Section 61 Verification

"The main trade route on our side is to connect the Central Seven Kingdoms and the Stygia region. Baron Raoul took a puff of his pipe and said slowly. "Young man, have you studied geography?"

"I've only learned a little. Ashrufat replied.

This is the residence of Baron Raoult, where Eshurufat once came. The last time he was here for a dance party, but this time it was just a simple visit. Baron Raoul had a good impression of Esseurofat, so when he came to visit, he welcomed him warmly. At this moment, the two of them were sitting in a smoking room in the baron's house, chatting together.

"There are some simple maps on the church's side. Baron Raoul said. "It's simple and crude, but at least it outlines the general shape of our world. Oh, I think I seem to have one. ”

The baron tugged at a string beside him, and soon a servant entered the smoking room. The baron gave a few casual commands, and the servant went out, and returned in a few minutes, bringing with him a map that was not very large.

"Well, that's it. The baron pointed with his hand on the map, "Aerufat." The Stygia region is a natural basin with only a limited number of natural passages connecting to the outside world. These passages were the basis of the trade routes. Because it is impossible for a large caravan to climb over those steep peaks. He said, "For example, this road, as you can see from this map, is actually the main passage connecting our Central Seven Kingdoms to the Stygian region, which is located between Tiberius and Ryan, and at the other end of the road is Paro. ”

"Paro?" the name was so familiar and yet so unfamiliar that Ashrufat was stunned for a moment. For a moment, a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind again, as if he wanted to remember something, but in the end he still remembered nothing.

"Yes, there are five kingdoms in Styya, and Paro is one of the countries to the northeast. The baron did not notice the change in Eshurufat's expression. For him, this is just a lesson in geography for a junior.

"And on our side," the baron's hand drew another route on the map, "there is another road, which connects us from Gruny to Chur in the northwest of the Stygian region. ”

"This road seems to be ...... It's farther away. "Ashrufat now sees it too.

"yes, it's nowhere near as good as the road that connects to Paro. The road connects Paro, Tiberius, and Ryan in a short and direct distance. Unlike our side, which actually made a big detour. All sorts of goods from the Central Seven Kingdoms had to bypass the western part of the Kingdom of Gruni in order to reach Chur. So let's be honest, our trade routes have always been complementary. However, in the past few years, our trade route has developed tremendously. ”

"For what?"

"About a decade ago," said Baron Raoult. "There is a large-scale war in the Stygia region. The war was fought on one side by Paro and on the other side by Casillos and San Jean in the south-central part of the basin. This is a great war that has accumulated hostility over many years...... I won't go into the details of the process, but I have a copy of the History of the Stygean War, which you can see if you come to my collection. In short, the battle ended with Paro's defeat. As a result of their defeat, the Paros raised taxes on this trade route in order to pay the war reparations. I don't need to say that you understand that the consequence of raising taxes is that businessmen have to pay more money through this route. In this way, it becomes a profitable thing to take our trade route around in a big circle, after all, our trade route is far away, but there is no tax. As long as the Paro people do not change the tax rate, our side will become more and more prosperous. The baron took another drag on his cigarette. "It's called 'pie in the sky', hahaha......"

"But, Your Excellency. We can't get taxes from this trade route?"

"Business tax is not a simple matter, it is not as easy to collect as the city tax. The baron replied with a smile. "Historically, the current territory of the Kingdom of Gruni was originally occupied by dozens of small states. This situation had been going on for many years before the appearance of Garunas, the Sage of the Wilderness. Due to the war and peace between various countries, everyone spared no effort to carry out road construction in order to facilitate the mobilization of troops and enhance combat strength...... For example, our side of Brassian, although it is a small place, the road is well built, right?"

Ashrufat couldn't agree more.

"When Gruni unified the countries, these roads were preserved intact and formed a ...... Road network. The baron said. "Using the word 'net', you understand that the traditional way of setting up checkpoints to collect taxes will not work here. When a lord sets up a level, the merchants choose to take a detour. In short, unless all the lords of the western part of Gruni are united, it is completely impossible to collect taxes from commerce with the power of a single lord. ”

Ashrufat remembered that the two sisters seemed to have said something similar to him, but he didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

"Then, Your Excellency, with regard to the idea I have just proposed......"

"Very cleverly conceived. Baron Raoul said. At first glance, it may sound like a dream, but when you think about it, you will find that there is a great possibility. Maybe it can really be done. ”

"Really?"

