"There is nothing wrong with imperial taxation. After all, in times of war and chaos, the whole country uses its own strength to ensure that the supplies for this war are not worried! Did those nobles contribute? Even if there are nobles who pay taxes, how much do they pay? The taxes they pay are almost worthless compared to their wealth. ”

"Wouldn't the soldiers fighting in the core area of the Warcraft Mountain Range protect the nobles? Once the Abyssal Demon breaks through the barrier and invades the New Delhi Empire, those poor nobles will have to die obediently! Shouldn't they come up with more resources? Why are they squeezing more tax revenue out of our remote towns? ”

"All these damned imperial laws were made by those hateful nobles. As long as it is a law that affects their interests, they will veto it. Regulations that are favorable to them are approved with both hands. What kind of behavior do they have? Selfish, inhumane. They are just bloodsuckers attached to the Empire! ”

Hearing Ace say this excitedly, Roque was shocked. He didn't expect that Ace, who had always been gentle in his memory, would become so irritable now!

Seeing that Ace was about to continue speaking, Roque quickly grabbed him and said anxiously: "Young master, please be quiet, don't be heard by the master." It's not good. ”

Ace said nonchalantly, "I don't want to shy away from what I've learned. Also, I ask you why you don't tell my father these things. He is the lord of Nanyun City. He should know that these things involve every civilian. Why do you keep hiding them? ”

Roque's face was helpless and painful, "Your father trusts me very much and entrusts me with the responsibility of collecting taxes. I didn't want to disappoint him, I thought I could do a good job. But things backfire, and things often don't go in the direction I want to see. Now you can see that filling the huge gap in tax revenue is almost impossible. Your father has been working hard for years, and I haven't solved it. "I want to worry him more."

"But don't worry, Ace. I will try to solve the tax problem. ”

Ace's face softened a little: "If I'm not mistaken, the Imperial Tax Collector will come to collect the tax within seven days." How much tax do we have to pay? ”

Roque said weakly: "We still need 15,000 catties of wheat and 4,000 catties of wool. ”

"What!" Ace's eyes widened. He didn't expect the tax to be so big!

As for the consequences of tax arrears, Ace also knows very well that he will be severely punished by the empire!

Not only will the head of the city's tax collection be sentenced, but if the circumstances are serious, the lord of the city may be removed from his post or even imprisoned.

Although Ace has a gold card from the Royal Gold Shop, which contains a large number of gold coins, there are only a few cities near Nanyun City, all of which are remote towns and have no granaries at all. What's the use of asking for these gold coins?

Besides, since the empire is taxing, who has so much grain to sell to Ace?

"How are you going to fill such a big gap?" Ace asked, looking at Roque suspiciously.

Roque smiled wryly, "What else can I do?" I can only stick all my food in it for the time being! It's far from enough, but it's better than doing nothing. ”

Ace thought for a long time, and then asked a strange question: "Uncle Roque, is our Southern Cloud City far away from the Southern Guard?" How long does it take to go at the speed of an ordinary caravan? ”

Although he didn't understand why Ace suddenly asked such a question, Roque still answered truthfully: "If everything goes well, it will take about two days at a time." ”

"Three days?" Ace looked down and thought, "If I forge at my current forging speed, I can forge four sets of normal armor in a day. With the joint efforts of the blacksmiths of Nanyun City, forging more than two hundred sets of armor in one day should not be a problem. ”

Roque on the other side looked confused, wondering if Ace had thought of any good countermeasures.

"Well, you don't have to worry about the tax gap. Leave it to me. Give me five days and I'll do my best to make it up for you! Ace said confidently.

Over the next period of time, Ace began to travel to the blacksmith shop in Nagumo City and began to mentor the blacksmiths one-on-one, much to their great touch.

Of course, Ace also asked for the help of the Forge to create 800 sets of armor for the Legion.

The blacksmith was very confused. Nagumo City is small and doesn't have many guards. Where do you need 800 sets of armor? And it must also be built in strict accordance with the quality required by the Corps.

Despite their confusion, they still obeyed Ace's arrangement and began forging armor continuously for a period of time.

However, on the third day, the last day of Ace's plan to build armor, problems followed.

"Young Master Ace, the black iron in the blacksmith shop has run out!"

"So are we, Master Ace. What do we do now? ”

"So do we!"

Many blacksmiths approached Ace in the hope that he could help solve the problem.

Ace thought for a moment, then asked, "Is there a black iron vein near here?" ”

The two blacksmiths looked at each other, but didn't know what to say.

