Chapter 421: Quarrel and Change

In addition to checking the land, the blue representatives of the Senate also proposed a motion, which is to change the head tax to land tax, which can promote population growth.

This is a continuous stab in the back of the landlords, but Mircea did not care. He also knew that the landlords could not be forced anymore, otherwise they would rebel.

However, the population potential is still very large. The current population has exceeded 10 million. As long as the society is stable and the economy is prosperous, the population will continue to grow.

The only thing that puzzled Mircea was why the fiscal revenue was only so little. With the vast land and sufficient population, it is impossible to be only so little.

It was not until Baptiste explained that he understood that in order to quickly restore the economy, low tax rates were used. The pressure on the people was only one-third of that of the Komnenos Dynasty, and the Anatolia region was still under construction. Some tax-free places did not start paying taxes until this year. It is estimated that there will be a big leap in income by the end of the year.

During the heyday of the Komnenos Dynasty, the annual income was about 6 million gold coins, and the gold coins were still 18K. The current lei is minted according to the highest standard of gold content, with a purity of nearly 24K. This shows how good the economy of the Roman Empire was.

The disturbance caused by the land inventory was temporarily ended by the emperor's order to conduct a pilot project, but the Green Party representatives were not vegetarians. Since the ocean was so profitable, it would not be too much to give some to the empire.

The lower house was already arguing with the proposals of the two factions, but the emperor was happy to see such things, and no one wanted to compete with him for power.

"Your Majesty, the front-line military report."

"Read"

"Our army marched day and night, advancing by land and sea, and recovered Salageb on August 12."

The Duke of Gion came to Salageb with his army at a good time. Skro had already taken his army to Ljubljana to take over the territory. This was the best time to recover the lost land.

It was basically no difficulty for tens of thousands of troops to face a city with only 1,000 militiamen for defense. The city was broken after only two days of fighting. All the local people were arrested and sent to Constantinople to ask His Majesty the Emperor to decide their future.

Mircea smiled. The pessimism of a few months ago had been swept away. Except for Venice, which was a little tricky, the others were not worth mentioning. He didn't know why he had such a mood. Maybe he was afraid that other countries would take advantage of the situation.

"What is Peter doing recently?"

"His Royal Highness is discussing things with the representatives of the Trade Hall."

At this time, all the court servants called Peter His Royal Highness. He also had the title of co-emperor, but it was more convenient to call him Prince.

Peter was still busy with Eastern colonization and trade. The Eastern Emperor approved Rome to set up trading stations in Ningbo and Guangzhou, which was a progress. The King of Korea also approved Rome to set up a trading station in Incheon. Except for Japan, the establishment of trading points in other places was very smooth.

The actual ruler of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, died two months ago. The general Ashikaga Yoshimochi, who had succeeded to the throne for 13 years, began to squeeze out Roman merchants with Sasaki Yoshimasa, so that the trading point in Osaka was difficult.

At this time, Shimazu Motohisa, the lord of Satsuma, who was at odds with Sasaki Yoshimasa, saw an opportunity and told Roman merchants that they could set up trading stations in his territory, and they only needed to pay part of the taxes every year.

Considering Kyoto's non-cooperation, all Roman merchants evacuated Osaka and set up trading posts in Satsuma. The place managed by the lord can conduct maritime trade with Ming, Korea, Ryukyu, and Formosa, so it is also a good place to set up a trading point.

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So, Roman merchants re-established trading houses in this place called Kagoshima to trade. Taking advantage of the local geographical advantages, overseas trade has flourished again.

"At present, the Eastern trade controlled by our country, the route from Ming to Japan is very profitable, second only to the route from India or Ming to Constantinople."

"In other words, we need to maintain this route?"

"Yes, Your Highness, we can invest too little power in this place, and we must expand the local power, especially Formosa, to make it our logistics base."

The Trade Hall gave a feasible plan based on the current situation. There are too many uncertain factors in Japan. Their politics is only better than that of Shinra. Each place is ruled by small princes. The boss is called the general, who is responsible for national affairs, but the current general does not seem to like Rome, so he can only try to build good relations with other families.

Peter carefully searched for the situation in Japan during this period in his mind. There were no people like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, or Fujiwara clan. Now it was just an ordinary Muromachi shogunate era. Except for the lack of political concentration, it seemed that there was nothing special.

"Take it slow. When necessary, we need to protect our interests in Japan. Their lords are not happy because we make money and they are jealous."

"Okay, Your Highness, the Trade Bureau will write to them to explain the situation. This time there is still one main situation. Please make a decision, Your Highness."

This situation was originally to be reported to the Religious Bureau, but because the matter was too controversial, the Trade Bureau reported it on its behalf.

The Religious Bureau's missionary work in Southeast Asia, India and Formosa was relatively smooth, but it was difficult in Ming Dynasty and Japan. The local folk customs and culture were completely different and could not be integrated at all. Not to mention the spread of religion.

All missionaries were at a loss, but a saint named Nicholas did something that surprised everyone. He shaved his head, put on a monk's robe, learned Japanese, and then went to Kagoshima to meet the local lord and directly told him that he was a monk from India and hoped to establish a sect here.

Buddhism in Japan was still very important during this period, and Nicholas spent some silver, so it was approved. According to this method, more than a dozen people were allowed to preach in Kagoshima.

Some people asked the patriarch to excommunicate the missionaries, but some people found the view of adapting to local customs in books and expressed their support. Such divergent views naturally need to be decided by the highest.

"What you said is indeed a problem, but you must also know that the culture of the East is very rich. If you want to spread religion, you can only try to adapt to local conditions."

From what your highness meant, he was ready to adapt flexibly.

"I understand, I will tell the Religious Department."

Colonization, colonization, for luxury goods and interests, even if it is broken into pieces. India's spices and cotton, Ming Dynasty's porcelain and silk, Japan and Korea's gold and silver mines, Abyssinia's coffee, and a large amount of wood and other products, are all gathered in Constantinople and sold. These are all priceless, and other European countries must be envious, and the income generated by the sale will become the capital for each member of the family to build a career.