Chapter 97 The Significance of the Existence of the Imperial Navy

The Candela Imperial Palace is located in the center just north of the capital, Wimbledon, just standing on a hill far above the surrounding plains.

This hill was originally the only highland in the large flat area nearby, and the palace was built so tall that all the people in Wimbledon City could see the palace high above and the splendid gold coins as long as they looked up.

And His Majesty, the great Emperor of the Candela Empire, will hold a court meeting every morning in the most conspicuous building of the palace, which is also the core of the political affairs of the entire Candela Empire, and listen to the returns of the ministers of the empire.

Generally speaking, this court meeting is just a formality, and some major events will be done to make some brief reports to His Majesty the Emperor. As for the specific handling and implementation, it will be dealt with in detail after the court meeting.

So most of the time, His Majesty the Emperor would just sit on a tall chair, look down at the ministers below, and just listen attentively.

However, today, His Majesty the Emperor of the Candela Empire, His Majesty De Boer XVII, very rarely stood up from the tall chair, staring angrily at a middle-aged man in the middle of the Candela Empire wearing the uniform of the admiral of the Candela Empire. young man.

"The majestic Imperial Navy, even the fleet of a mere Chamber of Commerce couldn't solve it. Instead, it was beaten to pieces by the opponent, and its own warships lost more than 70%! Duke Warner, this is the Imperial Navy you command? This is the Imperial Navy. Want to spend tens of millions of gold coins on the Imperial Navy?"

The middle-aged man lowered his head even lower, but he didn't respond.

Seeing him speechless, De Boer XVII became even more angry.

"Very good. Since the empire spends tens of millions of gold coins every year, it is just raising a bunch of trash. What do you need? Starting today, the imperial navy will be completely withdrawn! I don't want to spend money on you trash body!"

Hearing De Boer XVII's words, Duke Warner suddenly raised his head, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Although there have been doubts and debates within the empire about whether the navy needs to continue to exist, and even the budget of the military department for the imperial navy has been reduced year by year, but His Majesty the Emperor has never made a statement, so the impact is not fatal.

But now His Majesty the Emperor is furious because of the disastrous defeat of the Imperial Navy when it faced the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce fleet in the southern waters, and even said the abolition of the Imperial Navy. If someone takes the opportunity to make some fuss. It is very likely to have a truly fatal impact on the Imperial Navy.

"Your Majesty, absolutely not!" It was not the Duke of Warner who shouted these words, but the Marquis Hasteri, Minister of Finance of the Candela Empire, who stood on the right hand of the Duke of Warner.

Seeing that it was him who jumped out, not only the other ministers, but even De Boer XVII was surprised.

Because the Imperial Navy has always eaten a large amount of financial budget, but has made little contribution, the Imperial Finance Ministry, which is responsible for the imperial financial budget, has always had great opinions on the Imperial Navy.

Now that His Majesty the Emperor declared in anger that he wanted to dismantle the Imperial Navy, the Ministry of Finance should be the one who should be most happy.

Why did the Marquis of Hastery jump out to object?

De Boer XVII glanced at him inexplicably: "Marquis Hasterie, why is it absolutely impossible? If you can't tell a convincing reason today, don't blame me for being rude."

Listen to De Boer XVII's sinister tone. All the ministers below were shocked.

It seems that His Majesty the Emperor is really angry this time.

If you still want to touch his bad luck at this time. That would be really bad luck.

Marquis Hasteri wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, obviously feeling extremely stressed.

However, after he collected himself, he managed to maintain his calmness and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know anything about war, so I don't make any comments on it. But as the Minister of Finance, I hope to look at it from the point of view I care about." Prove the significance of the existence of the Imperial Navy."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

What is the financial significance of the imperial navy? Isn't it meaningless except for the huge budget that eats up tens of millions of gold coins from the empire's treasury every year?

"Oh? Tell me." De Boer XVII was also aroused with curiosity.

"Your Majesty, it is true that the imperial navy swallows tens of millions of gold coins from the imperial budget every year, and in the past few years, at least during the years I have been in office, it has basically had no output or actual contribution. Call it meaningless."

Hearing this, all the ministers around couldn't help but nodded in unison.

This is in line with everyone's impression and evaluation of the Imperial Navy.

"However..." Marquis Hasteri suddenly changed the subject and raised his voice slightly. "This situation has improved significantly in the past two years. Although I can't give specific statistics, in the past two years, the pirates in the southern seas of the empire have almost disappeared under the attack of the imperial navy, making the sea shipping in the southern seas of the empire almost disappear. The industry has greatly improved. Just the three seaports in the southern part of the empire under the protection of the imperial navy have paid more than seven million gold coins in taxes so far this year."

"Seven million gold coins?"

All the ministers around showed surprise expressions.

Although for the huge Candela Empire, the tax of seven million gold coins is nothing at all.

