Chapter 89 Public and private coffers
Chapter 89 Public Treasury Private Treasury
Paul patiently explained to the old butler the reason why he wanted to separate the finances inside and outside.
Philip, despite being a bit lost, was relieved upon careful consideration.
Recently, the income of the lord’s house is getting more and more complicated, and the expenditure is also the same, he is really old and a little overwhelmed, in case of a careless, miscalculation of an account, and spoil the count’s big event, that would be too much.
Philip put down his mustiness, stood up and bowed to Paul, saying, “Lord Earl, I completely obey your arrangement.”
Seeing the old housekeeper so reasonable, Paul was very touched, he once again came around to the front of the table, held the old housekeeper’s hands tightly, and said sincerely, “Philip, in the future in my private life still have to ask you to take care of ah!”
With tears in his eyes, the old butler said, “Please rest assured, Lord Count.”
……
In the afternoon, the top echelons of the Council of State gathered at the lord’s mansion, and Paul announced his decision to the crowd:
“…… For the above reasons, I’m going to divide the money vault of the lord’s house into two parts, the private vault for my personal side of expenses, and the public vault for spending on public affairs in Ardane.”
When he made this announcement, the people in the room were unsure, the people only knew that the royal family used the public and private coffers separately, but they hadn’t heard of any local lords who also engaged in this.
In the end, it was Chief Steward Ford who coughed and said to Paul: “Lord Earl, there’s no need to divide it so finely, theoretically speaking, all of this money is your own property.”
Indeed, in this era, lords of all sizes, including the king, treated everything in their territory as their own private property.
“I know, I just think that since such a complicated administrative team has been established, it’s better to have the powers and duties of each department more clearly defined.”
Paul of course wouldn’t play any high-mindedness at this time, which place the money goes to, he definitely wants to hold it firmly in his own hands.
“Since there is a Ministry of Finance, let this department fully spend the role, not just count the budget or something.”
“Old Philip is getting older, the income and expenditure situation within our territory is getting more and more complicated, such a heavy burden is on his shoulders alone, how can you guys bear it?”
Chief Steward Ford asked strangely after hearing this, “What does the Lord Earl mean ……?”
Paul nodded and said, “Yes. In the future, the private treasury will still continue to be managed by Steward Philip, while the public treasury will be handed over to the Ministry of Finance of the Council of State.”
The affairs officers of the Council of State all felt unbelievable after hearing this, shouldn’t something as important as money be handed over to one’s most trusted retainer to manage? Who else is there in the entire territory besides Steward Philip?
On the other hand, a few people from the Ministry of Finance had glowing eyes and immediately stood up and said, “Please don’t worry Lord Earl, we will definitely live up to your trust.”
What they used to do was merely counting the accounts, and with this change in Paul, it might mean that they have a part of the real power in their hands.
Chief Steward Ford was very understanding of Paul, as a chief steward he certainly knew the situation in the territory today, and also really needed some professional people to specialize in the financial piece.
Paul went on to say, “Next we discuss, how to distribute the income in the territory, which money into the private treasury, which money into the public treasury.”
Old Ford said, “All depends on the decision of the Earl alone.”
Paul said with some hesitation, “My preliminary plan is that all taxes in Arda will be returned to the public treasury, and from now on, all profits from factories, workshops, stores, etc. created with money from the public treasury will also be returned to the public treasury.”
“And the harvest of the Greiman family’s estates, the paper mills and porcelain factories created prior to this, as well as the canneries that have been decided upon, and the royalties from the technology used in cooperation with private operators, as well as the profits from investments made with money from the private coffers in the future, the revenues from these things will go to the private coffers.” “What do you think?”
Chief Steward Ford said, “Lord Earl, I think it’s fine to just return the taxes to the public coffers, and you should keep the rest of the income in the private coffers.”
Paul breathed a sigh of relief, he was just now worried about whether he would cause dissatisfaction by allocating too much to his own small treasury, seeing as it seems that there is no need for that at all.
“Ahem, this private treasury is to take care of my personal spending, and when the time comes, in case there isn’t enough money in the public treasury, I don’t want to post it from the private treasury. In turn, I’ll try not to take money from the public treasury to fulfill my personal desires.”
Chief Steward Ford hurriedly said, “Where’s the harm in that, Your Excellency the Count, even the money from the public treasury is yours, ah, it’s all completely disposed of according to your own will.”
The rest of the officials also echoed Old Ford.
Paul waved his hand and said, “Well, since it is said to be disposed of according to my will, then it is settled.”
Seeing Paul so insistent, Chief Ford also stopped saying anything, in fact, his heart is still secretly happy, the lord handed over nearly half of the financial power to the Council of State under his leadership, the work in the future will be more convenient, and with the establishment of a variety of industries, the tax revenue is increasing, the income in the territory will be more and more tilted towards the public treasury.
“Paul!” A voice rang out.
There was only one person here who dared to call the lord’s name so directly, and that was Earl Myron Garnard.
Every time Paul called a meeting of the Council of State, he would call even Myron along with him, and when it came to Baildin, his opinion would be sought, which made Myron very pleased.
Recently, Myron has become more and more cheerful, seems to have come out of the shadow of the previous, the meeting also actively participate in the discussion, to express their own opinions, but fortunately not once sang a contrarian.
“Can I help you, Myron?”
Only to hear Myron said cheerfully, “Let’s do the same with the income in the Bairdin Territory, the income from the Garnard family’s fields and stores will be returned to my own name, and the tax revenue from the territory will be returned to this ‘public treasury’, and be unified at the disposal of the Council of State, right?”
Bairdine’s finances are independent, this is to not fall into the trap of creating the impression that Alda has annexed Bairdine, although with Cameron’s obedience to Paul’s word, in fact, it’s almost the same.
Although slightly surprised, but the words of Mellon is just what Paul wanted. Of course, the mouth is still to do.
“Myron, think about it ……”
Before Paul finished his words, Myron laughed out loud and said, “I’m sure I’ve thought about it before I said it! Recently I have followed you around and witnessed what you have done with my own eyes, and this is exactly what I had previously set for myself ah. Moreover, both you and Chief Steward Ford have treated Alda and Bairdine equally, and I don’t see that there is any favoritism towards one or the other. In that case, why don’t you combine the two ropes into one?”
Paul was really touched by him and patted his chest to assure this blood-oath brother, “Since you trust me so much, I swear that in the future, how much more prosperous Arda is, how much more prosperous Bairdine will be, and that if the people of Arda can eat meat, the people of Bairdine will never just drink soup.”
“I have always trusted you, my brother!”
Mellon came over and shook Paul’s hand, sincerely saying as much.
(End of chapter)