When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1061 Legal Movement
Following the guide provided by the silversmiths' guild, Tobias navigated the winding, safe paths ahead.

Even so, he was coerced into paying money twice and was almost detained from his carriage.

When they arrived near the inner city, the master and apprentice finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close." Wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, Tobias's apprentice couldn't help but say, "Old Deng, look at you! If I hadn't run away in time, we would all be finished."

"Alright, alright, look how capable you are. I'll treat you to drinks tonight, okay?"

The carriage arrived at the long queue to enter the city. They had arrived relatively early, but a long line had already formed at the entrance.

“By the Father! When will this line be open?” the apprentice immediately complained.

Tobias stood up and looked into the distance.

The city wall in the distance was faintly visible in the morning mist, the outline of the arrow tower was indistinct, and there were many shadowy figures.

A faint scent of perfume wafted from the distant aristocratic district, colliding with the pungent smell of the nearby leather workshops, creating an indescribably strange atmosphere.

A not-so-short dragon stretched from the front to the distance, awaiting the opening of the inner city gates.

"It will probably take two hours, but we arrived quite early, so it will be quick."

"That's fast?" The apprentice rolled his eyes. "When we go to Xia Lucheng, unless it's a race with sugar and grain vendors, when have we ever come this early and had to wait for two hours?"

“Changge City is only about national conditions.” Tobias raised his hand, as if to strike.

The apprentice quickly covered the back of his head, looked around, and couldn't help but frown: "How did it manage to prosper and then decline?"

Tobias couldn't answer this question either: "You don't like it here? This is the capital of us Leias."

"It feels... not as good as Xia Lucheng." The apprentice shrugged. "We've been taxed seven times since we came from the city gate to here."

If you hadn't lied to them and said it was silver and not mithril, we don't know how much we would have lost.

I'm really curious, how do people who come here to do business make money?

Tobias knew this, but he immediately fell silent just as he was about to speak.

A gilded carriage turned out from the street corner, its wheels splashing mud all over pedestrians as it rolled over puddles.

The driver brandished his whip and shouted, but the pedestrians only cowered and dodged.

The coat of arms on the carriage shimmered in the misty sunlight; it was the gilded bull emblem of the House of Regent Omes.

Only after the sound of the wheels had faded into the distance did Tobias raise his head and watch the carriage disappear behind the city gate.

"do you understand?"

"I understand," the apprentice said sullenly.

The nobles' merchants don't collect taxes, they force other merchants to transport goods, and then pass the costs on to other merchants.

Such things are commonplace in the empire, but it is rare to see such a heavy tax amount.

They exchange economic benefits for political support, and then use that political support to gain military control and legitimacy.

In the common people's eyes, this meant that the wealthiest merchants in Leia were often servants and stewards of nobles.

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, the apprentice pondered for a long time: "If this continues, I think we're doomed."

"Didn't I tell you not to say that?"

“You’re saying that yourself, just not directly,” the apprentice said with a sneer. “We should move to the Holy Alliance; there’s gold everywhere, while here it’s shit.”

"If you move to the Holy Alliance, be careful the Cheka might sew your mouth shut with a needle."

Despite saying this, Tobias knew that this might be his last visit to Long Song City.

Although he truly missed his hometown, Leia was destined for turmoil in the foreseeable future.

As for the Holy Alliance, judging from their tacit agreement to divide Leia's interests, the two sides will have at least seventy or eighty years of peace.

Leia is quite large, and if we take turns eating, it will take a long time.

Compared to the Kingdom of Fran, which harbors widespread hatred towards the Leia, Tobias is more inclined towards the Holy Alliance.

However, the Immigrant Holy Alliance also needs a sum of start-up capital, and it would be best to also get in touch with the Holy Father Church.

Otherwise, why would he bother selling this mithril tableware?
"Hey, the gate's open! I'm going down to get the horse; we can't let anyone cut in line!"

…………

How much did the Wushu Town Court on Heshan Island get for?

"It was sold as a package for around 1200 gold pounds and was bought by Baron Doyle and his wife."

With gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, Duke Omes raised his eyelids and said, "Selling it too cheaply will leave the army without money."

Putzillo's eyes widened: "Is this considered cheap?"

"Of course, Baron Doyle's daughter married a well-known local timber merchant."

