On July 21, 1171 in Erathia Calendar, Lord Chen Jian, the thirteenth lord of Hammondal, took office two days after taking over.

The lord's loyal butler, Fowlersh, looked at the great lord Chen Jian sitting on the lord's throne with excitement on his face, looking like a soldier who had died as a confidant.

It's no wonder that the old butler is so excited, although the current lord is not a nobleman, he is more aristocratic than many nobles who eat and do nothing all day long.

Although the lord's performance was a little unsatisfactory at first, it did not prevent him from becoming a great lord in the future, and the old butler was convinced of this.

To be able to face difficulties, advance bravely, dare to take responsibility, and not be afraid of difficulties and obstacles, this is the quality of great talents! It was an immense honour to have such a host.

What's more, the lord saved his life yesterday, and the old butler has already decided that he will do his best for the lord and die.

If the old housekeeper knew about the mental activities of Great Lord Chen Jian at this time, he was afraid that he would die of anger on the spot.

The lord is thinking at this time, a person can't leave no matter what, so if he goes out now and dies in vain, it is better to settle down here temporarily, first find a way to get a sum of money, and recruit him to kill the little brother to go out, as long as he drives away the big-eared monster robbers, it is not a matter of minutes for him to run away, and it would be more perfect if there were a few little brothers and beauties who were loyal to him and cried and shouted to accompany him to explore the rivers and lakes.

When the time comes, I will have a huge amount of money, accompanied by a beautiful woman on the left, and a warrior to protect the right, wouldn't it be happy!

The more Chen Jian thought about it, the happier he became, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Mr. Fu! Report the information of the territory first! The master of the power must do a good job this time! With a wave of his hand, the high-spirited lord gave the first order to his men.

"Yes, sir!"

The old butler responded loudly, and stepped forward with the information of the territory in his hand, and his voice echoed in the empty castle hall, startling the lord a lot.

Looking at the pages of information in his hand and listening to the old housekeeper's well-organized report, Jian Chen's eyes widened more and more, and his face was full of disbelief.

Pointing to the numbers on a document, Jian Chen turned his head and asked the old butler: "I said Chief Fu, you can't be mistaken, is it that the population of Hammondale is 13,000?" I don't think the town of Hammondale is big, huh? Is there such a population? ”

The old butler bowed down and said, "Master, do you know that not all the people of Hammondale live in Hammondale Town, most of them are scattered in the Hammondale Wilderness, but there are also relatively concentrated villages, the largest of which is the village of Werning located in the south of Hammondale Town, where there are nearly a thousand people alone. ”

With such a large population, there should be a lot of young and middle-aged people with combat effectiveness, right? How can the road be blocked by hundreds of big-eared monster robbers? Chen Jian didn't understand it very much, but he was relieved when he thought about it, ordinary people are not warriors, and population is not equal to combat effectiveness, otherwise China would have dominated the world in ancient times.

"Is this tax number real? With such a vast territory and such a population, the town's economy is also very prosperous according to what you said, and the tax revenue should be a lot, why is it only 300 gold coins a year? Pointing to another piece of data, Jian Chen asked again.

Although he couldn't figure out how much he should charge to be reasonable, Chen Jian felt that this number was obviously less.

The old butler turned his head a little ghostly and looked around, looking like he had a ghost in his heart, and after making sure that there was no one else in the castle hall, he approached Chen Jian and whispered: "Master, be quiet, this number is fake!" ”

Jian Chen suddenly became curious, and also whispered: "What's the matter?" ”

"Master, according to the decree of the Erathia Empire, 51% of the taxes in the nobles' territories must be paid to the imperial treasury, which is to prevent the nobles from becoming big, forming independent forces, and affecting the stability of the empire." The old butler smiled and continued to explain in a low voice, "However, the empire has imperial decrees, and the nobles also have the methods of the nobles, and it is a common practice to underreport the territorial taxes. ”

At the end, the old housekeeper complained: "This edict of the empire is also a bit excessive, it really has to be reported according to the real data, how can the nobles live, and they must have money to support their dignity, are the nobles who have no money still considered nobles?" ”

Lord Chen Jian listened to it for a long time, and then he realized that it was an unspoken rule, and this fake account existed no matter which world it was.

Thinking of this, the lord couldn't help but be a little annoyed: "Chief Fu, are you fooling me with fake accounts?" ”

Seeing that the lord was angry, the old butler was startled, and dared to explain: "The lord is wronged, the real account books have been taken away by Lord Markham, how could he put such an important thing here with me!" These things have always been kept by Lord Markham's treasurer himself! ”

Chen Jian thought about it, and it was impossible for such an important thing as finance to be known to people who didn't trust him, so he was relieved.

Seeing that the old man was no longer angry, the old housekeeper breathed a sigh of relief.

After reading the information again, listening to the report of the old butler, Jian Chen only felt that one head had become two big, and the lord, who had no talent for these data, began to feel a little drowsy.

Seeing the listlessness of the lord, the old butler closed his mouth at the right time, and decided to go directly to the point, and stated the analysis he had been thinking about all night to the lord.

