Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 354 The Religious War Begins
"Philip, Philip, did you sense it?"
In the Spanish Royal Palace, outside the bedroom of His Majesty the King, hurried footsteps were heard, accompanied by Rudolf's loud voice.
Philip, who was sitting at his desk working, frowned slightly, but when Rudolph appeared in his sight, he immediately adjusted his brows to a warm smile: "Of course I sensed it."
After saying this, he gently spread out his hands again: "However, this is just Kaiyang completing a ritual, and it actually has little impact on him."
"Well, you have a point."
After saying this casually, Rudolf became excited again: "Philip, do you know? Our relative in Prague, Ferdinand, was driven away by Czech Protestants. The second incident of being thrown out of the window happened nearly a month earlier than in the original plane of history."
"Yeah, I know."
"So, when do we send out our troops?"
"Hey~" Unable to hold back any longer, Philip couldn't help but slap his forehead with his hand: "Rudolf, calm down. You've been too impatient recently. I think you and your wife can take a vacation somewhere to relax."
"I can't help but be impatient. Kaiyang has reached the summit! If they win the naval battle, they will soon unify East Asia. But now we can't even effectively integrate Western Europe. Not to mention that we have an enemy like the Ottomans in front of us!"
"Ah~" Philip sighed, walked out of the door and said loudly to the servants who were hiding far away: "Go and ask the Prime Minister to come here."
Since they worked in the same palace, they were not far from each other, so Osvalles arrived at Philip's room very quickly.
After greeting each other, Philip said, "My Prime Minister, it is now May 9, 1618, and there is still more than a month until the end of this fiscal year. Can you now report to me and His Royal Highness the revenue and expenditure of the royal government from July 1, 1617 to now?"
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
After a slight bow, Osvalles walked to the huge blackboard hanging on the side of Philip's office and picked up a piece of chalk.
"Let me first talk about last year's revenue. Last year, our country's agricultural tax, commercial tax, real estate property tax and other taxes totaled 18 million silver coins. Our major governorates in the Americas implement a fixed-rate tax system. In the past fiscal year, a total of 12 million silver coins were paid. Our country has signed agreements with local councils such as Portugal and Barcelona. In these two places, Portugal pays 3 million silver coins each year, and Barcelona pays 1.2 million each year. In addition, in the Netherlands, according to the agreement after the last Western European war, the entire Netherlands implements limited autonomy. Even the vassals whose fiefs are in the Netherlands have to pay taxes. Therefore, the Netherlands generated 9.3 million in revenue for the royal government last year. In addition, the royal government has some enclaves in Italy and North Africa. The taxes paid by these places totaled 1.2 million. The above totals 44.7 million.
Next is the expenditure. The largest expenditure of the Royal Government last year was military expenditure. After the efforts of His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness, all the armies of our country have now completed the replacement, reorganization and related training. At present, the Royal Army has a total of 20 standing divisions, totaling 300,000 people. Each standing division costs 850,000 yuan a year for daily salaries of officers and soldiers, training consumption, etc. So this alone is 17 million. In addition to the army, there is also the navy. At present, the Royal Government has a total of four fleets: the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Caribbean and Manila. To maintain these four fleets every year, the government needs to spend 12 million. If new ships need to be built, the expenditure will double directly. Of course, due to the success of the experiment of the marine steam engine, His Majesty has ordered the suspension of the construction of new sailing warships. However, last year, the government invested 3 million yuan in advance to develop and test ironclad ships.
In addition to the daily military expenses mentioned above, the maintenance of the Madrid Army School, the Bilbao Naval School, the General Staff Headquarters, the CNI and other institutions are also considered part of the military expenditure. Of course, these places do not require much money, and 3 million per year is more than enough.
After the military expenditure, there is the annual quota for the royal family. His Majesty has ordered cuts many times. Last year, it was only 1.2 million. The salary of civil servants nationwide was 2.4 million last year. In addition, there are expenses for the Asturian Academy of Sciences and subsidies for the church... In short, the above expenses total 43.85 million. Overall, the government has a slight surplus. But! "
Osvalles suddenly raised his voice: "Due to the emergence of steam locomotives, His Majesty ordered the construction of railways throughout the country and even Western Europe. Therefore, the Royal Government borrowed 12 million from the Bank of Milan, the Bank of Venice and the Bank of Madrid. At the end of last year, four railways were started at the same time: Madrid to Barcelona, Madrid to Lisbon, Madrid to Andalusia, and Madrid to Bilbao. The construction period is expected to be three to five years. At the same time, according to His Majesty's order, the Royal Government has contacted the governments of relevant countries such as the Grand Duchy of Paris and the Duchy of Burgundy to discuss the construction of the Madrid to Paris railway. According to the preliminary estimate of our engineers, if we want to build a large railway across the Pyrenees, we will need a budget of at least 10 million."
