After waiting for the carriage to move for a while, Alfonso folded his arms over his chest and spoke to Huggins, "Tell me, what's going on?"

"Before you leave Twilight, you should know that there's a textile brand in the city called Lilielle, right?"

"I know, it's Queen Mary who created the brand, what does that have to do with what I'm seeing?"

Huggins shrugged: "Don't worry, I haven't gotten to the point yet. The success of Lilielle's brand has opened the eyes of a large number of merchants in Twilight. ”

"Business opportunity?"

"Don't you know? Lilielle's textiles, whether in the North, the Holy City of the East, or the Southern Empire, have become in short supply. Huggins pointed to the well-fitting garment on his body: "A men's suit that is listed in Lilyel's store for six gold and shipped to the Papal States can be sold for twelve gold price." ”

Alfonso asked incomprehensibly, "How so?"

"Do you remember the paintings that His Majesty once gave to Queen Mary? “

"I remember. “

"It was those paintings that set off a wave of the Renaissance in the city. Artists of different styles and genres find inspiration in the city and apply this inspiration to real business and life, including textiles...... Therefore, on the one hand, the success of the Lilielle brand, and on the other hand, the added value of goods brought by the Renaissance made the textile industry a major pillar industry in the twilight city. “

Alfonso was a little impatient: "You said so much, but you still haven't said it, how can there be citizens begging on the streets." “

"My friend, be patient. Huggins smiled and said, "I'll continue to explain...... Previously, the Knights of the Twilight West had repelled the Southern Empire, securing the Western Route and allowing merchants to expand their trade by sea. All these factors combined have led to the rapid rise of the clothing and textile industry, which in turn has created a shortage of textile raw materials, such as flax, ramie, jute, and wool, and the demand for these raw materials has led directly to the lack of a scarce resource - land. “

Alfonso frowned and repeated: "Land?"

Huggins leaned back and exhaled softly: "That's right, there is not enough land, and naturally there is no way to grow hemp plants and raise sheep...... However, due to its proximity to the sea, there was not much free land to use, so the merchants in the city turned their attention to the farmers who owned the farmland. “

Alfonso shook his head: "The merchants took the land of those peasants?"

"The word seizure is not accurate, it should be said to be a purchase. As a result of His Majesty's previous decree, as long as you engage in agriculture outside the city for a certain number of years, you can not only obtain the status of a citizen, but also have the right to use the land in perpetuity. Therefore, the peasant is the one who has absolute control over the land. Huggins lifted the curtains and watched a group of men and women in gorgeous costumes gather together and talk: "In order to obtain land from farmers, merchants have raised the prices of seeds, livestock, fertilizer, tools, and sold traditional crops by means of business alliances and trade guilds. “

"In last year's wheat harvest period, the purchase price of a tonne of wheat grade III in Twilight City was not even four silver months. Listen, four silver months! In exchange for the Silver Ring City during the war, this money can't even buy a pocket of wheat bran!"

Alfonso frowned: "What did those peasants do?"

"Some peasants think that the price is too low, and prefer to keep their produce at home rather than sell it, and as a result, the stored agricultural products slowly rot and are worthless; some peasants unite and want to charter a boat or a convoy to transport their products out for sale, but the ports and post stations controlled by the major chambers of commerce have rejected the peasants' requests; and some people are finally forced to have no choice but to sell their land to merchants. “

Listening to Huggins's words, Alfonso gritted his teeth and asked, "Is the cabinet turning a blind eye to these things?"

Huggins replied with a wry smile: "The Cabinet has tried to intervene, including taking the initiative to buy agricultural products, building temporary agricultural storage sites, warning and punishing businessmen who buy land, and the Cabinet has done all these things. At the height of the conflict, Prime Minister Emerson even tried to enact a bill banning the sale of land. “

"And then?"

"The decree was not passed at the cabinet meeting or the enlarged meeting of the knights, and Prime Minister Emerson was furious in his office over it, and later became seriously ill. “

Alfonso wondered: "Lord Emerson has been empowered by His Majesty, how could the bill he proposed not pass?"

"The Knights of the Twilight West sent troops to Lone Rock City before, and the Prime Minister set aside all the cabinet members and forcibly passed the War Act using the wartime cabinet method, which caused the dissatisfaction of the vast majority of cabinet members and honorary knights. Behind the scenes, many people accuse Emerson of being a dictatorship and seizing royal power. Since then, the Prime Minister has become extremely cautious in the handling of affairs, and he no longer dares to make his own decisions. Therefore, he did not dare to advocate for the bill prohibiting the sale of land this time, and chose to listen to the opinions of the cabinet members and honorary knights. “

Alfonso clenched his fist with his right hand, smashed it under the seat under him, and said angrily: "Then watch those merchants seize the land?!"

Huggins sighed: "Academics need financial support from businessmen to help publish their own journals when they publish their works; researchers need to seek funding from businessmen to purchase experimental supplies and pay assistants for experiments; artists need businessmen's money to build studios and open solo exhibitions; and even the public finances of the cabinet depend on the taxes paid by businessmen." ”

"Not only that, but the members of the cabinet, the Knights of Honor, nine out of ten of these people's families are in business with more or less estate. Just check the positions behind them, the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, the director of the Shipping Alliance, and the executive advisor of the Industrial Raw Materials Association...... It is possible that there are a dozen or even twenty ...... such titles"

Huggins shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly to Alfonso: "What's more, compared to those wooden peasants, the merchants are indeed superior in persuasion...... Do you know how the representatives of the Business Coalition defended themselves at the knightly hearings prohibiting the sale and purchase of land?"

"What did they say?"

They produced a 300-page analysis and told everyone in the room how much difference there was between an ordinary piece of land being used to grow wheat and sheep. Taking into account factors such as product value, employment rate, tax payment, national competitiveness, population drainage, etc., the contribution that land can create when used to harvest woolen raw materials is tens or even a hundred times that of farmland!"

Huggins closed his eyes and said slowly: "So, the merchant's annexation of the peasants' land has gained the support of the majority. The latter had to sell their land to merchants at what was called an "appraised value". If this money leaves the high-priced Twilight West City, it may be able to support it for a while, but if it stays, any peasant family will spend it completely in less than half a year...... So, the beggars you saw earlier are farmers who have spent all their money and lost their livelihoods. ”

Alfonso froze there motionless, and after a long time, he scratched his forehead in distress: "There are some things I don't understand, but I always feel that something is wrong." ”

./9_

.。 m.