One of them gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, on Gamma Mountain outside the city, but it is the territory of the nobles of the Empire, and we dare not interfere in the affairs there!" ”

Ace's face was expressionless. "Show me."

Everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to lead the way.

"It doesn't matter. Let's go there and have a look. Ace continued.

In this way, under the leadership of three more daring forges, Ace walked towards a mountain outside Nanyun City.

The three of them thought that Ace was also a nobleman after all, and the people who were in charge of the black iron ore veins in the past did not dare to do anything to Ace.

Along the way, Ace began to ask, "When was the vein of Mount Gamma discovered?" How did I not know? ”

One of them replied: "This was discovered about a year ago. At that time, the nobles came to check the situation. It didn't take long for the mountain to be cordoned off. ”

Ace's eyes are not very good: "Why are they blocking this mountain?" Who gave them the rights? ”

The blacksmith smiled bitterly, "It is said that they are subordinates of Marquis Instan of Shepherd City. They want to block the mountain, but we can't do anything about it! ”

"Does my father know?" Ace asked.

The blacksmith was unsure: "I don't know, but Steward Roque must know." ”

Ace was a little speechless. It was clear that Roque was hiding this from his father. Roke had always thought that he couldn't trouble his father, but as the lord of Nanyun City, his father should know about these things.

How does Nanyun City compete with the powerful Marquis? Therefore, it is understandable that the vein problem has remained unresolved for a long time.

But now that Ace has returned from the Legion, he will have a good talk with the so-called Marquis about the laws of the Empire.

The person in charge of the ore vein bullied Roque and didn't dare to do anything big, for fear of alarming the kamikaze. Behind them was a marquis to support. Certainly fearless.

Soon, led by the trio, Ace reached Mount Gamma.

At this time, the perimeter of Mount Gamma was surrounded by barbed wire. At the intersection of the mountains, there are still a few people who act like guards, preventing outsiders from entering the mountain.

When the three forgers arrived, they were a little scared to move forward. After all, the other side had the marquis as their backing, and they were commoners and did not dare to confront them.

Ace didn't blame the three of them for stage fright. He just told them to wait where they were. He walked alone to the guards.

When the guards saw someone coming, they immediately looked at Ace vigilantly and shouted at him, "Who are you?" This is not where you should be. Get out! ”

Ace's face was gloomy. He didn't expect the dog raised by the Marquis of Instein to be so arrogant.

Ace stopped outside the fence and said, "Go and call out the person in charge here!" ”

The guards scoffed. One of them said to Ace, "Who are you?" Would you like to meet our boss? "It looks like this guy is the boss.

Ace held back his anger: "Tell him that I am the son of Kamikaze." ”

The man doesn't seem to know who Kamikaze's son is. He was about to continue laughing, but he was pulled up by a person next to him: "He is Monchi-D-Ace, the son of Monchi-D-Kamikaze, and now a famous forger in the New Delhi Empire. ”

The Boss disagreed, saying, "Are you Monchi-D-Ace?" The son of the first coward of the Empire, the son of a little baron, is not qualified to meet our boss! ”

The sound of "pop" is crisp.

After that, screaming like a pig, the man in the lead covered his left cheek and looked in pain.

He moved slowly, but he saw a long knife mark on his cheek. The knife marks were corroded by dark energy, and there was even a sign of decay.

Enraged, the guards opened the gate and rushed out to teach Ace a lesson.

Ace sneered: "It seems that if you don't teach you dogs a lesson today, you really won't ask the master for help!" ”

As soon as the voice fell, Ace disappeared, and in less than ten seconds, the other four people also fell to the ground, rolling and moaning in pain. There was only one man left, holding an empire-made sword in his hand, trembling all over, not daring to move forward.

"Go and call your butler!" Ace said coldly.

The only standing guard immediately marched up the hill.

Ace couldn't help but shake his head when he saw these people. How can these people be guards? They are just soft eggs, bullying the weak and afraid of the strong!

However, these people received no less money from the Imperial Army each month than Ace and the others. The empire made these materials, which is a waste of materials.

Soon the man came out of the mountain with a man dressed in white robes. Behind them, there were a dozen soldiers in armor.

The middle-aged man had a big beard and pointed eyes. He looked Ace up and down. Then he gradually calmed down, and then he smiled: "You are now the famous Monchi D-Ace?" Young and promising! ”

Ace's keen insight saw every expression and change in his eyes. Preliminary judgment, it is estimated that he is a smart and clever person, good at improvisation, kind on the outside, and extremely hypocritical on the inside. However, this person is still a mid-level wind mage?

