This kneeling not only stunned Sinan Pei, who didn't know why, but also stunned Theresa, and the two glanced at each other.

"Your Highness...... Who is this man?"

"You ask me, I ask who is going!"

With that, the two looked in the direction of the comer.

"My lord, I am an envoy sent by the Municipal Council of Leland, and my name is Varangi. I was supposed to be on my way to Auvergne, but when I heard that you had arrived at the city of Romain with the Countes, I turned back halfway to the Holy City. ”

The holy city in the mouth of Eugenia, if not Jebus Salem, is the Roman city. Leland, on the other hand, is Theresa's other territory besides Auvergne, which is not in the Kingdom of Capet, but in Saranyi, which theoretically belongs to the Holy Romance Empire. This was very common in this era, and there were even many big nobles who were simply international nobles, and almost every country had its territory.

However, the Holy Romance Empire's control of the territory under its name has long existed in name only, and it is much more unbearable than Cape...... The Holy Romance Empire today is a union of kingdoms, principalities, autonomous cities, and bishoprics, and the emperor has very limited powers.

“...... What is the matter with me, honorable sir, if I am not mistaken, your city has long since bought the autonomy from my ancestors, and I really don't know what we have to do with each other except for a little tax every year. Theresa smiled, "You and I don't have a bond of responsibility to each other anymore, do we?"

It was not uncommon for many poor nobles to trade their dominions, especially cities, for a large sum of cash, and then spend them to either go bankrupt or fight with the citizens who felt cheated.

Having just returned from the Pope, Theresa still had a fire in her heart. Although she has always been calm. However, when it comes to her parents, she can never be as calm as she seems.

"That's right, my lord. The envoy couldn't help rubbing his hands, and at first glance he looked like a guy from the merchant class, "We're ...... Hopefully, you will go back and regain control of the city's administration. ”

Si Nanpei spurted out a mouthful of old blood. Is this really the size of the world, and even such a voluntary return of power to the ruler has happened? There is no mention in the history books that such a situation would occur during a period of social transformation.

"Why?" Theresa frowned as well. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and there will be no pie in the sky, which everyone knows.

The city representative held back for a long time, until his face turned purple, and then he spoke: "The city council wants to ...... It's going bankrupt. ”

There's nothing funnier than this.

"What's going on?" said Theresa, "how can a good city be bankrupt and bankrupt?"

"The city itself is not bankrupt, but ...... The municipal council went bankrupt. The envoy cried with a sad face, "Originally, the election mechanism in the city has been running steadily. However, in recent decades, the situation has changed a lot from before. ”

"At first, the government was controlled by the merchants, and nothing went wrong, and the family could get by, but then the citizens became more and more dissatisfied with the situation, and demanded to expand their rights and to participate in the municipal council. There were even a few riots in which some people died. After that, the merchants were forced to agree. The city delegate named Varangi seemed unhappy with this, "and then there were many things - people put the property requirements for citizenship too low! Even beggars have rights." ”

"Some politicians who have been trying to gain power and even become consuls have begun to promise to improve welfare in order to compete for votes from the poor...... If you increase welfare, you will increase it, and this time you will also count those proletarians who have just entered the cities!"

"How can the little budget in the city afford it? So the gang started asking for tax hikes in order to make good on their promises. But the businessmen have long since left behind, occupying the vast majority of seats in parliament. "Speaking of which. Varangi looked happy, "Whose taxes come from? Only from the merchants! This is not fair! The two gangs of people who support and oppose even fight in parliament!"

When Si Nanpei heard this, he always had an inexplicable sense of immediacy. I don't think I've heard of this before......

"Can't the consul break his promise?" Si Nanpei couldn't help but interject. This is often the case on the planet of the 21st century, in the so-called Western countries – once politicians are in power. will throw his original promise out of the clouds.

"This kind of thing has happened, after the consul came to power, he was bribed by the merchants, broke his promise, and was beaten to death in a small alley, and in the end he didn't understand who did it. This time, it was not Varangi who spoke, but the middle-aged man who had been following him but was silent.

Judging by his clothes, he was not wealthy, and he was clearly not as eloquent as Varangi. Sinampe guessed that this was another envoy sent by Lelan City. Since the rich and the poor are not on the right path, there must not be only one envoy to be sent, but two or more envoys to play the role of checks and balances.

"In the end, a mob was organized to storm the parliament. Varangi looked itchy at the root of his teeth, "and got the council to agree to the tax increase." However, these tax increases are not enough to use the welfare policy, so these expenses can only be deducted from municipal works. ”

"The road has broken and no one has repaired it. "At first, it was fine, but then the merchants gradually became reluctant to come to Leland, because she began to become like a slum, and the sea became more and more prosperous, and many people chose to go by sea instead of Leland...... We can't collect taxes from outsiders at all!"

"The deficit is getting bigger, but the idiot consuls don't even think of an open source solution, they just know how to raise taxes from the wealthy - who makes them a minority!"

"Many of the rich who were reluctant to pay taxes are gone, and only those who love the land remain. Then, the consuls, they began to look at the middle class...... Sooner or later, Leland will be ruined by these idiots!" Varangie said indignantly.

"So we reached a compromise, please return to Leland City and ......" (to be continued......