The wheels rolled on the bluestone paved road, and the light carriage jolted every now and then.

"The roads in Pinghu Town are wide and smooth, which is far from Blinor City. Tenis grasped the handrail of the carriage and said bitterly: "I like the prosperity of the royal capital, but I especially hate the two-wheeled carriage. ”

The compliment of the former tax collector brought a smile on Victor's face, and he said in a deep voice: "I often dream of a city where the buildings on the street are neatly arranged, the roads are in all directions, and there are two crystal street lamps every ten meters, and even if the clouds obscure the moon, the city will not fall into darkness. Her sewers are intricate, like a labyrinth. There are more than millions of inhabitants in the city. ”

"A city of millions of people...... I can't imagine how long its walls must be?" said Teniswan.

"No walls, no castles...... Because monsters and beasts are kept in cages for the city's inhabitants to see, and of course, they need to pay for tickets to see them. ”

"There are no walls...... The monster is in a cage......" Tenis muttered to himself, "Your dream is a city-state of the Golden Age. ”

"Nope. I dreamed of the future. Victor paused and said tactfully, "My friend, I can see that your marriage brings you troubles instead of happiness. ”

Viscount Turnis was silent for a moment, and sighed, "My current wife is not Mary, but Susanna of the Ludwigs. ”

Victor's pointed ears suddenly stood up. He didn't want to inquire about other people's privacy, but the lord couldn't ignore the intelligence of the kingdom center. Even if the other party is only a small character, who can be sure that there is nothing to be done? Especially since Ternis's marriage also involves the Ludwigs.

Having found an excuse for his gossip, Victor pretended to be surprised and asked, "How can this be? Aren't you engaged to Mary?"

"I'm married to someone else, and I can only accept it...... This is the case. Tenis said helplessly.

Victor's curiosity was not satisfied, and he asked tentatively, "That...... Your new wife is not as beautiful as Mary, or is she from an unsatisfactory family?"

"No, no, Susanna's beauty is impeccable, and her grandfather, Count Pietra Ludwigsi, was the younger brother of the Marquis, and a noble silver knight. The Earl held the position of Warden in the northern county of Canter, and Susanna's father was his second son, and Susanna's family owned a large hereditary estate. ”

Seeing a hint of contempt in Victor's puzzled eyes, Tenis had to say, "Okay...... Suzanne is a knight. ”

"A knight who is promoted naturally, or with the help of a potion of energy?" asked Victor softly.

"She used the Energy Potion......" Tenis smiled wryly and shook his head, "What difference does this make to me?"

The marriage between an ordinary nobleman and a knight was destined to be a tragedy, especially since the wife was a female knight.

Suzanne ages much more slowly than Tenis, and when the two give birth to a rightful heir, she is no longer bound by marriage and is free to pursue a high-ranking knight partner. Although Tenis would have had many young and beautiful lovers in his life, his position in the family was ultimately weak.

At the end of the day, family relationships are related to the balance of power between husband and wife. If Ternis was a fierce warrior as powerful as Nelson, his knightly wife would never dare to ignore her husband's majesty.

Victor sympathized with Viscount Ternis's future married life, and he coughed dryly and comforted: "It seems that you are good enough to be favored by the Ludwig family...... It's just that it's a little unfair to Mary...... Of course, it's not your fault...... May Mary find a suitable partner as soon as possible. ”

"You don't have to worry about Mary's reputation. Tenis said expressionlessly, "She was married before I was married, to my former colleague, Viscount Hauck Fisher, now the tax collector of the royal capital. I estimate that it won't be long before he will visit your Pinghu Town. ”

Victor's eyes froze, and he said in a deep voice, "I remember that Miss Mary's father was the fourth son of the Home Secretary, and he served as the tax collector of the kingdom?

"That's true. Tenisjaw said.

"In other words, Viscount Haucke of the Fisher family has robbed you of your wife and your future? Victor asked, "My friend, can you tell me why?"

Tenis thought for a moment and whispered, "The church is trying out a new eleven tax in Randall. The news reached the Cathedral of Brinoll. Our Royal Highness the Lord Regent visited the Archbishop of Lazarus and asked the Collector of Taxation to draw up a new tax plan. And Viscount Fisher preempted everyone and submitted a new tax document in a very timely manner...... I don't need to go into the rest of the details. ”

Hearing this, Victor knew in his heart.

