What a big deal!

Wren threw the prayer note in his hand on the table, with Sarcomo's name written on it with a vermilion base and gold lacquer edge. This man is the president www.biquge.info of the Chamber of Commerce in the Orlando Imperial Bell Province, a wealthy businessman.

When he was thirteen or fourteen years old, during the second imperial civil war under Orlando V, the two archdukes with their own fiefdoms and several dukes of the empire were in full swing, and at the same time, those homes were burned down by the war, or the outcasts who were poorly clothed and hungry gradually turned into bandits, and the security of the entire empire was rotten to the point that it was impossible to clean up. In this environment, the young Sarcomo began his trade journey with a dagger and a package on his back.

Today, after so many years, his status and prestige have made him a living legend. This old man, with courage, perseverance, wisdom, and many good qualities, stood at the pinnacle of the profession of a businessman.

His greeting post, Wren naturally wants to take it.

He is a city lord, and if he wants to enrich and expand his strength, he can't do without the help of merchants. Although he was a little unhappy that the Chamber of Commerce was meddling in local affairs, he didn't mind letting it off as a fart as long as Sarcomo could offer a reasonable price.

The old man came as promised, and the gift of twenty gold coins gave Wren a little smile on his face, a funny old man, but also a troublesome opponent, if he would eventually become Wren's opponent.

"Welcome, Mr. Sarcomo. Wren stood on the steps, looking down at the old man standing at the bottom of the steps, and Sarcomo was not annoyed, but smiled.

"It is an honour to visit you on such a wonderful day, Lord of the Golden Thorns, Baron Rennes Alcania. He smiled very sincerely, the curvature of his eyes, and the angle of the corners of his mouth were perfect, as if he had rehearsed a million times, so that people could not find the slightest fault.

Wren nodded, leaning sideways slightly, "I changed to a gardener two days ago, his craftsmanship looks good, but I always feel that there are some flaws, maybe the wisdom that the years have given you is enough for you to find those flaws." Let's go and walk around the garden together. ”

"It's an honor, my lord. Sarcomo then walked up the steps, followed by Wren, and led by the chief maid through the entire city lord's palace and into the garden.

Three gardeners are doing the day-to-day construction, a job that pays a lot of money, ten silver coins a month, which is a lot of money in the city, and they do their best to take care of this vast garden. Every day, they have to cut off the new yellow leaves of each tree, pluck the withered flowers, and cut every patch of grass so that not a single weed appears. At the same time, they also need to have a certain artistic taste, so that the garden can have a different shape with each season.

Sarcomo gave these gardeners a high evaluation, but he didn't care about his evaluation, and Wren didn't care.

After a half-circle, the two of them walked to the courtyard in the center of the garden and sat down, where the head maid had prepared a fragrant black tea, and piping hot fresh milk, and of course a little red wine and brandy.

"I have a very special gift for you, which represents my sincerity and kindness, and I hope you will enjoy it. After the two of them had a drink, Sarcomo pulled out a roll of paper tied with a red silk scarf. He gently pushed to Wren's side and met Wren's gaze, and the two looked at each other for a moment before Wren shifted his gaze to the paper scroll.

He opened the silk scarf, spread out the paper roll, slightly surprised, and had a deeper understanding of the old man Sarcomo, this is a very intelligent old man, and it can even be said to be cunning! He slowly put the paper roll on the table, it was a land deed of the manor in the Golden Ring District of the imperial capital, and it was also the culprit who caused the death of nearly a thousand people during this time. It spun around and finally returned to Wren's hands, which was like a joke by the goddess of fate, making people laugh and cry.

Sarcomo paid about 8,000 gold coins in cash for this title deed to settle the mercenary group and Harvey, a slave trader. The reason why he used so much money to coerce and lure him back this title deed, and then gave it away in person, obviously had a greater purpose.

Wren took a sip of the black tea with a strong tea aroma in his cup, glanced at the title deed on the table, and asked, "Mr. Sarcomo, I believe that when a wolf begins to give gifts to a shepherd, it needs more than security. Explain your intentions, I like to be direct, guessing will only bore me. ”

Sarcomo's impression of Rennes at this time was only two, the first was that he was very strong, of course, almost all nobles had this characteristic. The second point was also cunning: he took great pains to recover and return to him Wren's lost title deed, but he said that it was a gift from the wolf to the shepherd, and almost at once minimized the weight of the title deed in the matter that was to be discussed between the two parties.