"At least theoretically, it works. The baron laughed. "Roads are difficult to build and require a lot of investment, but they are easy to destroy. To build a road, you need to build it one section at a time, and you can't do it without one section, but you only need to destroy one section of the road to destroy it. Some of the damage is even extremely difficult to repair. As you said, using gunpowder to cause a relatively small mountain collapse - a technique invented by the dwarves, but nothing new anymore - will destroy the road below beyond repair. The road became a dead end and had to be abandoned. For example, if we judge according to this line of thinking, the so-called 'road network' actually has many key nodes. If these nodes can be properly sabotaged with the aim of 'cutting off the road', the entire road network can be quickly destroyed, and the vast majority of caravans and merchants will eventually be forced to follow a predetermined road. In this way, it becomes very easy to set up checkpoints to collect taxes. This level will probably become Jinhe. ”

"Is that really the case?"

Of course, this is only a theoretical possibility. The baron said. "It takes a lot of things to do this. First of all, it is necessary for the top of the Gruni Kingdom to be able to carry out such an operation without worrying about the consequences. Second, the action must be covert and swift, otherwise if the news spreads, it will immediately become a target and cause public anger. At the worst, this action should be regarded as killing chickens and eggs, which directly destroyed the prosperity of this trade route. And this is far more important to the kingdom than receiving a little business tax. Oh, and the other thing is that this plan also has to invest in the corresponding cost, to acquire the land of the relevant landowner - although it will be resold later, but the upfront investment, and the difference in price after the sale, is still not a small amount. In addition, there are all kinds of difficulties that are inevitable in the implementation process, which can be said to be difficult, but in fact it must be very difficult. The main point is that those landowners do not necessarily sell their land. If you meet a stubbornly conservative guy, you may not want to sell it at any price. ”

"So it's just an idea. Ashrufat said.

"It's really just an idea. The baron said. "Ashrufat, I have to admit that you are a very smart man. With this kind of vision and thinking, you can really go to Wangcheng to serve as the Minister of Finance and Taxation, Ha Lu Ha ......"

Ashrufat laughed along. Then they discussed the matter of the next governor of the city, and then Ashruphat rose to take his leave.

When he left the house of Baron Raoult, he did not go back, but immediately rushed to the city of Brassian.

As mentioned earlier, although the city of Brasian is a small city, it benefits from the trade routes, so that the city is prosperous and full of shops. Ashrufat walked around the city for half a circle, and it was easy to find a shop that sold maps.

Ashrufat threw out a Ghouli in exchange for a detailed map of the road in the western part of the kingdom of Gruni. On the one hand, this map does not depict the terrain of the barren mountains and mountains that are inaccessible, and on the other hand, it has been practiced by countless merchants, so it can ensure its credibility. Ashrufat opened the map directly on the side of the road and studied it carefully.

"Sure enough......" Through this road map, he saw the characteristics of the land of the two sisters. On the one hand, there is an important road through which the land can be cut off, which would be equivalent to creating a large gap in the nearby road network, and on the other hand, the terrain is hilly. If gunpowder had been used, it would have been easy to cause a landslide and completely destroy the road.

He pored over the map, which identified the main lords, and realized that the destruction of the road network to create a "unique passage" was not as complicated as he had expected. According to the concept of "nodes" proposed by Baron Raoult, only a dozen or so nodes need to be destroyed to ensure the complete paralysis of the entire road network. But on the other hand, as long as one node is not destroyed, then everything done before is useless.

"Is that really the case?" said Ashrufat, exhaling hard. "That's supposed to be the reasoning behind it! That's right, it should be!"

"Duke Byron of the royal city, regent of the Kingdom of Gruny......" Ashrufat put away the map and spat out a name he had never seen or even heard of. "He really seems to be a powerful person. It's a pity that this is Brassian, and even if you have a lot of power in the royal city, you can't use too much power here. I wouldn't allow the place I'm going to live in for the rest of my life to become a country where no one cares. ”

Ashrufat jumped on his horse and soon left the town along the gates.

It's already lunchtime. At the large dining table, lunch was served. Lunch consists of roasted lamb in mustard sauce, a few roasted quails, vegetables and fruits. This is also a very hearty lunch for the squire and nobles, and the fragrant smell of the food goes straight to the nostrils, which makes people can't help but whet their appetite.

"Today...... Why isn't Ashrufat here?" Hoshimi picked up the cutlery, but involuntarily glanced towards the empty spot on the other side.

"He's gone. Xingke replied. "I went out early in the morning. Suddenly, she found herself a little distraught. What happened to Ashrufat's departure? That man was originally ...... Wait, this is something she shouldn't care about, but for some reason it makes her feel a little uneasy at the moment.