Chapter 1045: Five-Year Plan (I.)
However, Roland goes on to point out that business activity can also have negative consequences.
Since he analyzed it from the perspective of economics, he did not dwell on the security problems caused by the floating population, but pointed out the hidden danger of inflation lurking behind the commercial boom by analyzing the changes in market prices, and the local citizens felt this most deeply - before the "sanctification ceremony" was held a pound of rye bread cost only 5 copper coins, but now it has risen to 7 copper coins per pound. To this end, Roland reminded the authorities in the article to ensure the supply of goods in the capital, to take measures to stabilize food prices, and especially to crack down on speculators who hoard and speculate on high prices.
Roland's third point in The Economics of Pilgrimage answers the question that caused the merchant to gain and lose:
Will the economic boom brought about by the pilgrimage to Krasbourg last for a long time?
Roland believes that the answer is yes, and devout believers will not be content to make just one pilgrimage in their lifetime. The Holy See can provide appropriate guidance in this regard, such as the annual "Feast of Sanctification" on October 1 to commemorate the consecration of Krasbourg, a day when the capital's cathedral celebrates a great Mass and the faithful who desire to participate in person will once again embark on the pilgrimage. As a result, Krasbourg receives an annual pilgrimage boom, like an annual trade fair, which brings periodic prosperity to the local economy.
Finally, Roland also highlighted the pitfalls of this use of holidays to stimulate the economy, as September and October are the busy farming season in the Far Northeast, and people have to waste weeks or even months of their time traveling to the capital during the pilgrimage, which will have a negative impact on agricultural production.
Therefore, at the end of the article, Roland advises the majority of Sindra believers that pilgrimage is not the only way to express piety, and that those who work hard will also be blessed by the goddess of fate. At the same time, he also made a recommendation to the authorities: to improve the construction of transport in various parts of the Far East as soon as possible. If there is a train platform near each township, people can take the nearest train to the capital, and the pilgrimage can be completed in just a few days, and the normal life and work arrangements will not be affected by the pilgrimage; At the same time, the ease of transportation also facilitates the pilgrim to carry as many goods as possible along the route to trade—especially those that are heavy, fragile, and have a short shelf life, and whose trading value is heavily dependent on the ease of transportation.
Roland's article both affirmed and poured cold water on the pilgrimage craze, and on the whole it can be regarded as objective and neutral.
The average reader does not know which onion "Liszt Keynes" is, and does not think that this person's criticism of the government's economic work will be taken seriously by the authorities, but at most they regard this person as a scholar who dares to speak the truth.
But Roland bets with anyone that the criticism of "Liszt Keynes" will be heeded by the authorities and that effective rectification will be made as soon as possible. This fact will greatly enhance Mr. Liszt Keynes's voice in the field of national economy, and his future publication of financial commentary articles will attract the attention of more readers, and his opinion can be used as a weather vane of the authorities' economic policy to a certain extent, so Mr. "Liszt Keynes" has achieved a leap from a passerby to an authority, while Roland just wants to hide behind a pen name and quietly be an amateur "public knowledge".
That's right, "The Economics of Pilgrimage" is just something Roland writes in his spare time, and these days his main focus is on writing a more serious report, "Outline of the Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development of the Kingdom of Koras", or "Five-Year Plan" for short.
The 400-page policy program is mainly divided into three parts: national defense and military affairs, economic construction, and cultural education.
At this time, the cabinet had been formed according to the idea of the Khoras father and son, and the outline written by Roland as the "assistant to the prime minister" was first submitted to Lloyd for review, and the old man expressed his full trust in Roland's work ability, read it hastily, and submitted it to the cabinet meeting for review by the ministers without changing a word.
This plan is related to the development direction of the Kingdom of Kolas in the next five years, and Roland has put a lot of effort into the outline. At the cabinet meeting, he himself reported to Rudolph and the ministers.
The first theme of the plan was army building, and Roland made a bold prediction about the development of the three major arms of the army, navy, and air force in the next five years.
The Far East was generally a land power, and the army was the absolute main force resisting the eastward advance of the Assanian Empire. Roland plans to increase the size of the army to two to three times the current size within five years, that is to say, to maintain a standing army of 600,000 to 100,000 men, compared with the 5 million population of the Far East, the ratio of military personnel is relatively high, and to provide training and equipment for such a large standing army is a major test for the state budget.
Roland's plan was questioned by Chancellor of the Exchequer Zahar and Minister of Agriculture Yodl, who was concerned that the military budget was too high and crowding out the funds for infrastructure development, and that Yoddle was worried about the food consumed to feed so many soldiers and horses.
Roland comforted the two ministers, "What I submitted today is only a basic outline, and I will elaborate on the specific sources of military spending and material supplies in the follow-up report, so as to ensure that the situation that Mr. Zahar and Mr. Yodel feared will not occur." ”
With such confidence, Zahar and Yodel were not able to get to the bottom of it, and most of the ministers and military advisers present were skeptical of Roland's promise. Especially after seeing his huge budget investment in military equipment, the atmosphere of suspicion in the venue was even stronger.
Roland made a list of armaments in the report, and the army alone invested more than 10 million gold dugas a year, including equipping the newly formed grenadier cavalry division with grenadiers and grenades, and the larger expenditure was to order 200 new mechanical armor every year, and planned to gather 1,000 mechanical armor within five years to form the world's largest mechanized corps in Vares, the Far Eastern Armored Knights.
On the naval side, Roland plans to use Kolas Island, which holds the North Bay, as a base to strengthen naval construction and expand the size of the fleet.
The coastline of the Far East is very short, and there is only one northern bay at the northern outlet to the sea, which is theoretically not the territory of the Kingdom of Kolas, and the southern outlet to the sea is in the Golden Horn, but that area is currently controlled by the Parnias, and is also outside the territory of the Kingdom of Kolas. As a result, it was difficult for Far Easterners to open up shipping routes to participate in today's overseas colonization campaign, which had the advantage of being inland, which protected the country from threats from the sea.
In this situation, the enclave "Kolas Island" in the North Bay became the only gateway for Far Easterners to break out of the interior, and its position was particularly important.