Volume 4 Chapter 89 Prestige of a king
Eric took a deep breath and closed his eyes to rest for a minute before opening them again. He picked up the towel that had been soaking in a bucket of ice cold water and slapped his face twice, trying to refresh himself before continuing to review the documents.
After forcefully stopping Duke Stagg from sending the second army to deal with Kolebo City last time, it was like Eric had understood something. He had a new understanding of the political matters from before and was processing them with a different opinion.
He relied on Duke Stagg much less and unless there was anything important, he wouldn’t call on Duke Stagg at all, spending most of his time on his own decisions.
Of course, he would still consult the other ministers for their opinion, while also reading to increase his own intelligence. He even left the royal palace and mixed in among the people to understand them
In short, he invested himself more and more into the role of the king, while also feeling the glory and pride of a king.
Of course, that also meant he deeply felt the pressure.
Learning more about politics, Eric regretted the decision he made before more and more.
Based on the various data, the worst mistake he had made was not keeping the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Half the year had passed and the Lampuri Kingdom’s tax revenue hadn’t even reached a million gold coins yet.
Based on this trend, by the end of the year, the kingdom’s financial revenue might just be over a million and it definitely wouldn’t pass one and half million gold coins.
Compared to the previous years where it was at least two million or even last year when it surpassed three million, the Lampuri Kingdom was now much more poor.
Eric was more familiar with politics, so naturally he knew the reason for this.
When the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was here, two thirds of the kingdom’s tax revenue came from the magic machine industry represented by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Just Banta City alone paid over a million gold coins in taxes each year, which was almost comparable to the Lampuri Kingdom’s previous yearly tax revenue.
It had to be said, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce played a vital role in this.
But since the Frestech Chamber of Commerce left the Lampuri Kingdom, most of the magic machine companies in Banta City and the Lampuri Kingdom left the kingdom. This caused the magic machine industry’s influence in the Lampuri Kingdom to drop, which naturally also dropped the tax revenue.
Of course, this was also related to the ten companies that controlled the magic machine industry.
According to the stats, those ten companies had been suffering losses because of the poor industries, so the taxes they paid were quite pitiful.
But Eric knew in his heart that although the magic machine industry had been affected by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other companies leaving, if it was said that they were losing money, it was impossible to say anything else.
According to Eric’s private information, just the Rockefeller Chamber of Commerce had earned profits of over two hundred thousand gold coins last month.
But last month the Rockefeller Chamber of Commerce reported to the business department that they lost over seventy thousand gold coins. So not only did the Rockefeller Chamber of Commerce not have to pay over eighty thousand gold coins in taxes like they should have, they even received a special subsidiary of thirty thousand gold coins.
With this, the Rockefeller Chamber of Commerce had earned close to twelve hundred thousand gold coins.
As for where the extra twelve hundred thousand gold coins went……
Every time he thought of the Stagg Family behind the Rockefeller Chamber of Commerce, Eric couldn’t help feeling anger in his heart.
“Those damn worms!” Eric cursed in his heart before giving a helpless bitter laugh.
Although Duke Stagg was very friendly to him on the surface during this time, not opposing any suggestions that he had and carrying out his every order, Eric knew that his control over the kingdom right now was still far from enough.
While he wasn’t strong enough to deal with the conservative nobles led by the Stagg Family, Eric could only endure.
Before this, the only thing he could do was take back the power that was his from Duke Stagg’s hands bit by bit.
“Kou, kou, kou.”
There was a knock on the door.
Eric looked at the door and couldn’t help smiling.
Duke Stagg had finally learned that he needed to knock to come in.
“Come in.” Eric said.”
The door was softly opened and Duke Stagg walked in.
“Your majesty.” Duke Stagg gave Eric a bow, “Do you need something to suddenly summon me?”
“Un, I just wrote a decree, take a look.” Eric handed over the paper that hadn’t even had its ink dried yet.
Duke Stagg took it and deeply knit his brows as soon as he took a look.
