Chapter 225: The Steel Wall
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“Your Highness, the Great Yu Empire’s tax revenue mainly comes from agriculture. By exempting the fiefdom from taxes for three years, we’ve essentially cut off the government’s income.”
Seeing Xiao Ming frown at the accounts, Pang Yukun explained further.
“As for commercial taxes, only Qingzhou has a significant number of merchants, and even then, they’re mostly concentrated in industries like brewing and soap-making. The taxes collected amount to just tens of thousands of taels—a drop in the bucket compared to our current expenditures.”
Pang Yukun was in charge of logistics, and his focus was solely on finances. He didn’t concern himself with Xiao Ming’s broader plans, but in his view, projects like the galleons were unnecessary and a waste of resources.
Xiao Ming understood Pang Yukun’s implication—he was warning against costly, large-scale projects that could burden the recovering economy of the six prefectures.
But for Xiao Ming, every plan had a purpose. Without investment, there would be no major returns—a perspective Pang Yukun likely couldn’t grasp yet.
After Pang Yukun finished, Xiao Ming turned his attention to Li Kaiyuan.
Managing a fiefdom was like running a company. The military, public welfare, and government operations were major expenses, while Li Kaiyuan, representing the merchant guild, was the primary source of income.
That’s why Xiao Ming always felt more relieved seeing Li Kaiyuan than Pang Yukun.