"Whew... I generally understand the current situation. By the way, do you need additional staff here? Every time I see you, you seem very busy," Shiki asked.
"Yes, we definitely need it, because when Inazuma gets busy, we get busy too."
"Then you can recruit a few more people yourselves. As long as they are capable, it's fine, but if they're not, they'll have to leave."
"That's for sure, Lady Ryougi. If they're not capable, they'll just cause us trouble! Even if it's just to save ourselves some hassle, we wouldn't hire lazy people," Musashi quickly said.
As his words fell, everyone in the finance office nodded quickly. What do accountants fear most? Usually, it's those few cents that are off, or in Teyvat's case, a few Mora.
And even worse is when you're still pondering where those three cents went wrong, and some idiot comes over and tells you they covered it out of their own pocket.
That would truly make one want to kill. Sibling rivalry often stems from these insignificant 3 Mora.
"Then I'm relieved. Inazuma will be very busy for a while, and I'll have to trouble you for some time."
Although Shiki had never studied accounting, she had learned from her finance major classmates how painful it was to reconcile accounts.
Given all that Inazuma had been through, it was obvious that these people had a lot of work, which was why she wanted to add more staff to lighten their load.
"Um... Lady Ryougi..."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I missed one item just now. Besides the 10.7 billion expenditure, the Inazuma Shogunate also has to add 5.6 billion in military pay... which means we're already running a deficit..."
"Huh?"
Shiki was shocked. Seirai Island had just begun construction, and they were telling her the Shogunate was losing 3.3 billion Mora every month?
No, no, the reconstruction of Seirai Island project had just started, and she had only withdrawn 1 billion Mora. In other words, even without the Seirai Island project expenses, the Shogunate would still lose 2 billion Mora every month.
This won't do! If this continues, the 50 billion Mora in the national treasury will eventually be depleted. She had to find a way to balance the budget.
"I understand... I'll figure out a way to balance the budget. For now, you can continue as usual."
"Yes!"
Everyone nodded in response, while Shiki pondered how to balance the budget as she walked out of Tenshukaku.
In summary, there were two main approaches: one was to reduce the Shogunate's monthly expenses, and the other was to increase the Shogunate's income.
The most direct and simplest method is to raise taxes, but this is clearly unreasonable.
Normally, after a war, taxes should be reduced to stimulate public consumption. Maintaining the original tax rate is already quite good.
However, regarding tax revenue, one could look forward to trade with Watatsumi Island. Thoma has already gone there with people, and there should be a significant increase next month.
As for reducing expenses... to be honest, there isn't much that can be reduced right now, and it will even need to increase after Seirai Island is rebuilt, as troops will be needed there to regularly clear out emerging monsters.
Monsters cannot be completely eradicated. The simplest method is to keep them away from cities or villages, drive them to a secluded area, and then establish a defense line.
And this requires a large number of personnel, otherwise the Shogunate would not have dispatched a large number of personnel to guard Araumi as soon as the Divination Commission appeared.
"What are you thinking about?"
The soft voice of the white-haired girl came from beside her ear. Unbeknownst to her, Shiki had already returned to her original spot.
"Ah, it's about the Shogunate's finances. Ever since the war with Watatsumi Island, the Shogunate's financial income has been in deficit. Fortunately, the recent confiscation of the Kanjou Commission and the Fatui's compensation gave the national treasury a boost, otherwise we wouldn't even have the money to develop Seirai Island."
Shiki seemed a bit troubled. Should she just rob the Northland Bank?
"I don't know much about that, after all, the Yashiro Commission doesn't manage finances," Ayaka said, indicating she was powerless.
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