American: Native Empire Chapter 66: Budget

The voices of the departnt heads gathered in the imperial conference hall were louder than usual.

It couldnt be helped.

The decision made at this eting would change the unit of the budget allocated to each departnt.

Your Majesty, the cost of entering the central continents direct territories is increasing day by day. If we deploy troops to the Andes region in this situation, it will be hard to maintain with the current military budget.

We also need more budget for the education departnt. The money going into the schools and kindergartens that are increasing every day is too much.

The industrial departnt also

Kim Ki-woo listened to the complaints of the departnt heads with a sneer in his mind.

Geez Anyone would think that the empire is about to collapse.

Of course, most of what the departnt heads said was true.

As ti passed, the budget invested in all fields increased explosively.

But it was also true that there was so exaggeration in their stories.

He knew very well why they were doing this.

The more budget was assigned to their departnt, the easier it was to do their work for a year.

This decision determined their fate for a year.

I understand your words well. I will try to reflect your opinions as much as possible, so please wait.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Understood.

After adjourning the eting like that.

Kim Ki-woo headed to his office with the interior minister.

Phew. Every ti this happens, they all scream for money.

It cant be helped. Budget is such a sensitive issue, isnt it?

Straight Tree answered Kim Ki-woos words calmly.

In the current empire, Straight Trees position was second only to Kim Ki-woo.

First of all, among the many departnts, the interior departnt had the most power.

It was where the inner minister who assisted Kim Ki-woo belonged.

More importantly, the interior departnt was also the main body that arranged the budget.

Of course, Kim Ki-woo was deeply involved as he did now.

Moreover, while other departnt heads had retired long ago and so even beca third-generation departnt heads, Straight Trees influence was even stronger in this situation.

Especially since Straight Tree had always been by his side since he arrived, his closest aide.

Thinking so, Straight Trees appearance was reflected in Kim Ki-woos eyes.

Hes gotten old too.

His hair was white and his face was full of wrinkles.

Straight Tree had also reached his old age before he knew it.

It seed that he would not be long before he stepped down from his position as interior minister.

He should rest a little in his old age

Kim Ki-woo brought up this topic again on a whim.

Dont you still have any thoughts of retirent?

At that, Straight Tree smiled faintly.

My answer is always the sa. I will step down from my position as interior minister if you tell to. But I want to stay by your side until I die. Please grant this old mans wish.

Phew

He had seen his father die while working, but Straight Trees will did not change.

But Kim Ki-woo could not do to him what he did to other first-generation departnt heads.

Thats how much Straight Tree ant more to Kim Ki-woo than other departnt heads.

Kim Ki-woo opened his mouth to break the awkward air.

Then Ill make you work very hard until you fall into the arms of spirits. Be prepared.

Thats what I wanted.

Haha. By the way, is the crown prince behaving well these days?

Hes doing very well. Hes learning from at the mont.

The crown prince had been an optimistic child since he was young.

He was also very curious, and he acquired various kinds of knowledge.

His immature personality had improved a lot as he grew up.

Of course, he still had so traces of it.

Recently, he had beco a father of a child and his sense of responsibility had increased greatly.

Of course, as long as he was alive, the crown prince would not be able to sit on the throne.

But who knew what would happen in life?

No matter how long my lifespan is, I could die from an accident or a natural disaster.

Kim Kiwoo had always prioritized his health and safety over anything else.

As long as he was alive, he could ensure the continuous developnt of civilization.

He even stayed in the capital for almost twenty years after returning from the black sky.

Thanks to that, he had not faced any serious threats until now.

But he could not guarantee that this situation would last forever.

I have to consider the worst-case scenario.

If he died without any preparation, humanity would face a high probability of extinction by Narvas.

Thats why Kim Kiwoo had set up so safety asures.

He had written down several key pieces of knowledge that would enable continuous developnt even if he died by accident.

These pieces of knowledge would be delivered to the crown prince as soon as Kim Kiwoo died.

I have to pay attention to the successors education.

No matter how brilliant the knowledge was, if the leader who ruled the country lacked ability, anything could happen.

There were many cases where the country was completely destroyed or the regi was changed after the death of a great founding emperor.

Thats why Kim Kiwoo paid quite a lot of attention to the crown princes education.

He made him learn various tasks from the chief of the interior ministry, who had a lot of experience, and he also taught him personally from ti to ti.

