After Christmas, Franz was busy again. There are always a lot of things at the end of the year, the government's year-end summary, the plan for the coming year, the budget, ......

The people below are responsible for the specific things, but Franz still has to control the general direction. As a qualified emperor, you must ensure control over the government.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Carr: "Your Majesty, this is this year's fiscal revenue and expenditure report.

In 1875, the total revenue of the new Holy Roman Empire was 865.2 billion Aegis, the total expenditure was 876.4 billion Aegis, and the fiscal deficit was 1.12 million Aegis.

Austria's total fiscal revenue in 1875 was 157.41 million Aegis, total financial expenditure was 155.04 million Aegis, and the fiscal surplus was 2.37 million Aegis.

In 1875, Bavaria's total fiscal revenue was 11.32 million Aegis, and the expenditure and revenue were basically equal, and the fiscal revenue and expenditure were balanced.

In 1875, the Kingdom of Jerusalem had a revenue of 220,000 shields, a fiscal expenditure of 3,140,000 shields, and a deficit of 2,920,000 shields. ”

Although the Austrian government was the central government of the new Holy Roman Empire, it had to be financially differentiated.

If the finances are not separated, the central government will run a deficit, and there will be no way to ask the state governments for money.

Not only is it financially divided, but in fact the functions of the two are different.

The Austrian government is mainly responsible for the governance of Austria, such as tax collection, social security, economic development, education, infrastructure construction...... These are confined to Austria.

The central government is different, these specific administrative matters are the functions of the governments of various states, and they do not need to intervene.

But the central government was responsible for the whole of the new Holy Roman Empire, and its main functions included mediating relations between the states, enacting laws, administering the judiciary, conducting diplomatic work, training and administering the army, issuing currency, collecting customs duties, and administering the colonies......

It is also normal that the central government's revenues are not as high as those of the states, and in addition to the colonial revenues, the central government only has seigniorage and customs duties.

The large size of the colony does not mean that the fiscal revenue is also high. Now it's good, I'm able to basically break even, and I still have a slight surplus.

However, this surplus only exists on paper, and after a hand in the central government, it is consumed by local construction projects.

In the early years, the central government ran a large deficit, and the governments of the states had to share the fiscal deficit together. It's always difficult to get money out of someone's pocket.

At that time, the end of each year was the most painful time for the Vienna government. We must patiently do ideological work for the governments of the states and make them willing to pay for it.

This changed as the colonial economy grew and the central government no longer had to pay for it.

This kind of change is not what the state governments want to see, they don't need to pay for it, and it also means that their status in the empire has declined.

Politics is so realistic, and with the central government balancing its balance of payments, the merger of the Austrian government and the central government is on the agenda.

Whether you want it or not, this is an inevitable result. Otherwise, after the colony is indigenized, how will it rule?

It is no problem for the central government to directly govern the colonies, but if it directly governs the localized provinces, then the political status of these provinces will be on a par with the state government.

There is no doubt that the continent is so big that the future development potential will definitely exceed that of the mainland.

If we do not integrate now and determine the system, these provinces will definitely have to fight for political rights and interests when they develop in the future.

If it really transitions to the era of democracy and freedom, and the decision is made by the people's vote, then the European emperor will become a non-emperor, and it is just around the corner.

The main reason for placing the colonies under the imperial flag instead of the Austrian flag was to get the states to pay together, and secondly, to have an orthodox name to facilitate the deception of immigrants in Germany.

Now that all this work has been done, it is time to unload the mill and kill the donkey. Politics is such a reality that Franz has decided to merge the executive power of Austria, Bavaria, and Jerusalem.

1875 was the last time the finances were separated, and then they would be completely merged. The government no longer has to go to such trouble and make two budgets.

Franz took the document and looked at it carefully. The outgoing 1875 was a good year, the first time since he ascended the throne that the Austrian government had a fiscal surplus.

Even if it's just a paltry two million Aegis, it's a great victory.

In the first few years of his succession, Franz had a lot of financial headaches, until the outbreak of the First Near Eastern War, and he got out of trouble by making war money.

Later, the pace of colonial expansion was accelerated, and the government's finances were also in deficit for many years, and the best time was to balance payments.

