As the Emperor had expected, Theocritos had summoned his subordinates, and the tax bureaucrats were anxiously discussing what to do, and in horror they blamed each other.

Each blames and denounces the greed of the province for impoverishing the people of the province to the point of attracting the attention of the Imperial Supreme.

But the hereditary land of 'Pronia' is a hot potato, and it is impossible to erase the fact that a large number of peasant soldiers have become serfs.

The already anxious tax collector listened to the noisy noise of the bazaar, and his already depressed mood became even more irritable.

"Everyone!"

"Everyone!"

"Please be quiet!"

"What we need to do now is to negotiate a countermeasure immediately."

"How should we give an account to His Majesty the Emperor's Secretary-General, Lord Betuck, instead of continuing the pointless quarrel here."

After the master here spoke, he finally reluctantly stopped the confrontation, and the moment of silence gave the tired tax collector a breather.

Longinos, a protégé of Isaac Komunen, was recommended to serve in the place of Theocleidos.

A cunning villain, he did not hesitate to use the most brutal means against his political opponents, and after Isaac's death he continued to be attached to the son of the Grand Duke.

"My lord!"

"I wonder if we can try to make friends with this noble person around His Majesty the Emperor as we did in the past?"

"Who doesn't like golden gold, I don't think Lord Betak is exempt from vulgarity, right?"

"No!"

"It's not that simple!"

"That adult's intention is very clear, that is, he wants me to hand over the corrupt elements, and no one with dirty hands can run away!"

Theocleidos' words shook everyone's minds, and if that was the case, then the matter would not be easy to solve.

A tycoon at the top of the empire like Betak is simply out of reach for low-level tax bureaucrats, and there should be no conflict of interest between the two sides.

"Then why does Lord Betak have to chase after us?"

"Is it a sign from His Majesty the Emperor?"

There was no shortage of wisdom in the attendees, and they immediately realized the point, and the key was the attitude of the Imperial Supreme.

"I don't know!"

"But Lord Betak's demands are tough, and I'm worried that His Majesty the Emperor will ...... there."

The tax collector's depressed demeanor sent chills to everyone's hearts, and even handing over all the family's fortunes to the treasurer was not necessarily forgiven.

And given the sheer size and complexity of the number of people involved, the defection of any one of them could cause a cascade of changes.

The biggest possibility is the collapse of the group, with everyone toiling to death in prison or in the dark mines.

"My lord, then there's no room for it, is there?"

"I want to ask, who of you hasn't taken the gold from below?"

"You haven't taken it?"

"You haven't taken it?"

"Or you?"

Longinos glanced pathetically into the eyes of the guests, and all those who had looked at him were so frightened that they lowered their heads to look into the man's eyes.

"My lord, you see, I'm afraid I can't hand it over to anyone!"

"And there's no guarantee that that person won't betray us after he is handed over!"

"This one won't work at all!"

"You'll have to think of something else!"

Longinos' dreamy words like a devil nearly broke Theocridos.

Because these people were only his subordinates in name, in fact each of them was the spokesman of the dynastic magnates, responsible for dividing the interests of the great nobles, and it was not at all under the command of him as a tax bureaucrat.

Theocleidos also realized that this was the most stupid thing to do.

Whoever is handed over, once handed over, the rest of the people will be terrified, and the end result will be the collapse of the entire group.

"Longinos, your opinion is correct!"

"But we must also try to give an account to Lord Betak, or the noble man's wrath will turn everyone here to ashes."

The tax collector could not make up his mind, so he had to turn to Longinos, who had always been known for his resourcefulness, although this man had always been known as the conspirator.

"No, maybe it's not necessarily us who will be reduced to ashes!"

Longinos spoke, but the tone of his voice was chilling, and the words generally represented the beginning of a conspiracy to kill, which was not a good thing.

Hearing this, Theocleidos immediately broke out in a cold sweat, and the ill-intentioned look of the person opposite made him even more creepy, he knew this person's energy too well.

Longinos kept a secret breed of killers who would do dishonorable things for him and his masters, such as purging hostile politicians or killing land-losing owners.

Probably realizing that what he said had shocked everyone, Longinos laughed: "Don't panic, my lord, we have another way, don't we?" ”

"Yes, yes, we can talk to Master Betak first."

Theocleidos was helpless against the dilemma, and of course it was completely helpless.

The impact of assassinating the secretary general of the emperor could not be clearer, and the tax commissioner could not have been clearer.

But looking at the hollow-eyed attitude of the slum-born Longinos on the other side, he probably had no idea how much trouble his astonishing words would bring to him and his master.

Can't continue to hang out with these people!

Theocleidos secretly made up his mind, and his wishful thinking was to let these people decide for themselves who to sacrifice in exchange for Betarch's forgiveness.

But now that they were talking about something that even the tax collector could not bear it anymore, following these men would end up with his head cut off by the angry emperor.

"Everyone!"

"Let's adopt the previous method first, and we will distribute the proportion of capital contribution, 10,000 gold, I don't believe that this will not stop his mouth!"

In the midst of everyone's loud voices, this huge amount of money was distributed, and even Theokridus was shocked by the financial resources of these big rats.

As the overtly tax collector, Theocleidos controlled a large part of the imperial treasury, and his honor and status were difficult for outsiders to match.

But he is only one of the insignificant beneficiaries of the entire administration of agricultural taxation.

After the meeting was adjourned, the bureaucrats departed, except for Longinos and a few of his henchmen, who sat there in silence for a long time, until Longinos spoke again.

"Theokridos may have been frightened by my words just now, do you think he will go and report to Betuck?"

"My lord, that cunning old rabbit will not choose to go now, even if he really intends to report it."

"But we can organize men to snipe at the Secretary-General right away, can't we?"