"I'm here today to ask you a question. Which law says that you can search for veins within the limits of Nanyun City without our permission from Nanyun City? Ace said word for word.

The middle-aged man with a beard was not angry at all, but said with a faint smile: "Isn't it clearly stipulated in the imperial law that it is not allowed?" ”

Ace laughed angrily: "According to what you said, can I go to your marquis's head to get convenience?" In any case, imperial law does not state that this is not allowed! ”

The bearded man's face was heavy, and the soldiers behind him were already shouting angrily.

"You little rabbit, how dare you insult the Marquis of Instein? Don't you want to live? ”

"Look, I'm not going to pull your mouth!"

Ace waved to a dozen soldiers: "Come on, come on, let's see if you can catch me!" ”

The bearded man stopped the dozen or so soldiers behind him, smiled and said to Ace, "Let me introduce myself first, my name is Fils Doli." It's Instein's subordinate, and he's only in charge of my work. ”

Ace sneered, "Digging up the veins on the border of our Nanyun City? Did we agree? ”

Fils smiled, but his eyes were filled with indifference. Ace saw everything.

"Speaking of which, your Namcloud City is also under the jurisdiction of Lord Instein, as is Gamma Mountain. We're mining veins here. Any questions? Fils said with a smile.

Ace's face was the same as usual, and his voice was gentle: "Do you still know that this is the boundary of Nanyun City?" Then according to the laws of the Empire, you should share the veins with us, and not take them yourself. ”

Fils obviously lost his patience, and his smile gradually faded: "Ace, you must clearly think that your father is just a baron, he can't be compared to Lord Instein!" ”

Ace would really laugh at this guy's ignorance. This guy doesn't even know about the accolades that Monchi-D-kamikaze has received? Really ignorant.

"Why don't you continue to disguise? Can't help but show your true colors so soon? What hypocrisy! Ace's face was filled with contempt and ridicule.

The murderous expression in Phils' eyes revealed: "Little guy, you are really tough! You're not afraid ......."

Before this guy could finish speaking, Ace had already disappeared.

Phils was shocked at first, then reacted quickly. His face changed suddenly. He turned to the dozen soldiers behind him and shouted, "What are you doing?" This little bastard has snuck in! Go find him! ”

More than a dozen soldiers hurried towards the mountain.

After using "Extreme Speed", Ace immediately quickly used "Concealment" to shuttle through the woods and find deep mountains.

Soon after, Ace reached the hillside and came to a large clearing. There were hundreds of miners in rags. They carry ore with their heads down.

However, when Ace saw the color of the ore in their hands, he was shocked.

Where is the black ironstone vein in front of you? This is obviously a dark philosopher's stone!

Ace never imagined that there was such a large vein of dark magic stones hidden on Gamma Mountain!

"What do they want to do?" Ace couldn't understand it at all, because according to the laws of the Empire, once the dark magic stone vein was discovered, no one could hide it, and it had to be reported to the Empire.

However, judging from the current situation, the person who excavated the dark mage's vein was not a regular Imperial Investigation Team.

Soon, Fils arrived with a dozen soldiers, but they searched around for a long time, but still couldn't find Ace.

"Find me! I have to find him today! Fils's voice was low, but he could clearly feel his anger.

What happens here can be said to be very important! If Ace made this matter public, it is estimated that both he and the Marquis of Instein will face heavy penalties from the Empire.

Under the cover of "hiding", Ace soon came to a wooden house. Although the room is not big, it is luxuriously furnished with a variety of furniture.

The most striking thing is a long, beautifully carved wooden table with a large amount of paper on it. There is a stone carving carved with the Dark Magic Stone.

Ace took a closer look and found that the paper was filled with the weight of the magic stones mined every day, and dozens of pieces of paper were written.

Ace didn't even think about it. He just put all the accounts away. This is evidence that they are secretly mining the Dark Philosopher's Stone!

With this evidence, Ace left the hut and walked down the mountain.

However, when Ace leaves the wooden house, he accidentally touches the wooden door and immediately makes a "squeak" sound.

Fils is just around the corner. When he heard the sound of the door, he turned to look at it and shouted that the door of the hut was open. He immediately shouted bad and immediately rushed into the cabin, only to find that the accounts on the table had been taken. He was very angry and said, "Little bastard, I'm going to kill you!" ”

Ace couldn't help but laugh when he heard Fils's scolding in the distance.

Today, while he is unable to fight for ownership of the veins, he has obtained evidence that the Marquis of Instein secretly mined the Dark Magic Stone veins without telling the Empire. It was also a great harvest.

