CHAPTER 541: CHAPTER 519: MARKET AND EXCHANGE

On December 1st, within the Holy Arrival Hall of Joan of Arc Castle, the weekly Imperial Cardinal Conference was officially held.

Participants included Truth Chief Madlan, Saint Vault Master Qianqian, Exorcist Leader Jeanne, Evangelist Busak, Chief Judge Marshall, and Abbot Chervis from the Saint Plow and Scythe Monastery.

In terms of administration, these six individuals essentially form the core of the Salvation Army’s leadership.

Sitting around an oval table were seven people, including Horn, and on both sides were rows of long strip tables where about a dozen Secret Monks recorded the meeting’s contents.

"For the last time, let’s proceed with a hand vote."

At Horn’s reminder, the cardinals raised their hands and, with a vote of four in favor and two abstentions, passed the "Market and Trading Post Bill."

After instructing the Secret Monks of the Saint Father’s Association to write the meeting minutes, Horn struck the table twice with a small wooden hammer: "Thus, the two items of the ’1445 Market and Trading Post Bill’ are officially passed."

As Horn anticipated, this proposal passed smoothly without much discussion.

Saint Vault Master Qianqian joyfully gathered the documents and instructed the Secret Monk beside her to organize them.

After all, this was crucial in continuing to establish the foundational responsibilities of the Holy Court.

The main focus of this bill was to address the issues of tax collection and large-scale commodity trade.

The former is resolved through market stall fees, while the latter is addressed by centralized trading posts.

Market stall fees are straightforward; they are collected based on stalls and types rather than the goods themselves.

For example, small stalls selling agricultural products are charged a lower stall fee, while larger stalls selling livestock are charged more.

If the goods include luxury items like fine wines and high-end furs, the stall fee increases by several percent.

The stall itself is free, but the stall fee includes consumption tax and infrastructure maintenance tax.

The higher a commodity ranks on the consumption tax rate chart and the larger the stall area, the higher the stall fee.

This doesn’t mean everyone has to rent small stalls, as the larger the stall, the more items can be accommodated and sold, leading to higher income.

Finding a balance between cost and revenue is up to the merchants themselves.

Decisions they make are their responsibility, even if they result in losses, and Horn cannot be blamed.

Implementing this method can reduce the consumption tax evasion rate to below thirty percent.

As for the small-scale private transactions among the populace, their volume is too low for taxation to be cost-effective, and it’s treated as Horn’s tax exemption policy for ordinary believers.

Regarding the issue of large-scale commodity trade, Catherine previously proposed establishing trading posts, but the other cardinals were hesitant, so Horn did not enforce it.

Now that there’s a problem with large-scale commodity trade, revisiting the trading post idea naturally faces no opposition.

The predecessor of the trading post system is actually the merchant guild or general store guild, which is an old acquaintance of Horn.

If it weren’t for the Holy Father’s intervention, Horn might still be an accountant for the general store guild.

Therefore, the first thing Horn did upon taking office was to dissolve the general store guild, rumored among outsiders to hide his history as an accountant there.

Trading posts and markets are essentially trading venues, but a market operates on a C2C (consumer-to-consumer) model, while a trading post is a B2B (business-to-business) model.

Simply put, the market is like a certain Taobao, while a trading post is akin to a certain Alibaba.

For large commodity transactions involving hundreds of gold pounds, everyone is cautious, fearing any break in the financial chain.

Encountering a scam at a market might result in a loss of ten or twenty dinars, but falling victim to a scam in large-scale commodity trade can lead to total ruin, with bankruptcy being common.

Thus, most merchants rely on guilds for trade, but Horn removed the judicial powers from these guilds, leading to a dilemma for large-scale commodity trade.

The "Market and Trading Post Bill" stipulates that trading posts will be the sole legal venue for large-scale commodity trade, requiring contracts and notarization for all transactions.

For trades exceeding 200 gold pounds, both parties must also pay a deposit to ensure smooth transactions.

In case of breach, the gendarmerie and Defensive Army would immediately be at your doorstep.

Merchants save a lot of time, leading to faster turnover, so contributing more stamp taxes to His Majesty Saint Sun isn’t an issue, right?

As for the stamp tax rate, affluent transactions incur a percentage-based charge, but it won’t exceed 1%.

Less wealthy transactions are subject to a fixed tax, usually just a few dinars.

As Horn’s small wooden hammer made its final strike, the cardinals signed and sealed the meeting minutes, finally deciding on issues such as consumption tax and stamp tax.

Horn couldn’t help but sigh while organizing relevant documents.

Thus, the local tax system is now established, and the central tax system has finally completed its trial phase.

If the Salvation Army Government’s future revenue is divided into tax and palace asset income, the tax system has finally been streamlined over the past three months.

According to Qianqian’s estimates, taxes could provide Horn with a financial budget of over 20,000 gold pounds.

Meanwhile, the palace asset income remains roughly managed due to the unestablished bank system of the current Salvation Army.

This asset income is estimated to provide approximately 10,000 gold pounds as a fiscal budget.

Together, these barely cover military expenses, and that is contingent upon not expanding the military next year.

By next autumn, we’ll know how much revenue this system can bring to Horn.

Horn is not in a hurry for now; after two wars, he has accumulated 70,000 to 80,000 gold pounds, totaling around 100,000 gold pounds, including what he had before.

Given the Salvation Army currently has almost no revenue, government operations rely on these war spoils and bonds.

"Next on the agenda." Flipping to the second page of the agenda documents, Horn cleared his throat, "is the discussion of the new department’s construction and who should be in charge, what are your thoughts, let’s discuss."

As Horn anticipated, compared to the previous clear-cut "Market Bill," the cardinals clashed over who should oversee the new department.

The outcome, unexpectedly, was that it would be overseen by the entire Imperial Cardinal Conference, with daily management entrusted to the elder.

Thus, the Salvation Army Saint Arch Engineering Monastery was officially launched, planning to recruit fifteen masons and three engineering teams, responsible for municipal building design and construction tasks.

"Just like before, we’ll conduct a pilot, starting with recruitment and the first batch of municipal renovations in Gray Furnace Town, how about that?" Marking a few notes on the paper with a pen, Horn looked up and continued to ask.

Jeanne shook her head: "Preferably not. Gray Furnace Town currently has heavy weapon and armor crafting tasks; starting a pilot there might disrupt production."

"Then how about Sour Melon Town?"

The cardinals nodded in agreement; Sour Melon Town, located southwest of Joan of Arc Castle, already has mortar roads from the previous Black Mountain Battle, facilitating material transportation.

After confirming these two agenda items, there followed a series of smaller items, such as rejecting the Black Hat Battle Group’s request to be renamed Black Crown Battle Group, and approving another grain acquisition plan...

After tackling the initial major agenda items, the final two items served as the climax.

"You have all seen the letters sent from Hotam County, right? Saint Sun’s Army has tasked me with these issues, and we must find a solution.

Additionally, the Count North, Seching, is due to arrive mid-month, so we need to plan a response.

I believe these two matters are essentially one and should be discussed together, as they involve the unresolved topic of our stance towards Moliat."