Our group of shipwrecked survivors have now officially become legal citizens of the British Empire, and as citizens, we have the right to freely enter and exit various cultures and entertainment venues of the Empire, own our own land, participate in selection, and enjoy medical care, education and other social benefits of the Empire. Of course, with rights comes obligations, and as citizens we must pay the basic citizenship tax to the empire on an annual basis.

In this new world, both familiar and strange, each country has its own financial and monetary system, and the legal tender of the British Empire is called the British pound, and there are pennies under the pound, and one pound can be exchanged for a hundred pence. In the British Empire, if the peasant class lived on the cultivation and sale of grain, a family earned about 500 pounds a year, and each adult citizen had to pay a citizenship tax of 40 pounds a year to the empire, and if a family had exactly four adults and one child, then the family had to pay 160 pounds a year in taxes, which accounted for almost one-third of the entire family income.

However, because we were a newly expanded territory, we were required to pay a citizenship tax of twenty pounds a year for the first two years under the laws of the Empire.

After attending the so-called first island cabinet meeting, Uncle Song came back and gave us a detailed introduction to the laws, taxes, and democratic systems of the entire empire, of course, we didn't care about these at all, what we were most concerned about was where the twenty pounds of tax could be earned.

Da Xiong asked Uncle Song, "You are an official anyway, how much salary does the empire pay you in a month?" Otherwise, you'll have to pay all the taxes for our people. ”

I glared at Da Xiong and said seriously: "Da Xiong, you are going too far, why should Uncle Song pay us taxes on the salary he earns?" Aren't we idle and ignorant? If you want me to say that I will pay half of it for us at most, I don't want any more. ”

Uncle Song glanced at me meaningfully, as if he wanted to say that it was really extraordinary to be thick-skinned to a certain level, he shook his head with a smile and said, "I, a cabinet official, are mainly responsible for the cultivation of crops on the island, and I can receive a salary of one hundred pence a day from the Empire, which is three thousand pence a month, that is, thirty pounds, and three hundred and sixty pounds a year. Of course, this is only because the island economy is in an enlightened state, and when you get rich in the future, your salary can also rise. ”

Da Xiong calculated seriously for a long time on the side, patted his thigh and said: "I'll go to Uncle Song, don't say it, your salary is more than enough to pay taxes for all of us, and I will hug your thigh in the future." ”

In fact, to be honest, on this island now, the so-called money is more symbolic, because there is no commerce, no trade, and we can't go anywhere in the short term, so even if we have money, there is nowhere to spend it, and if it weren't for that damn bullshit citizenship tax, the pound and the penny would be worthless to us.

At the same time, according to Governor James's plan, the area about 200 meters deep from the pier to the island was temporarily designated as the first center of the island, and the new island governor's palace, clinic, and other necessary infrastructure were to be built there, so that our boulder camp became a bit of a suburb.

Everyone discussed whether to move the camp over, but after discussion, everyone decided to live in the Boulder Camp, since the new citizens of the empire can get a little land separation, we simply divide the scope of this Boulder Camp into our private land, and in the future they will build their governor's palace, and we will build our new home.

Da Xiong asked Uncle Song, "Since a group of slaves are here, can we ask for a few to come, and labor will be needed for production and construction in the future." ”

Uncle Song shook his head, "According to the laws of the empire, in addition to the nobles who can get the rewards of the empire, ordinary citizens can only buy slave servants from the imperial government on their own, that is to say, it costs money, and the average slave servant asks for about ten pounds, and if it is young and strong, it may be sold higher." Moreover, after the slaves were bought, they had to be provided with shelter and food for them, and once the production efficiency could not go up, it was a loss-making business. ”

We were chatting happily, when suddenly a few soldiers came and said that Duke Jackson invited me to talk about life and ideals, which made me a little flattered, and I thought to myself, could it be that I have a faint personality charm that I can't resist even such a man?

When I got to the Duke's cabin, the Duke smiled and asked me first, and then asked me, "What kind of girl do you think Grace is?" ”

The question was a bit abrupt, and I looked at the Duke's resolute and extraordinary face, and wondered what it was. What kind of girl is Grace, why would she come to me and ask me?

Seeing that I was a little confused, the Duke laughed heartily and patted me on the shoulder and said, "Young man, you don't have to answer me in a hurry to answer this question, Grace has already applied to stay on this island, and you will have time to slowly understand what kind of girl Grace is in the future, and I hope that the next time I come to the island, you can give me a satisfactory answer." ”

The duke's words are clueless, and it sounds like a bit of a parent's advice to the future son-in-law, is it so bloody, this Grace is actually the duke's daughter? Or do you have an illegitimate daughter or some other inexplicable relationship?

The Duke didn't care whether I understood it or not, and continued to himself: "I have heard that there are many wine grapes on this island, which are excellent raw materials for making rum, and I have written to the Empire to apply for the construction of a rum distillery on this island, and I hope that you will be the first owner of this winery. ”

Winery? I looked at the Duke again for some reason, what kind of medicine was sold in this big brother's gourd, and how did it be good to let me start a winery again, I said: "Mr. Duke, I thank you for your appreciation of me, but I don't usually like to drink very much, and I have never started a business, so I don't know anything about business, and I am afraid that the winery will be a loss when the time comes, and I really don't have the face to see you." ”

The duke patted me on the shoulder again and said disapprovingly, "It's okay, no one will ever come to the meeting." Besides, you owe me £17,000 when you become the owner of the distillery, and I'm sure that this pressure will be a great motivation for you. ”

"I owe you seventeen thousand pounds?" Puzzled, I asked, "How could I owe you 17,000 pounds?" ”

The duke said with a serious face: "You need to apply for a business license from the empire to open a winery, and you need the empire to provide you with equipment and the support of a technical team, don't all of these cost money?" And do you have money? Of course you don't, so you have to find someone to take out a high-interest loan, but who can lend you that much money now? It seems that only the Duke can be kind, by the way, the 17,000 pounds just mentioned is only the principal, and you have to pay the Duke another 1,000 pounds of interest every year. ”

I'll go, at this moment in my heart 10,000 grass and mud horses are running wildly on the duke's face, isn't this just a clear dig a pit for me to jump into? I said to the duke, "Shall I not be the master of this winery?" ”

The duke said with a displeased face, "That's definitely not good, I appreciate you to give you such an opportunity, you don't want to live up to my expectations of you." I'm a very talkative person when I'm in a good mood, but once someone spoils my mood, my temper will make the whole empire tremble. ”

I looked at the Duke with a wry smile, this grandson was holding back a stomach full of bad water and didn't know what it was, it seemed that if I wanted to figure out the reason, I had to ask Grace what was going on.