Somewhere in the royal city, in a huge house made of magnificent bluestone.
Dozens of people were gathering deep inside the house.
Anyone who is qualified to participate in this gathering is a big businessman with a large business office in the royal city.
The so-called large commercial houses are places where large quantities of goods are purchased and sold.
As the center of the continent, the King City of Aaron Landis is extremely prosperous in commerce, and the amount of goods handled every day is immeasurable.
Those small caravans will go to the market to sell and buy goods, but the medium and large caravans carry too much goods, and it takes too long to sell or buy little by little at the market.
Therefore, these caravans go directly to the trading houses that can eat a lot of goods in one go and store large quantities of goods that can be sold.
In the words of Garland, it is actually the difference between the wholesale market and the retail market.
There has never been a tax item such as business tax on the mainland. What businessmen need to pay are basically customs tax, city entry tax, and road tax.
However, this does not mean that their profits are all theirs - they must share a large part of the profits in order to do business smoothly.
Because every time they trade in a city, they need to offer large sums of money to those in power here, in exchange for the protection of the other party, so as to ensure that their transactions can go smoothly.
If they are ignorant, there are so many people in power that they use various excuses to suppress and seize their goods, so that they will lose everything.
If you encounter greedy dignitaries, you will even have to give more than half of the profits you make.
At this moment, all the big businessmen gathered here have backers behind them—or simply some powerful people secretly control the business office.
Relying on the power of the backer, they deliberately bought the goods at a low price, and then sold them to the merchants in the king city at a high price as soon as they changed hands.
They don't need to rush around with the caravan, they just need to sit in the business office, buy low and sell high, and then they can comfortably earn a lot of money from it.
If it is to save time, those caravans are willing to sell them a large amount of goods at a low price, but the problem is that those merchants have joined together to intercept the commodity demand of the entire king city, and those large caravans have no channels and no way to directly. Find people who need their products.
In addition, he didn't dare to offend the powerful people behind these business offices, so he could only swallow his voice and let these vampires profit from his hard work.
Continuing to use Gallan's words, this is a commercial monopoly.
The consequence of this is that the price of Wangcheng has remained high, and the large price difference in the middle has caused a large amount of wealth to flow to the big businessmen and the powerful people behind them, making them hungry.
It is almost impossible to reverse and correct this deformed business model. It is like a piece of rotten wood, the roots are already rotten, and it is impossible to carve again.
Therefore, after investigating the situation of the royal city, Garlan decisively chose another way.
Your hotbed is already rotten, so I don't want it at all.
I rebuilt a cultivation garden with fresh soil and calmly under the sun, and transplanted the living trees and flowers to my side.
Although there may be some pain and trouble at the beginning, it will surely grow and flourish in the future.
Thus, the Trade and Exchange Office was born.
Its existence is not only to collect business tax, but also to clear the business environment of the king city and block the greedy claws of the powerful.
These big businessmen have been involved in commerce all the year round, so as soon as Gallan's Commerce and Trade Office was set up, they immediately sensed something was wrong. After sending people to inquire about the situation, and after getting together and thinking about it for a while, they understood the plan of the young king.
When they understood this, they were of course anxious.
The young king's approach is simply drawing wages from the bottom of the pot, and it will cut off their fortunes.
Although they continue to do business honestly, they can still make profits, but compared with the huge profits obtained by monopoly, it is definitely not enough to see-they used to be able to make a lot of money lying down, but now they have to get up and do things to make money, Earning is not as good as one-tenth of the previous lying.
Of course they are not happy.
Their backers are also not happy to lose their fortune.
So, with the support of the backers behind them, they began to secretly fuel the flames, desperately promoting the fact that they would have to pay an extra tax to the Commerce and Trade Office, suggesting to the merchants that King Garlan wanted to collect taxes from them to supplement their finances. At the same time, he also tried his best to promote the public's discussion, preaching that a wise king should not increase taxes and fees.
In fact, they did not succeed in the second point, because King Garland ordered that merchants not be compelled to go to the Commerce and Trade Office.
It is precisely because of this order from Garlan that many businessmen are dissatisfied with the tax collection rules and regulations of the Commerce and Trade Office, but they are only ignoring them. Commerce Department or something.
Anyway, the king said that as long as you don’t go to the Commerce and Trade Office, you won’t pay taxes, so it doesn’t matter if it is there or not, why bother to target it and annoy King Garlan
If you have the energy, you might as well make more money.