"Thank you for your professional and detailed explanation. Now, you can go back to your business. My Prime Minister."
"This is my duty, and I am very happy to serve you. Then please allow me to take my leave first, Your Majesty, Your Highness."
"Hiss~" After Osvalles' footsteps faded away, Rudolf took a deep breath and said, "Philip, how come we are still in debt? Didn't you say that with this Justice League, we can suck the blood of Western European countries dry?"
"Yes, it can be drained. But aren't we creating blood vessels now?"
"No, Philip. After hearing what the Prime Minister said just now, it seems that our country's army of 300,000 is already the limit. This, this doesn't make sense."
"So what else do you want?" He still had a warm smile. "Rudolf, Spain at this time was just a medieval country that had just invented the steam engine. If it weren't for the re-export trade of oriental silk, porcelain, tea, and antibiotics, and the support of the American colonies, it wouldn't be able to support even 300,000 modern troops! Look at other European countries fighting now. Except for France in the past, which country can deploy 50,000 or 60,000 troops at one time?
Besides, how many real Castilians are there in our native Spain? Less than 10 million! Even if we add Catalans, Basques... Portuguese and even Gypsies, the population of the entire Iberian Peninsula is only 18 million. Such a population cannot support an army of 300,000 and four fleets. Haven't you noticed that the proportion of Spanish and Indian mixed-race people in our army is getting higher and higher? These people are not a big deal in the army now. Once they retire and return to America, they will pose a huge threat to our colonial rule! So I had to put nearly 5% of blacks in the army...
Only when the Industrial Revolution breaks out, human productivity will be greatly improved, and products and wealth will be a hundred times richer than before, and then the government's income will increase tenfold or a hundredfold. By that time, let alone 300,000 troops, I can even support 3 million. And by that time, we will have completely tied up with Europe economically, and Europe's abundant manpower can be assured to become our source of troops! "
"Okay, so according to you, the Royal Government is currently unable to get involved in the affairs of Central Europe?"
"Hahaha, my dear Rudolf, we still have to participate. But we have to find the right opportunity. After all, if I don't want to participate in this war, why should I raise 300,000 troops?"
"I, I don't understand what you are saying anymore. "
Humph, a simple officer like you should just listen to the orders of a scholar like me. Why do you always interfere in major national policy matters? Do you want to force me to take back Tianxuan’s talent bonus as soon as possible?
No, it can't. The world is about to enter the steam age, and the way of war will be completely changed. I still need you, a professional, to build a truly modern army for me. So, please tolerate you for a while.
After figuring this out, Philip's signature smile reappeared: "Rudolf, in the original plane of history, our relative in the Czech Republic, Ferdinand, as the Czech king, was driven out of Prague by his subjects. He first turned to Spain for help. And it was indeed Spain that helped him block the first Czech invasion."
"But now he has been driven out for half a month. Even we have received the news, but his messenger has not arrived yet."
"Hahaha, I guess he won't send a messenger to us."
"why is that?"
"No reason, just pure jealousy. Although that stupid fanatic is 22 years older than us, we are of the same generation as Ferdinand. Over the past decade or so, our elderly cousin has been compared to us, and every time he is compared, he spends his days in ridicule."
"Tsk! I feel so sorry for the fellow. Well, who would he go to if he doesn't come to us?"
"Our old uncle, the current Holy Roman Emperor Marcels, is already terminally ill and there is no way to support him. If we do not take action, facing the aggressive Czech rebels, he will have no choice but to turn to the Duke of Bavaria. After all, his wife is the princess of Bavaria."
"Well, then what?"
"And then?" Philip quietly rolled his eyes, showing his disdain for this overly simple question. But he still answered in a very sincere tone: "My dear Rudolf, Bavaria is the Catholic base in Germany. Once he sends troops to fight against the Czech Protestants, then what was originally just a political struggle of Bohemia against its own king will naturally degenerate into a religious war!"
"Then what?"
"Well, then, let's wait and see what happens. Not only us, but the entire Justice League must wait and see what happens. If, once a country other than Germany intervenes, we will enter the German region with absolute force."
As if to verify Philip's inference, on May 11, 1618, Ferdinand, the Czech king who could not get support from the terminally ill Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, entered Bavaria and received military and financial support from the country.
Once Bavaria joined the game, the Protestant princes in northern Germany, led by Saxony, also began to prepare for war. Further north, Sweden also began national mobilization.
In the end, it was because the overly bloody feuds had accumulated too many old grudges, so as long as there was just a little spark, the religious war throughout Europe would inevitably break out and expand rapidly.