This decree was aimed at the magic machine industry management department.
The content summarized was that Eric wanted to reform the department, he wanted to inspect all the companies managed by the department once again.
The most direct was that each company needed to have their finances inspected.
If a company couldn’t earn enough, the department must think of a way for this company to turn their losses into profits.
If the department couldn’t do this, this would be considered misconduct.
And if a company wasn’t strong enough and couldn’t make a profit, in order to promote the healthy development of the magic machine industry, the department had the right to take away the business rights of that company, forcing them to change industries.
From the surface, there was nothing wrong with this decree.
But if one thought about it carefully, because the department’s key members were from the Stagg Family and the ten companies controlled the entire magic machine industry, this decree was targeting them without a doubt.
But these companies represented the interests of the conservative faction led by Duke Stagg. Eric doing this was clearly trying to target them.
Duke Stagg narrowed his eyes as he looked at Eric.
“Your majesty, this might not be proper.”
“Oh? What is improper?”
“Even if a company isn’t strong enough and can’t make a profit, they still are contributing to the magic machine industry of the kingdom. To take away their business rights, that would be too much of a hit to their enthusiasm. Didn’t you majesty say that it would be best to turn every city into Banta City? Since it’s like this, we should support them more.”
Eric gave a cold laugh in his heart.
Duke Stagg’s encouragement was giving these companies subsidies from the kingdom’s finances.
The kingdom’s finances had dropped and taking a part for this “help”, the kingdom’s finances became even worse.
After being king for this long, Eric was clear on the important use of money.
There were many parts of the Lampuri Kingdom that needed improvement, but each one needed a large number of funds.
Eric was taking from these ten companies, or rather from the nobles of the conservative faction the money that should belong to the kingdom finances, which would be used to develop the kingdom.
“Business is like a battlefield and if a company can’t earn a profit, it means they aren’t suited for this battlefield. Instead of wasting the kingdom’s previous finances to help them, it’s better to follow the customs of the market and make them disappear. Don’t you think so, Duke Stagg?” Eric asked back.
Duke Stagg silently looked at Eric for a bit. When Eric was feeling worried, he suddenly revealed a smile and slowly nodded, “Your majesty is very correct, this should be done.”
Hearing this reply, Eric almost couldn’t believe his ears.
This decree of his was aimed at the nobles represented by the Stagg Family, Eric was prepared for a strong resistance from Duke Stagg. He had prepared his excuses and was even planning on forcing this decree, but he never thought that Duke Stagg would agree!
Eric looked at Duke Stagg in a daze as many questions appeared in his mind.
“Your majesty, are there any other important matters?” Duke Stagg suddenly asked.
“Ah? Ah…..no…..nothing for now……” Eric shook his head, answering in a daze.
“Since your majesty has nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
When Duke Stagg walked out and closed the door, Eric still couldn’t react from his daze.
Why didn’t Duke Stagg oppose this? Could it be that he really accepted it?
Eric was shocked and happy in his heart.
Could it be that he finally had the prestige of a king that Duke Stagg wouldn’t directly oppose him?
Duke Stagg who walked out didn’t show any excitement on his face, rather he had a very calm look.
But when he saw a young boy running around the corner, he revealed a warm smile.
“Your highness, his majesty is working, you can’t disturb him now.” Duke Stagg picked up the young boy with a smile as he said this.
This young boy was Eric’s oldest son, prince William. He wasn’t even five years old yet and he was quite intelligent, being chosen as the candidate for the next king by many people.
“Why is royal father working again…..” Prince William pouted his lips and looked very wronged, “He is working all day, is being a king really that busy?”
Duke Stagg smiled, “Yes, being a king is this busy. Your highness, you want his majesty to rest?”
“Of course I want him to rest, that way he has time to play with me.” Prince William said.
“Then how about we let him get a good rest?” Duke Stagg had a gentle smile on his face, but there was a cold glow in his narrowed eyes.