If you want to destroy a big tree, you first have to cut off the branches and leaves of the big tree, then eradicate the parasitic plants that cling to the trunk of the big tree, and finally dig up the roots of the tree, and then push it to the big tree.

Defeating a small nobleman may only take a decree, which is enough to plunge a small noble family that has struggled for several generations into the abyss in an instant. But to push a big nobleman, it is definitely not an overnight thing.

Many people will think that the royal family wants to hit whom, just say no? The royal family is so powerful and rules this empire, as long as the emperor says that these people will be removed from their positions and titles, and then these people will be imprisoned for the final trial, why should they eat away at the branches and leaves of those big nobles in one more move?

In fact, this is a sign of political immaturity.

The network of henchmen of a large aristocrat like Wren is unimaginably large, and if the royal family openly declares that it wants to target them, it is likely to cause a huge political tsunami that will lead to civil unrest. You must know that in this feudal system, outside the imperial capital, the goal of people's allegiance is often to rule their nobles, not to the royal family.

In the whole political system, the royal family is the first layer of the pyramid, followed by the major nobles, and then the small and medium-sized nobles, the privileged class, and the commoners. In this pyramid system, there is no such thing as overstepping allegiance. In other words, there is not much relationship and loyalty between the emperor and the commoners.

Once these nobles, big and small, face the pressure and hurt from the royal family and choose to take risks, no one can stop them from doing crazy things.

So if you want to defeat a big nobleman smoothly, the first thing to do is to cut down his henchman network, reduce his influence and the chips in his hands. It definitely can't happen overnight, it will take a while.

Queen Pars's first target was Sarcomo.

Sarcomo played a very key role within Rennes' party, and his importance was reflected in money. The biggest difference between the Industrial and Commercial Party and other parties is that the entire party of the Industrial and Commercial Party is dominated by exploiters, which is a party of businessmen. Their wealth and influence are by no means comparable to those of the Workers' Party or the Peasants' and Heralds' Party. This group of merchants with huge wealth helped Wren gain more support and allegiance through the charm of money.

This is not a prosperous age, but even if it is, the power of money is infinite.

Wren can spend a lot of money to absorb the small nobles and privileged classes who are facing difficulties, and he can also use money to buy weapons and armor and even forbidden privately manufactured war weapons, and money can also get the loyalty of the people, so as to provide a rich source of soldiers, so the role of Sarcomo is very large.

If we think of a force as a sophisticated machine, then money is the source of power needed for the operation of this machine, and it is indispensable. Once the wealth brought to Wren by the industrial and commercial party is lost, then the machine will have a big problem.

People always unconsciously belittle the value of interests in morality, but the funny thing is that no one can do without interests. As long as people live in this world, the demands for profit are endless.

It seems that the tax audits promoted by the tax commissioner are aimed at the taxes of the major cities and against Rennes - as we all know, Ortlenburg has been very concerned about tax problems over the years, and the taxes paid each year for many years have often been only a few gold coins.

A city's taxes are only a few gold coins?

This is definitely not a normal performance, at least not for now.

But the real target of this operation was Sarcomo.

This group of merchants has long been accustomed to paying less or no taxes in a variety of ways, the most common being concealment. Obviously sold something for 10,000 gold coins, and only admitted that he sold 5,000 gold coins when filing taxes, so he naturally underpaid the commercial tax behind the 5,000 gold coins, that is, the tax of 1,000 gold coins. Another example is the use of the commercial tax in different places to evade taxes, obviously trading in a certain city with one out of five, but paying taxes in some places with one out of ten or even one out of fifteen, and the commercial tax that originally required to be paid was 2,000 gold coins, but now it only needs to pay 1,000 or even 500 or 600 gold coins.

Either way, strictly speaking, it is an illegal act of tax resistance, including the way of paying taxes in other places. It's just that the royal family's dominance over the local government is not strong enough over the years, and it is enough for the local government to be willing to pay the default proportion of taxes, and no one cares where the taxes are paid, or how much they underreport, as long as they are not outrageous, everything is fine.

The hidden dangers of the past have finally become a sharp blade in the hands of those in power to eradicate dissidents, and even Sarcomo did not expect such a day.

