178: Chapter 178: A Review of the Territory's Financial Situation! Melissa's Talent!

The next day.

Golden Flame Castle, in the study.

Sunlight filtered through the high windows into the room.

The air was filled with a faint scent of ink.

Rowan sat in the main seat, his gaze sweeping calmly over the three ladies before him.

Helena sat at his left hand, a thick notebook spread open in front of her.

Sylvie sat a little further away, her hands folded on her lap, her posture upright and reserved.

And the protagonist of today's meeting was Melissa.

She stood opposite the desk, her voice crisp:

"My Lord, based on my review of the territory's account books these past few days, please allow me to first provide a comprehensive summary report on the current financial situation."

Rowan nodded slightly: "Go ahead."

Melissa opened the first ledger, her fingertip pointing to a line of numbers, and began her statement.

"Currently, the territory's income is mainly divided into four parts. First is the most basic city tax revenue, which mainly includes commercial taxes and transit tariffs; these two are the core pillars of the city's tax revenue."

Her speaking speed was measured, and every number was reported clearly and accurately, obviously already memorized by heart.

"As an important transportation hub in the south of the North, Gino City has always had active trade."

"There are about 500,000 commoners in the city, and the number of nobles, clergy, and wealthy merchants is not small either."

"Calculated comprehensively, each commoner can contribute about 8 silver coins in taxes per year on average, which converts to about 0.8 gold coins."

"Therefore, the scale of Gino City's basic tax revenue is about 400,000 gold coins per year."

Speaking of this, she looked up at Rowan, her tone pausing slightly:

"And these 400,000 gold coins need to support the entire city's bureaucratic system and the City Guard system. What is left at the end is the fiscal surplus."

Her voice lowered a little, carrying a hint of caution:

"My Lord previously... spent the accumulated fiscal surplus of many years all at once at the Beauty Pageant. Currently, not only is there no surplus on the city's books, but it is also carrying a long-term debt of 600,000 gold coins."

"According to the current financial situation, without adding new taxes, it will take about ten years to pay it off."

"Therefore, in the short term, there should not be any major changes to the city tax section."

"If we force an increase in revenue, we can only raise taxes."

"But raising taxes will dampen the enthusiasm of merchants and commoners, and in the long run, the losses will outweigh the gains."

Rowan listened, his mouth twitching imperceptibly. That Beauty Pageant really was spent too extravagantly; thinking about it now made his heart ache a little.

Melissa did not notice his subtle expression; she had already closed the ledger and picked up the second one.

"Next is the income from other parts of the territory. All towns, villages, and manors outside Gino City, including serf labor rents, taxes in kind..."

"Summarized annually, it is about 30,000 gold coins. This part is basically stable, with limited room for growth."

She put down that ledger and picked up the third one, her tone becoming slightly lighter:

"Next is the aspect of minerals and natural resources."

"There is a small magic crystal mine in the territory, managed by the Empire's Resource Department, which can be allocated about 50 standard magic crystals per year."

"In addition, there are iron mines, copper mines, quarries, timber yards, and other resource-based revenues, plus the output from some scattered extraordinary material resource points."

"These add up to about 60 magic crystals and 50,000 gold coins in revenue per year."

"This part of the revenue goes directly into the castle's private treasury and does not pass through the City Hall's financial system."

She paused slightly, closed the ledger in her hand, picked up the last one, and her expression became heavy:

"Finally, there is the situation of the Golden Flame Chamber of Commerce."

Her fingertips rubbed gently on the cover of the ledger, her voice deepening:

"After the church raided the house, all the assets of the Farrell Family and the Golden Flame Chamber of Commerce within the Empire, including shops and real estate in major cities, as well as possible bank accounts, have been seized and taken over by the church."

"It can be said that the current Golden Flame Chamber of Commerce is just an empty shell and a signboard."

"The commercial network, assets, and funds accumulated by the Farrell Family over hundreds of years have all been cleared to zero."

She looked up at Rowan and said:

"According to my calculations, the fixed assets, liquid funds, and hidden assets of the Farrell Family across the Empire roughly total more than 3 million gold coins, all of which have fallen into the hands of the church..."

Rowan raised an eyebrow when he heard this number.

Three million gold coins!

Aria had been in Gino City for only half a year and had already scooped up so much money and ran away?

The priestess's always cold and stunning face appeared in his mind, and he secretly clicked his tongue in his heart.

But on second thought, the exaggerated configuration of the Temple Knight Order, which was much stronger than the City Guard, made this number seem not impossible to understand.

You can't run such an armed force without money.

He withdrew his thoughts and looked at Melissa again.

The young girl had finished her summary report and was standing there quietly, waiting for his response.

She was wearing a simple gray dress with a thin leather belt around her waist, outlining a slender and supple waistline.

Her long black hair was coiled into a neat bun at the back of her head, revealing a fair and slender neck, with a few strands of hair hanging by her ears, swaying gently.

Her features did not belong to the type that was stunningly beautiful, but she had a delicate charm that became more attractive the more you looked at her.

Her eyebrows were slender and clear, her nose bridge straight, her lips full and slightly upturned, and when she smiled, there were shallow dimples on both sides.

At this moment, those light brown eyes were full of focus, and her whole person exuded a confident and energetic youthful aura.

Sunlight shone in from the side window, casting a soft halo on her fair cheeks.

Her breathing was slightly rapid; obviously, the recent report had made her a little nervous too.