This is a formidable opponent, especially at his age, which is almost unparalleled.

Sarcomo is starting to feel less confident about today's plan, because the stakes are too great. He pondered for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I was commissioned by the Bell Chamber of Commerce to meet with you to discuss the issue of taxation. ”

Wren was stunned for a moment, and looked at Sarcomo with a smile, "My tax officer told me that there are no taxes to collect in this city. ”

Sarcomo cursed in his heart, but his face maintained a humble and sincere smile like the winner of the three awards, and he flattered: "That was before, when you didn't come here, it was like a barren wasteland, there was nothing. When you came, you had everything. ”

The Imperial Business Tax is one out of five, or 20 percent, and most of the time this figure is not immutable. For example, Alexandria, in order to compete with other commercial ports, in order to compete with the commercial ports of the Byron Empire across the Channel, Alexandria's commercial tax is one out of ten, that is, ten percent tax. The 1 out of 5 is just a standardized reference given by the empire, and sometimes for some reason, the local lord can change the tax ratio slightly.

In Sarcomo's opinion, this golden aristocrat who came all the way from the imperial capital is obviously not a soft persimmon, let alone the kind of playboy who only knows how to fight on the belly of a woman, he has a very effective skill, and he also has courage and command wisdom, and Ortlenburg's current state of no government will soon be changed. Once he has established his dominion over Ortlenburg, the next step is to take back the tax and military powers, and then make it an Iron Curtain, where everyone who lives will have to play according to his rules of the game.

Then it is urgent to solve the tax problem in advance. The merchants were willing to gather in Ortrenburg because the former state of government had exempted them from a large amount of taxes, and once the tax system returned to normal, it would be tantamount to picking up an axe and slashing the heads of all the merchants in the province of Bell. They were left with little choice, either gritting their teeth and paying a large commercial tax, or going by sea to Alexandria and then south to Bell Province, all the while wasting a lot of money on transportation.

Wren didn't say anything, just looked at the scenery, but Sarcomo couldn't help but speak, he used a consultative tone and careful wording, for fear of arousing Wren's disgust, "I, and all the members of the Bell Chamber of Commerce, support you in exercising the power given to you by the empire on your territory, and we will resolutely approve and support your decision." "We also have some small opinions on the subject of the Imperial Commercial Tax...... ”

Wren suddenly waved his hand, stopping his next words. During this time, Wren also thought about what he should do after taking over Ortlenburg completely, and he also studied taxes, and to be honest, he didn't really want to touch this thing. If it was legal for these merchants to trade between the empire and Byron, he might have agreed to lower the commercial tax in order to attract merchants to trade. But look at what these businessmen are doing? they're smuggling all the embargoed goods like crazy, they're going to do anything for money.

What's more, even if the tax ratio is changed, it will not benefit him in the slightest. A part of the tax was withheld as the capital of the city lord's mansion for the development of the city, and the rest was handed over to the imperial treasury, what could he get? a reward from the imperial capital? or a hateful gaze from the merchants? After all, there was no need to pay any fees here.

"The commercial tax is one of the national policies of the Empire, and I will not change it without authorization. ”

Sarcomo frowned and said, "But that will disappoint some merchants, who will choose to reopen a trade route and leave here, and you may not receive much tax." ”

Wren doesn't eat this set at all!

He chuckled, "From the Weimar corridor of the Ortlenburg route to the Sunrise City of the Byron Empire, the total length is more than 600 kilometers, and if you go fast, it is enough to make two round trips in a month. Other than that, there is no better place to trade across borders than Ortlenburg. ”

This is a fact, a fact that no one can change, and Sarcomo has no choice but to choose another way of saying: "What about Alexandria? ”

"The cost of sea freight is much higher than the cost of land transportation, and those savvy captains charge for every inch of space. Wren put down the empty teacup and lit the tray, and the maid immediately refilled it for him, "Also, the Chamber of Commerce over there in Alexandria will not allow you to pass, they will do everything they can to keep you from getting close to that place, whether that includes assassination or anything else, such as robber raids, and then kill everyone?"

Sarcomo fell silent for a long time before he sighed, "So what will you do? I believe you will show me the way." ”

Wren snapped his fingers with a smile, "I like to talk to smart people, and that's why I agreed to meet you!"