This is the era of the gold standard, not the period of credit money, and if the government wants to print money, it must first look at the gold reserves.

To stimulate the economy with fiscal deficits, we must first look at how much money we have in our pockets. There is no way to make up for the deficit by issuing more money, and long-term deficits increase government debt.

The government's debt sustainability is also limited, and if it exceeds that level, the finances will be crushed.

Greece is a negative lesson in this regard, and the government has been working hard to provide benefits without considering the consequences of the fiscal deficit.

There is no doubt that the Austrian government is also in debt, and the so-called fiscal surplus exists only on paper, not a single wave in the face of the huge debt.

After a few moments, Franz closed the paper: "The fiscal surplus should be used to reduce the debt!" We are still under a lot of debt pressure, and if we encounter an emergency, we will be very passive. ”

At the beginning of the establishment of the new Holy Roman Empire, the small states feared that the central government would subsidize Austria with imperial finances and that they would suffer their own losses.

To reassure everyone, Franz set the rules: the central government was not allowed to borrow from abroad, and the fiscal deficit was shared among the state governments.

The effect is very obvious, the central government's money itself is not enough to spend, every year to reach out to the state government, every expenditure is strictly reviewed by everyone, naturally there is no embezzlement.

As a result, the central government's fiscal deficit falls on the state governments. Austria is the largest and has the most money to pay, and with its own infrastructure, its debt continues to grow.

Today, Austria's total debt is as high as 500 million Aegis, nearly 3.2 times the fiscal revenue, and more than the foreign debt of the tsarist government.

Of course, this algorithm is not reasonable, and there are some revenues that are not included in fiscal revenues, but can be used to pay off debts.

However, this number is still a bit dangerous. In the period of rapid economic development, it is not a problem, but it must enter a period of economic stability or even a period of recession, and the problem will appear.

The financial deficit of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which Franzti did not mention, was an inevitable result.

All the farmland is fallow and the city is being replanned and built, which costs money. If Jerusalem is not a holy place, it is estimated that there is not even the income of the 220,000 Aegis, and it is directly invested.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Carr: "Yes, Your Majesty. ”

After a pause, Karl added, "Your Majesty, our plan for fiscal consolidation has been opposed by the governments of the various states, and there may be trouble in the Imperial Diet. ”

The merger of the central government and Austria was the general trend, and everyone was mentally prepared, and Franz had already talked to the kings of the states, and generally everyone did not oppose it.

There was no problem with the administrative merger, that is, from the beginning the Austrian government was part-time central government, and in essence the two sides were already one and the same.

The Governments of the States are well aware of the nullity of their objections to the established facts that have been created. Without harming their own interests, everyone will acquiesce.

However, the fiscal situation is different, and the state governments have been subsidizing the central government. finally managed to break even, and was picked peaches, and no one felt comfortable in the middle of it.

There is no compromise on this issue, and if the finances cannot be merged, how can the integration be completed?

After a moment of hesitation, Franz decided: "If we can't convince the governments of the states to agree, then put aside the fiscal consolidation."

Let Jerusalem announce the reconstruction plan, and at the same time prepare the documents and materials, and apply to join the new Holy Lotus Empire at the Imperial Council early next year. ”

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was never part of the HRE Empire, but no one could object to Jerusalem joining the HRE Empire.

No Catholic country can refuse to join the Holy Land. Otherwise, the spittle of the people will bring the government down.

The addition of Jerusalem to the empire not only increased the voice of a state, but also added a big trouble.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was poor and white, and the reconstruction work had only just begun, which required huge sums of money. There is no doubt that the Kingdom of Jerusalem itself has no money.

It was religiously correct to rebuild the Holy Land, and after joining the HRE Empire, the cost fell to the central government. As is customary, the money ends up in the heads of the state governments.

Franz had already made plans to support the reconstruction of Jerusalem with donations from all over the world by promising the Holy See the right to govern the city.

However, this was still in secret negotiations, and if the Holy See wanted to take control of Jerusalem, it had to cooperate with Austria to stabilize the entire Middle East.

This did not prevent him from using the huge expenses for the reconstruction of Jerusalem to put pressure on the governments of the nations.

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