City Hall House member Anse Claire, a rising star with a big name in the Senate and a promising future, has a full history of governance and tax credentials that silence many rivals, especially the rookie who is trying to challenge for his seat, is no match for this legislator who has been called by a well-established aide.

Drawing on Aldrich's rich experience, Councillor Claire offered a carefully packaged gift to the Docklands after learning from President Triss of the Scavengers' Guild how he managed to gain a foothold in the chaotic Docklands, even if it was only a few small things, and the impact on them has already benefited a large part of the civilian population.

As we all know, the cataclysm of a hundred years ago plunged Middle-earth into long-term turmoil, and the Eastwood family, originally located in a remote area, broke free from the restrictions, and marched hand in hand with the allies of the frontier nobles, leading their knights with military merits, and unifying the people all the way to the west, expanding the territory in the vast wilderness and primeval jungle, and establishing the city of Eastwood named after the family in the Spirit River after many difficulties.

In the most difficult of years, the Pioneer Knights had to not only drive the barbarians who occupied the land out by force, but also deal with a constant stream of fierce beasts and defend the vast territory beneath the horse racing circle.

In the fertile black soil, which can squeeze oil and water out of the soil, every time the sickle is opened, it is a good harvest, but in order to support the military force, the military knights and the nobles who rule the territory are levied extremely high taxes.

Sixty percent tax is just beginning, most of the time, especially the shortage of food - in order to feed the military horses, it is often raised to seventy, eighty, or even ninety percent, which can be called frenzy, so that the income per mu is about 200 catties, and the family of the lords who own 25 acres of intensively cultivated land - usually a family of five, must tighten their belts, drink wheat porridge and even batter to survive.

It's all about being able to gain a foothold in this new home, which is completely unfamiliar and surrounded by hostility. For the sake of this lofty goal, everyone was willing to endure hunger and cold, including the Viscount Eastwood family, who were eager to break every copper in half and spend it.

The efforts of the first generation of lords were not unrewarded, most of them belonged to pioneer families, had at least one knight of military merit, or provided servants for knights, enjoyed preferential treatment whether they were engaged in business or a certain trade, and received the right to tax deductions and exemptions compensatorily, and the Morgan district where wealthy merchants gathered was their settlement, and they had a deep friendship with each other and continued the inheritance of wealth by marriage.

As time passed, the dust of the ten years of war between the kingdoms settled, and the unbearable exiles learned of the heroic deeds of the pioneer knights from the merchants and bards, and they flocked to the west. Eastwood City took the opportunity to absorb and absorb the strong rise, especially the discovery of mines and coal, and set itself at a considerable distance from the rest of the frontier territory.

The barbarians, who had been driven back to the highlands, learned the tactics of great tactics and the craft of war equipment in a long period of contact and struggle, and rearmed themselves and marched south.

At this time, Eastwood, rich in steel and coal, became the main force of the front against the barbarian tribal alliance due to its geographical location.

The poll tax alone could no longer satisfy the greed of the hungry beast with a bottomless stomach, so in order to make up for the fiscal deficit, Eastwood, who was elected by his allies as a self-proclaimed earl and recognized by the Grand Duke of the mother country, imposed stamp duty and window tax on merchants and townspeople, the forerunner of the property tax.

Concerning the survival of the two races, the Earl of Eastwood summoned nobles, military knights, powerful churches, factory owners, merchants, and townspeople to discuss how much tax should be paid by each class, quarreling, fighting, and shedding blood, and finally determined the high standard of taxation - which is also the origin of the Senate (nobles) and the House of Representatives (citizens).

In order to live and do business in peace, everyone swallowed their anger and paid silently, but when the embankment opened this opening, it was never closed, after all, this kind of money came too easily, and it was consumed quickly.

Thirty years ago, during the Battle of the Supreme Forest, the Human Heavy Knights were like a tidal wave drowning the berserker's line, completely crushing the confidence of the barbarians, and the highland tribes, whose vitality was almost withered, had to surrender the hegemony of the vast western lands and leave the stage gloomily, leaving behind a broken back.

However, the high tax rate originally set during the war had not been lowered, and if it were not for the cover of the prosperity of commerce and trade driven by the deep-water port, and the mushroom-like booming factories along the banks of the river after the rain continued to absorb displaced people who had lost their land and moved into the city, and the booming industry and commerce brought super high profits, the resentment that had endured for many years would have erupted long ago.

But now the situation is like sitting on a keg of fire, and reducing taxes is not only a mainstream topic in the new and increasingly popular cafés on the streets, but also increasingly a demand of factory owners and nouveau riche commercial capital, who are actively seeking agents in the House of Representatives, and even reaching into the Senate.

Seizing the times, Anse Claire proposed a tax reduction on wine in the docklands – removing the barriers for his biggest supporter, Aldrich Tris, to enter the industry, and by the way, to win the favor of traditional wineries, large wineries, distributors and tavern owners further down the chain.

With this group of people waving their flags and shouting, Councillor Claire's re-election campaign heats up again, sweeping the invincible opponents in the docklands, even if his opponents and rookie newcomers desperately try to touch the dark and splash dirty water, it has not been able to reduce his popularity.

After half a month of campaigning, Anse Claire, who won ahead of schedule halfway through, lived up to the expectations of the voters and immediately put forward a complete bill after being successfully elected as a member of the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives, which had just over half of the 37 votes and 52 seats, was passed by a narrow majority, and was immediately transferred to the Senate composed of traditional nobles, who were generally over half a hundred years old, and the House of Lords, which had a strong conservative atmosphere, still remembered the high fiscal deficit and surprisingly did not oppose it, and the bill entered the closed-door discussion procedure.

