"Your Excellency. ”

In the underground passage, Herbert was waiting at the agreed meeting place with an oil lamp, and when he heard the slight footsteps, he turned around and saw Hodge.

"I saw the letter you sent. Hodge paused beside him and pulled the bright yellow piece of paper from the inner lining of his jacket, "You mentioned in your letter that there was a major breakthrough in the matter I told you. ”

He paused slightly, and then asked, "About whom?"

Herbert did not specify what had happened in the letter, since it was possible that the letter had been delivered incorrectly, and that it was impossible for an intelligence officer to make such a lowly mistake.

But Hodge knew what he was talking about, and since it was the recent thing he had confessed, there was no doubt that it was the investigation and secret discovery of the network of Pollit, Rhodes, and the people in Blackstone who were closely connected to them.

Herbert's eagerness to send someone to inform him must have been an extremely important discovery.

So whose hole cards are revealed?

Herbert raised the oil lamp in his hand to his chest, leaning slightly sideways to make room for a third man.

It was a boy, slightly older than the one who had delivered the letter, with a slight purple mark at the corner of his eye, but it had faded, and Hodge could notice that there were traces of milky ointment in the corner of his eye.

If you read it right, this is probably his own wound medicine, which is more effective than ordinary ointments, and has a slight pain-relieving effect.

And such ointments, he usually gives......

Hodge turned his head to look at Herbert, "Is this my ......?"

"Yes, exactly. Herbert whispered, "He's one of your little mice." ”

"He is also the discoverer of this important information. ”

"He discovered the secret of the treasurer, Rhodes. ”

Hodge frowned, looked at the little boy who looked a little nervous, and tried to slow his tone, "So what are you going to tell me, little boy?" ”

The boy was a little flustered, and with his dirty little hands, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his clothes and handed it to him.

Hodge flattened the paper, which looked like it wasn't a formal letter, but more like a piece of paper used to write a draft, with scribbled writing on it, and ink patches in many places.

He looked through it carefully, and found that the draft written on the paper was supposed to be an equation, and judging by the values involved in the calculation, it seemed to be a calculation...... Rate?

If he remembered correctly, the tax rate calculations in Blackstone weren't so complicated as to require so many calculations combined.

"When I was in the North Block, I saw Crane, who was the treasurer's butler, and he was acting something wrong, with his hood covered as if he didn't want to be recognized. I thought something was strange and followed. ”

That's the closest neighborhood to the vein area where miners live outside town.

"I followed him all the way and finally found him in the hut on the outside side of the Tring Chamber of Commerce. I waited a little longer, and then the housekeepers of the Chamber of Commerce appeared there one after another. ”

"What's so strange about this? The housekeeper of the Chamber of Commerce and the housekeeper of the treasurer met to discuss, and it was not a big deal. ”

"I probably didn't make it clear. The boy swallowed, "Not just the butlers of the Tring Chamber of Commerce, but the butlers of almost all the miners in the entire Blackstone Town, including the Defoe, Taura, Fansen and other chambers of commerce, have walked into that hut. ”

"Stewards of all the miners in Blackstone?" Hodge repeated what he had said, his tone tinged with incredulity.

Just a housekeeper in Rhodes, can he have such a big appeal in the Chamber of Commerce in Blackstone Town?

Moreover, all the stewards are gathered together...... What is this to discuss?

"It's a little weird though. Hodge thought for a moment and said slowly, "But it's not that weird. ”

He knew very well that whether it was the steward of the Chamber of Commerce or the steward of Rhodes, their representatives were not themselves, they were just mouths and tongues, conveying the opinions of the people behind them.

Maybe Pollit or Rhodes had something important to tell the merchants?

It's not impossible, and it's a little unreasonable, but it's still reasonable.

"But...... Crane entered the Tring Chamber of Commerce in an identity that was not his own. The boy thought hard, worried that he had missed something, "I heard him report his identity to the squire outside the door when he entered the Chamber of Commerce—Gruni. ”

Hodge was stunned: "His surname is Gruney?"

"No, his surname is Leslie. This time it was Herbert, who answered, and he said, "My lord, not only that, but there is no one in the town who has the word Gruney in his name. ”

"It's a pseudonym. ”

So that's the case, no wonder Herbert thinks that this matter needs to be reported to himself urgently, and if Crane's previous behavior is at least reasonable, then the question of hiding his name is pure unconscionable and unreasonable.

In addition, what the little boy said that Clint deliberately hid his actions in the town is even more inexplicable.

If it were just a normal communication between the treasurer and the businessmen, there would be no need to do this.

Unless, Rhodes doesn't want to let others know about it, he doesn't want to ...... Let Pollit know.

"Sure enough, it's important news. Hodge smiled at the little boy and shook the paper in his hand, "This was taken from the hut in the Tring Chamber of Commerce?"

"Yes, I waited until they were all gone, and the attendants let their guard down, before I crept into it and found the piece of paper from the waste paper. ”

"Well done, it's valuable news. Hodge gave him an appreciative look, "What's your name?"

"Aiden. ”

"Uh-huh, Aiden. He turned back, "Herbert, let little Aidendo follow you around in the future, you know what I mean." ”

Herbert bowed: "Understood. ”

"As for this matter. He thought for a moment, "The formula on this piece of paper is supposed to calculate the tax collection for each quarter, and if there is a problem, maybe the answer can be found in Rhodes's ledger, is it difficult to do this?"

"It's very difficult. Herbert smiled bitterly and promised, "But I do my best." ”

"Do your best. Hodge added for him.

"Yes. ”

......

"Director Rhodes. Galder's face was gloomy, and his already bad temper was even more faintly at the point of an outburst at this moment.

"You have insulted the two chambers of commerce before, and you have provoked the anger of almost all chambers of commerce. But I suppressed that anger, not because we didn't have the ability to fight back, but because it didn't do much good for either side. ”

"But now, are you going to insult us Taora!"

Gauld's anger was not unreasonable, as the most powerful miners in Blackstone Town, Taura was privileged, they only had to pay fifty percent of the mining tax every quarter, and this preferential treatment was tacitly approved by the Marquis of Raymond.

And the news brought by Rhodes was actually to inform that from the next quarter, the Taora Chamber of Commerce will no longer enjoy this preferential treatment.

Seventy percent of the tax amount will not be reduced at all.

Rhodes's face was equally embarrassed, and he said in embarrassment: "President Galder, don't get excited, this-I am helpless. ”

It was Pollit who made the decision, what could he do?

Ever since the fat man tasted the sweetness of the two chambers of commerce, he has become more and more unscrupulous, and the symbol of the coin appears in his eyes all day long, and Rhodes's previous strategy with the chamber of commerce has been disrupted by the addition of Pollit's will.

Now he could only see two things.

One is to get more money.

Second, the Chamber of Commerce will not make a disturbance.

These are two contradictory things, but Pollit is willing to care so much, and directly throw his own requirements to him and let him negotiate.

And hinted to him more than once that if the Chamber of Commerce had a tough attitude, he could use the power of witches.

The use of witches is the result of not being talked about directly, and Rhodes doesn't want the relationship with the Chamber of Commerce to develop like this.

However, even so, Pollitt's demands were too high, and the bottom line of negotiations rose.

Such a bottom line......

It's hard to talk about.