And the businessmen who are the parties think so, and the other people don't take it seriously.
Therefore, in the court meeting that day, the ministers they bought deliberately exaggerated their words and said that the existence of the Commerce and Trade Office had a bad impact on King Gallan's reputation, which was simply alarmist.
It can even be said that they are just forcing Garland to abolish the Commerce and Trade Office in the name of righteousness and wiseness.
And they were satisfied with the result.
As expected, the young king began to waver because he was concerned about his reputation.
As long as they work harder, while helping the common people in the royal city, while continuing to buy the ministers in the royal court with a lot of money, they will soon be able to achieve their wishes.
"To tell you the truth, in fact, someone secretly contacted me yesterday, implying that I should not participate in this matter."
A big businessman said directly.
The others looked at each other, and then, others spoke.
"Yesterday, I was also visited by someone there, and the words suggested that I'd better leave as soon as I see it."
"Someone came to me too."
"Actually I too..."
Among the dozens of big businessmen who had gathered here, four or five of them mentioned that people had come to their door in the past few days, and they were told to restrain themselves.
There are also some people who are not visited by them.
"It seems they are in a hurry."
"Yeah, I'm afraid it's unthinkable."
"Speaking of which, there were indeed three people who didn't come to this meeting. Did they back down because of this?"
Someone laughed.
"Chicken-hearted."
"Those timid guys are too stupid."
Another person smiled.
"You must know that almost all of the commerce in the king's city is in our hands, and that young king would never dare to take action against us easily. Without us, the commerce and trade of the king's city would collapse immediately, and he would of course be afraid."
The great old merchant said with oath,
"He sent people to find us secretly separately, but there is no other way. He can only force me to retreat."
He says,
"Everyone, you must not back down at this time. We must advance and retreat together and persevere in order to make the King Garlan who wants to cut off my wealth."
The big businessmen here have expressed that they will never fight to the end like the three cowards who fled.
Thinking of the young king's concession in the court meeting a few days ago, these dozens of big businessmen suddenly felt that they could influence King Garlan's will when they joined forces, so they became more and more confident.
They laughed for a while, and then discussed their next actions.
They agreed that the next key is to continue to trumpet the business tax among the businessmen and prevent them from going to that trade office.
Be sure to let it continue to be deserted, empty, and completely ruined.
…
At the same moment, in another luxurious stone mansion in Wangcheng, an old man with a wrinkled forehead was sitting there with a heavy heart.
Although his eyes were looking straight ahead, he was very dazed, and his hands kept stroking the teacup in his hands.
The tea in the cup was already cold, and he didn't take a sip.
A middle-aged man had been standing beside him for a long time, and at this moment he finally couldn't help shouting.
"Father."
The old man came back to his senses and looked at his son.
He sighed heavily and said, "From now on, close the door, and we will not receive anyone except relatives and friends."
After a pause, he continued.
"The trading of the commercial exchange has also tightened. During this time, large-scale transactions should not be carried out for the time being."
"Father, we will lose a lot in this case..."
"Yeah, the loss will be huge."
The old man sighed and took a sip of the cold tea.
"But if you die, no amount of money is useless."
He says,
"Over the years, we have made a lot of money, and we should know what to do when we see it."
"Yes, father."
…
There were two other big businessmen who made the same choice as the old big businessman.
After the three big businessmen were warned by the door, they all chose to close the door, close their business, and honestly stayed at home, and no longer participated in the boycott of the Commerce and Trade Department.
And the other group of big businessmen continued to fuel the flames secretly, spreading large sums of money.
As a result, the call for the abolition of the Commerce and Trade Administration is getting louder and louder, and the doors of the Commerce and Trade Administration are still stagnant.
Tarr, who was constantly being ridiculed for his incompetence, looked uglier every day.
And the attitude of the young king has also changed from being tough at the beginning to being silent again and again, obviously shaking and hesitating.
The big businessmen behind the scenes were overjoyed to think that if this continued, they would soon be able to make Wang compromise, so they jumped up and down with more effort.
After ten days, they got together again.
"it's time."
The big businessman in the lead said,
"No one has visited the Commerce and Trade Department for a whole month, so now not only our people, but also other ministers are beginning to be dissatisfied with it, feeling that it is useless at all and will only waste human and material resources."
