"My lord, how can I, Lauke, let you greet you personally?" the tax collector knew that he still had to say polite words.

But Stannis didn't care about etiquette at all, he unceremoniously went straight in, "Don't talk about these useless things, let's say, how much tax are you going to collect this time!"

Lauke cleared his throat in embarrassment, "Sure enough, you are a hero who is a young man, and the enthusiasm for paying taxes for the country is so high, when I go back, I will definitely promote your reputation in front of the chief." ”

Then the tax collector took out a piece of parchment that he had prepared long ago, opened it, and began to speak: "According to the above record, as usual, you need to call nineteen taxes, a total of four hundred gold coins. ”

It's exactly half of their income in this period, and these guys are really monkey spirits. Stannis didn't move and continued to watch him perform.

"Moreover, this time there will be an additional war tax, because the war with Rhodok to the north has greatly increased the expenditure on armaments, so His Majesty the Emperor has issued a decree on a special war tax. I think Count Justin is so loyal and patriotic, he will not shirk it. ”

Stannis hurriedly clapped a smile and rubbed his hands, "Of course, of course, I will do my best to dedicate myself to the country." It's just that before I pay the money, can you let me look at His Majesty's decree? ”

Laugh glanced at him, but did not suspect it, and drew a cowhide scroll and handed it to him, for he did not believe that this notoriously ruined lord, who could only eat and drink, and that he had suddenly become patient enough to read such a long passage of quotations from the scriptures that justified the taxation.

But Stennis just glanced at it and found a huge hole.

"Hey, it says on this that there are fifty cavalry or more leaders who will pay this war tax, you go to my territory and see if there are fifty horses in total?"

"Ah, how could such a thing be! How could I not know?" Although he said this, the tax collector Laugh was bitter in his heart, he did not expect this stupid lord to find out about this.

Lauke pretended to read the decree again, and then slapped his thigh, "That's true, look at my eyes, I'm really sorry, my lord, you don't have to pay this money!"

But it only confirmed Stennis's thoughts, and he began to wonder how many of the 19 taxes he really had to pay.

"Can you show me the details of the taxes I have to pay and the rules of the tax?" said Stennis.

Lauke already had a faint sense that something was wrong, but when he saw Korodov behind the lord playing with the sword in his hand, he obediently took out a large number of scrolls and stacked them on the ground.

"My lord, these are all the laws and regulations that you pay taxes, and we collect taxes for good reason. ”

Ignoring him, Stannis sat down cross-legged and began to look up the regulations written in the decree against the taxes he was to pay.

Soon, Lauke regretted showing these things to the lord in front of him.

"Ha, why do I have to pay so many taxes! The land tax clearly states that the freedmen in the kingdom only need to pay one-tenth of their income to their emperor, but you collect one-third of the serf's tax from me!"

"No......" Laugh was a little confused.

This only strengthened Stannis's motivation, "Does it seem like a big problem! I have opened all the other laws to me, and I want to see what is wrong." ”

Laugh's fat face began to sweat profusely, and he pulled out his handkerchief and began to wipe it.

"'The indulgences paid to the church must be collected by the lord and personally delivered to the nearby church' Hey, how can you go beyond the box and collect it yourself! Give me back the money, I'll pay it myself!"

"And here, and here, according to Article 33 of the Emperor's Amnesty, 'Civilians can be exempted from taxation when they buy daily necessities, and the taxes that have been levied must be refunded', heck, there is also a tax refund policy!? developed!"

"Is there any mistake! This water conservancy fee was levied three hundred years ago to build a new bridge, and after so many years, I don't know that the bridge is no longer there, and you still have to collect it from me!"

Laugh was still wiping his face, but the handkerchief had become like it had been fished out of the water.

In the end, Stannis finally sorted out his 'tax return', he stood up easily, and stretched out comfortably.

"I'm finally going to figure out what I'm paying for taxes. He announced.

Robert couldn't wait to say, "Boss, what is the final conclusion?"

"The final conclusion is that I don't want to pay a dime this time!" he clenched his fist as if to make another declaration of victory.

The three men behind him: Korodov, Robert, and Cook hugged each other in ecstasy, "He did it!" they shouted excitedly. Bachelor Romon next to him was also brushing his long beard and nodding approvingly.

"No need to pay taxes, how is this possible!" In his thirty years as a tax collector, Lauke has never encountered a situation where he does not have to pay taxes.

Stannis signaled that he hadn't finished speaking, "You don't believe you can do the math, anyway, I came to it according to the laws one by one, and according to your original, it is 'reasonable'." And not only do I not have to pay it, but you also have to return 600 gold coins that I overcharged before. ”

"Oh!!" the three living treasures behind him shouted in their long voices.

"I love you to death, boss!!" Robert cried like a rabid fan.

"Retreat...... Return the money!" Lauke is already going crazy.

"Yes, if you don't return the money, I will charge you a late fee!"

The fat tax collector flatly refused, "How is this possible, how can the money that goes into the treasury come out!"

"I don't care, because this is written in black and white on your decree, if you don't pay it back, don't blame me for going to your place to make trouble in front ......of your superiors" Before he could finish this sentence, he was covered by a few people behind.

"What are you doing!" Stannis struggled to break free.

"Boss, you don't want to die, you dare to provoke the highest governor of the empire stationed here!" Robert looked frightened, but fortunately, the tax collector didn't hear Stannis's last words.

But Lauke on the side was obviously a little self-doubting by him, he had seen a lord who violently resisted taxes, and he had also seen a lord who cheated and didn't pay taxes, but he really hadn't seen this kind of lord who was impeccable in calculating the taxes he had to pay.

"This ...... How could there be such a big deviation, I have to go back and ask the higher authorities to make a decision, and I don't have to pay the tax this time. ”

With that, he returned the same way with the still empty carriage.

Stannis noticed that his men were looking at him with adoring eyes, after all, they had never seen a tax exemption with a single mouth.

At least, he's a hero today!

Hero of the day......