"A fifty-year-old man, quite wealthy, who swallowed up assets that rightfully belonged to the local bishop after the church's collapse." "Ah—" Putzio slapped his forehead, "That was definitely a bad deal! Damn it, they dared to play me for a fool! I'll go get them."

"Forget it, don't ruin our reputation. If they see someone getting a bargain, they'll be tempted to take chances."

Duke Omes lowered his head, wrote a few words on the document, and handed it to Putzio.

"I've created a few new official positions; go and sell them."

The system of buying official positions was actually one of the reform plans left by King Gigi.

Of all the reform plans left by Geniges, the one that Duke Omes considered the easiest to implement and most beneficial to the current situation in Leia was the system of buying official positions.

This is a tactic the Franco people have used for centuries, which was once rejected by the Leia for violating aristocratic traditions.

But nobody says that anymore.

The Franco system of buying official positions, after hundreds of years of development, has reached a point where it can be sustainably diversified.

The first and foremost method is to establish a "revenue bureau" to allow wealthy individuals or nobles to buy official positions.

The second tax was the inheritance tax familiar to nobles; the sons of officials who wanted to inherit their fathers' official positions also had to pay a sum of money.

Of course, the King of France thoughtfully provided the officials with a payment plan.

The third thing the king did was to suddenly realize his mistake, saying that buying official positions was wrong, and then cancel a number of unimportant official posts.

At this point, the officials who would benefit would immediately offer a sum of money to beg the king not to cancel it.

The fourth method involved the king increasing officials' salaries and then demanding that they make up the difference in the price they paid for their positions, forcing judges to borrow money from the people to give to the king.

Why didn't the king borrow the money himself? Because his credit was so bad that he always resorted to violently seizing the assets of his creditors.

The fifth method involved creating duplicate official positions, forcing officials in existing positions to buy the duplicated new ones.

The sixth measure was to eliminate tax farmers or the most corrupt officials to vent public anger.

The seventh thing to eat...

There are dozens or even hundreds of such methods of using one fish to make multiple dishes.

These are all advanced experiences from friendly countries, and we must learn from them.

"By the way, let's use these newly sold official positions as supplementary funds to suppress the Five Cities Alliance. You can decide what to do with them yourself."

"Me, go and suppress the Five Cities Alliance?"

"You've faced off against renowned players like Horn Galar and Jeanne Dalque before, are you afraid of these troublemakers?"

Duke Omes continued reviewing the documents, seemingly absentmindedly.

Putzillo scratched his head: "What I mean is, this kind of experience is very valuable. I already have it, so there's no point in repeating it, right?"

Besides, in a battle like this, fighting a mob is unnecessary.

"You want to recommend someone to me?"

Duke Omes saw through his son's thoughts at a glance, and Putzillo chuckled, "It's Kennard and Bilette from the Mabora family."

"Alright, then you can lead the team. It'll be a good opportunity for the new generation of nobles in Thorn Garden to train their troops."

He rubbed his temples, his voice tinged with impatience, unwilling to dwell on the matter any longer.

A motley crew, not even worth mentioning in the various rebellions and covert acts of defiance that currently rage across Leia.

The only noteworthy aspect is their wealthy populace and their courage to raise the banner of the Holy Path Sect.

While it's true that the first bird to stick its head out gets shot, this bird was far too weak.

Even if we wanted to pay attention, we couldn't.

Standing opposite him, Putzlio quickly lowered his head: "When should we send out our troops?"

“They have already expelled three bishops and seized the church’s armory and granaries.” Duke Omes stroked his thick, black beard. “The nobles of Dawn Island are not to be trusted. You must go and oversee things yourself. The sooner you set off, the better.”

"it is good."

"But don't be careless." Omes tapped the map, pointing his finger at the location of Dawn Island. "Don't attack too hastily. Cut off their supplies and let them hold out for a few more days. As long as we take it before the end of the year, we'll be fine."

"What does father mean?"

"We attacked too quickly, they surrendered. Should we kill them or not?" Omes's lips curled into a calculating smile. "If we kill them, they'll say I'm cruel. If we don't, it won't even cover our military expenses."

Let them resist for a while, and let the world see their resolute attitude of resistance.

It's understandable that soldiers might do excessive things if they waited until their supplies ran out before breaking down the gate.

"If we can't defeat Thousand River Valley, surely the Five Cities Alliance can too?"

(End of this chapter)