Ace also heard about Instein's reputation. He is said to be very selfish. Every time the empire ordered a tax, he would exert most of the tax pressure on subordinate towns under his jurisdiction, such as Nagumo City.

However, Instein's taxes on his own sheep are not high, so he has always had a good reputation in Pattern City. Even if the Imperial Prosecutor came from time to time, they could only see the support of the Shepherd City humans for Instein.

Ace has always been extremely disgusted with these nobles who can only eat, drink, and play with the officials of the Empire. Now that Instein's grip is in Ace's hands, his good days are over.

It just so happened that Nanyun City was facing a tax problem. If Ace didn't hit Instein hard, how could he be willing?

After descending the mountain, Ace quickly returned to Nanyun City with three forging divisions.

Along the way, the three blacksmiths kept asking how the negotiations were going. The three of them thought Ace would argue with the others. How could they have thought that he had gone in and stolen a bunch of accounting evidence?

Ace was always smiling, but didn't say a word about the questions of the three.

"Now that I have evidence that you are secretly mining the Philosopher's Stone, are you still afraid that you will not come to negotiate?" Ace thought for a moment, and a smug smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

As expected, within half a day of Ace's return to Nanyun City, Fils came to Nancloud City with dozens of soldiers to find Monchi-D-Kamikaze.

In the halls of the castle, Fils looked very ugly. He looked at the kamikaze sitting on the top of the mountain and said, "Kamikaze, how can your son sneak into Mount Gamma and steal my things?" You must teach him a lesson today! ”

Kamikaze smiled and said, "Fils, it's my job to discipline my son, you don't have to worry about it!" ”

Then he said to Roque, who was next to him, "Go and call Ace." ”

Roque took the order and left.

Fils waited in the hall for a long time, but he didn't see Ace. He couldn't help but feel creepy, and his face was sweating all the time.

He didn't know that Ace had long known that he had come to his castle and had heard all his conversations with his father Kamikaze.

Ace just walked slowly on the road. Despite Roque's many urgings, he continued to walk slowly.

As soon as Ace appeared in the hall, Fils stood up, stared at Ace fiercely and said, "Give me back my things!" ”

"What's that?" Ace looked at him in surprise, looking like he didn't know anything.

Fils gritted his teeth and said, "Don't pretend to be garlic." You should know if you've taken something or not. ”

Kamikaze frowned and asked Ace, "Ace, if you really take his things, give them back to him." He's looking for it. ”

Ace replied, "Father, don't you ask him what he has lost?" ”

Kamikaze couldn't help but look at Fils, waiting for his answer.

Phils' eyes shifted, but he didn't know how to explain it. He thought for a while and said solemnly: "It's my account book that records the amount of black iron mining every day!" ”

"Mining?" Ace pretended not to hear clearly.

Fils's face was already ugly: "It's my account book that records minerals!" ”

"Oh, the ledger of the mining of black iron? I didn't! Ace tried to force Fils to break up. He brought a tape recorder reel. As long as Fils dares to speak out, all the information will be recorded by Ace. Even if the two sides face off in the future, Ace can use this evidence.

Phils's face turned red, and his eyes were as sharp as knives, but they were unpredictable. He seemed to weigh something.

In the end, Fils disappoints Ace. He didn't say anything, just snorted coldly, walked out of the hall, and left the castle of the Monchi family with dozens of soldiers.

But how could Ace let them leave so easily? He flashed in front of Fils and said, "What do you think of our Monchi house?" You can come and go. ”

Phils tried to suppress the anger that was about to erupt, and said through gritted teeth, "Ace, don't be too arrogant. If you offend the Marquis of Instein, your life in Namcloud City will only be more miserable! What more do you want? ”

Ace looked confident and fearless: "It's simple. Let Instein fill the tax gap in South Cloud City, and I'll pretend I don't see anything! ”

Seeing that Fils wanted to speak, Ace immediately interrupted him: "As for those dozens of papers, don't think about it. I won't give it back to you! However, you can rest assured that as long as Instein doesn't go too far, we in Nanyun City won't embarrass him! Of course, if the Imperial army discovers and discovers the secret of Mount Gamma, please go to the Imperial to explain it yourself. Don't blame us! ”

Fils said viciously, "What if I don't agree? ”

"Hey, hey, if you don't agree, you know I know some people in the military. At that point, I just had to report the situation here to Commander Eyre. What do you think the empire will do? Ace finished speaking, and looked at Fils with a smile.

Phils trembled with anger and his mouth twitched. He took several deep breaths in quick succession before he could barely restrain his anger. Finally, he almost shouted, "Let's go!" ”