It was gray, and this scene had been going on for most of the morning. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Lyon left the training ground, and for a moment he didn't know where to go. Confusion and confusion lingered in his heart, and the events of the past two days made him a little unable to turn his head.

He walked on the road without a purpose and felt something fall on his head, reached out and felt a little cold, and looked up to see that it was snowing.

This is the first snow of the year, and according to the usual day, this snow came too late, and it should have arrived before the winter festival.

He remembered that when he first arrived in Ravenwood last year, it was snowing heavily outside, and the castle with nothing left him disheartened, and there were a few moments when he wanted to give up the place. Before that, he was under house arrest in the palace, but it was also a magnificent palace, and he was mentally prepared before he came, but when he saw it in reality, the gap in his heart was quite large.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and soon you could see that the roof was covered with a layer of white.

When the children saw that it was snowing, they happily ran outside to play in the snow, while their mother stood at the door and shouted for them to go back quickly, but in the face of this sudden snow, how could the children go back.

Snow is a beautiful thing at this moment, because people are not afraid of snow, the cold of the snow no longer bothers the townspeople, and the bacon brought by the vendors yesterday was swept away by the townspeople, and today they return home to enjoy the scenery while tasting delicious barbecue or broth.

Now the vendors come four times a month to basically meet the needs of the townspeople, and when the new market is built, they can enjoy a wider variety of products.

Thinking of this, Leon had a smile on his face.

Keys of unknown origin, mysterious organizations, and rumors that arouse suspicion are not the point.

Ravenwood has only one goal, and that is to become stronger.

"Your Highness, there seems to be something wrong with trade lately. "Leon was stopped by Chris as soon as he returned to the castle, and now most of the groundwork of trade has been transferred to Chris, while the former head of trade has been transferred to work on the lumberyard.

"What's the problem?" Leon didn't notice the abnormality, the information of the trade would be checked by himself, except for a small fluctuation in the price, there was no problem, could there be something missing.

"This is the information sent yesterday, because I didn't look at the banquet and vegetable field in time, I just checked and found that there was something wrong. Chris handed over the parchment roll in his hand, yesterday's banquet was supposed to be a break, and there was something wrong with Toso's side, so he hadn't entered the executive hall at all.

Leon took it and looked at it only to realize that he had been negligent, and that he had been preparing to check it yesterday when Diana came, and in the face of this sudden visitor, he could only put aside the parchment roll, and did not have time to look at it afterwards.

At first glance, there is nothing wrong with the price and quantity of the traded product, but the total amount is a little higher than before, and in winter, it is normal for the price of grain to rise, and it is reasonable for the total amount to rise.

But when he took a closer look, the price of grain had not changed, this was the most important thing imported by the town, it had not changed, how could the price have risen?

The problem lies in the trade tax.

There are two types of trade taxes, one is the general type of the Snow Man Kingdom, and the other is set by the local lords themselves. According to common sense, the tax rate of some small towns is according to the general type, and only large cities like White Fog City will have their own tax rate, especially the city that focuses on business, and the general tax rate will be lower than that of the general type.

White Mist City has developed by commerce, and the Earl's family has always paid attention to the interests of merchants, among which the regulations on the management of merchants are very lenient, and the tax rate is almost the lowest in the country, but this time it directly increased the tax rate of Ravenwood by half.

"Your Highness, it is probably the Earl who did such a thing against us. Chris could only think of one reason, and that was that the Count was behind the scenes.

The trade of White Mist City is dominated by merchants, but the rules behind it are set by the earl, as long as the earl implements a separate tax rate on the town, the merchants have no right to object, including the big merchant Silas, there is no other way than obediently obey it.

"No one has such a right except the Earl. Leon had no doubt that he was the only one who could do this.

Now that Ravenwood and Silas have signed terms of cooperation, it is equivalent to signing a contract between the town and Whitefog City, in which case, unless the contract is broken, the rules of Whitefog City must be followed.

"Does Mr. Silas have a solution?" Chris had a business experience, but he was only a small trader, and he could hardly find a clue when faced with this level of problem.

"He is not only a merchant in White Mist City, but also the president of the Chamber of Commerce, sitting in such a position, as long as he violates the Earl's regulations, he will definitely be ousted from power, and the end will not be much better. Leon shook his head, Silas was just an intermediary, he had no right to decide, let alone resist, unless he gave up the position of the chairman and withdrew from White Mist City, but a wise businessman would never give up what he had now for the benefit of the town.

The Earl's conundrum was indeed tricky.

This kind of separate increase in trade taxes is very common between some hostile lords and states, both sides will raise taxes on each other, in addition to showing hostility, they do not want to bring benefits to others on their side, the taxes are too high, and the merchants on both sides are not willing to trade, so they will not bring benefits.

"Then should we raise the tax rate as well?" Chris knew that the lord could adjust his own taxes, and he had to react to the Earl's behavior.

Lyon can't do this, the town's trade partner is only Silas, and the increase in the tax rate will only increase the burden on the town and Silas, which will have an adverse impact on the long-term cooperation between the two sides.

If left unchecked, I am afraid that the earl will be further strengthened, and a workable solution must be found.

"Did Mr. Silas write a letter?" Count's behavior, Silas must have known as the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and if he had any ideas, he should have written to inform him.

"There have been no letters for the past few days. Chris said clearly.

The absence of a letter suggests that Silas is also having problems, not just tax rates.

Since the Earl has taken such an action, any possible factors have been taken into account, after all, Silas has long occupied the position of president, and naturally has outstanding skills, and all simple problems cannot help him.

In order to completely suppress the town, the Earl will definitely give Silas a problem, and there will be no time and energy to take care of Ravenwood until his problem is solved.

For this, Lyon is left on his own.