The territory has been infested by fierce beasts and monsters for a long time, and the lord hands over the wild resources to the lords for disposal, and only symbolically collects some offerings. The reason why the lord did this was of course limited by objective conditions, but also to achieve the purpose of avoiding taxes by hiding wealth from the people. When a disaster strikes a territory, the lord has the right to collect supplies from the lord.

In the opinion of the resident priest, the wild resources of the territory are difficult to count, not conducive to preservation, and closely related to the livelihood of the people, and the faithful will take the initiative to donate some of the materials to the church. As a result, the church simply did not collect the eleventh tax on wild resources, and the royal tax collector mainly collected the annuity tax from the lord based on the eleventh tax counted by the church. They can only ignore the wild resources hidden by the lords.

It is a well-established tradition that there is no tax on wild resources.

The Ant-Man army swept through the Centaur Hills, where the beasts and monsters were dead and scattered. When the ant tide recedes, the affected lords must of course seize the opportunity to expand the actual control area into the wild, and try to squeeze their living space before the monsters return.

According to Victor's plan, the York family built new water conservancy, opened up terraces, and migrated people to establish settlements and grow various cash crops, turning the wild into cooked land. The growth of territorial wealth is staggering, but wild resources have also become territorial properties.

It seemed reasonable for both the Church and the Crown to demand a re-taxation of the Centaur Hills.

The problem is that the York family doesn't have to pay annuity taxes!

The House of York guarded the Centaur Hills and acted as a barrier against the ant hordes of Gambis. The royal family exempted the Centaur Hill from the annuity tax for 20 years, and the church exempted the 11th tax for 3 years as support for the post-disaster reconstruction of the Centaur Hill.

Exactly four years after the ant plague, the Yorks began to pay the tithe, but they still had a 16-year pension holiday.

That is, the new tax draft of Kite Castle was only for the Randall family.

Viscount Turnis had a good personal relationship with Victor, and the coffee supplied by the Randall family to the city of Blinor was sold exclusively by Tenis, and the two sides had a deep interest in it.

In order to clear the way, Archduke Williams imposes a new tax on Randall. He first instructed Viscount Fischer to draw up a new tax draft to replace him as tax collector of the Tenisian capital.

However, the 20% of the Kingdom Annuity Tax will not change. Although Victor is very painful, for the Gambis royal family, how much more annuity can a Randall collar levy?

Williams even gave up Sophia's millions of hidden gold, did he make Victor's face slap for this little money?

Of course, he still left room to turn around.

As a partner of the Randall family, Tenis was not beaten to death by a stick from the kiteburg, but was promoted to the chief secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, and married a female knight of the Ludwigs. Whether he rises or falls brightly or secretly, whether he will sleep on the floor in the future, at least his face is very beautiful. No one would dare to fall for Viscount Ternes Ludwigsi.

Importantly, Tenis was able to continue his relationship with Viscount Randall. Kite Castle can also communicate and explore informally with the Randall family through his channels.

For example, this is the case now.

What does Williams want to do with all this effort?

Victor pondered for a moment and laughed at himself: "I didn't expect that the regent's first sword was actually pointed at me. ”

"The same cannot be said. Tenis laughed: "Now many lords have started to build streams and reservoirs, open up terraces, raise pigs and store fat...... Your neighbors, in particular, the Buryatia and Chebman families, are no less likely to raise new farms and pigs than the other lords of the Centaur Hills. After all, their territory is also baptized by ant tides. ”

Victor was silent for a moment and said, "But they still have a three-year tax holiday." ”

"The imposition of new taxes is the trend in the kingdom...... The Randall family is afraid that they will have to lead by example. ”

"That's right......" Victor turned around and beckoned to Caligula.

Caligula, like a barbarian, scurried over, and Tenis's cavalry guards were immediately pushed to the side of the road. The roads in the inner city of the royal capital were relatively narrow, and in order to maintain their formation, they had to fall behind the carriages. Nelson's swift bird rider naturally separated them some distance.

"Aka, are you tired of running?" asked Victor with a pleasant face.

"Not tired. Caligula shook his head, and the fat on his cheeks swayed

"Then follow. ”

"Oh. ”

Victor turned his head and asked in a low voice, "My friend, do you know the contents of the new tax draft?"