"In the past two or three days, the dissatisfied ministers were encouraged to make a request to the king to abolish the Commerce and Trade Office."
The young king who had already started to waver would definitely be unable to bear the pressure, so he took a step back.
"Thanks to you for uniting everyone and advancing and retreating together, we can get to where we are today."
Someone complimented the leader who was the most powerful and backed by the largest commercial firm in Wangcheng.
The old man who took the lead in planning this matter smiled faintly.
"That young king is still too young, and he doesn't think about the actual situation."
He laughed in the tone of an elder.
"In a few more years he will know that some things are not so easy to do."
Everyone sitting here laughed along with him.
See, their power is already so great.
They control the commerce and trade of the entire royal city.
Once you leave them, the commerce of the whole city will collapse.
They are already entwined in this city, and they are rooted here.
Even the king was afraid of them and did not dare to act easily.
This feeling made all the big businessmen present inflate infinitely for a while.
And just when everyone was laughing and complacent, there was a sudden bang, and the door outside was slammed open.
Accompanied by the cluttered and heavy footsteps, everyone was stunned to see a large group of soldiers file in.
The dozens of guards here reflexively wanted to step forward to stop them. The leader of the group of soldiers, a burly general with dark complexion, directly showed the golden token in his hand.
"I'm here to arrest people under Wang Ling, get out of here!"
Tewa snorted loudly.
The guard who was about to step forward immediately leaned down and knelt down in fear, not daring to move again.
Acting before the king's token is equivalent to the crime of conspiracy.
Tewa was too lazy to pay attention to them. With a wave of his hand, the subordinates behind him swarmed up, grabbed the group of businessmen effortlessly, and dragged them straight out.
The group of big businessmen who had been sitting atop a high-rise living room in fancy clothes a second ago were chatting and laughing happily, but at this moment, the big businessmen who were satisfied because they were about to achieve their goals were all pale and panic-stricken.
They were unceremoniously pushed and shrugged by the soldiers with a look of bewilderment.
They haven't even realized what's going on.
The old man in the lead couldn't believe what happened suddenly.
How could that young king dare to arrest them in public without any cover
Isn't he afraid that his wise name will be ruined
Isn't he afraid of being seen by everyone as a tyrant who does his own thing
He is not worried that if he leaves the people who make Wangcheng's business run, Wangcheng's business will be paralyzed and suffer heavy losses
How could he—
Countless thoughts swirled wildly in my heart, and in the end, they all turned into regret and remorse, as well as fear of the king.
…
The news of the arrest of these big businessmen spread throughout the entire royal city almost instantly.
When the three big businessmen who were honestly huddled heard the news, they were all startled, and then rejoiced.
Inside the spacious and tall stone mansion, the old man standing in the courtyard let out a long breath.
The heart that had been hanging for more than ten days was finally released at this moment.
"Let's be stunned... Those idiots, relying on the people behind their backs, have been praised for a long time, they really take themselves seriously, and they can't recognize what they are."
The old man shook his head and sighed, talking to himself.
"It's just a businessman who dares to provoke the king."
It's really for the money, the life is lost.
King of Garland.
With his beautiful appearance, his wise name, and his love for the people, it is easy for people to have the illusion that he is a gentle and kind king.
However, that was just one side of him.
When Aaron Landis almost lost his country, he turned the tide and fought hard to save Aaron Landis from the bloody sea of corpses on the battlefield.
Without compromising with the few city lords who had betrayed him on the battlefield, he brazenly sent a large army to go out, and he would fight as soon as he said it, so that those city lords and cities would be destroyed.
The decision to build the road was decided against the opposition, and no one dared to oppose it.
Such a decisive king.
Where did those idiots get the confidence to think that King Garland would not dare to attack them because he was afraid of them and his reputation
Alas, after all, it's still wise.
Obsessed with money.
Do it yourself...
…
…
In the palace, Garlan, who had taken a nap, just woke up, and Xi Muer, who was beside him, was reporting to him that the merchants had been arrested according to his orders.
"It's the way it is now, do you have any other orders to give?"
"Um."
Garland nodded.
He looked at Xi Muer and said, "It's hot, let those people go bankrupt."
Xie Muer: "???"
What the hell
Is Wang asleep
"Don't you think my words are very domineering?"
Xie Muer: "Haha."
It seems that it is not sleepy, but sleepy.
he thought blankly.