He wasn't a big man after all, but an inconspicuous party leader, a small baron.

It's a pity that sometimes some things always backfire, and trouble still finds him.

Celeste couldn't believe what Sarcomo said, she thought that it was all a choice made by the high-ranking woman to deal with her brother Rennes, she didn't think that the real target of the Empress of Pars was actually her grandfather!

After a moment of silence, Celeste asked, "Have you been in contact with Brother Wren?"

There was no sad and depressed expression on Sarcomo's face, he remained calm and nodded, "I have already contacted the adult, and he asked me to keep a low profile and calm and wait for him to come back to make a decision." ”

He couldn't see anything on the surface, but he knew very well in his heart that he was afraid that he would suffer a crime this time. Since Empress Pars has decided to open this gap from him, it means that this woman will do whatever it takes, and she will not talk about any decency and rules, and will definitely use all means to make him confess. Once he pleaded guilty, then Empress Pars would initiate a parliament to find a way to identify the business party as an "illegitimate party", not only to dissolve it, but also to vet all party members, and continue to strip Wren of its "power" at a deeper level.

Once Wren has almost endless financial support in his hands, and the monopoly is released again, it will deal a heavy blow to Wren.

In this world, no matter what you want to do, you have to have money.

Without money, nothing can be done.

The silence did not last long, and the butler ran in in a panic, and before he could open his mouth, a dozen soldiers barged in. Behind the dozen or so soldiers, a middle-aged man in a parliamentarian's uniform looked at Sarcomo with a smile, "Your Excellency, I am Tutat of the General Administration of Taxation, and I am currently serving as the deputy director of the General Administration of Taxation, and I believe you already know what we are here for." ”

Sarcomo leaned back in his chair and looked at these people, without the slightest timidity or surprise, calmly making the corners of Tutate's eyes jump.

He continued with a non-smiling smile: "According to the decree of Your Excellency the Governor and the Empress, Your Excellency believes that you have committed serious tax evasion in the trade of the past years, and according to the laws and regulations of the Empire, we will review and review the trade of you and your Chamber of Commerce over the years. If it is determined that you have committed a violation of the law, you will be judged by necessity. If you do not do so, we will apologize for what we have done. ”

"Now, I hope you can go with us to the State Administration of Taxation and figure things out carefully. Tutat waved his hand, and the two soldiers walked up behind Sarcomo, Tutat raised his eyebrows, "I also hope that you can actively cooperate." ”

Obviously, Tutat did not give Sarcomo any face, and even hoped that Sarcomo would do something impulsive. There is indeed a great risk in the case of Sarcomo and Wren, who is not a person to be messed with, and there are many examples that prove that this guy is sometimes a madman, and he will never just give up.

However, the risks are also great rewards and gains, and once they succeed in driving Wren into the abyss, then these people who cooperate with the royal family at great risk will receive unimaginable benefits - wealth, power, and even knighthood.

Tutat "invited" Sarcomo in this humiliating way, hoping that the old guy would not be able to stand it and make some special moves, so that he would find an opportunity to be ruthless. But it's a pity that compared to treacherous and experience, it is obvious that Sarcomo is more abundant. He stood up with a smile, wiped his hands, glanced at the butler and Celeste with a caressing look, and raised his leg to walk out the door.

Celeste seemed to react at this time, when she suddenly stood up, stopped by the door, and shouted loudly, "You can't take him." ”

Tutat froze for a moment, and he looked at Sarcomo, "Who is this?"

"My granddaughter!"

Tutat sneered, and slapped Celeste's shoulder, he himself is a knight who has cultivated battle qi, this push is extremely forceful, and suddenly the little girl who has only reached the third level of swordsman is pushed to the ground. He walked up to Celeste and looked down at her from above, his eyes filled with endless mockery, "Girl, just wait to get married, don't run around if it's okay." ”

With that, a group of soldiers surrounded Sarcomo and rushed out.

The little girl's eyes turned red as she looked at her grandfather who had been taken away.

She bit her lip, the slightest fishy sweetness filled her with hatred, and at the same time engraved Tutat's back firmly in her heart. Patting the dust on her skirt, the little girl stood up, and after a moment regained her calm expression, and hurried out of Sarcomo's estate.