Rowan nodded slightly, indicating his approval of her analysis and conclusions. Then he asked:

"So, Melissa, what is your suggestion for the current financial situation of the territory?"

Upon hearing this, a flash of preparedness flickered in Melissa's eyes.

She did not answer immediately, but took a folded map from the pile of documents she had brought and slowly spread it out on the table.

It was a finely drawn map of the northern trade routes.

Mountains, rivers, towns, and fortresses were all clearly marked with different colored inks.

Several main trade routes ran through the entire map with lines of varying thickness.

One of them started from Gino City, stretched all the way south, passed through dense forests and plains, and reached the heart of the Empire.

She leaned down, her fingertips tracing the route slowly as she began to explain:

"My Lord, my suggestion is that the territory's taxes should remain untouched for now and operate according to the rules."

"The urgent task is to rebuild the Golden Flame Chamber of Commerce."

Her voice was calm:

"Although the signboard of the Golden Flame Chamber of Commerce is an empty shell now, the signboard itself still has value."

"Although the Farrell Family has fallen, the Golden Flame Chamber of Commerce has been operating in the North for hundreds of years, and its brand reputation still has influence in the hearts of the older generation of merchants and the public."

"We can use this signboard to restart the chamber's operations with minimal cost."

She pointed at the map with her fingertip:

"More specifically, we should reopen the trade routes."

"Gino City is located in the North and possesses many resources unique to the North, such as high-quality timber, magical beast furs, ice-type medicinal herbs, and so on."

"We can start with the resale trade of goods from the south and north, using our geographical advantage to earn the price difference."

"In this stage, there is no need for a large amount of fixed asset investment; we only need to recruit a few experienced caravan leaders and hire a few guard teams to start."

She looked up, gazing at Rowan with burning eyes:

"Then, we need to find one or two core categories."

"I think there are two directions with the most potential."

"One is the deep processing of magical beast materials, and the other is the cultivation of extraordinary plants unique to high-cold regions."

"However, these require cooperation with alchemist forces in the south to establish specialized plantations and workshops."

"These two directions require large initial investment, but once a unique technological and scale barrier is formed, the profit margin will far exceed ordinary resale trade."

She spoke with enthusiasm, her voice carrying warmth:

"That is my preliminary plan!"

"I have written the specific implementation steps, budget estimates, and risk assessments into a detailed plan. If you are interested, my Lord, you can review it after the meeting."

After speaking, she looked up at Rowan.

Rowan was silent.

He did not respond immediately, but quietly watched the young girl with expectation in her eyes.

Melissa's plan was clear, pragmatic, and layered.

It considered the short-term profitability problem, restarting trade routes with minimal cost to quickly recover funds.

It also laid out the medium-to-long-term development direction.

This business acumen and planning ability were extremely rare among her peers.

Anyway, it was much better than his.

Rowan added silently in his heart.

A moment later, he looked up at Melissa, his eyes filled with undisguised appreciation:

"Very good. Your train of thought is very clear, and the plan is very pragmatic. Let's proceed in this direction."

Melissa's eyes lit up.

Rowan continued: "As for the specific startup budget, draw up a figure and submit it to Helena for review. Once approved, it will be allocated directly from the castle's private treasury."

"Also, Sylvie, you are familiar with the local situation in Gino City, so you should participate as well."

"The three of you are responsible for setting up the framework. You don't need to tell me everything in the process; I only want the results."

The three women hurriedly stood up and bowed to accept the order.

Melissa's voice carried uncontrollable joy: "Thank you for your trust, my Lord! I will definitely not let you down!"

Rowan nodded, his gaze falling on her beautiful face, which was slightly flushed from being recognized.

Then, as if he had just thought of something, he added in a casual tone:

"By the way, Melissa, come to my room tonight. We can discuss some details about the reconstruction of the chamber of commerce further."

As the words fell.

The air in the study seemed to freeze subtly for a moment.

Helena's action of recording in her notebook paused slightly, and the tip of her pen dragged a short ink mark across the paper.

But the expression on her face did not change at all; she just crossed out the ink mark as if nothing had happened and continued writing.

Sylvie lowered her head slightly, her gaze falling on the map in front of her, but her ears uncontrollably turned red.

Her fingers unconsciously twisted the fabric of her skirt, then quietly let go.

And Melissa—

The smile on her face froze for about half a second.

Then, a distinct blush started from her neck and quickly spread upward, staining her earlobes and cheeks.

Her eyelashes trembled a few times, and she lowered her eyes, avoiding Rowan's gaze.

She took a deep breath, her voice a few degrees lower than before, but she still maintained basic composure:

"Yes, my Lord."

Rowan took in the reactions of the three, said nothing more, and just waved his hand, signaling that today's meeting was over.

Helena was the first to close her notebook, stood up, nodded slightly to Rowan, and then turned to walk out of the study.

Her pace was steady as usual, her back straight.

Sylvie also hurriedly packed her things, bowed to Rowan, and followed Helena's back with her head down.

Her footsteps were a bit faster than usual.

Finally, it was Melissa.

After packing up her documents, she stood in front of the desk, seemingly wanting to say something.

Her lips moved, but then she pressed them tight.

In the end, she just bit her lower lip, took a deep look at The Count, and then turned to walk out of the study.

Rowan watched the three women, each with their own charm but equally beautiful, disappear at the door.

He leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, and a smile of great interest appeared on the corner of his mouth.