"It is better to focus on the textile and wine industries and vigorously support their development."

Calvo also put forward his own opinions, and his proposal made Constantine a little interested.

"Tell me more about it."

Constantine encouraged that Calvo had already prepared a plan.

"Needless to say about the textile industry, textile products are very popular throughout Europe,"

After a pause, Calvo continued,

"The winemaking industry is our specialty. The empire's winemaking technology is very complete. In the past, it was just because there was no land to grow grapes and other winemaking raw materials. Now we have obtained a large amount of land. If we plant all food, we may have low prices and hurt farmers.

In this case, we can set aside part of the land as vineyards to encourage the development of wineries, which can also bring a lot of tax revenue to the country."

In fact, this kind of policy support is similar to the ancient salt and iron government camp in the East, both of which are used to increase tax revenue. The only difference is that the East directly cuts off the intervention of all private forces, while Byzantium only takes the lead and allows private forces to follow. Of course,

Yes, this is also related to the fact that salt and iron are necessities of the country.

The official salt and iron management that was common in the East in ancient times did not exist in the West. Europe did not restrict the private sale of salt, but some countries had special taxes on salt, such as France. The special salt tax was not abolished until the Great Revolution.

In addition, Europeans are close to the sea and eat a lot of sea salt. If there is no official camp, can you seal the sea?

"Very good, well-founded,"

Constantine appreciated Calvo's proposal, then looked around at the other cabinet members,

"Do you have anything else to add?"

Seeing this, Chavez was also a little worried and unhappy.

"Although we have obtained a large amount of land, we are still unable to establish vineyards and pastures while maintaining food self-sufficiency."

This involves a very important question, that is, should we be self-sufficient and directly provide finished products? Or should we engage in processing industry, purchase raw materials from abroad, process them and sell them?

The former is of course the best. At least you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in the throat. The most serious consequence is just unsaleable. The disadvantage is that it requires a large area. Both pastures and vineyards take up a lot of area, and these two

The required natural environment almost overlaps with that of fertile farmland, especially pasture. This means that as long as there are more and more of these two industries, the area of ​​farmland will definitely be compressed.

Not to mention that in the Balkans, mountains are connected one after another, and there are few large plains. Most of them have a few open spaces between the mountains, which are very fragmented, but they are suitable for vineyards and the like. After all, grapes

The growing conditions for this thing are not very harsh.

"Actually, we don't have to keep it all in our own hands,"

Calvo gave the solution,

"The ranch occupies a very large area. We can import wool and other raw materials from abroad. In this regard, there is no need to insist on self-produced and self-sold products."

"The Principality of Muscovy is located on the prairie and is rich in fur ore. The empire's current territory is mainly mountainous and is not very suitable for grazing. It is more practical to import wool from the Principality of Muscovy."

To be honest, you can still be self-sufficient in the early stage. Once you secure your position as an international leader, it will be impossible to rely solely on domestic resources. England is a typical example in this regard. The enclosure movement in the early stage is primitive accumulation.

Isn’t it just for the cotton producing areas that we are invading all over the world?

Seeing that Chavez stopped talking, Constantine continued to ask,

"What are your specific plans?"

Calvo took out the document he had prepared earlier and handed it to Constantine without stopping talking.

"I think there can be a limit on the land leased by the state. It must grow food within the first five years and cannot be used for other purposes. The cabinet will follow up at any time and set a lower limit for cultivated land. Each province is not allowed to have less cultivated land.

Otherwise you will be punished.”

"The establishment of large-scale pastures must be approved, so that we can roughly control the number of pastures. We do not impose restrictions on the establishment of vineyards, but the establishment of wineries can be copied as before."

Constantine couldn't help but nod, and it was obvious that Calvo had made a lot of preparations.

"Since we are fully prepared, let's do this. From now on, the textile industry and the brewing industry will be our focus. The government must issue policies as soon as possible. You can discuss the specific plans in this area and write a document and submit it to me.

look."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The cabinet members stood up and spoke in unison, then left the palace.

After that, things are implemented in detail. If the government wants to support a certain industry, the most common way is to reduce taxes, which is also an important means to stimulate development.

Byzantine taxation was complicated, and there were all kinds of taxes, divided into ordinary taxes and graded taxes. Cultivated land alone was divided into three levels, and the tax amounts for each level were different. During the heyday of the empire, it was okay.