Dont be lenient just because hes the crown prince. Point out his mistakes harshly when you need to. Hell have to rule over the central continents direct territory soon enough!

Dont worry. I wont let anything slide.

The Straight Tree was very strict with the crown prince.

Of course, he didnt expect him to have the incomparable ability of Kim Kiwoo.

But as long as he was chosen as the next emperor, he had to have so ability.

That was the Straight Trees opinion.

If his ability was too inferior compared to Kim Kiwoo, he would surely have trouble governing.

I hope he can rule well without any trouble in the direct territory

Kim Kiwoo planned to entrust the direct territory to the crown prince.

It was completely different to learn sothing and to do it in practice.

Of course, it was still a few years later, but as a father, he couldnt help but feel hopeful and worried about his eldest son.

After exchanging so stories with the Straight Tree,

Kim Kiwoo started to discuss the budget in earnest.

Hmm. The financial situation seems solid.

Yes. Even if we accept most of the requests from the ministers, the empires finances will not be in danger.

Kim Kiwoo nodded his head as he looked at the docunts.

The money that went out of the empires interior ministry was increasing rapidly as ti went by.

This was inevitable as society beca more advanced.

But the money that ca into the interior ministry rose even faster.

This is all thanks to the state-led industrialization.

Britain had its industry revolutionized by private capital.

They developed their industry from household production to factory production through textile industry, ironmaking, steam engine developnt, etc.

As private capital grew, bourgeoisie erged.

Also, due to movents like enclosure, cheap workers flocked to cities.

Through this, gradual changes that were later called industrial revolution occurred.

But the empire was quite different from Britain.

It was none other than the empires governnt that initiated industrialization.

This ant that the concentration of wealth due to the promotion of industry did not happen to individual bourgeois, but to the imperial governnt.

It was a completely different case.

This was possible because they could distribute the concentrated capital efficiently at the imperial level.

And this tendency would not change easily over ti.

Of course, this cant last forever.

There are many problems when public enterprises beco too large.

Since it was not their own company, various corruptions were frequent, and lax managent was easy.

So in the distant future, they would need to adjust this situation to so extent.

But that was not now.

It was better to control it firmly by themselves when such explosive social changes occurred like now.

No matter how strong the finances are, we cant waste them recklessly.

Kim Ki-woo said in a strong tone.

There would be no end if he listened to all the demands of the directors.

He thought it was better to invest those money in developnt rather than that.

Kim Ki-woo wrote a number on the paper.

Lets set this amount as the standard. Lets set the budget of all departnts within this amount.

Hmm

The Straight Tree let out a faint moan.

The budget was much less than he thought.

But as always, the Straight Tree did not make any objections and accepted Kim Ki-woos opinion.

I understand. I will set it as much as possible within this budget and submit a report.

Okay. It will be hard, but please do your best. There is no such thing, but if there is a departnt that complains about the budget, report it imdiately. Ill show them a bitter taste.

Haha. I will.

After the Straight Tree finished the eting and left.

Kim Ki-woo looked at the remaining budget blankly.

There was an astronomical amount by current standards written there.

A large part of this would be used for purposes such as bridge or road construction, expansion of factories, etc.

But he intended to execute the rest strictly according to his taste.

Its not easy to get funds for research.

He did not an only the research he directly ordered or deeply involved in.

Most of this would be invested in nurous researches at universities and Black Sky.

As ti passed, the funds needed for one research increased geotrically.

It was natural, as more and more technology, resources, and labor were required for various researches.

One of the representative examples was steam engine.

I didnt even order it.

With just a hint that heat could be used as power, they ca up with the concept of a steam engine.

He was quite surprised when he first heard that story.

But it would surely take a lot of money to develop a steam engine.

Since the technology was not enough yet, they would go through a lot of trial and error.

Of course, he thought it was necessary trial and error, so Kim Ki-woo had been continuously investing generous funds in them since he heard about the developnt of steam engine.

He also modified a considerable part of their design drawings.

It would take more ti for steam engine to be fully developed, but he had no intention of cutting off support until then.

Apart from this, various chanical and chemical researches were being started.

If he did not have this much spare money, he could never support so many researches simultaneously.

But Kim Ki-woo did not mind spending money like this at all.

When these researches start to show results, developnt will naturally occur.

Of course, he also liked the fact that he could firmly hold the lead of imperial industry through this.

And

Its not long left.

He felt like he could finally execute the plan that he had been preparing for quite a long ti.