The Earl of Eastwood's cronies in the Senate saw that a single tax reduction would open a dangerous opening, meaning that the great lord's abundant revenues would continue to fall like a reservoir that opened the floodgates, so they quickly rejected it.

However, most of the nobles who owned their own industries did not think so, and they felt that the time was ripe for them to tolerate high tax rates to siphon away profits, making the already huge profits smaller, and still voted in favor of them, although they were somewhat contrary to their vassals' duties.

With nine votes against, twenty-six in favour and one abstention, the motion of Rep. Anse Claire was quickly passed, and it was not long before the Earl of Eastwood.

The surging pressure of the crowd made the Count hesitate, and he could only ask his staff, the wise masters, for advice.

The far-sighted Edmundo collected the voices of all walks of life from his own channels, and was forced by the grim situation, even he began to worry about whether the rejection of the resolution would cause people's hearts to be distracted, so he had to give euphemistic advice to the Earl of Eastwood.

"The highland barbarians have gradually been tamed and assimilated, and the wartime high-pressure system has become stale, at least out of touch with the times. The removal of some of the tax rates will ease the pressure on the lives of citizens of all walks of life and release the pent-up enthusiasm for consumption, which will bring a quarter of a century of prosperity to Eastwood City. In addition, the intelligence bases scattered in various cities in the western region have reported that the call for a reduction in tax rates is high, and the shackles that restrict the development of industry and commerce must be lifted, and as long as the horses and reins are in hand, there is no need to worry too much. On the contrary, we can take advantage of this tailwind to finalize the long-negotiated customs union. Veneque, the pearl of Edri, the merchant alliance known as the Thousand Islands City, is the opponent that Your Excellency always pays attention to, and our eyes should not be limited to one city and one place, but should be staring at the western soil, looking at the West continent. ”

Several other masters then made different opinions, but in fact they were supplementing Edmundo's suggestion, which had recently joined this small circle, and Felix, a follower of the Way of the Oak, was surprisingly silent, and the Earl of Eastwood breathed a sigh of relief, and was quite pleased with the loyalty of his staff, and turned around and signed a bill to reduce the excise tax on liquor to a low point, which was ten percent, instead of eighty-five percent as it is now—and this was tantamount to forcing the tavern manager to mix water, otherwise there would be not much profit to be gained.

The House of Commons roared with joy, and the townspeople soon realized the convenience of good governance, and all the liquor sold in the market not only became better in quality, but also reduced in price to varying degrees, and the enthusiasm of citizens of all walks of life was suddenly released, and all pubs, regardless of size and grade, were crowded with customers, and the distribution of liquor became profitable.

Aldrich, who was planning to enter the liquor brewing industry, luckily picked up a big leak and ate three ale workshops and a small brewing workshop at a very cheap price, and the large inventory alone made him enough money, but afterwards the seller regretted that his intestines were blue.

On the banks of the Champagne River, where the mellow smell of wine flows in the night breeze, short-sighted commoners, greedy wine merchants, and self-righteous parliamentarians are unaware that epoch-making covenants are being finalized in full swing, and they enjoy a momentary carnival in ignorance, while the powerful at the top are gradually coming together in constant contact and temptation.

The friendship forged by blood was repeatedly reaffirmed by the pioneers, and for the greater good and the wonderful prospects, the great lords who had drifted apart sent representatives to participate in the conference in an attempt to become founding members of the Western Turkish Customs Union.

The main purpose of the alliance was to defend the position of the great lords, to work together against external and internal challengers, and to control commercial interests, the first of which was the "Kamal", which monopolized the shipping trade in the North Sea, and the Triple Alliance established by the Harolds.

Among them, the coastal cities of the alliance were extremely active, and it could even be said that they could not wait to shake off the shackles and cages that restricted development, and as the co-lord of the allies, the Earl of Eastwood, perhaps as he should be called, decided to establish his position and voice in this war, and secretly continued to exert his strength, and the degree of zealism was no less than that of the proposer.

When it was time to contribute money, there was a tragic and embarrassing cold scene, even though the Archduke Eastwood took the lead in reporting a staggering number of figures, most of them were compensated with weapons and equipment, and others were willing to contribute, but they were unwilling to contribute, so they had to pass on the shortfall to the citizens of the territory.

The news soon leaked out, and many wealthy businessmen keenly smelled the significance of the Customs Union, and expressed their support for it at all costs, but the conditions put forward were somewhat terrifying, and they even wanted to obtain membership, of course, they were rejected by the big lords in unison, and the upstarts of industrial and commercial capital were not yet qualified to go to the table.

The turmoil of the conflict soon subsided, and the formation of a fleet against Kamal began, and the café "observers" believed that there must be a shady behind-the-scenes deal, among which the spies of the Triple Alliance and the spies who bought them were extremely conspicuous, but all efforts were in vain, and the formation of the fleet was not stopped in the slightest.

The latest steel ballistas were brought onto the warship, and the bullets were originally irregular stones, but after they were improved, they became spheres, and the effective killing range of 400 meters made it a favorite.

Cramming all positions of the fleet and conscripting crews on the League's agenda, unemployed sailors, hired laborers, and bankrupt peasants became the mainstream, but they could not cope with broadside battles, so the knights on board opened their hands to the regular armies of the city-states, and of course adventurers such as rangers, rangers, and wanderers.

The turbulent era is quietly coming, and grasping what may be the last chance to make a contribution, the lords of the manor, the country knights and other frustrated people rush to the ocean with their dreams.