for commerce and town activities.

Clinic, bell tower, and school are functional buildings that provide simple treatment, measurement guides and time, and education.

The Night Watchman’s Tower and armory are easily explained: the former provides security, the latter military support.

These buildings should be renovated if existing, constructed anew if absent.

They focus on brick and stone structures, supplemented by mortar, measuring five or six meters high, not requiring ornate grandeur, but being discernible as the intended buildings.

Besides establishing core buildings, it can also support the surrounding Gray Furnace Town, where the brick kiln industry flourishes due to peat.

These are official buildings, so using mysterious engineering teams and masons from the public is inappropriate.

Horn plans to nationalize several performing engineering teams and masons, forming a dedicated team for key official buildings.

Yet the next is a problem, a certainty for disputes the day after tomorrow, of who manages this engineering team.

All Imperial Cardinals wish to extend their departmental control as wide as possible because broader control implies larger power and fewer restraints.

The last agenda is determining how to host Count Seching next week.