He found so many officials, but where is the money to support so many officials now, so Constantine directly stipulated a tax of 10% and 50%, that is, no matter how much your real estate produces, you only need to pay half of the tax. Compared with before, it can be said that it is a tax of 50%.

Not a small amount of progress.

Constantine abolished all other taxes on farmers and only collected agricultural taxes. In this way, the burden on farmers was reduced a lot, and the country distributed land. The living standards in rural areas will definitely rise, and farmers will have money.

, it is necessary to consume, the vast market of tens to millions of people is enough to support the early development.

In addition to agricultural taxes, there is also the church's tithe, which is required by the church and must be paid by all Christians. However, this has nothing to do with the emperor. It is collected by the church and a large part of it cannot be used up.

, which is why the church often appears as a luxury.

Soon after determining the direction of the country, the cabinet issued a decree to implement a trial tax-free system for textiles and alcohol in the three cities of Constantinople, Salonika and Athens, and the taxes on these two commodities were halved throughout the empire.

, for a time, applications for breweries and textile workshops were like flying snow, flying to the relevant departments in various cities. After careful review and approval, workshops were built one after another.

…

Rome

"Your Majesty the Pope, our funds are insufficient. Do we need to collect more donations?"

A cardinal asked Pius II in a low voice.

Originally, money was not an issue. The Holy See has always been a wealthy organization. I have never heard of the Holy See being short of money, except for corruption.

But as soon as the war began, the roads in northern Italy were blocked, and convoys transporting money could not enter Italy, even though the German bishops donated a lot of money very generously.

The German bishops have made a lot of money recently. European movable type printing has just been invented. The German bishops are keenly aware of the importance of this technology. Its spread of ideas is simply like a nuclear bomb.

However, they did not take the opportunity to print religious books such as Bibles to expand their influence. Instead, they immediately applied this technology to the printing of indulgences, and claimed that by purchasing indulgences, one could go to heaven after death. This was a big surprise to those nobles.

It's like a dream. They bully the people on weekdays and feel very bad. Now they can buy indulgences and go to heaven after death, which makes them feel a lot better.

In fact, the sale of indulgences has been around for a long time, and the purpose is very simple. From the day it was born, indulgences have been used to make money. The purpose of the Holy See is very clear.

However, in the past, indulgences were all handwritten. Not to mention the trouble, the output was still small, and they could only be sold at a high price. They made money by selling less and making large profits. Now, it is better. The movable type printing technology has simply given wings to the church's speed of making money.

Want money? Just print it. The key is that it won't cause inflation. Anyone who wants to use it can agree.

Not only that, the church also hides this technology like a thief. Maybe they also know how important these technologies are, so they hold them tightly in their hands and refuse to show them to others. But the inventor of this technology - John

Gutenberg was a poor citizen who owed a lot of debt to the nobles for inventing this technology. It was the church in Mainz that intervened to save him from jail, so he directly gave this technology to the church in Mainz.

,

But Gutenberg is not dead yet. No matter how deeply the church hides, it will inevitably leak out. Historically, it was he who led a media revolution.

"Send letters to the monarchs of the Iberian Peninsula, collect funds from them, and send an encyclical to the entire Catholic world condemning the behavior of Venice and Genoa and ordering them to dissolve the alliance."

Pius II had a headache. If the money matter was solved, mercenaries would be everywhere, and there would be no need for people who wanted to make a fortune. Before the New World was discovered, Europeans focused their energy on the continent. After the New World was discovered,

, there are a lot less mercenaries, most of them went to the New World to try to find gold mines and the like, trying to get rich overnight.

"In addition, write to the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier, the Archbishop of Trento, etc., and ask them to launch a condemnation of the Genoa countries in the Imperial Parliament, bribe some small countries, and let them wave the flag and shout for us

, we must build momentum.”

"Ask the King of England if he is prepared to intervene in the war, even in name only. If they are not prepared to support us, then we have an excuse to abandon them."

Pius II spoke eloquently. The Papal State had too few allies. No one was willing to fight France personally. Even Frederick III acquiesced to this.

In the past, the Pope would repeatedly jump between France and the Holy Roman Empire. If the two countries reached an agreement, the Pope would have no choice but to compromise. However, this is difficult to do. There are so many small countries in the Holy Roman Empire, and there are not many who support the Pope.
Chapter completed!