But before that, the Imperial Treasury had never made any report on the taxation of the southern seaport, which was equivalent to nothing.

But now this year is only one year, and this close to zero figure suddenly skyrocketed to seven million gold coins, which is really surprising.

"Is it just tax revenue from shipping?" De Boer XVII asked.

"Yes." Marquis Hasteri nodded. "The tax revenue of these seven million gold coins is entirely from the tax revenue of the three shipping ports. And the impact of this is far more than that. Because of the development of shipping, commercial activities on the southern coast of the empire have obviously been greatly improved, so This year, the taxes paid by cities along the southern coast of the empire have also increased significantly. Compared with last year, the city with the largest increase even exceeded 300%!"

"Three hundred percent? Marquis of Hasteri. Are you joking?" A minister couldn't help but asked loudly.

De Boer XVII also frowned slightly: "Marquis Hasteri. This statistic is not a joke. Are you sure?"

"Yes. Your Majesty, there are detailed statistical data in the Ministry of Finance, and you can review them at any time. I absolutely dare not make any jokes about the empire's finances." Marquis Hasteri said proudly.

De Boer XVII nodded slightly.

Of course he believed that the Marquis of Hastery would lie about this kind of thing, because it was of no benefit, and it was very easy to be exposed. It was impossible for him to take such a big risk to deceive His Majesty the Emperor in public.

"That is to say... because of the existence of the navy, the pirates in the southern waters of the empire were eliminated. The vigorous development of shipping has led to a significant improvement in the financial situation of the southern coast of the empire, and the improvement is still exaggerated. Marquis Hasteri , That's what you mean, right?" De Boer XVII asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Marquis Hasteri said seriously. "If the existence of the Imperial Navy did not show any specific significance in the past, then I can be sure that the existence of the Imperial Navy has guaranteed the vigorous development of the shipping industry. If we can increase investment in this area, I believe it will It has formed a very big boost to the growth of the empire's finances."

"Really?" De Boer XVII glanced at the silent Duke of Warner, and suddenly asked: "Then, Duke of Warner, tell me why the Imperial Navy has not been able to clear up the rampant southern seas for so many years. Pirates. How can it be done suddenly in two years?"

"correct……"

Everyone reacted enough, Qiqi looked at Duke Warner.

However, everyone found that after being asked this question by His Majesty, the expression on Duke Warner's face was a little awkward.

Everyone was amazed.

The prestige and status of Duke Warner in the Candela Empire are extremely high, what else can make him feel embarrassed?

"Say!" De Boer XVII urged in a deep voice.

The Duke of Warner smiled wryly, bowed to De Boer XVII, and sighed slightly: "Your Majesty, in fact, the Navy was able to clean up all the pirates in the southern waters of the empire, and even the surrounding waters, mainly because With the help of the escort fleet of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce..."

"Ah?" Hearing this answer, the surrounding ministers and De Boer XVII were all a little dumbfounded.

Why is it related to this Xinfei Chamber of Commerce?

De Boer XVII frowned slightly.

He suddenly discovered that because he always believed that the existence of the Imperial Navy was too small, he didn't care about it at all, so that he didn't know what to do with the Imperial Navy.

Judging from the answer given by the Duke of Warner, the changes in the Imperial Navy in the past two years have a strong connection with the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, and even made Duke Warner say that the "mainly" is because of the help of the escort fleet of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce. Only the Imperial Navy can eliminate the pirates in the southern seas.

Judging from this point, we can know that the ability of the escort fleet of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce is obviously far beyond that of the Imperial Navy. Otherwise, why the Imperial Navy has not been able to deal with those pirates for so many years, and it can be done with the help of the escort fleet of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce. arrive.

Contacting the battle report received before that the Imperial Navy was defeated by the fleet belonging to the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce further proved this inference.

Thinking of this, De Boer XVII slowly sat back on his chair, regained his composure, and said to Duke Warner: "Duke Warner, come, let me introduce this new escort fleet of the Chamber of Commerce. Will it be stronger than our dignified Kandela Empire Navy?"

Just as the Duke of Warner was about to speak, the Marquis of Hastery suddenly interjected: "Your Majesty, can I introduce you to the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce first? I think that as long as you listen to my introduction, you should understand this Why is the escort fleet under the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce so powerful?"

De Boer XVII frowned slightly, feeling a little unhappy because his question was snatched by the Marquess of Hasteri, but his curiosity about the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce made him ignore this bit of unhappiness.

"Okay, then you can introduce this Xinfei Chamber of Commerce well. I want to see what is so special about this Chamber of Commerce that it can be talked about by the two most important ministers in our empire. "

The Marquis of Hasteri bowed respectfully to De Boer XVII, pondered for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, actually... I have been looking for a good time to introduce you to the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, because I think, The empire must pay enough attention to this chamber of commerce..." (To be continued...)