Coughing, the lord was summoned back from his drowsy state, and the old butler said confidently: "Master, in fact, I want to think about it, Hammondal's biggest problem at present is the problem of money, without money, we have no way to recruit troops and horses, and change equipment for the army; Without a strong army, we can't get rid of the big-eared monsters; Without the Big-Eared Monsters to get rid of them, Hammondal's economy will not recover; If the economy doesn't recover, we won't have any money, and we won't be able to live this day! It's an endless loop, so it's imperative that we find a way to get some money! ”

When it came to money, Chen Jian suddenly became interested: "Oh, the analysis is good, then Mr. Fu, tell me, how to get money?" ”

The old butler bowed confidently and said, "Master, the easiest and fastest way is to collect a temporary tax!" ”

"Temporary tax?" Jian Chen was a little confused.

The old butler nodded, and said: "Yes, this method is used by many nobles, whenever there is an urgent need for money and insufficient funds, the nobles will levy some temporary taxes, and Lord Markham used to do this, sir, just look at this tax list!" ”

Saying that, the old butler handed the lord a piece of information, and Chen Jian took it and looked at it, which was densely packed with taxes written in Erathian script.

After reading a few, Jian Chen smiled dumbly: "Beard tax? What kind of tax is this? How to receive? ”

The old butler smiled: "This beard tax is a tax levied on bearded lords, which originated in a small human country before the establishment of the Erathia Empire, where the king grew a beard because of a jaw injury to cover the wound, and the whole country rushed to follow suit, and the king was furious when he found out, so he ordered a beard tax to curb this trend." ”

Chen Jian shook his head when he heard this, this is really a big forest, there are all kinds of birds, and there are still people who collect taxes like this.

"And what's going on with this window tax?"

"It was a tax levied on the houses of the lords, according to the number of windows opened in the house, which first originated from a nobleman who did not like too many windows on the house, and then it became popular on the mainland."

After that, Chen Jian also saw a series of incredible taxes such as wig tax, baldness tax, horse riding tax, dog tax, celibacy tax, marriage tax, etc., which made Chen Jian laugh for most of the day, and even his stomach hurt with laughter.

Seeing that the lord lord was so happy, the old housekeeper couldn't help but be optimistic: "Master, I think we should collect the window tax now!" If all goes well, we'll have the money to re-equip the Lord's Guard! The blacksmith in the town, Saida, is still good at making weapons, and Peter from the armor shop, the leather armor he makes is famous in this area! Let Helbo train the soldiers well, and I believe that the big-eared monsters will be eliminated soon! ”

The lord, who had almost laughed so much that he heard the old butler's suggestion, finally stopped laughing, and looked at the other party a little incredulously: "Collect window tax? ”

The old butler nodded proudly: "Yes, in order to receive enough taxes, with the current situation in Hammondal, it is most appropriate to levy a window tax, after all, every household must have a window, so that the people of the whole territory must pay taxes!" What do you think, sir? ”

Standing up from the throne, Jian Chen paced back and forth in the castle hall several times, a little undecided.

As far as Chen Jian's original intention is concerned, he raised his hands and feet in favor of the old housekeeper's proposal to levy a window tax. No one will be disgusted with a lot of money, and I don't know how long I can do it as a lord, so I have the right not to use it, and it will be invalid when it expires.

But after thinking about it again, the name of this window tax is too ridiculous, and the situation in the town is so bad now, and he and the old housekeeper are messing around so much, what if the people are angry and can't riot en masse? This lord of his own will not tear the people alive!

On one side is a lot of gold coins, and on the other side is his precious little life, the lord is very distressed, why should this gold coin be inseparable from his own small life?

After thinking about it, Chen Jian finally felt that his life was important, no matter how rich he was, he had to have a life to spend, otherwise how could the rich people in the previous world be so keen on self-cultivation?

But you still have to find a way to get this money, and if you don't have money, everything will be closed! What should I do?

Seeing the distress on the lord's face, the old butler was a little uneasy, could it be that there was something wrong with his own idea? I was about to ask, when I suddenly saw the lord clapping his hand and shouting, "There is!" Hahahaha! ”

The old housekeeper was inexplicable, thinking about something, but he saw Jian Chen walking in front of him with a smile, and patted his shoulder very kindly: "Manager Fu, you are thinking about the master, this is good, but you can't do it!" ”

"Master, why is that?"

Chen Jian said awe-inspiringly: "You also know that the master of the ability is not from a noble background, but a commoner, and a person who has suffered hardships!" Manager Fu, think about it, how can anyone build a house without opening the window? It's ridiculous to use the window to collect taxes! We can't do this kind of thing, otherwise the people don't know what they will think of us! So not only will I not only not levy this temporary tax now, but I will abolish all these perverse taxes! From today onwards, as long as I, Jian Chen, will be this lord for one day, Hammondale will only collect agricultural taxes and commercial taxes! All other taxes will be abolished! ”

The old butler was completely dumbfounded: "This ...... This ......"

Thinking of his head, which had been rigidized by centuries of aristocratic tradition, he could not imagine how the lord could think like this, and what the consequences would be.

"Don't do this or that, go quickly, find someone with good literary talents, and find a carpenter, Lord Ben is going to issue a decree! Damn Markham, he didn't even leave a clerk for Lord Ben! ”

"Yes, sir!" The lord ordered, and the old butler had to hurry to do it.

But along the way, the old butler has been pondering, what does this decree have to do with the carpenter?