"I've read it...... The exact implementation method has not yet been determined. Tenis leaned over and whispered, "However, in the future, it may be collected on a quarterly basis, and the tax collectors will be stationed in the major cities...... There is no Pinghu Town, but Yeliu City is included. ”

"Wildwillow City, it's just a viscounty town......" Victor frowned.

"Now, who still regards Wildwillow City as a viscounty town?" Tenis smiled silently, and said, "Fisher, that guy still wants to follow the transaction tax of Pinghu Town and collect a trade tax in Wildwillow City. ”

Victor's face sank like water, and he said angrily: "Damn! Wild Willow City is a low-tax free trade city, does Fisher want to destroy it? The surrounding lord families will never agree! Moreover, the goods that the lord trades in Wild Willow City have paid annuities, so why should the kingdom levy trade taxes?"

"Don't get excited, my friend. "Wildwillow is so attractive, its trade is a combination of the Centaur Hills, the lords of the south-central, the lords of the south, and even a small number of lords of the east. However, there were no Western, Central, and Northern counties involved. Forget the Nimes in the west, and the central and northern princes are the royal domains. You have to admit that Wild Willow City robbed the Clover Merchant Group of business. Did you know that the Clover Merchant is at the behest of Marquis Sophia, but half of its profits are to be handed over to Her Majesty the Queen, who has already handed over the personnel planted in the Clover Merchant to the Regent. ”

"The trade materials of Yeliu City have indeed been paid annuities...... For example, Marquis Sophia asked the Clover Merchant to buy out the charcoal around the Dark Forest, and leased a charcoal yard in Yeliu City. Twenty percent of the charcoal belongs to the kingdom, but what is the use of charcoal from His Royal Highness the King? The Marquis of Sophia also set the price of charcoal very low, and the profit was extremely meager. Is it possible that His Royal Highness the Lord Regent sits and watches you profit from it?"

Victor had already passed on the "anger", and he nodded calmly at the moment.

Williams will definitely introduce new taxes, and there will be difficulties.

Victor was still distressed to pay his taxes, and the iron rooster of Count Chebman was not allowed to jump to his feet. Kite Castle imposes a trade tax on Yehwillow City, which touches everyone's interests, and everyone unites to resist, but Williams can't resist it.

But if this problem can't be solved, what kind of regent will Williams be?

Therefore, the trade tax in Wild Willow City is just a pretense, and the real purpose of Kite Fort is Raven Town.

Raventown has barbarians, who are in the business of the Lords of Dodor, and who make money from the Knights of Glory and the Templars. Of course, Kite Castle wants to plant a nail in Raventown.

After all, the secret agents of the kingdom will not see the light, and they are especially easy to be pulled out by other forces. The tax collectors were different, not only as they could protect the eyes and ears of the Kite Fortress, but also monitor the flow of goods between the Centaur Hills and the Duoduo.

Williams takes the interests of the kingdom as the overall situation, he takes a step back in Wildwillow City, the nail of Raven Town is there, the prestige of the regent is preserved, the breakthrough of the new tax is also available, and he can sell a favor to the Chebman family. The other lords had the mentality that it was not a big deal to watch the excitement, and they would not say a word for Victor at all.

This is really a clever plan to divide and disintegrate, killing four birds with one stone!

Victor couldn't help but marvel at Williams' strategy, but he immediately thought of Raven Town because he had prepared for it.

Since Raven Town is open for business, people from all walks of life must welcome it in. If Victor doesn't even have this kind of heart, is he still worthy of being a lord?

The eyes and ears of the kingdom are not in Raventown, but in Randall. Victor's core secrets are the Alchemy Tower and the Golden Regiment.

As for Raventown, Victor considered using the enclave as bait when he was preparing to form the Two-Headed Lizard Merchant Regiment. Naturally, the lords of the House of York will be entangled with various forces in Raventown.

Victor thinks that his intelligence is not outstanding, and he adheres to the principle of stupid birds flying first, and plans in advance to wait for others to jump in, but he can also take the lead.

However, acting must be performed completely. You have to jump twice when you should jump twice, and you have to have the benefits that you want...... If you advance as retreat, I will retreat as advance...... I... What conditions should I make?

Victor was at a loss, but the wheels were rolling.

The Blue Amber Inn is just around the corner.